Is there an age at which it is legal to drink in Russia? Does it vary according to where you are drinking? House, restaurant etc?
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Is there an age at which it is legal to drink in Russia? Does it vary according to where you are drinking? House, restaurant etc?
It's the same in Russia as in any other country:
If babies don't drink beginning at the first day of their life they will die.
Therefore the minimum age at which it is legal to drink is zero.
Unless they have changed something recently, it is 18, at least you can't buy alcohol legally until you are 18. Of course, most kids get to know the taste of alcohol much earlier than that. I don't think that drinking at home is considered a criminal offence for a kid, but if authorities find out that an adult gives or sells alcohol to minors or enourages them to drink, he may have serious problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by BJ
Ha ha Old Man! :lol:
I wonder why Georgia has no age restriction on alcohol consumption. Does anyone know why they decided this after the split?
Beer is not considerd alcohol and kids can but it at any kiosk or magazine. The beer companies are now fighting a new bill that will outlaw beer comercials on TV between 0700-2200, and any beer advertising on sports events. The beer consumption for teens is rising and the lawmakers think limiting advertising will stop this trend.
I think in reality you can pretty much buy alcohol at any age. 12 year olds can probably get it at a kiosk where the seller only cares about selling the product. Hey, I used to go out to the store and get bread, juice and a pack of cigarettes for my grandpa and no one said a word and I was like 10. And if you at least look remotly old enough you can get it at cafes and restaurants. I did and I wasn't 18.... :oops: Alot of kids usually get a sip of champagne at New Years or other celebrations. It's not really a big deal as far as I remember.
That's right, and it's always been like this. Long ago, when I was a schoolboy during Brezhnev's rule, I bought my first bottle of wine at 16, I think. Or was it 15?Quote:
Originally Posted by astarz41
LOL. You guys are thilly.
So, how does the average Russian 12 year old act after homework every night?:
"I....can't...make..it...toooo.....myy...BEER!.... ............BRRING..it....to..MEEEEeeeeee!"
I frequently see groups of 12 year olds on the street or in the parks drinking beer and smoking. I don't think they are too worried about their homework.
Then thats not too different than in the US. If you know where to go, you can get alcohol and cigarettes. Some places still have those old cigarette machines. Anyone can go up and get some. I don't think you'll see a group of twelve-year-olds drinking and smoking on the street. And I'm pretty sure they won't let a 12-yr-old buy a beer ( I could be wrong, in fact I probably am wrong) but, in 8th-9th grade I heard of certain places that would sell to kids.
no one sells to 12 year olds, I'm in my 20's and I still get carded, we are very strict over here.
my friend just turned 18, he started buying ciggs just so he could get carded.... but no one has carded him yet.
I have lived in several countries and I would have to say that the US is the most uptight about cigarrettes and alcohol that I have come accross. I grew up in Australia and by the time I was 16 I was having a beer in the local pubs with everyone else. By the time I was 15 I had finnished school and had a job, on a cattle station. And so was most of the kids who I went to school with. Over here if you are 15 or 16 and not in school they call you a drop-out and think you are a "runnaway". And heaven forbid if you have a drink and you are under 21, Oh.. call the SWAT team....get the womenfolk off the streets and close the curtains.
do russian people like to drink: ice tea, or sweetened tea???
hot tea, lots of sugar, lemon slices in sugar, or honey and lemon for a sore throat
ooops! forgot about hot tea with jam :wink:
JB, Where in L.A. do you live?!? Unless you were talking about in Russia....I have -sadly- lived in L.A. almost all my life and I have yet to see 12 year olds drinking and smoking in parking lots...Not even in Compton...Unless you were joking...in which case I take the whole first half of this post back.
Part of the reason why we are so strict over here is because people are stupid. More often than not, people don't drink responsibly. We have these laws because we messed things up from the gate. We had more freedom, and people pissed all over it. In other countries it isn't such a big deal to be ridiculously drunk all the time-other cultures handle themselves better.
JB, does it matter what type of jam?
I can tell you that it's mostly raspberry jamQuote:
Originally Posted by BJ
Jam: in the summer we pick lots of different berries (can't remember the Russian names but have never seen these in America)from the dacha and make fresh (not cooked) jam with just sugar. We also have jumbo jars of смородина (cooked) jam which our uncle makes by the truckload every summer. We like rasberry jam in our tea but never buy it as we are inundated with the homemade jam, which is also delicious in tea (and over ice cream, over fresh fruit, and just plain spoonfuls for desert!)
Tiara, When in The US, I live near San Marino where alchohol is not even legal in the restaurants much less on the street. But when I am in Moscow I, along with everyone else, enjoy having a beer or wine cooler while strolling through the park on a warm summer day. But this may soon come to an end. Yesterday, in Russian news, I saw that a new law is being proposed that will outlaw drinking beer in public. This includes metros, parks, sidewlks etc. The article did not address if this would apply to all the little drink stands with a sitting area in the parks. :(
Did they say why? And is this all of Russia, or certain places? I would assume the whole country, right? That is unfortunate since I have not made it to Russia yet and have not been able to experience drinking in the park like this... :(
These new laws will apply to the whole country, but I have no idea if they will be enforced outside of the major cities. A new law was just passed that makes it illegal to show beer commercials on tv between 7am -10pm and part 2 of the law will restrict what is depicted in beer commercials. This is all being done by the government to combat the rise in teenage drinking and problems related to alchohol.
But I don't know how the public will react when the weather warms and we can't relax with a beer on the park bench. Even if the sale and consumption of beer in the outdoor cafes is allowed, I think the majority of the people will be angry. Beer and food at those cafes is 2-3X the price in the stores and many people bring their own beer and a picnic to enjoy on a blanket under a tree.
Wow. Things aren't even that insane here. Restricting commercials? Come on now.Quote:
Originally Posted by JB
Isn't there a possibility of teen drinking getting worse with all these new laws? I know underage drinkers who do it simply because they are not supposed to. As soon as you tell someone 'you absolutely cannot do this.' What do you think is going to happen? Some decisions aren't very well thought out by governments-including our own. As far as the law goes, what happens to people who get caught or don't follow them? Like, what is/are the punishment(s)?
The proposed law on drinking in public is still a proposal, so far no idea on what penalty will be. As far as the tv ads go the tv stations are pretty careful not to violate the law and risk getting shut down.
And I can't imagine how these laws will curb underage drinking. So far there doesn't seem to be any enforcement of a legal drinking age and hey, it's Russia. It's not easy to make a living and who's going to ask for ID if there are no serious penalties for selling to underage customers? Some parents send their kids to the corner store to get bread and a bottle of beer for dinner, so it's not unusual like it would be here. When I was in the Far East we'd send the kids down to the corner beer kiosk with a few rubles and a big jar to get fresh beer for lunch.
There we go again - your ignorance is sure compensated by your imagination. "Russian tea" - tea with lemon - is a stupid Western stereotype - I've never seen anyone drink their tea with "lemon slices in sugar". Most people don't put any sugar in their tea - what the hell for, it spoils the taste. It's you, crazy Westerners, who wear your teeth on your key chain, it's you, who drink your tea with sugar.Quote:
Originally Posted by JB
It is and has always been illegal to drink (just about anything, including juices unless you're sipping it throw a straw) on the metro, so they can't possibly be passing a law on that cos it's already there. Get your facts straight.Quote:
Originally Posted by JB
P.S. I'll be keeping an eye on you, JB, and exposing your every lying attempt.
Have you come off your medication too early again VM?
Thereby setting us all an excellent example in parenting. Bravo, JB, encore!Quote:
Originally Posted by JB
Well VM I guess when I was in St. Petersburg I should have taken you up on that "charming" invitation you sent to my message box (darn I can't find the barfing smiley). We could have gone to tea so you could demonstrate for me how Russians don't put sugar (or sweetened lemons) in their tea. :roll:
Now if you can just convince all of my Russian relatives and guests to stop pouring so much sugar in their tea I could save a few rubles and have more room in my pantry!
And I don't remember seeing people drinking beer on the St Peterburg metro but in Moscow it is a daily ritual (along with riders kicking the empty bottles that roll around the car).
And as for parenting, I don't tell people of other cultures how to raise their kids in their own country.
I've got a feeling you're trying to insinuate something...Quote:
...and hey, it's Russia
Course you don't - show me an idiot who'd listen to a cowgirl. You are a cowgirl, aren't you? (Don't disappoint me, I'm counting on your being a cowgirl.)Quote:
And as for parenting, I don't tell people of other cultures how to raise their kids in their own country
You know, the first time I saw Americans drink tea I almost fainted - the amount of sugar your people put in their tea is unbelievable. But then, most Americans die of cardiovascular deseases...
You should see how much sugar Itatians shovel into one shot of esspresso on their noon break!
Of course I'm a cowgirl :wink:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/ ... -11NOV.jpg
I hope that is'nt rubber you have wrapped on your horn there JB.
rubber?
Oh, I thought you would know! Cowboys across America started taking rubber from an old innertube and wrapping strips around the horns on their saddles, years and years ago. This gives their ropes (lariets) grip just like rodeo cowboys and team ropers.
However this practice is severely frowned upon in buckaroo circles in Northern Califonia, Oregon, Nevada and Southern Idaho. These places hold to the original Spanish tradition of doing things and would never put rubber on their saddle horns. To do so would be a disgrace. Many times I have seen and heard a "buckaroo boss" tell some new guy, who is about to throw his saddle on a horse, "Before you ride for this outfit you had better cut the rubber of that horn". I even worked for a guy that made us all cut our back cinchas off too. Our horns are wrapped with "mule hide", it is really just crome tanned and split cowhide. It is white or grey, perhaps it is on your saddle in the photo, it is hard to see. Since it looks like you are carrying what looks to be a short, braided rawhide reata it should be safe to assume that you do not have a rubber wrapped horn. If you did, that reata would probably break the first time you roped a cow with it.
Anyway I am glad to see that you have the good sense and judgement to be a cowgirl! And a very pretty one too, I might add!
The saddle is an antique working saddle that was retired many years ago and brought out only for shows. All the appointments, including my dress, are exact reproductions of the rodeo equipment of a 1912 cowgirl. I was riding in the Salinas Rodeo with 3 friends (a matched group of 4). The only problem was matching the horses. The rodeo lasts 4 days and even though our horses matched on the 1st day, every day one of us had to get a new mount. The combination of screaming crowds, balloons and cannon fire (don't ask) was hard on the poor pony's nerves!
Thanks for the photo, JB. Could you clear something up for me, please? That graceful creature in the foreground is a horse and the big fat boletus growing on its back and trying to look like a person wearing a hat is you, right? Or is it the other way round? From what I've heard horses are lovely critters...Quote:
Originally Posted by JB
No silly, I'm the horse. :lol:
:lol: I leave for a weekend and this thread is no longer about drinking, but rather...horses. Nice. :lol:
We can go back to drinking. But then it's always so tempting to follow VM off topic.
Well here's how to make those sweet lemon slices that nobody in Russia really has with tea.......
Slice a whole lemon into very thin circles, then layer the slices with lots sugar in a glass jar or covered dish. Put in the fridge and after 2 days or so the lemon juice melts the sugar and makes a syrup. You can add sugar every day until the syrup is thick and the sugar no longer melts. Serve the slices in the syrup with tea.