I'm becoming a foreign exchange student next year, and I assume that Russia will be the destination that I'll hopefully get, since it's not a very popular among study abroad students in high school. But I do assume that's where I'll be placed.
Anyway, I'm asking this question out of curiosity, not because of alarm or fear. I suppose what sparks this question the most is the fact that I have a Jewish surname. I do know that Jews were definitely not very well liked in the past in Russia and I think that now they're probably still not very favored, but have a more heightened sense of security.
At my study abroad orientation last weekend my mother met a woman who has a Russian husband. He's Jewish. According to her, he wasn't accepted into a university simply because he's a Jew. They told him "We already have a Jew. We don't want another", or something of that nature. The woman does not look that old, either. I don't know which year this happened to him or how old he is. I am aware that in Russia, as in other parts of the world, people aren't as politically correct as here in the U.S.
I haven't been to Belarus since I was 6 years old and my parents aren't Russians. We have relatives that are, but they haven't been back in a long time and have no wish to even visit. Therefore, they can't offer a lot of answers about this, since they also don't care and don't want to talk about it.
Anyway, you get the point of my question. I'm not a Jew, but as I mentioned, I have a common well-known Jewish last name. A lot of people think I am a Jew. I don't assume I'll get a lot of trouble for my name in Russia, actually. My mother is a little afraid, because she doesn't believe that pretty 30-year-old woman could be dating a "wrinkly middle-aged Russian man". "So it must have been recent," says mom.
Lol.
Additional Details:
Goal: Prove to my mother that I won't be shot, and that no one will release their bears from their cages to kill me.
For learning: Russian
Base language: English
Category: Culture
