The ancient game of chess became popular in Russia as a way of spending long, dark winter evenings. Two famous Grand Masters of Chess who are Russian are Karpov and Spassky. Chess is Russia's national pastime. Children learn to play chess when they are young. Most schools have chess clubs which are very popular.

The Russian children play sports such as ball hockey, ice hockey, and soccer. They also adore going to the beach and swimming. The girls take great pride in helping their mothers and in dressing up. They are no different than you. They have similar dreams of future and success. They are Russia's future as you are America's future.

They absolutely, positively love the Beatles and especially the song "Yesterday." Even though a Russian may not know English, they still can recite all the words. In the mornings and evenings, MTV is on so they see all kinds of different groups. Actually, we pick up three different types of MTV depending on the day of the week -- MTV North America, MTV Asia, and MTV Europe. They are all different but quite good. Of course this is all for the younger generation. Older Russians sing folk ballads of life and love that date way back in history. Many Russians are musically oriented and can play the guitar, piano, and balalaika (Russian folk guitar). Russian rap music is popular here amongst the youth. Dance music is starting to really become popular as well.