Alexander is a 20 year old student at USC. He is currently a freshman, and is old for his grade because he spent an extra year in Russia, where he grew up his entire life. He said life there was very different and while he is good at English, he still struggles slightly as he is very new to the country. He talked about one holiday that Russia has that the US does not have:
“May 9th is victory day, like the Russian victory in WW2 when Russia went in to Berlin. Basically government spends a lot of money, its always sunny because government puts money and puts chemicals in clouds and clouds disappear, we do fireworks and major parades. Troops walking around in beautiful clothes, and military cars and planes fly on the main street. People also go out, and president gives speech. Young guys like me buy flowers and give to veterans to thank them”
He said this was a big holiday for them and it is something that he loved growing up because he got to see his military honored for their victory in the war. I find this holiday very intriguing, not the actual holiday itself but what he said about it always being sunny. I wonder if the government actually somehow affects the clouds there, or if it just always happens to be sunny and that is what they tell people.