just eastern european things:
having a drawer full of plastic bags and storing plastic bags in another plastic bag
uncomfortable family reunions for every single holiday where everyone brings ridiculous amounts of food and several 2 litre bottles of soda
having to finish your food every time because you or your parents paid for it and if you paid for it you have to eat it
homemade wine from plastic bottles that your family or your uncle’s neighbours’ wife’s cousin made in the countryside
cheap alcohol and cigarettes
foreign men always coming to your country and declaring ah yes i heard that eastern european women are beautiful
that one relative your mom hates and who she always makes polite but slightly salty conversation with at reunions but then after a few glasses of homemade wine you know they’ll get into an argument
your parents’ and grandparents’ revolution/war/army stories that you’ve heard a thousand times before
those red plastic candle holders that melt with the candle but everyone is still buying to burn underneath a picture of jesus??
crochet placemats everywhere
‘persian’ carpets that have been in the family forever. everyone always trips on them but there are always the persian carpets
your grandmother has at least one plastic statue of virgin mary in her house somewhere and at least one wood painting of jesus
tiny pocket-size, laminated pictures of saints that your grandmother always buys at church and give to everyone every time they visit
the eternal fascination of every adult with the news on tv. one news hour ends? switch to another channel for the exact same news
the group of old women gathered outside on a bench, there is always a bench and there is always old ladies and they always tell you that you’ve grown so much since they last saw you even though it was just last week
the cars are parked on the sidewalks, the cars are parked on the street, to the point where you’re not exactly sure where you’re supposed to be walking
there is always a queue and it’s always eternal
a bowl of plastic fruit??
your grandparents giving you money for your birthday ‘to buy yourself some cakes/sweets’ and you having to pretend you don’t want it ‘no come on you don’t have to’ before inevitably accepting it ‘you really didn’t have to thank you’
spending that money on cheap alcohol
as soon as it hits 24 degrees everyone is out grilling food, in the back yard, in the park, in the cemetery, on top of a soviet-time apartment building…
these plastic things on every table always in godawful floral or fruit patterns
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janainaart
