The Confused Host Says "Welcome"

Like a lot of bloggers I can be a bit obsessive about checking my stats. I mean, I write it and I hope you read it. I like to know that with the world wide web as my platform I can be read by people all over the world. I think it's awesome. I've gotten hits from all over the world. Whether it was when I had a run of readers from Australia after reviewing a book from an Australian writer, or the odd hit from Denmark or Germany, it's always a good time. I have to admit that I'm a bit confused by the latest development. I'm serious. I didn't see this one coming.

It seems that over the last few days, I've had a mass of hits from Russia. I'm not really sure why that would be. I don't write in Russian. I don't even know the Cyrillic alphabet. Admittedly, if someone wanted to teach me I'd love to learn but that does nothing to change what I've already written. I'm a little bit flattered and a lot lost. I'm not sure what the appeal of a blog written in English that consists primarily of reviews of works written in the English language would have there, so I'm just wondering if someone can tell me what the appeal is.

As an aside, I seriously mean it when I say I'd like to learn to speak and read Russian. I have a degree in history and a dream of writing some kind of masterwork about the world wars, with research done in English, Russian (which I don't speak or read), German (which I don't speak or read), French (which I don't speak or read) and Japanese (which I don't speak or read). Learning your language would be a step in the right direction. It would be pretty cool. Russian is the language of Peter the Great and Josef Stalin. It's the language of Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn and Leo Tolstoy. And I hear it's also a great language to swear in. Seriously. I'm not sure how realistic that would be, but it would be pretty cool.

So, I guess I'm wondering. If you're a Russian and you're reading my blog why? Don't take that as a bad comment I'm just wondering. Is there an American ex-patriot community there that is interested in American science fiction? Is there an interest in American authors in Russia? Is there something that appeals in Russia content wise? I'm trying to process this here. If you're a Russian and you're reading this blog please leave a comment and let me know why you're here.

There is another aspect to this. I'm a child of the Cold War. There is a strong distrust of a person like myself and the former Soviet Union. I know that the people of modern day Russia are not the Communists of the Eighties when I was a wee little Jimbo. Let's face it though. The memories are still there and as a kid who was reading way too much at far too early an age and who knew what a nuclear missile was before I knew that there was such a thing an attractive girl. This is a wee bit creepy as well. 

On the other hand, I've always been a fan of good vodka and conversation.  Also, although I have mentioned political opinions here this isn't really a political blog, nor have I mentioned anything about current day international relations that I remember. So it's not like Russians have any reason to hate me personally.  It's just weird.

So seriously, let's have a roll call. Sound off people. Tell me where you're from and what brings you here. I want to know what you're thinking. Let me know what brings you to my blog.

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