Not native, I'm born and raised in Montreal but we speak russian at home and I've gone to russian school on weekends until I was about 15 :) I've been in russia a couple times and it's really nice that people don't really notice i'm from abroad until I say some strange word that everyone understands around here like recyclage (recycling in french).
Last time I've been there was last winter (well, more like early spring, but it's still winter when there's snow on the ground, right?). Still wonderful. The only thing I don't understand is why your pubs and bars close so early. Perhaps last time was a bad day?
How come you're so deeply into the Russian language and culture? Are your parents Russian? Just say "ресайклинг", or "клининг", or whatever substantive you might derive from English. There's an odd obsession with English words in Russia currently - like it was with French at one point, I presume.until I say some strange word that everyone understands around here like recyclage (recycling in french).
Yes, that's exaclty what I do except I say 'ресиклаж' . Or stuff like 'пошли в даун таун '. I don't have many examples, but I remember getting a lot of weird looks in Russia with people asking me what I meant. Yeah, my parents are (kinda) russian, emigrated to Canada in the 90's. I say kinda because in the USSR, it was all one big country and my roots are actually Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian, Belorus and not so much russian but my parents grew up in Soviet Culture and only spoke russian so culturally, I say they're russian. It's easier than explaining my whole family history to anyone that asks :P