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in reply to Re^5: How many continents have you visited?
in thread How many continents have you visited?

Did you also learn handling a kalashnikov at school? (no joke =)

Not in a school but later, being a student, at 18 yo, yes.

In many countries you can actually buy and even use AK-47, so I can't understand why do you find it so exceptional about soviets.

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Re^7: How many continents have you visited?
by LanX (Saint) on Jun 10, 2013 at 16:15 UTC
    > In many countries you can actually buy and even use AK-47, so I can't understand why do you find it so exceptional about soviets.

    Well, not in (West-)Germany and I doubt in other Western European countries. =)

    It's rather a taboo (or at least not PC) to let children play with weapons.

    Cheers Rolf

    ( addicted to the Perl Programming Language)

      a) 18 years old is not a child.

      b) there were strong rules and safety procedures.

      с) I actually meant USA.

      Even today, there is a mandatory military service in some countries, do not know about Germany in particular, but in Switzerland, for example, they are all obliged to undergo military training. The same is for Israel.

      And just to preanswer your possible question -- despite of mandatory military training in USSR, I wasn't in the army. I was declared unfit for combat due to medical issues (small weight/height ratio. I was what it is called 'nerd' nowadays, thin and weak).

        Priwjet Fisher!

        We were discussing school system in Russian classes and my teacher who grew up in Siberia told us that she needed help holding the AK47 when she was supposed to decompose it.

        Even in Switzerland you don't have military education at school or university. But yes they keep their guns at home after service, which is another source of ridicule for Germans. ;-)

        I'm not criticizing, you asked why its interesting for me, now you know! =)

        If you go to next YAPC we can discuss it in person.

        Cheers Rolf

        ( addicted to the Perl Programming Language)