Every region on Earth has its own distinct customs and culture. And as time marches on and the world becomes more and more globalized, this way of life changes, and some are left feeling nostalgic for the recent past.
The ‘Scenic Depictions of Slavic Life’ Facebook page is a corner of the internet that shares memes and pics about Slavic day-to-day life, centered around so-called Gopnik culture, the post-Soviet era, and spending time shelling peas with grandma, surrounded by countless wall rugs. Scroll down to check out some of the most amusing and confusing pics that were featured, and don’t forget to upvote your fave ones.
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Bored Panda got in touch with Matei Tabacu, the founder of ‘Scenic Depiction of Slavic Life,’ the offshoot of his original and immensely popular ‘Squatting Slavs in Tracksuits’ social media project. He was kind enough to tell us all about the history of the entire project, and why Slavic memes are such a big hit on the internet. Read on for the full interview.
More info: Facebook (SDSL) | Facebook (SSIT) | Instagram (SDSL) | Instagram (SSIT) | Instagram (Store) | SquattingSlavs.org
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#3 Snoop Dogg After One Week In Bulgaria
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Matei told Bored Panda that ‘Squatting Slavs in Tracksuits’ is the first and largest Slavic humor page on Facebook. He started it all the way back in May 2015. He told us that he comes from a Slavic country and couldn’t find anything similar on the internet at the time, so he decided to create the first page of its kind.
One year later, he decided to branch out and started a whopping three more Facebook pages: ‘Scenic Depiction of Slavic Life,’ ‘Babushka,’ and ‘Lada Life.’ The ‘Lada Life’ account, for example, is the largest Lada car page on Facebook, and according to the founder is “even bigger than the official page.” And it’s true!
However, Matei didn’t confine himself just to Facebook. He also created two Instagram accounts, @squattingslavs and @scenic_depictions. All of them have grown organically, through viral content. That and the fact that the memes help “gather people from all over the world” is something that Matei is very proud of.
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#5 Balkan Stonehenge. Picklehenge
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#6 De Niro From Serbia
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Just two weeks ago, Matei also opened an online store, the ‘Squatting Slavs Store.’ “I am the only person who has been and is involved in the entire network, including the store. I have been doing this every day for the past eight years without a break,” he told Bored Panda.
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“The majority of people who appreciate Slavic memes are from Slavic countries, and they can relate to all the memes I post. The other part of my fans is not from Slavic countries, but they find it to be an interesting trend and lifestyle,” Matei said, adding that he personally enjoys memes that “depict the pleasant reality of this culture, the fact that we can solve anything even without money.”
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#8 Slavic Science
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#9 Fishing In Poland
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According to Matei, this mastery of DIY is where the ‘Slavic Science’ section comes from. “Even if something breaks, we can fix it with whatever we have at home,” he said.
“Other memes depict the fact that even if some of us start making money and drive more expensive cars, we still eat ‘burek’ and ‘cevapi’ and other traditional Slavic dishes. I like most of the Slavic memes because we are naturally funny and make jokes about everything that happens to us,” he told Bored Panda.
The ‘Scenic Depictions of Slavic Life’ Facebook page is very widely known. At the time of writing it had over 547k likes and more than 567k followers. The curators invite people to “dance in the rain, squat in the rain, live Slavic,” referring to the extremely well-known Squatting Slav meme.
The account “is a satellite of the” ‘Squatting Slavs in Tracksuits’ network. The original SSIT page has a whopping 1.3 million followers on Facebook.
#10 Wolverine After One Week In Bulgaria
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#11 Perfection
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The Squatting Slav meme has been a hallmark of internet culture for over a decade. Know Your Meme notes that the question as to why many Eastern European people stereotypically squat while wearing tracksuits first started appearing in the spotlight in late 2012, with the rise of the r/slavs_squatting subreddit and discussions on the notorious 4chan website. The meme only gained more popularity from then on.
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The Squatting Slav meme’s roots lie in Gopnik culture. One meme, featured on Know Your Meme, describes a Gopnik (the plural being ‘Gopniki’) as “Russian white trash, commonly found on the outskirts of Moscow and in towns throughout.” They stereotypically wear tracksuits and many wear hoods or hats.
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#17 Big Biznis Here
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#18 Real Slavic Minimalism
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It is a pejorative term used in Russia and elsewhere “to refer to aggressive young men of lower-class suburbs coming from families of poor education and income.” Gopniks are quite similar to British Chavs. Urban Dictionary adds that Gopniks drink outdoors and can engage in petty crime. And the only difference between them and Chavs may be that the former speak Russian.
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, Slavs mainly live in eastern and southeastern Europe. However, they also extend across northern Asia, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Slavs are subdivided into three main groups: East Slavs, West Slavs, and South Slavs. Meanwhile, Slavs can also be subdivided into two main groups based on religion: the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
#19 Slovakian Hospital Breakfast At Its Finest
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East Slavs include Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarussians. West Slavs are comprised of Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Wends. While South Slavs are made up of Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Montenegrins. Encyclopædia Britannica notes that Bulgarians are often designated as South Slavs, as they speak a Slavic language, even though they’re of mixed origin like the Hungarians.
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The Eastern Orthodox Church includes Russians, most Ukrainians, most Belarussians, most Bulgarians, Serbs, and Macedonians. While the Slavs associated with the Roman Catholic Church include Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Croats, Slovenes, some Ukrainians, and some Belarussians.
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#26 Slav Soccer Games
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Diggit Magazine notes that the popularity of the Squatting Slav meme has reminded many people of how similar their cultural backgrounds, and childhoods, are. “How they all have ‘babushkas’ (grandmothers) who make ‘kompots’ (a non-alcoholic sweet beverage made from fruit) and how they are all very used to squatting.”
However, the meme’s popularity has grown overseas, too, especially in Canada, the UK, and the US.
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#29 Chandler Bing After 6 Months In Hungary
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Both the SDSL and SSIT pages sell Slavic meme-related merchandise. Many of the products clearly support Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022. However, some of the merch appears to feature the hammer and sickle device used by the Soviet Union. This is something that many people whose families suffered under the regime might find to be in poor taste. However, the founder of the SDSL and SSIT projects primarily seems to focus on humor, lightheartedness, and chuckling at stereotypes.
#31 You Are Not A Real Slav If Your Refrigerator Doesn’t Look Like That
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#34 Poland, Łódź
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#36 Bulgaria
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#41 Johny Depp After Two Months In Czech
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#42 Аlive Again: Sofia Edition
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#45 Bulgarian Aesthetic Morning Ritual
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#46 Messi After One Week In Serbia
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#50 The Most Slavic Photo In History
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#51 Growing Up In A Remote Industrial Town, That Felt Very Relatable ?
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#58 Eastern European Police After After End Of Shift
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#60 Meanwhile In Ua/Kharkiv
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#61 Hint: Yugoslavia
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#63 One Of Kherson’s Liberators ?? ❤️
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#65 When Slav Wants To Have A Better View.. He Cuts The Hole On His Balcony! Split, Croatia
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#67 Room Rental In Slovakia. Absolute Slavic Minimalism
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#68 Slavspresso!
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#69 Salt Bae After A Week In Serbia
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#71 8 Am Czechia
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#73 Turning The TV On In Hungary
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#74 Big Biznis Here
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#76 Perspective
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#79 Slavic Science
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#80 Teaching Maths In Hungary
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#83 Slav Carpet In Bulgarian Train Circa 2003
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#84 Serbia
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#85 Lunch With A View
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#86 Play Station In Croatia
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#87 Dj Khaled After One Week In Slovakia
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#88 Hungary, Budapest Downtown
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#89 Thor After A Week In Bulgaria
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#92 Guess The Country!
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#94 If Sweden Was In Eastern Europe
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#95 Once Upon A Time
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#96 Slavic Clothing Booth
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#97 Jack Sparrow After 2 Weeks In Bulgaria
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#98 Real Slav In Stress Situation
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#99 Vin Diesel After A Month In Bulgaria
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#100 Silvester Stallone 1 Year In Bulgaria
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#101 Bulgaria
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#102 ? Yugonostalgia
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#103 Vegeta After 3 Weeks In Serbia
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#105 Slavic Bride’s Father At 2pm
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#106 Big Biznis Here!
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Source: boredpanda.com