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[Alexandr Korol]

or hotel lobby, no one looks at you with a nasty stare, judging how you look and who you are. No one cares who you are, in a good way, and you can go in however you look, and everyone is happy to see you and smiles. But in Russia, when you go into any restaurant, all the bartenders, waiters, everyone looks at you sideways: “Oh, here he is,” and they start... But it shouldn’t be like that, after all, you’re working, and this is your guest. I’m very sensitive, and I always felt that envy, some anger, judgment, and it’s quite aggressive. It’s the same as if I were to publish information not in Russia, but in America — America would have a kinder attitude toward my information. But in Russia, immediately a thousand judgments, a thousand complaints, they’ll latch onto any word and just try to tear you apart. That’s the difference. But again, this was back then. After the pandemic, after everything that happened, a lot has changed, and a lot has deteriorated. It’s not the same New York it used to be, maybe it will recover, but it’s no longer what it was before. So what I’m telling you now is the story of 2017. Maybe now, you know, in Russia, in St. Petersburg, people have become kinder. I would like that, I hope for that, but I don’t know what needs to happen for there to be no more of that angry, judgmental stare, that tension. Everyone is tense because of that, and everyone makes each other tense, and it’s all about who’s tense more. But in New York, there was none of that. You can wear whatever you want, go out, eat a sandwich, listen to music with a pom-pom hat, and everyone smiles at you. It doesn’t matter to anyone, such freedom. But in St. Petersburg, I go out now: one person looks at me crooked, another one, a third, a fourth, gossip, envy, nasty things. And only bad things. No one will say anything good, only bad. They will only think bad things. And I, imagine, I feel everything that people think. That’s New York. What else did it give me? It taught me to treat money correctly, that if you want something expensive, earn more money, and that you need to do everything well, produce quality things, and buy quality things. Well, and in general, the attitude towards money is different there, and after that, you appreciate everything differently. That’s why I decided to buy land in Russia, because I understand that America is the future of Russia, and that in America, you can’t buy anything anymore, or you’ll buy it for millions of dollars, and since it’s not valued in Russia yet, you have to buy everything urgently. And before the pandemic, I started buying land and recommended it to all my friends.