# Did I ever tell you about the time I was an exchange student from the Soviet Union? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876 "2014-04-24T17:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/21 "2014-05-20T18:35:27Z")
In Soviet Russia, Red Lobster eat _you_! What a country! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/22 "2014-05-26T22:02:35Z")
I assumed you married that lovely girl. Instead, you should have. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/23 "2014-05-26T22:16:19Z")
Of **course** Sauron was from the USSR, Lord of the Rings makes so much more sense now! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/24 "2014-05-27T08:15:28Z")
Funny story, thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/25 "2014-05-27T10:01:02Z")
Hah, nice one. I would have been stressed that someone I knew would have been there, recognised me and called out. All would have ended in shite very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/26 "2014-05-27T10:14:31Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Don’t forget it is Red Lobster! What **Sauron** doesn’t tell you is that, in fact, he _is a Commie spy_, and that was a contact made between his handler by hiding it in plain sight. I’d like to see just _what was written_ on that reciept, mister! I give you kudos for taking a live drop in person under such a ruse! See? He finally comes clean. Tripler Ain’t no statute of limitations on the Espionage Act, товарищ! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/27 "2014-05-27T11:17:03Z")
Very well told! When I was studying in Slovakia in 1996 I had a British friend who hitchhiked a lot and would always put on a silly accent and make up strange stories about her life, like leaving her husband three children behind in Zubrovnik to find work in the host city. She was in her early twenties, so that made her act less believable and more fun for her getting the to play along. I did the same a couple of times but couldn’t quite put my heart into it. However, I did once get comped a hell of a lot of free champagne after grabbing some bloke at the bar in (I forget where, maybe Budapest?) and saying “I just told that sleazy dude with a gun that I’m married; pretend you’re my husband.” We ended the evening the parents of five children with one on the way, which we’d just discovered, hence the champagne, mostly paid for by sleazy gun-guy. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Don’t forget it is Red Lobster! Ooh, nice catch! ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/28 "2014-05-30T13:15:37Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > What **Sauron** doesn’t tell you is that, in fact, he _is a Commie spy_, and that was a contact made between his handler by hiding it in plain sight. I’d like to see just _what was written_ on that reciept, mister! I give you kudos for taking a live drop in person under such a ruse! > > See? He finally comes clean. > > Tripler > Ain’t no statute of limitations on the Espionage Act, товарищ! 😉 Okay, you got me. There WAS a secret message on the receipt. It was written in invisible ink (specifically, juice from the lemon wedges they gave us to squeeze over our popcorn shrimp). The message was: “Reagan’s nose pimple really IS cancer!” Also, the waitress was Keri Russell from _The Americans_. Finally! After almost 30 years, the lie is over! God, I feel so _ **free** _ now! Too bad I’m about to be deported as a Soviet spy. Anybody seen **Snowboarder Bo**? ---
**Author:** ![ejj1955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@ejj1955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ejj1955)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/29 "2014-06-20T18:26:32Z")
I don’t think anyone has mentioned that Romanov was the family name of the last Russian emperor, so it’s just possible that you were assumed to be exiled Russian royalty and perhaps even the surviving heir to the throne, if it weren’t for that whole inconvenient Communist thing. And, of course, you might be toting around a few priceless Faberge eggs while in exile. ---
**Author:** ![DemonSpawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@DemonSpawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonSpawn)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876/30 "2014-06-27T18:48:00Z")
Anastasia lives! Alert the press! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time-i-was-an-exchange-student-from-the-soviet-union/686876.md?page=1)