Ok, this explains it and if you were in Russia at that young age, you see things differently.

I am fascinated by that part of the world.

This is weird. Why?

I first visited Russia as a 16 yr old student for two weeks and fell in love

Wow, this is even more weird. What was exactly that you fell in love with?

Belarus

This is a scary one as I hope you know it is an extension of Russia and it is ruled by Putin.