>to rethink your own culture's assumptions.

The shock Soviet people were getting from Western supermarkets and department stores, etc. was a significant stimulus for the "rethinking" :)

> The shock Soviet people were getting from Western supermarkets and department stores, etc.

I get this shocks everyday. I bought some apples to do a cake: they were tasteless and afer rubbing them they were mostly water. The rest of the fruits are mostly unriped. Watermellon is mostly water, with a water taste. Truly a shock

Yep. I was born in the USSR, and my mother still occasionally marvels at one doodad or another. The last one was a reusable bowl cover.