Well, I just started thinking where on earth the Russianness would be an asset instead of liability…Can't really come up with lots of examples here, I think that "Englishness" is really a bit better asset))
Absolute honesty could be painful, that is for sure. In my case, there was certainly a lot of laziness and cowardice, refusing to make a choice or postponing it and then trying desperately to cope with situation that I have manoeuvred myself in. Well, as Germans so elegantly put it, Selber schuld.

If I may ask: "A valuable ballast" - in other countries, was it more valuable for yourself as individual (Weltanschauung etc.), or yourself as part of society (cultural circle, valuable connections etc.)? If the question is not too bad, of course.