Over two weeks in the heart of Russia has taught me the following:
1. They love flowers over here, a store every 100 yards or so in Ufa. A common gift for women, never for men.
2. Happy, polite chatter is not the Russian way. Other than greeting the cleaning lady, one doesn't throw around a lot of "Good Day" and "How are you" with a sing song voice. The locals sure don't. If you ask how someone is, it's usually when they are in a cast. Communication is a serious, at times dour, operation. A gruff "Hello" is all you need, if anything.
3. Continuing that dour communication theme, the Russian language itself is more gruff than sing-song. Listening to a translator speak the same message in English with a smile on her voice and then barking the same commands to a third party in Russian makes you wonder if it is the same message. They never take it personally.
4. If you go to a sauna, be prepared to be smacked on the back with a birch tree branch. It's much hotter and wetter than any sauna you are used to, and you will be given a wool hat to make sure your ears don't get scorched. I recommend that you wear it.
5. DECAF a 4-Letter word. If you are a decaf drinker in Russia, you are out of luck. If your server has endless patience and actually figures out that you are requesting coffee with no caffeine, you will be considered an idiot from that point on.
6. I wouldn't recommend driving in Russia. Create your own lane, prepare for contact, and don't expect to see cops until AFTER the accident. Traffic lights are a mere suggestion to the locals.
7. Upgrade??? National airline Aeroflot has significantly improved its fleet. They do not, however, have any IDEA what an upgrade is. Trying to get from coach into biz class that I know had openings was a trip back in time to days of endless red tape. Working with 2 employees that were genuinely trying to please, the best they could come up with was to cancel the entire itinerary, pull the luggage from the system, and start from scratch. Try not to use the line "In America we do this all the time..."
8. Russian Orthodox Christmas is in January 7, Not December 25.
9. Police women wear skirts and high heels. In the dead of winter. No lie.
10. Multi-tasking young professional women do not push designer strollers while running errands. They pull sleds with their bundled up little cherubs as they do their shopping.
11. A single word will save you headaches down the road. Ask your taxi driver "Skolka Rubles?" before driving anywhere. "Skolka" means "How much." Will save you a fortune over the course of your stay.
12. Many Russian signs are English words, like Toilet for example. Remember that in Russain, an "H" is an "N" and a "B" is a "V" and "C's" are "S's", and you will have a fighting chance.
Dos-vee-DAHN-ye moy droogs
1. They love flowers over here, a store every 100 yards or so in Ufa. A common gift for women, never for men.
2. Happy, polite chatter is not the Russian way. Other than greeting the cleaning lady, one doesn't throw around a lot of "Good Day" and "How are you" with a sing song voice. The locals sure don't. If you ask how someone is, it's usually when they are in a cast. Communication is a serious, at times dour, operation. A gruff "Hello" is all you need, if anything.
3. Continuing that dour communication theme, the Russian language itself is more gruff than sing-song. Listening to a translator speak the same message in English with a smile on her voice and then barking the same commands to a third party in Russian makes you wonder if it is the same message. They never take it personally.
4. If you go to a sauna, be prepared to be smacked on the back with a birch tree branch. It's much hotter and wetter than any sauna you are used to, and you will be given a wool hat to make sure your ears don't get scorched. I recommend that you wear it.
5. DECAF a 4-Letter word. If you are a decaf drinker in Russia, you are out of luck. If your server has endless patience and actually figures out that you are requesting coffee with no caffeine, you will be considered an idiot from that point on.
6. I wouldn't recommend driving in Russia. Create your own lane, prepare for contact, and don't expect to see cops until AFTER the accident. Traffic lights are a mere suggestion to the locals.
7. Upgrade??? National airline Aeroflot has significantly improved its fleet. They do not, however, have any IDEA what an upgrade is. Trying to get from coach into biz class that I know had openings was a trip back in time to days of endless red tape. Working with 2 employees that were genuinely trying to please, the best they could come up with was to cancel the entire itinerary, pull the luggage from the system, and start from scratch. Try not to use the line "In America we do this all the time..."
8. Russian Orthodox Christmas is in January 7, Not December 25.
9. Police women wear skirts and high heels. In the dead of winter. No lie.
10. Multi-tasking young professional women do not push designer strollers while running errands. They pull sleds with their bundled up little cherubs as they do their shopping.
11. A single word will save you headaches down the road. Ask your taxi driver "Skolka Rubles?" before driving anywhere. "Skolka" means "How much." Will save you a fortune over the course of your stay.
12. Many Russian signs are English words, like Toilet for example. Remember that in Russain, an "H" is an "N" and a "B" is a "V" and "C's" are "S's", and you will have a fighting chance.
Dos-vee-DAHN-ye moy droogs
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