Laura Rose-Saunders, a Student TRG member, concludes her travels in Russia and sends this special report for the TRG blog:
Many a time I have heard it said that it helps to be slightly mad when living in Russia and after spending nine months leaving the customs and manners of Moscow I would heartily agree. Although Russia may be similar to Britain in many ways culturally they are very different.
One of the things that I noticed right away was that in Russia you rarely use ‘Spasibo’ (Thank you), almost never say ‘pozhalsta’ (please) and when wanting to attract someone’s attention ‘izvenitie mnye pozhalsta’ (excuse me please) is replaced with either ‘Devushka!’ (Girl), ‘Molodoi chelovek!’ (Young man) or ‘Babushka!’ (Grandma) depending on the age and gender of the person you are addressing. Oh and you do not simply speak then wait politely the Russian approach is to shout as loud as is physically possible until the person responds.
At first this all seemed very rude to my English ears however I decided that the Russian system was far more effective especially when trying to order in a restaurant. When eating in a Russian restaurant it is very important to remember that your dining experience will be totally different from any you have ever had before. For one thing the waitress will usually appear after you have only just sat down and demand that you order, when you try to explain that you can’t order as you haven’t even opened the menu yet they tend to then storm off in a huff and not return for another hour or so. It is also important to never assume that because the dish you have ordered sounds similar to something you would eat in the UK that it will actually be like something you would eat in the UK. I once ordered a chicken burger with fries feeling that it was a fairly safe option however when it arrived the lettuce was replaced with cabbage, the cheese turned out to be very strong garlic sauce and I’m fairly sure that whatever meat the burger was it was neither chicken nor any other type of winged creature.
Before departing to Russia I had decided to live with a Russian family as to me it seemed a lot easier than trying to find a flat in Moscow. I had also been told by the company who organised my year abroad that if there were any problems they would sort them out. We were also told that the majority of us would be staying with little Old Russian ladies as they were most likely to have a spare room as their children had grown up and left. When I heard the words ‘little old lady’ I thought I would be living with a lovely, white haired old lady who would tell me stories about life in the SSSR while feeding me tea and biscuits. Mine turned out to be a lovely but very bossy, loud, opinionated middle aged woman who insisted on feeding me kasha (porridge) every morning. It was while living with my Khozaika (host) that I learnt that when entering a Russian house you must always take your shoes off, put on your chapotchku (slippers) and then wash your hands or else you would risk offending your host.
Another strange custom I noticed was that Russian people will not take money out of another person’s hand. When buying something in a shop it is usual to pay cash and simply place it on a special tray on the counter. I have heard stories of Russian Babushkas screaming when someone has tried to pay them by placing money into their hands. After regaling a teacher at school with this story she explained that it is because it is thought to be unlucky to pass money from hand to hand. She also explained that it is also considered unlucky to whistle indoors, if a spider runs in front of you then it means you will soon receive some news and that sitting at the corner of a table means that you will not marry for ten years.
Russia may be a strange country but she is far from being a dull and uninteresting one.
