About Russia » Way of life and traditions
Way of life and traditions
Nevertheless, Russians managed to retain a certain degree of intrinsic qualities of the national character that you won’t find anywhere else. It is very interesting to see how these peculiarities affect and transform well-defined subculture groups, making them inherently “Russian”. The differences are less noticeable among younger people who seem to have almost completely embraced the western lifestyle, but the generation of people born in the second half of the 20th century still has some peculiar mix of the old Soviet attitudes and the modern western lifestyle.
You will meet middle-class families with all the standard “western-like” wishes, attitudes, and lifestyle. You might see an old woman who looks absolutely like your old quiet neighbor Mrs Smith, until she shoves the way with her elbows shouting to get in train before you do. You will be invited for a dinner by your business partner and be surprised at his taking offence in your unwillingness
to drink this last fifth glass of vodka. You might be rejected by fancy Moscow clubs and warmly welcomed in the family of the guy who will be giving you a taxi ride. Your new Russian girlfriend might not like your “metrosexual” attitude, and your tour-guide will be truly amazed that you think it was not Russians who won the Second World War. If you are invited to go hunting with Russians, you’ll probably end up going to the country for 3 days to have a good time with friends, drink alcohol, eat good food and actually do about 3 hours of real hunting (if that). If you are invited to go fishing - it’s almost the same as with hunting, but you might end up dropping the bottle of vodka in the lake and spend the rest of the time trying to find it. In Russia if you happen to get sick, you will be offered the national remedy: vodka if your soul doesn’t feel so good and vodka with pepper if you are truly, physically ill. All these are generalizations and exaggerations, of course, but the point is that your encounter with Russians is going to be very interesting, because of the hidden little differences, which you are yet to discover. Just take it easy and be open-minded: Russians are good-natured people with certain beliefs, which may seem strange at the first sight, but quite understandable if you look a bit closer.