Cultural Differences

[1HappyGuy 45]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the water thing. I understand their obsession since their tap water contains so many heavy metals that it isn't safe to drink. Of course that isn't a problem here but convincing them of that is troublesome. I've bought more bottled water in the last year and a half than I have in over 30 years previously. We now have a bottled water service and a water filter on our tap in the kitchen. It horrifies my wife if I drink directly from the tap without having it filtered.

To me, not being able to drink from the tap seems strange. It will take time.

My wife likes to let ice cream melt a little before eating it, instead of eating it cold. I started getting the same ideas about cold things while in Ukraine this past three weeks regarding cold water or cold beverages and also sitting in cool spot with the wind. These will all give you some type of illness according to her, her Dad, her brother, etc.

I suppose this would be true if my overall health was not good to begin with. But, I'm not going to give up my ice cold beer on a summer afternoon. That's just too good.

[Satellite 1]

Do you have a mirror by the door for this case?

Actually we do, but it was there before we moved into the apartment. What is the deal behind that? We both use it as a last minute check to see how we look before we go out the door.

The cleanliness of common areas of apartment buildings is appalling and continues to amaze me.

The thing that amazed me, is why the apartment common area and elevator has to be used as a bathroom!

Mops do not seem to exist in Russia either. Rags wrapped around a stick.

I have to agree here. One of my presents for my mother in law was a modern mop with those replaceable wipes and a button to press to release the liquid soap. For some reason they prefer to wash the floor with a rag and it looks awfully straining on the back.

Where in Russia did you go that you didn't see mops? You come to conclusions based on some limited exposures to Russia that you had, probably in some dumpy places.

I spent about 5 months in Russia in various towns and have to agree with Russ on this one.

Ouch, fresh juice not from concentrate is much more expensive.

Not too mention difficult to find to begin with. We usually just buy fruit in bulk of the farms in the central valley in California or Costco and make the juice manually. Also very expensive in terms of money and time.

She is constantly criticizing the quality of the food we buy and goes to extraordinary steps to insure we have healthy foods. I want to believe that our food is safe and healthy and wonder if anyone else has this experience.

You won’t die from eating our food. But Russian food is what we call organic here. Mostly because they lack the resource for all those chemicals we put in our food and like the Europeans I am sure they have strict laws about this kind of stuff as well.

My fiancée won't drink anything with ice in it or very cold drinks in general as she KNOWS this will give her a cold.

When the temperature reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit you quickly get over it!

Otherwise everyone would be buried in the mud!

Why is there so much mud in Russia? Summer and winter for that matter. What do we do differently here? Landscaping, gardening, better drainage, etc?

Edited because VJ doesn't allow this many quote blocks So I split it into two posts.

Edited June 15, 2007 by Satellite

[Satellite 1]

I don't know - maybe there's good water in Ohio, but if you pour yourself a glass of tap California water, you will see a lot of scary white residue in it, and no one in this world will ever convince me that it's safe to drink.

Just bottled for us unless we are cooking then boiling works just as well.

Growing vegetables here is very common.

Financially this doesn’t make sense in America. For example if you calculate the expense of traveling to an American “dacha” and buying one to begin with, plus your labor in growing the food, why you probably have already spent enough money to buy yourself a lifetime supply of organic food. But my parents still keep a small garden in America, it mostly a hobby rather than a source of food as in Russia.

The life expectancy of Americans is much higher than Russians. 75/81 to 59/73 (source: CIA) - men live 16 years longer in the States, which I guess is good for your health.

Our high life expectancy is certainly not attributable to our “better food” perhaps better medical facilities and the like, and too much drinking in Russia to explain their numbers.

Mushroom gathering is a common thing here, and I've heard so is mushroom poisoning...

Most of America got blessed with many poisonous mushrooms, berries, and the like which is not so common in Russia. Although Siberia has other pests like mosquitoes and Encephalitis / Lyme disease carrying ticks and mites!

[mrsushi66 0]

No "street clothes" on the bed only house clothes.

Mirror by the door, a must.

House slippers, yes.

No kissing over the threshold of a door.

Very cold drinks can be bad for the digestion.

Eating in cafes is for catching up with friends once in a while, not a way of life.

[KGSodie 0]

One thing that I do without thinking is to whistle whenever a tune enters my head. When I was with Natasha in Russia, whenever I would whistle EVERYONE would shush me! It will be a very difficult habit to break. I was told that it prevents good financial fortune from entering a house......

Edited June 15, 2007 by KGSodie

[Satellite 1]

I was told that it prevents good financial fortune from entering a house......

Only if you do it inside the house as I understand.

[Chuckles 0]

Everything American is 'BAD', everything Russian is 'GOOD'

[Thomas-n-Elena 0]

I'll start us off......

Tapochki.

For those that don't know, tapochki are little slippers, could be flip-flop type sandals, could be like grandpa's old house shoes, maybe even the fluffy pink Hello Kitty snuggly ones that are popular for 12-year-old girls in Asia... but you MUST wear them in the house instead of your "outside" shoes.

You've all seen the T.V. shows where the Japanese family walks into the house and the first thing they do is take off their shoes..... well, Russians do that too. Get used to it. And, don't forget, or else you may end up on your hands and knees with a towel and bucket full of hot soapy water!

Elena has regular everyday ones plus if we have company she has special ones. She didnt understand when she got here and I walk around in bare feet all the time but my feet get ridiculously hot all the time.

[Thomas-n-Elena 0]

This looks like fun. I laughed about the slippers at the door and yes, there are sets of slippers at my door now. But, remember it is our custom in America to wear shoes throughout the house. That is a cultural difference.

With my wife it seems that she needs to have fruit juice that doesn't come from concentrate. I don't see much of a difference except the price. Ouch, fresh juice not from concentrate is much more expensive.

I am also wondering if they get better information about our foods that we do, or if it is just government propaganda (over there) about their foods. My wife is convinced all of our foods are somehow contaminated with hormones, toxins and other unhealthy bacteria. She is constantly criticizing the quality of the food we buy and goes to extraordinary steps to insure we have healthy foods. I want to believe that our food is safe and healthy and wonder if anyone else has this experience.

My wife is from Siberia so she was totally amazed when I went to the grocery store and brought home fresh strawberries, she said I spent too much money until I showed her that the strawberries were 5 lbs for 5 dollars. She told me that to get 3kg of strawberries at home would cost almost $50.

[Satellite 1]

She told me that to get 3kg of strawberries at home would cost almost $50.

Food prices are very seasonal in Russia. But even in Siberia during the short strawberry season during the summer, a kilogram of strawberries went for only a few dollars, especially if you buy it from the poor pensioners who bring it from the villages! Much different story in the winter of course. Some things you can't get at all during the winter.

[Kharkov_Natalie 0]

I think I am the first American woman to add to this discussion... I live here in Ukraine so some of these cultural differences I have already picked up on and they don't bother me.... I'll post those that I like and those that I don't

Positive Cultural Differences:

Tapochki -- makes it a lot easier to keep everything clean!

Vegetables -- my husband eats vegetables more than meat. Most of the American men I know don't eat a lot of vegetables

(I know that there are many that probably do.... I just don't know them!) The reason I like this is because I eat

healthier too.

Hot Tea --- Being from Louisiana and Texas, I never drank hot tea. It really does make you feel better if you have a cold.

However, I was really glad to see Nestea Ice Tea in the stores recently!!!

Chivalry -- I am not saying that American men are not chivalrous. But in my experience, Russian men are much more. I never

have to carry bags, luggage or anything slightly heavy with my husband around. Russian men extend their hand to

me on public transportation (if they know me and sometimes if they don't and they see I have heavy bags.)

Fruit -- If I give most Russians a choice between a snickers bar or fruit, they will choose fruit. I feel that this is a positive

as they are very health conscious (as is understandable given the medical situation here) and eat much better than

we do. My husband eats 3 or 4 different kinds of fruit a day.

Food -- Food here is organic and much better for you. I return to the States and without eating much differently can pack

on 15 pounds in 2 months. There might be some truth to the hormones, chemicals, etc that they say are in our

food.

Washing hands -- My husband makes sure that the first thing I do upon entering the house (after removing my shoes) is to

wash my hands. I wash my hands here way more than I ever did in the States.

Juice -- My husband drinks juice constantly. He is amazed that I never drank it.... of course, now I do.... he is always

making me drink it.

Negative Cultural Differences:

Windows -- Leaving a window open and letting the wind in can be fatal!!! (Thank God my husband isn't as drastic on this point

as some Russians are)

Cleanliness --I do know some Russians who keep things much cleaner than I do, but for the most part their standard

of cleanliness when it comes to dishes (dish detergent is optional!) and houses is much lower than mine.

Hygeniene -- Again, some take baths everyday, use deodorant,etc. However, many believe that shampoo and soap are

chemicals that are bad for your skin and hair. My husband and I are always fighting on how often he should

bathe and wash his hair. Amazingly enough, his hair only looks dirty after about 4 days... mine the second day

of not washing it is a grease pit! He says it is because I wash it too much... maybe they know what we do not!

I tell him he should use soap and shampoo daily and he questions me on why not hourly?? Never-ending

battle.

Food -- My husband and his family will leave food out on the stove for days and eat it without a problem. If they do put it

in the refrigerator, the leave it on a plate with another plate on top of it. I have tried to teach them to use my

tupperware, but they complain that it is plastic and therefore bad! What really bugs me is when I throw old food

away and they get it out of the trash and hide it under the beds from me... then I find it a few days later when it

starts to smell - sigh! Fortunately, the family is heading back to Siberia soon! (They were here for the wedding!)

Superstitions - There are too many to name... but my most recent favorite is that you shouldn't get married in May (I did)!

Some of the older women I know (including my mother-in-law) are convinced that my marriage is doomed!

The most amazing thing for me is that I realize that most of the differences between my husband and I (so far) are male/female differences. Of course, we are both Christians, so we are both very like-minded in our morals and values. But, I don't feel huge cultural differences in us. Of course, much remains... like having children and bringing him to the States for a visit....

Edited June 16, 2007 by Kharkov_Natalie

[Milenka 0]

Natalie,

Your Sergey is pretty similar to my Sergey except for the leaving food out thing, he and his family never do that, but I wouldn't like it either!

I grew up with Russian parents so I didn't have to adjust much. I do like tapochki, and people in Poland wear them too.

Seryozha usually takes a shower every other day, in the summer more often But the worst is on the bus or metro when there always seem to be a lot of people who haven't showered in at least a week!

I have never been to Siberia, my Seryozha is from Moscow, and we usually buy all fruits and vegetables in "rynek" it's definitely cheaper. He says that there aren't chemicals and horomones in the food because they are too expensive, not sure if that is true or not, but that is his theory...

One of the funniest things he says, when we are practicing English that some older meat for instance is "bearded" he might say something like "Mila, we need to throw away the bearded chicken" I am not sure where he came up with that...but it really makes me laugh...

Overall we are very similar, except for the male/female differences

Edited June 16, 2007 by Milenka

[Milenka 0]

Also wanted to add that I do agree with Jewel about the water in California, I don't drink the tap water. We always bought bottled water.

One small warning as well, watch out for Russian ice cream! I have gotten sick at least 3 different times from it, and once I had to go to the hospital for 2 weeks (something I would NEVER want to do again in Russia) not sure if it's just bad, or I have bad luck, but Seryozha never choose Russian brands...and since that time I haven't either!

Sorry if that's off topic...

[russ 1]

Cleanliness --I do know some Russians who keep things much cleaner than I do, but for the most part their standard

of cleanliness when it comes to dishes (dish detergent is optional!) and houses is much lower than mine.

There is no hot water in the summer for much of Russia. This means that dishes are being washed in ice cold water - they always seem to have a layer of grease on them.

It isn't just "not hot," it is ice cold. Those lucky enough to have water heaters here, they are small (30-50 liters), and only go to the shower.

And as Sat said, the common areas of building smell worse than toilets. And look worse.

I'll add one more, about home security. There are 4 steel doors to get in here. The last has 8 deadbolts. I've been on military bases with less security.

Like most American homes, a well motivated intruder could break inside ours in about 30 seconds.

[wissooner 0]

I'll add one more, about home security. There are 4 steel doors to get in here. The last has 8 deadbolts. I've been on military bases with less security.

Like most American homes, a well motivated intruder could break inside ours in about 30 seconds.

Yes this seems curious to me. Elena's front door is steel. It would take a torch and a sledge hammer to get through. Everyone's home seemed to be like this.