Alright so I've got a whole bunch of these things lined up and waiting to go, but for the sake of giving myself something to do, I'm going to be holding off on posting them all at once. Anyways, here's a few more that I thought the other day whilst walking about the city.
60. Shaking Hands: Russians are big fans of shaking hands anywhere at any time. If you see someone you slightly know on the street and your hands are full of priceless artifacts from the Ming Dynasty, you juggle them and stop to shake hands real quick. I'm not a fan of this habit for two reasons: a) people's hands are dirty and generally I prefer not to touch them. For those of you who know or have seen Seinfeld, you'll know that Jerry doesn't like the 'greeting kiss' and is borderline on the handshaking. I agree. And b) I don't always want to stop and say hi to someone. It's no offense to you, I'd just like to get where I'm going.
61. World War II (AKA the Great Patriotic War - 'Великая Отечественная Война): Russians love, love. love this. You'll see banners around celebrating the anniversary of the end of WWII pretty much every year. They are extremely proud of how they did during WWII (and let's be honest, without them, the outcome would have been quite different) and they love to say THEY (not the Americans or British) won WWII, which is something I continually argue with them, saying it was very much a group effort, but of the three of us WE didn't have a secret pact with Hitler... Anyways, they love WWII.
62. The Morning Beer: I see this a lot less here in Elista (though I've seen it once or twice), but in the big cities you see it a lot. 8 am rolls around, you hop on the metro and there's a man or woman dressed quite nicely, heading to work, downing a beer (I'm not counting the people who've stayed out all and are just continuing to drink). Maybe this has something to do with the fact that until just a few days ago, beer wasn't considered alcohol here in Russia so perhaps that makes it more socially acceptable. Regardless of that though, it would surely be frowned upon in the West. Oh well, it's still pretty interesting.
Keep your submissions coming Dear Readers and check back for updates!
60. Shaking Hands: Russians are big fans of shaking hands anywhere at any time. If you see someone you slightly know on the street and your hands are full of priceless artifacts from the Ming Dynasty, you juggle them and stop to shake hands real quick. I'm not a fan of this habit for two reasons: a) people's hands are dirty and generally I prefer not to touch them. For those of you who know or have seen Seinfeld, you'll know that Jerry doesn't like the 'greeting kiss' and is borderline on the handshaking. I agree. And b) I don't always want to stop and say hi to someone. It's no offense to you, I'd just like to get where I'm going.
61. World War II (AKA the Great Patriotic War - 'Великая Отечественная Война): Russians love, love. love this. You'll see banners around celebrating the anniversary of the end of WWII pretty much every year. They are extremely proud of how they did during WWII (and let's be honest, without them, the outcome would have been quite different) and they love to say THEY (not the Americans or British) won WWII, which is something I continually argue with them, saying it was very much a group effort, but of the three of us WE didn't have a secret pact with Hitler... Anyways, they love WWII.
62. The Morning Beer: I see this a lot less here in Elista (though I've seen it once or twice), but in the big cities you see it a lot. 8 am rolls around, you hop on the metro and there's a man or woman dressed quite nicely, heading to work, downing a beer (I'm not counting the people who've stayed out all and are just continuing to drink). Maybe this has something to do with the fact that until just a few days ago, beer wasn't considered alcohol here in Russia so perhaps that makes it more socially acceptable. Regardless of that though, it would surely be frowned upon in the West. Oh well, it's still pretty interesting.
Keep your submissions coming Dear Readers and check back for updates!
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