Archive for 'when in Russia'
Dressing for the Russian Winter Posted by Maria on Jan 5, 2015
People tend to emphasize how cold Russian winters are — some in shock and disbelief and others as a bragging point. However, visitors may not be aware of how Russian gear up for the cold. Cold weather is taken seriously and you need to dress fit for it. Let us go over some of the…
Hangover in Russia: Cause, Prevention, Cure Posted by Jenya on Dec 30, 2014
New Year’s Eve is upon us and we all know what that means: getting together with friends and family, eating too much, dancing too much, smoking too much, drinking too much, and being hungover. Nothing starts the New Year quite the same way that a hangover does. In different countries and cultures, unique hangover cures…
Russian Dashboard Cameras Posted by Jenya on Dec 24, 2014
For those of you that have driven a car in Russia, you might have noticed a dashboard camera in your car or in everybody else’s. Normally, in other countries, you might see these camera’s only in police cars. Not in Russia, many drivers have dashboard cams and you might be interested to learn some of…
Peril of the Ruble Posted by Jenya on Dec 23, 2014
Many of you have likely noticed that the Russian ruble has been in the news lately. The ruble decreased in value by 11 percent against the U.S. dollar on Monday, 15 December. In a matter of weeks it has dropped over 40 percent. According to the Moscow Times on Monday, the ruble is the world’s…
How to Give a Gift to Russians Posted by Jenya on Dec 16, 2014
With the holiday season upon us, many of us have already begun to purchase gifts for our family and friends. Exchanging gifts can certainly be exciting – provided you know the kinds of things the other person likes. Some of you may find yourself in the position of having to give a gift to a…
Bizarre Russian Remedies Posted by Maria on Dec 11, 2014
We have discussed some peculiarities of Russian traditional medicine before, however, there are a few treatments that will seem outright bizarre to the unprepared. If you are planning to go to Russia for a long period of time, you may run into one of them. 1. Fire-Cupping Fire-cupping (банки) is a treatment where a patient’s back is…
How to Ride Public Transport in Russia Posted by Maria on Dec 4, 2014
The subject of public transport was covered in a detailed post on this blog before. This time, I would like to concentrate on the practical aspects of ridership. As a reminder, the main modes of public transport (общественный транспорт) are автобус – bus троллейбус – trolleybus трамвай – tram/streetcar метро – underground/subway These are normally…