Archive for 'when in Russia'
Baltika: a Taste of Home Whilst Abroad Posted by Jenya on Dec 2, 2014
During my tenure in America I have sampled many different types of beer ranging from the mega brands like Budweiser to many specialty and regional beers made in micro breweries. It may sound like I may be a connoisseur of sorts – not true. Nevertheless, there is one brand of beer that I really enjoy…
E-Commerce in Russia Posted by Maria on Nov 24, 2014
I recently had the occasion to have a gift delivered to a person in Russia. That experience drew my attention to the differences in how we deal with electronic purchases in Russia and abroad. I must admit I had forgotten some of the Russian peculiar ways, and new ways have emerged since I left Russia!…
“Common Sense” Ideas You Need to Abandon in Russia Posted by Maria on Oct 30, 2014
I don’t like appeals to the proverbial “common sense” in explanations. What is viewed as common varies vastly among individuals, not to mention groups of people. In this post I would like to concentrate on assumptions that we may take for granted outside Russia, especially in the Anglo-American world, that may not reflect Russian reality —…
Time Paradoxes in Russian Posted by Maria on Oct 16, 2014
Human perception of time is culture-specific, so it’s no wonder that simply learning the words to talk about time is not enough. You need to understand how Russian speakers see time so their words and actions can start making sense to you. Time of the day is organic… You probably learned time of the day…
Expressions for Navigating Russian Bureaucracy Posted by Maria on Oct 9, 2014
I almost felt disingenuous as I typed the title of this post. Russian bureaucracy is notorious for penetrating all layers of society. However, there are certain concepts repeated in your daily interactions in Russia. An average person in Russia will know what they are and when they are used. Here are the top bureaucratic concepts…
DIY Russian Style Posted by Maria on Sep 29, 2014
If you visited Russia or talk to people from the region, you will know that they prefer to do many things from scratch that people in other areas might rather buy or have someone do for them. I will be talking about my experience with Russia, but this probably generalizes to other countries in the…
What Drink Is More Popular in Russia than Vodka? Posted by Jenya on Sep 24, 2014
We all know that the Chinese love to drink tea. So do the Brits. Recent data collected and published by the Euromonitor International, listed the countries that consumed the most tea per person, measured in pounds, and Russia ranked fourth! They stated that the average Russian drinks just over three pounds per year. In comparison…