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Though it has been written about before, I am going to address a few common\u00a0Russian stereotypes that I’ve personally dealt with living in America. I am sure that some of my friends in other parts of America would have some experience with this as well. In no way is this meant to be anything other than fun and hopefully, interesting. Hope you enjoy!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1. All Russians drink\u00a0vodka<\/p>\n I can say that I don\u2019t personally know any Russian\u00a0adults\u00a0that haven\u2019t at least tasted vodka, however, this doesn\u2019t mean that all Russians drink it. According to a recent Oxford University study<\/a>, the average adult Russian drinks about 20 liters of\u00a0vodka\u00a0per year. Compare that with the average citizen in England drinking about 3 liters of spirits per year. In other countries, beer is more acceptable, tequila, whiskey, and so on; in Russia, many do prefer vodka. Some reasons why people drink vodka would include that it is often made\u00a0locally\u00a0and it is\u00a0inexpensive. There is no doubt that many in Russia have been know to have a shot or two, or three, or the entire\u00a0bottle, but it does not mean we all drink it. Personally, I don\u2019t like it at all. Many of my male friends prefer beer and may occasionally have some vodka. It is interesting that tequila is also becoming more popular in Russia. Cognac is also quite popular with some. To say that all Russians drink vodka, even though many do, is similar to saying that all Americans eat McDonald\u2019s. It is likely that almost all Americans have tried their hamburgers, but they don\u2019t all eat them regularly.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. All Russians smoke<\/p>\n It has been said that smoking is the unofficial Russian\u00a0national sport, also that in restaurants, there are two sections you can sit in: smoking and chain smoking. A 2012 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly 39 out of 143 million Russians smoked; about 28 million of those were\u00a0male. Russians ranked fourth in the world when it came to the amount of smokers behind China, India, and Indonesia according to an article published in Ria Novosti<\/a>. I remember going out to clubs and cafes in Russia and it really did seem as though everybody was smoking, even myself. Measures have been taken in recent years to help\u00a0people\u00a0cut down or even eliminate the\u00a0habit.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. All Russians play\u00a0chess.<\/p>\n <\/a> This one is interesting to me. I admire those that play chess, especially those that play it well. According to FIDE – World Chess Federation<\/a>,\u00a0Russia has\u00a0 produced the most\u00a0Grandmasters\u00a0– 227. In comparison, the next closest countries are in the 80-90 range. Certainly this does not prove or disprove the stereotype, it just means that some Russians take chess very seriously. As to why Russia has produced the most Grandmasters, it may have to do with a variety of reasons – pride, long and cold winters, intense love of the game, and so on. Personally, I don’t play chess, though I know how to. Most of my friends don’t play it either – at least no more often than an American might play Monopoly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some people would really ask me something like, \u201cDon\u2019t all Russians drink vodka?\u201d Really? All Russians? I try not to judge those that have put such questions to me, as it is often done with good intentions. It can make for interesting conversations, especially while we are\u00a0all smoking,\u00a0drinking vodka, and\u00a0playing chess \ud83d\ude42 .<\/span><\/p>\n What other Russian stereotypes have you heard of and what are your thoughts on the subject?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Though it has been written about before, I am going to address a few common\u00a0Russian stereotypes that I’ve personally dealt with living in America. I am sure that some of my friends in other parts of America would have some experience with this as well. In no way is this meant to be anything…<\/p>\n