Cultural stuff - Russian Ukrainian Belarus Travel Music Woman Dating News

	The Russian Meeting Place: A place to meet people and talk about all things Russian... International Discussions about Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Travel, Music, Russian News, Ukrainian culture, Belarusian Dating, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev and other intelligent topics about life in the former Soviet Union.

Pages: 1

Cultural stuff
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: wchever

Hi!

Open for discussion, but I'm really looking for some good insights into the Russian social mentality.

I've seen references to superstition, astrology and the like being more(?) accepted than in the West. Other things as well, like...

if showing the soles of your feet to someone is bad manners, how do you explain the Russian dancers I used to see on Ed Sullivan? (uh oh, did I just date myself?)

Anyway, any other really obvious social stuff a newbie should be aware of? I'm considered rather polite in US society (not all that hard really), and certainly have no desire to act a fool elsewhere.

Thanks in advance!

Posted by: Jill

Hi wchever,

You might want to look through the section of the forum called General Russian Culture Discussions, where various aspects of Russian culture have been discussed. Also, take a look at http://www.russianmeetingplace.com/...p?threadid=3799 where I've posted a bit of info about superstition, customs, etc.

Posted by: wchever

As Keanu would say, "Whoa!"

Thanks, Jill. I've copied that thread into a document of its own.

And I should probably invest in a really nice cigarette lighter or some alligator shoes.

Posted by: Pawel_PL.USA

Yes, Russians are more superstitious than people in the West - that much is true. The funny thing is that even though people in Poland are generally much more religious than Russians, Poles are far less superstitous and far more rationalistic than Russians.

I think it has a lot to do with history, since old pagan ways survived among the dark masses of Russian peasantry, who were the overwhelming majority of Russian population, far longer than pagan traditions in the West.