Can you please start a new thread with the cultural differences you mentioned? I'm going to Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus for the first time in a few weeks so am very interested in hearing about the differences. I'm an American.


Thank you,

Scott


Quote Originally Posted by Deborski View Post
Those sound like very silly rumors to me. If you come to America, the main thing is to just be aware of cultural differences. I have lived in both America and Russia so there are few things I could say that might help. For one, people in Russia are comfortable with much closer personal space than Americans are. Americans don't like to get too close to you physically (unless they are drunk or horny) so you should generally just be aware of that. Russians also like to be very helpful to strangers. I remember a Russian guy brushing dirt off of my coat when I was living there. In America, that would be a little strange and even intrusive. There are many more cultural differences - big ones - but for a tourist trip here, these are the main things to think about. I would not listen to silly rumors like the ones you heard. Just be respectful of people, and they will (usually) be respectful to you!