For those of you who might be interested in finding out what it's like to live in Russia, I thought I would write a few things here.

For no particular reason, let me start with one of the most cherished pastimes of the Russians .. drinking

Everyone in the UK (I think it's the same in the US) is certainly familiar with the tradition of making toasts, but it's usually only on special occasions (weddings being the primary example) that we really go to town and make a real toast.
In Russia toasts are an integral part of the business of having fun. Whenever three or more people are sharing a drink, toasts are in order. It can be something simple (за любовь, за дружба..) but, more often, you'll be glad that the glass you're raising is a small vodka shot and not a German-style 3 litre jug of beer, because once a Russian starts toasting, there's no telling when he'll stop
Toasts are often quite serious and 'from the heart', even amongst young people just having fun / shooting the breeze. One particularly interesting example that I experienced recently (sorry but after attempts at translation it may have lost some meaning ) was from a young guy who told the story of a man who arranged to meet his enemy, and then his girlfriend and then his friends in the park. His enemy didn't show up, and nor did his girlfriend. Finally his friends turned up, bringing with them his girl.. and the head of his enemy. Well this is probably a Caucasian toast
I have of course been obliged to attempt to engage in this practice (миру мир inspired roars of laughter on one occasion).

Of course the other thing about toasts is that they're a good way of forcing everyone to drink! After a toast, and the clinking of glasses with *everyone* (even if there's 12 of you) the glass must be drained. So, if you're drinking vodka, the toasts get shorter and shorter as the brain cells decay, until it's like за снег .. whatever .. hiccup..