Way of life and traditions » Truth and False about Russia
Truth and False about Russia
Russia is full of mafia and it’s dangerous here!
Really, many people think that Russia is some place filled with Mafia and it’s so dangerous to come here. Well, there is Mafia, but the Wild West nineties are left in the 20th century. Nowadays it’s like any place in the world and Russia is not more dangerous than southern Italy for instance. If you know where to stay, keep away from the “bad” places, do your normal traveler’s things and practice your normal traveler’s safety, you’ll be okay. Also there’s so much police on the streets of Moscow it seems like the safest place in the world.
There are so many catastrophes and bombings!
Not more than anywhere else.
Russians are drinking much too much...
Not everybody. You could be surprised getting the refuse for your offer to drink vodka. There are many people who prefer whisky, cognac, wine or beer. Some Russian restaurant could offer you the rich selection of wine (sometimes you couldn’t find the same collection in wine countries). Sure, people, especially in province drink vodka, but after ages of drinking they have a strong immune against alcohol, so they don’t become drunk too fast.
Russia is very cold and there are polar bears walking around the streets.
No, no bears on the street. Only in the zoo or circus (but in Siberia, the bears sometimes really do come to town, like elks in Sweden!). Russia is full of normal cities with normal people, looking and acting just like everyone everywhere else in the world.
Russians are not friendly, do not smile and don’t like foreigners
People in Russia are quite nice and open. They like to talk and in most cases will kindly answer questions and give directions or explanations. The problem can be that if they don’t know the language they might be ashamed and confused and may just walk away. To get advice it is really better to ask younger people. They probably know some English and to answer your questions. Most Russians won’t pay much attention to you just because you are a foreigner. They just go about their normal life and don’t take much notice unless you are behaving strangely, speak or laugh too loudly in public, dress really weird, or act rude without any reason.