Cultural Differences in Russia

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604.600 Cultural Skills in SEE and CEE I

Wintersemester 2014/15

Dr. Josef Langer

Individual Assignment

Personal Experience about Russia

Name:                         Edward David Wehr                  

Matr.Nr.:         0961547                            

email:                        ewehr@edu.aau.at        

Degree:           International Management Master’s

Having been raised bilingually gives me the privilege to speak German and Russian fluently. Since my early childhood I have been exposed to the Russian culture (customs and Russian cuisine) and the Russian language. Despite having Russian roots I consider myself as Austrian. Some of my relatives live in Sumy in Ukraine, 20 km away from the Russian border and I visited them on numerous occasions. In recent years I traveled extensively through Ukraine and have also been in Russia twice; this is how I got knowledge about those countries and their customs. Due to their shared history, the traditions and culture in Eastern-Ukraine and Russia are fairly similar. Most people who live in Eastern-Ukraine speak Russian as their first language and many are from Russian descent. In the following I will talk about some of the experiences and culture shock I experienced when travelling through Russia.

At the beginning I was shocked about the roads which are badly maintained and there are potholes everywhere. Many roads have not been rehabilitated since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some Russians are reckless drivers and dashcams (cameras attached to the windscreen) are widespread in Russia as a form of additional evidence in court, and as a guard against police corruption and insurance fraud. Compared to the driving habits of Austrians many people in Russia seem to be inclined to speed and not to obey traffic rules. That is why the traffic casualty rate per 100,000 people is nearly 4 times as high as in Austria (19 casualties in Russia vs 5 casualties in Austria)^[1]. Cars with foreign plates are often stopped by police and drivers sometimes fined for offences they have not committed. I experienced that many police officers in Russia are corrupt (you can negotiate with them) and the fines are ridiculously low as compared to Austria. The level of corruption is a noticeable difference between Russia and Austria: corruption is ubiquitous in Russia whereas in Austria it can only be found in politics and business.

Because traveling by car is not the most comfortable mode of transport in Russia many people travel by trains. Russia has the second longest railway network in the world and many people use trains to travel vast distances (the Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railroad in the world). I experienced my first shock when I entered Russia by train from Poland; because Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe use broad-gauge railway lines the carriages had to be lifted and Russian undercarriages were installed. In the meanwhile customs officers searched the train compartments for illicit drugs etc. During the train journey it is common to start talking with other people in your compartment. People travelling on public transport in Russia are much more open to strangers. Train conductors serve black tea and other beverages; Russians in general seem to be obsessed about black tea which is consumed with almost every meal. Every carriage has its own train conductor who checks the tickets before you get on a train which is different than in Austria. They join you occasionally in your compartment and start a conversation with you. Also, there is an additional type of compartment that does not exist in the west, the so called platzkart^[2]. The entire wagon is an open space and there are no closed compartments or curtains. There are two lower and two upper berths, a small and narrow corridor and two more berths that are located on the opposite side near the window. While the train stops at train stations you could buy food from sellers in front of the train (this is now forbidden by law).

I was stunned by the beauty of the metro stations in Moscow which looked like museums to me. Furthermore, the public transport in Moscow is used by much more people than in Vienna, probably due to the difference in population (Moscow has 15 million inhabitants). Most westerners are unfamiliar to Marshrutkas which are private minivans-taxis that run on many different routes in cities. This mode of public transport is one of the cheapest and most used ones and one can see Marshrutka drivers who drive, smoke and phone at the same time.  I was also amazed that many more people actually read books whilst travelling on public transport which I did not see that much in Austria. From my observation they mostly read classical literature.  

In general, Russian people are somewhat quiet and sometimes uninterested in helping you even if you ask them a question, and may even seem depressed. This might be specifically the case if you are a foreigner who does not speak Russian. Obviously, the Russian language and the Cyrillic alphabet is a huge culture shock for most people, unless you speak Russian like me. Most Russians, except young people, don’t speak any foreign languages including English. The Russian cuisine is also very different than ours, the most well-known dish being Bortscht, a soup which is made with beetroot as the main ingredient.  Because cooking Bortscht is very time-consuming Russians cook huge portions and eat it for up to three days. Other traditional dishes include Piroshki (baked or fried buns stuffed with a variety of fillings), Pelmeni (dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough) and Vareniki (similar to Kärntner Nudeln but smaller and sweeter). Another specialty is salo which consists of cured slabs of fatback (rarely pork belly) with skin. For middle and upper-class families it is now trendy to eat seafood like shrimps, crabs and lobsters.