Russian Talk

My colleague explained some differences between his homeland of Russia with the United States.  These are his opinions/observations.  I found them interesting.

He explained that he walks into behavioral health offices in America and sees signs that suggest ending domestic violence.  He sees them in government-type offices and leadership offices.  He thinks these signs indicates that domestic violence might be a problem in America.  And yet, he continued when he walks down a street, especially in a small town, people smile and wave at him.  His observation was that Americans wave and smile in public and beat their own at home.

In Russia, if he smiled at a stranger in a village in Russia, he could get hurt because he might not belong there.  He said that people smile more at home and at people they know and not at strangers, like Americans do.  He said that it is not uncommon to see two men throwing down/fighting at a bus stop or someplace in public in Russia.  There is no assault and battery and therefore men settle their disputes and move on.  They are not allowed to hurt each other severely.  He believes that men in Russia handle their problems with each other and have no need to beat their loved ones at home.

He reports that that elders are very respected in Russia and that parents are treated respectfully.  He said that even if you don't understand your mother or father's behavior, you still take care of them and do things for them.  He said that in America, he hears more that people don't take care of parents they don't like them.  He could not imagine not taking care of your elders or treating them disrespectfully.

He said that the people in Moscow think that people in Russian Villages to the north are very rural.  He said the city people in Moscow believe that rural Russians open their front door, shoot a moose and then leave the moose in the snow bank for the winter.  He said the real truth is that they have to go far outside the village to find a moose.  When he first moved to Anchorage, he heard a noise outside his second story apartment balcony.  He looked out to see three moose standing close enough for him to touch.  He called his friends in the Russian Village where he grew up and told them about the moose.  They told him to save that story for the people in Moscow.  It was not until he took a picture of the moose and emailed it them them that they believed him. 

He said his Russian female friends who moved to America report that it is very hard to date.  Russian men walk up and announce their intention and desire to go out on a date.  Then, there is no word for girlfriend in Russia.  People are introduced as a friend because the relationship is their personal business.  Russain women tell my colleague that American men are afraid to approach women because they don't want to get accused of anything. 
I thought it interesting the perceptions that Americans smile at strangers and then beat their family members.  American men are afraid to ask a woman out on a date and that moose are right outside the door of some places in America.  I guess those things would be very interesting to my colleague.