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Nov. 20th, 2013 06:53 pmA former student asked me what I though of this.
http://blog.properrussian.com/2011/05/why-russians-are-not-smiling.html
There are several things which spring to mind reading this article.
The first is a small incident in August last year when I was crossing the frontier between Ukraine and Russia at about 3 am. I awoke groggily and espied the boarder guards coming in, they were obviously gossiping and joking about something and walked into the vestibule smiling, but then – work to do – smiles were switched off in the blink of an eye and the ice queen border guard gave her basilisk stare at my passport.
The second incident occurred in February. It was a dark, cold day and I had been walking for quite a long time through fresh snow and when I got to work and greeted everyone one of our staff said 'I saw you walking here, I didn't recognise you – your head was down and you looked grumpy, I thought you were Russian!'
The third incident dates from June when I was taking Seriyozha back to the UK. As I approached the security ladies they were looking grim as ever, but on setting eyes at my precious cargo they all went 'awww' and one of them berated me for being too rough taking him out of the carrier (which was no easy task!). Another one held him when I was going through the check before boarding and cuddled the frightened little cat before handing him over to me as gently as possible.
I could go on with similar tales.
I like Russians enormously, but I cannot say that they are overly possessed of the social graces which are deemed so important in the west or in Japan and I think the article is largely correct. Lots of English people here are freaked out by the fact that Russians don't smile in shops (and I have lost count of the number of times babushki in produkty have looked exasperated at my attempts to ask for stuff!). But I think maybe it's a northern thing, Finns, Swedes and Estimations are not overly smiley either, except when the sun comes out.
But in a way I have come to prefer it, when I go to England I think it's deeply, deeply strange that people in coffee shops insist on making small talk when all I want is to get my drink and go. I always found it odd in Japan when I would walk into a shop and all of the assistants would stand up and bow and watch me. And always with the same smile...
So yes I can see how people from other lands find it strange, but you do know when a Russian smiles he or she means it!
http://blog.properrussian.com/2011/05/why-russians-are-not-smiling.html
There are several things which spring to mind reading this article.
The first is a small incident in August last year when I was crossing the frontier between Ukraine and Russia at about 3 am. I awoke groggily and espied the boarder guards coming in, they were obviously gossiping and joking about something and walked into the vestibule smiling, but then – work to do – smiles were switched off in the blink of an eye and the ice queen border guard gave her basilisk stare at my passport.
The second incident occurred in February. It was a dark, cold day and I had been walking for quite a long time through fresh snow and when I got to work and greeted everyone one of our staff said 'I saw you walking here, I didn't recognise you – your head was down and you looked grumpy, I thought you were Russian!'
The third incident dates from June when I was taking Seriyozha back to the UK. As I approached the security ladies they were looking grim as ever, but on setting eyes at my precious cargo they all went 'awww' and one of them berated me for being too rough taking him out of the carrier (which was no easy task!). Another one held him when I was going through the check before boarding and cuddled the frightened little cat before handing him over to me as gently as possible.
I could go on with similar tales.
I like Russians enormously, but I cannot say that they are overly possessed of the social graces which are deemed so important in the west or in Japan and I think the article is largely correct. Lots of English people here are freaked out by the fact that Russians don't smile in shops (and I have lost count of the number of times babushki in produkty have looked exasperated at my attempts to ask for stuff!). But I think maybe it's a northern thing, Finns, Swedes and Estimations are not overly smiley either, except when the sun comes out.
But in a way I have come to prefer it, when I go to England I think it's deeply, deeply strange that people in coffee shops insist on making small talk when all I want is to get my drink and go. I always found it odd in Japan when I would walk into a shop and all of the assistants would stand up and bow and watch me. And always with the same smile...
So yes I can see how people from other lands find it strange, but you do know when a Russian smiles he or she means it!
