'The worst type of rich on the planet': how the inhabitants of Russia surprised the traveler from the USA

American traveler Donovan Nagel spent a lot of time in Russia, he traveled around the country and learned the language. And then he shared his impressions of the Russian people, Russian culture and Russia in general. The author of the channel tells about what surprised, interested and amazed Nagel in Russia “Where should we live?” on Yandex.Zen.

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It is normal in Russia not to know English

Donovan was first surprised and then delighted by the fact that almost no one in Russia speaks English. He decided that this was an excellent opportunity for a foreigner to learn Russian.

“If you travel to most places in Western Europe, for example, to practice the local languages, you will find that people switch to English when they see you having difficulty speaking their language. This is one of the most unpleasant moments. In Russia, people expect me to speak Russian. Several times when I asked if anyone spoke English, they looked at me like, “No, and why should we?” noted the foreigner.

On the subject: These weird Russians: 10 'our' habits that surprise foreigners

There are a lot of peoples in Russia

Many foreigners represent Russia as large, but monotonous. In fact, it turns out that in Russia there is a huge number of peoples who profess different religions, and often they also have their own languages.

This was a surprise to Donovan.

“I lived in a region of Russia called Tatarstan, where the ethnic group called Tatars are a Turkic people with a language closely related to Turkish and a very similar culture and cuisine. Interestingly, when I asked people if they were Russian, they often answered me: “No. “I’m a Tatar,” the American was surprised.

Women and men behave differently

“When I first came to Russia, I was very surprised when one night we were unloading the car after shopping and Russian women stopped and waited for me to carry everything away. Often, without even asking, they would just stand or sit and expect that it was now the man’s job to lift weights and be the one to get his hands dirty,” Donovan noted.

He was surprised that in Russia roles and behavioral patterns are so clearly delineated, and people almost do not argue on this topic. True, as a person of traditional views, this did not upset him at all.

Rich Russians

Donovan's negative experience was the acquaintance with rich Russians, who seem to live in a different world, separate from other people.

“Believe me, rich Russians are the worst type of rich on the planet. There is a huge gap between them and the rest of the country. They treat ordinary, struggling people like dirt, while they lead incredibly decadent, hedonistic and lavish lifestyles (I always hated socialism, but the experience made me understand and sympathize a little about why this ideology flourished so much in Russia)." - stated the American.

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Russians love summer cottages and baths

And one more surprise of the American tourist was connected with the love of Russian people for baths and dachas.

“Almost every Russian I have spoken to in big cities has a family home/cottage in a village called a “dacha” with a sauna (“banya”) attached to it. Russians are fanatical about the bathhouse. I was told that many Russians like to go to the sauna in winter and then jump naked into the snow to cool down. Unfortunately, I never tried it myself!”

But most of all in Russia, the American was surprised by the people - according to him, hospitable and kind, despite the climate, low salaries and high prices.

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