Russian Culture

Lesson 3: Modern Russian Culture

Conclusion

The Russian world is very different and very removed from ours. We sit in our air conditioned homes hooked up to the Internet feeling we are in touch with world. But Russians are only beginning to have a taste of becoming Global citizens and only beginning to know that life can hold more comforts than hardships. I have met so many young Russians who have a pretty good grasp of our language and culture and yet think they could never make use of that. Their minds are closed to the bigger possibilities of working internationally or working for international companies. America and American life has reached mythic proportions, especially outside of Western Moscow. I remember once when I was working on an expedition in the Astrakhan region of Southern Russia, I had gone to a local bazaar. My professor was on a mission to buy a man’s work shirt for herself (she liked it because it was so light and perfect for digging in). When we found one to her liking and she was attempting to pay for it, the owner of the stand could not help herself but ask if we were European. Our translator announced that we were American. But the clerk looked confused and asked if my professor was buying the shirt for her husband. My professor told her that she wanted it for herself. The clerk couldn’t quite understand, but excitedly told us that she would have to tell her daughter of this experience, as her daughter would be interested because she was learning English in School. I felt as if the shop clerk had had a sighting of a mythical creature!

There are still many misconceptions between our cultures and our respective medias. But that does not usually deter Russian hospitality. Even on our Archaeology expeditions when we were camping out in the boonies of the Russian Steppe, Russian hospitality ruled our relations with students and professors. Every night the students would gather around the campfire and the gitarus would come out. Snacks would be distributed, maybe a little vodka. Souls would laugh and sing, and slowly melt into one another. And so the night would pass.

Optional Reading

For Further reading, please read: The Microscope, All by themselves, Alyosha at Large, and Passing Through in Vasily Shukshin’s book Stories from a Siberian Village. In The Russian’s World by Gevera Gerhart, please read chapters 12, 17, and 7.

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