Are Russian People Friendly To Tourists?

Russia is a complex country that has developed a unique culture all its own. For the first time visitor traveling to visit his Russian girlfriend, it can leave you asking the question if Russian people are friendly tourists. If you go unprepared, it can have an immediate impact starting with the passport control person. Why are they so unfriendly? Why are people avoiding my gaze? It has left many tourists feeling a little dazed. And if you are transiting through Moscow and have to get from the international Domodedovo airport over to the domestic Sheremetyevo airport, the local taxi drivers are not going to improve your opinion of Russian hospitality.

Just a few hours of being in Russia is enough to leave you shell shocked. You are surrounded by seemingly hostile people and you don't speak the language. Your first opinion is nothing short of ironic though as you are about to experience the warmest hospitality outside the family home you grew up in. Step past the door of your Russian girlfriend's home and the world will seem to change. Gone are the abrupt and almost threatening stares. Now you are being welcomed as one of the family, with endless dishes of food and flowing vodka. Russian hospitality is like a Russian winter – cold and unforgiving on the outside; warm and nurturing in the family home.

So why is this? Russia has a unique culture that has been formed with many influences over hundreds of years. One of them is the torturous political machinations the country has gone through. From the peasantry times of the Czars to the mass exterminations of Stalin, Russian people have experienced a rather tenuous grasp on life. It is estimated that more than 20 million people were sent to Russian Gulags or remote work camps in freezing Siberia in the 1930's, 40's and 50's.

Can you imagine living in a country where you could be sent to prison for a trivial offense such as being late for work, petty theft or anti-government jokes? Grow up in this paranoid environment and you survive by not being open and talkative to someone you don't know. This is why pictures of Russians walking down the street always seem to show a dour, unhappy group of people.

Such an interpretation, however, is wrong. In truth, you will find Russians to be some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. Once you are introduced to a Russian person, you become accepted and that hardened veneers dissolves away. Russian front doors even in quiet areas have several locks. Some are practical for security. All of them however are symbolic – they keep the harsh exterior of Russian life out of the family home.

Of course you also have to remember you are a tourist and not a local. Act and sound like a tourist and people will treat you like one. How friendly is Los Angeles or New York to outsiders? Not that friendly. But if you take some time to blend in and learn the language, you can start to enjoy the culture and not feel like an outsider. After you get over the shell shock that is.

So what do you do next?

First, check out our profiles to see if anyone catches your eye. You can run a search by clicking HERE:

http://www.hotrussian.net/search.html

Browse through the profiles that match your partner preferences. Find someone you are interested and you want to see the hidden details on? Just set up a free account – it takes a few minutes to enter in the basic details (you can add more detail to it later as well as a photo if you want to). I would suggest setting up a brand new email address for this. This way, all of your dating emails are kept separate from your day to day emails and that email from that stunning brunette does not get missed if it falls into your spam folder.

Good luck with your search!