Cultural differences with Russia Learn about Russia on this page!
10-03-2008
Business communication
Communication
Russian is the official language spoken by the Russian business people. Speaking or lauging loudly in public is overall considered as rude, because the Russians are reserved and somber in general. Many of the Russian people speak English, because it is often taught beginning in the third grade. Russians are very higly literate, and have almost a 100% literacy rate. The good topics of conversation include peace, the current changes taking place in Russia and their current economic situation but never mention the communism or the regime!
If you're coming for a business meeting or a conference, it is usually
considered polite for the inviting company to "attach" a special person to you, who will show you the city, take you to the most important sights, help you with your Russian, and get you the best room in the hotel. You might also be offered traditional Russian adventures, such as a visit to a public steam-bath (Russian sauna - banya) and a few shots of vodka in a local bar or at somebody's place. The attitude towards time is normal: it's polite to be on time, 5 minutes are tolerated, while nobody will wait for longer than 15 minutes.
The Russians are not very different from the western people in their lifestyle. But there are certain things that can be an obstacle in getting to know your Russian friends better. Russians are known as being faithful to their traditions. Below you can find a list of the most common traits of the Russian character:
We are a free nation. They like to despise all rules. Its an honor for our drivers to move on the red light or to bother other drivers.
Its cool to do nothing. They like to lie on their sofas an thinking about how great they are. Russia is such a great country, that we can rest a bit.
If youre invited to a meal, the hosts will feed you until you feel completely full and not capable of moving.
We value generosity. They can give you the last piece of their bread if they believe you really need it.
Some of us are naturally different. They dont really care about dirt on the streets, saving money, drinking too much or breaking the rules.
Yes, we love vodka, but were not alcoholics. Maybe in contradict to what most people think, Russians are not drunkards. They have a natural resistance to alcohol, thats why they can drink so much.
After the mass migration the core area of the further Russian Empire who has been inherited by the Slavic people. They were dutiable to the Chazaren, who owned the trading trails between Europe and Asia.
Since the 6th century the Varjaren infiltrated with boats from the East coast of Russia and conquerred in the 9th century Novgorod and Kiev.
Under the lead of the famous Scandanavian chief Rurik different tribes were combined around Novgorod in 862. Due to this the name Rossiya was born, what means 'the land of the russian'.
The empire of Kiev (ca. 880-1240)
Rurik was followed-up by Oleg, who conquerred Kiev around 880 en is seen as the real founder of the Russian state. The Varjaren conquerred more and more areas but assimilated as the people of the native Slavic people. In 998 Vladimir the Holy married to the daughter of the Byzantic emperor, Anna.
Ethnic groups: According to a research done in 1989 there are 81.5 percent Russian people, 3.8 percent Tartars, 3.0 percent Ukrainians, 1.2 percent is Chuvash, 0.9 percent is Bashkirs, 0.7 percent is Mordovian and there is another 8.1 percent of other ethnic groups.
Health: The health care is in principle free of charge but direct treatment depends on wealth. The doctors in Russia are poorly paid and poorly trained. There is a big shortage of nurses and specialized personnel and medical supplies. There are about 131 hospital beds per 10,000 people and one doctor for every 275 citizens. In 1994 the life expectancy for males was 57.3 years and 71.1 years for females dropped sharply since 1990. In an official report is written that there is an infant mortality rate of 19.9 per 1,000 live births in 1994. The quality of water and air in many areas is very bad and extreme smoking and alcohol use aggravates the poor health of the Russian nation.
"Russia is by far the largest country in the world, covering almost twice the total area of the next-largest country, Canada and has enormous energy and mineral resources combined with the world's ninth-largest population. Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea." Russia was founded in 862 AD. The official language is Russian; it is spoken throughout the nation and thirty others co-official in various regions. The government is a semi-presidential federal republic. The President of Russia is Vladimir Poetin and the Prime Minister is Viktor Zubkov. The capital city of Russia is Moscow and St. Petersburg is the 2nd most important city of Russia.
