Annoying FSU habits/superstitions

[Gator]

Possum,  

Annoying Russian superstitions.

The black cat crossing your path - in America we say it is "bad luck" but we don't wait until some other unsuspecting soul goes before us.  One time, I was told to wait and it took another 5 minutes before another person came by.

Don't leave empty bottle on table - Where did this come from?


Annoying Russian Habits

No fans, especially from air conditioners - Until I visited Russia I did not know that moving air could kill me.

The lack of a queue -

              Example 1 -My RW dates all seemed adept at breaking the queue.  In Europe my RW was pulling me along as I was trying to obey the queue.  Some British guy threatened to punch me if I did not stop, and meanwhile my RW looks at me as if I am an idiot or weak man for not moving up to her.

              Example 2 - Egyptian Air changed the check-in counter to the adjacent counter after a queue had already been formed.  Suddenly everyone rushed to the new counter, and instead of shifting the same queue, it was as if the change signalled a fresh start.  It was pandemonium, and the agent could do nothing with people pressed against his counter.  Russians were screaming at the Egyptian agent about how it is his fault.  He answered, "No, it is Russian mentality to blame."  And that came from an Arab.

[BC]

BC,

Hilarious clip.  It is easy to substitute Russia for Italy especially the pedestrian crossing the street. 

My first day in the FSU was in Kiev.  My date and I had to cross a road.  She grabbed my hand as if I were a child and ran across the road, dragging me with her.

The most difficult crossing in all of the FSU is the third ring road in Moscow where there is no underpass.  Very wide road and the traffic lights do not give abundant time to cross.  The babushkas had to move their short legs at a sprinter's pace, all the time looking for cars that might run through the red light.  Even the dogs scurried across.  The image still makes me chuckle.

The Italy bureaucrat would be like Russia if the Italian left a few lyre at each window.

Gator,

The two most challenging crosswalks in EU for western folk are anywhere in Rome and at the Arch de Triumph in Paris. My first wife (AW) refused to cross.  I closed my eyes and made it to the other side unscathed.  Just walk, ignore the traffic and all will be ok.

Yes, Italy especially the southern part is not that much different than RU.. difference is that a bribe will probably not work, but mentioning names of who you know just might..

It's a Mediterranean thing wherever olive trees grow..

[Sculpto]

you know I have been stressing every day about the shoe thing, and wearing street clothes in the house.  "A" literally freaked out if I stepped one foot into the apartment with street shoes on and got almost equally upset if I did not immediately remove street clothes and fold them neatly and put them away.  Funny how a really hot girl can go to rag doll in an instant once you walk in the house.   

The way my apartment is designed there just isn't a spot to put a shoe bench that will not be right in the way.  I can probably deal with the street clothes thing, though, I wonder if her habit will change once there is a washing machine and dryer immediately available.  BTW, I just went to ROSS to buy some new hiking shoes for Mex, paid 23.99 for a $150 pair of Hitechs.. and I was thinking about her the whole time.. will she hate that place because it is a totally chaotic mess or will she love the bargains so much that she will ignore the disorder and the clueless employees?

[SANDRO43]

The Italy bureaucrat would be like Russia if the Italian left a few lyre at each window.

Only if he's also a music lover .

[kryten41]

How about the Americans who will tell you their entire life story in the mere 35 seconds of an elevator ride?  

Must be a San Francisan thing.  Talking in elevators is not normal in America.

[Sculpto]

Must be a San Francisan thing.  Talking in elevators is not normal in America.

You know what is normal in America?  I am really impressed. 

[kryten41]

ECOCKS and Possum,  I don't understand where you are coming from with the comments about the pullout sofas.  The transformer furniture is one of the cleverest things I've ever seen.  Good firm sofa by day, good firm bed by night.  The ones I slept on were so much better than any futon, daybed, or sleeper sofa I've ever slept on in the U.S.A.  They have chairs that do that also--big armchair that transforms into a guest bed.  Whoever invented those things is a genius.  I think most people would be a bit embarrassed to have guests over and nowhere to sit but the bed.  This is an excellent use of limited space.

I'll agree with you about lines.  I can't agree about windows on buses though, on both of my warm-weather trips to Ukraine,  buses had open windows, and even the top-vents were open.

[possum]

Good firm sofa by day, good firm bed by night.  The ones I slept on were so much better than any futon, daybed, or sleeper sofa I've ever slept on in the U.S.A.

Then you were lucky and got one of the nicer ones.. Still, operating the thing is like moving furniture every day, you know what I'm sayin'? Instead of making your bed every morning, you break it.. And hide the sheets!.

This is an excellent use of limited space.

What about limited time?. 

[possum]

Yeah, or try to open a window on a sweltering marshrutka - the babushki will howl at you even if the temperature is high enough to bake bread 

So, I guess buying an air conditioned bus would be a waste of money.. hmm

[possum]

If people had bigger houses they wouldn't have pullout couches.

LOL.. No, if people didn't have the mentality that they can have a big house when they have a small house, they wouldn't have pullout couches..

[Sculpto]

LOL.. No, if people didn't have the mentality that they can have a big house when they have a small house, they wouldn't have pullout couches..

LOl there is that.. but whats wrong with people making more from less?  IN SF we have a lot of places with Murphy beds.  I would rather have a pullout couch bed than a Murphy.

[possum]

Possum,  

Annoying Russian superstitions.

The black cat crossing your path - in America we say it is "bad luck" but we don't wait until some other unsuspecting soul goes before us.  One time, I was told to wait and it took another 5 minutes before another person came by.

I've seen people do that!.

Don't leave empty bottle on table - Where did this come from?

It probably came from the fact that table space is usually as limited as the living space.. Personally, I have no problem with empty bottles being taken off the table, just as long as they're not put on the floor next to the table..

[possum]

LOl there is that.. but whats wrong with people making more from less?  IN SF we have a lot of places with Murphy beds.  I would rather have a pullout couch bed than a Murphy.

Why?. I've always kinda wanted one of those.. It can be both a bed and a nightstand by night, and a shelf by day.. Besides, instead of rolling up and hiding the sheets you can just hide the entire bed!.

[Sculpto]

Why?. I've always kinda wanted one of those.. It can be both a bed and a nightstand by night, and a shelf by day.. Besides, instead of rolling up and hiding the sheets you can just hide the entire bed!.

but there is still nothing to sit on during the day.. couch wise I mean.. all the Murphy bed flats I have been in are really cramped.

[possum]

but there is still nothing to sit on during the day.. couch wise I mean.. all the Murphy bed flats I have been in are really cramped.

Why does everyone need a couch to sit on?. If it's a small room, then get a recliner and one other kind of armchair.. That's really all you need..

[possum]

Here's my take on FSU apartments/flats.. If you have a two-room apartment in the FSU, then that translates into a two-bedroom apt in the US sans living area/den.. You really have TWO bedrooms, one slightly larger than the other.. Don't pretend you have a living room.. If you have a three-room apt in the FSU, then it's close to a two-bedroom apartment in the US..

[Missouri-Hunter]

No fans? I have ceiling fans in the living room, both bedrooms and also the bathroom, and they're going most of the time all year. I hate dead air. 

[Caddydaddy]

The most (just for me) unusual FSU habits I experienced with my Baby was in February in a restaurant.
First she wanted me to sit beside her and not on the opposite place, absolutely unusual here, always sit opposite. 
Next was I smiled at her in the restaurant, to my astonished she wasn't so fond of that. As she explained me later, do not smile at your Baby in a public restaurant, unwritten rule in Latvia, people just do not smile a lot in public. Today I can smile at her as long as I want here, now she and me know.
Sometimes when we go out, I put on my "Sowjet Face", no smile, no emotions, just an uninterested, cold look as I would be able to look through walls. Now guess who starts to laugh? 

[Ade]

First she wanted me to sit beside her and not on the opposite place, absolutely unusual here, always sit opposite.  

Ah, and I thought that was just my wife that wanted that. But is this an FSU thing or just that our significant others are touchy-feely and want to be close? I have to add that I don't find this annoying in the slightest.

[GQBlues]

Annoying FSU habit. I'm not sure if this were universal FSU habits but they used to be my wife's and she's from FSU:

1. That highly restrained excitement. For a while it drove me nuts how my wife would be so excited and show it by shedding a melancholy smile. You see more excitable reactions in a funeral.
2. Leftovers. She used to never want to throw food away. Never. Even when they start to change color from delicious saucy hue to hairy black in the fridge.
3. Used and unrinsed multiple tea cups in the sink with drying tea stains at the bottom.
4. How do people sleep with the windows closed is beyond me.
5. The biggest annoying thing my wife used to do is sleep until the cows come home. I don't believe she ever saw Los Angeles sky before 10:30 AM during her first year.
6. I used to tell my wife that when a person wore clothes at least 4 hours that it's fairly dirty. Especially if she walked around with it and perspired a little. Wash it or take it to the cleaners but don't hang it back up. Natural skin shedding alone is enough to make it dirty.

Superstition:
1. One time my wife bought lotto tickets because the jackpot got pretty huge. She took the ticket and actually taped it on a radio speaker while she played music. That one was pretty hysterical.
2. She used to be so apprehensive to discuss details of anything significant that we'll be doing because she believes that if she did, it'll never happen.

[Aloe]

According to this thread, my husband must be russian  He is scared of drafts, and he chooses to sit next to me in a restaurant, and he likes wearing dirty clothes  Oh and you should have seen him ninja cut the lines in Russia! 

[I/O]

So, I guess buying an air conditioned bus would be a waste of money.. hmm

Nope!! Below is...............believe it or not, the driver fitting a new air con compressor to the bus outside the train station in Novosibirsk a few weeks ago, just before we headed over to the airport. He had this thing working a treat within a few minutes and I understand enough Russian to glean from his comments to me that he (and every pax) had been baking in the stinking heat all day and was very glad to get the air con working again. BTW, I know my way around heavy machinery fairly well and this guy was more than a half useful mechanic apart from being an excellent driver (almost an oxymoron in Russia).

Of course when Mrs arrived home 2 weeks later and coughed once it was because of that dreadful air con on the plane and when number 1 son sneezed once is was because of that icecream he had two days prior on the plane. 

[ECOCKS]

Nope!! Below is...............believe it or not, the driver fitting a new air con compressor to the bus outside the train station in Novosibirsk a few weeks ago, just before we headed over to the airport. He had this thing working a treat within a few minutes and I understand enough Russian to glean from his comments to me that he (and every pax) had been baking in the stinking heat all day and was very glad to get the air con working again. BTW, I know my way around heavy machinery fairly well and this guy was more than a half useful mechanic apart from being an excellent driver (almost an oxymoron in Russia).

Of course when Mrs arrived home 2 weeks later and coughed once it was because of that dreadful air con on the plane and when number 1 son sneezed once is was because of that icecream he had two days prior on the plane. 

Yes, if they walk into an air-conditioned room you'll hear about it every time they sneeze for the next week.

Glad you found a bus with an AC, now find one with a working toilet onboard.

[kievstar]

I got the pig flu in Zurich last week but my Rwife first thought it must have been that I was sleeping next to the air conditioner in Ukraine which I was and she felt bad.  I assured her it was in Zurich since symptoms were noticed more than 2 days after leaving her city.  By the way Pig flu is not that bad.

[Sculpto]

Pig flu is just flu.  The odd thing about this scare, is people in Mexico die from flu in larger than typical numbers every year.  Flu did not exist in the New World when the Spanish came.  Along with small pox flu contributed to the bio warfare that decimated the Aztec.  To this day the more native to lower the resistance to flu in Mex.  The scare is totally overblown.

That said, the worst flu I ever had was picked up in Mex, at a tropical beach.  Go figure.  BTW, like Vodka, tequilla is medicine. 

Any vodka related annoying habits?