We’re making potatoes for dinner tonight. I’d make a joke about how that’s typical Russian cuisine or something, but Russia actually has a pretty rich culinary tradition. I don’t know too much about it though, at least in part because I don’t eat meat.
But the whole Russia and potatoes (or vodka, etc) joke is the sort of comedy I’m going to try to avoid.
As much as I write about the differences between Russia and home, differences magnified by a difficult foreign language, St. Petersburg and its people have many of the same characteristics as big city denizens throughout the world. Sure, they smile less readily and they’re a bit quieter, but on the whole, the differences are minor.
Of course, people are more attuned to difference than similarity. And it’s also those differences that make foreign cultures so unique and interesting. So while I’ll keep blogging about the unique quirks that make St. Petersburg an interesting place to be, I don’t want to give anybody the impression that there’s a huge divide between “our culture” and the culture here.
Zachary Tracer 