Pickpockets

Unfortunately there are some pickpocketers. Not too much though, but everyone gets something stolen once or twice in a lifetime. Of course they look for tourists as they are often unaware. So please don’t put your huge wallet or cellphone into your back pocket or bag. That’s it.

Advice: don’t put too much money, other expensive stuff and documents in one wallet (sounds like a good idea anywhere in the world until poverty and crime exist)

Promoters and strip clubs

Remember the simple thing: there is no good strip tease clubs in Russia. Every strip club is a place where you lose money and nearly every promoter who calls you to a bar works for such a club. That’s not about wasting $50 – that’s about wasting all cash you have. Sometimes even nice-looking girls seek for foreigners and invite them in, so if you see an empty club with only several sexy girls in you’d better go. Never trust strip clubs, girls calling you there or strip bar/club promoters in Russia. Well, what happens if you go in? They usually let you in for some entrance fee. Girls inside start chatting with you. Then they bring you some free champagne or a cocktail. Then they dance, seat around naked and offer you to order some other drinks. You think ‘Well, why not, that can’t cost too much – waiter, get me 5 tequilas’. But the surprise is drink’s price: it may cost $100 per shot (and you just bought five, haha). So that’s it. Bouncers won’t let you out until you give away everything you have. The police will probably be unable to help you as this is their official pricelist and you won’t prove anything. But if you really pack a ton of money you may go in and waste it htis way.

The time goes on and now you can meet normal bar o club promoters on bar streets. But check twice this is a bar, not a strip club.

Advice: avoid strip clubs and their promoters, really do. Never even think of that in Russia. This is 100% cheating. You will just lose all the cash you have with you. You will have no fun at all in a strip club.

Assholes and scumbags

Any nation has some assholes. Don’t judge people by smile, read about it below. But remember that guys in cheap dirty sports wear smoking cigarettes and drinking beer rarely do sports here. Clumsy and unclean dress, smell of alcohol, sunflower seeds (a traditional russian snack by the way), short hair, loud speech, cocky manners and other attributes usually apply. Just never deal with those guys. You will know them when you see them. Luckily they rarely visit city center, but you should still think with your own head. We don’t think it is a good idea to drink with a pack of fucked up guys with black eyes in any country so please don’t do this in Russia too

Advice: avoid obvious scumbags and drunk men (obvious, isn’t it?). Try to avoid bad looking people in general, they are more likely to bring troubles to tourists.

Sexual harrasment

We don’t have a law against sexual harassment. Ladies don’t have much problems with it though men are always first to get acknowledged here. Don’t mind this, that’s just our local tradition that guys have to start the conversation. Yep, that’s the truth, we’ve got a patriarchic society. but men don’t do that too often anyway. Any dialogue can be ended in a second. There is nearly no rape here so you may feel safe (we’ve got nearly all rape attempts being made by people who know the victim). So Russia is not even close to amount of men’s attention you will get in Turkey, Lebanon, India or even Israel. Feel free to wear any kind of clothes (but not in a church please), forget the problems. The language barrier will also keep most Russian men away, ladies.

Advice: avoid obvious scumbags and drunk men (however). Don’t be surprised if someone offers you a drink – it is a common thing here, no one is trying to insult you. Yes, we’re in a stone age of feminism here and men do this. Read the drinking section of this page for more details.

Picking up a Russian lady

We have a tradition that men are first to get acknowledged. So gentlemen, you are welcome to open the dialogue with ladies you like! But check for a minute if she has a boyfriend around first. Russian ladies are usually likely to chat and drink with foreigners. Feel free to do this but respect their right to say ‘no’. Don’t be a bully, anyone will gladly smash your face if your lady yells for help. You can offer her a drink, in most cases they politely refuse it if they don’t like you and it is not treated like a harrasment here.

Warning: we wear a wedding ring on a right hand. 

Advice: welcome to pick ladies up, just don’t be a bully or a dork.  Be a polite and nice person like you usually do!

Russian smile

Russians rarely smile when walking around the street or driving or chatting with strangers. So people around may seem pretty serious or dangerous. But this is 100% not true. And this is funny to see especially when you know Russians better. You will see us smiling and joking a lot when we see people we know or like. This is just a tradition no one understands here. We just do so, no special reasons. By the way, this tradition is common for most slavic nations so who the hell knows why… Smile here is something more than ‘Have a nice day you unknown person, bye-bye’! In Russia it is like ‘Oh, I really like you’! Except for the salesmen, they always smile.

Advice: just remember we’re not a nation of crooks, it is just a wierd fact about some nations in general no one cares about. Our smiles are usually meant for people we like and are 100% sincere.

No drugs in Russia

You don’t do drugs here. First reason is you have to know a dealer to buy some good stuff. Really. No dealers on the streets. If someone offers you some drugs be sure it is a cop or the drugs are fake. You won’t get high that easy. Second reason is that drugs are expensive and really bad. But still… If you see a high person – you may try to get acknowledged to him or her, probably he or she will dope you or sell a little. Or ask your guide. But we wouldn’t risk that. If you really want to be high all the time – you may try to use Couchsurfing to find a guy who will help you with that. But we wouldn’t recommend that so please don’t do drugs, they are bad and illegal. Well, if still you happen to find some… Never do drugs on a street or go out being seriously high. You’d better not even do them in clubs but we guess you won’t listen. So at least hide the stuff well as club bouncers often ask you to open a bag and use a flashlight to look inside for drugs or guns. If they find your pot they call the police. Remember that drugs are a big crime here and you risk getting into a big international trouble so you’d better not do them here.

Advice: don’t do drugs you addict 🙂

Russian drinking habits

There is a big difference between American, European and Russian drinking habits. This makes a lot of confusion when different cultures collide in a bar. The main Russian drinking habits are difficult like hell and are as follows.

1. Russians usually order drinks for themselves only and pay for themselves. We don’t buy drinks for a company, everyone does his or her own order. If I order a beer and you order seven whiskeys I pay for my beer only plus some tips. It is OK both for friends and strangers, no one even thinks there is another option. Really. We always drink like that.
2. If we buy a drink for someone – it is just a gift. If we get it from you – we may not reply with the same act. This is called ‘prostava’ and replying to it with another ‘prostava’ is up to you. We gladly both buy and accept drinks as a gift. But remember that buying a drink for someone here is an act of gratuitous kindeness. And people want nothing back in exchange for a drink except for you being happy.
3. Boys often buy drinks for girls here. Yes, just like that. Men often buy drinks for ladies here and it is often welcomed. Just another tradition, no one cares too much about that, we just love drinking 🙂 Ladies please keep in mind that refusal is OK, nothing bad ever happens. Don’t blame us for our vintage traditions please. Gentlemen please notice that Russian ladies will often accept your offer if they like you (or even if they don’t like you but like the drink).

So the main troubles are #1 and #2. In a lot of countries people buy drinks in turns. For example if we drink together I go to a bar to get some beer for you and for me. In the next bar you do it. Unfortunately here in Russia no one acts like that. Well, friends do when bar-hopping together, but not that often. We usually share the bill. When you drink with Russians don’t buy drinks for the company as no one usually does it here. This will be considered to be a ‘prostava’ from rule #2. You probably won’t see anyone buying drinks for you after that because ‘prostava’ is always a person’s own choice here. Remember that please!

At a home party the rules are usually set by a host. If the host is a young person in most cases you bring the alcohol you want plus some snacks. Always get some more drinks than you probably need. At home you will drink or eat whatever you find: there is still some communism here at the youth home parties 😉 Yongsters rarely seat at a table at parties unless they play some games like poker, Alias, Dixit or whatever. Older people usually cook a metric ton of delicious food and strictly forbid you to bring anything. But you’d better still ask a host for the rules. The party is more like a dinner than a party for older people. Anyway just ask a party host what to buy – and bring a bottle of wine or whiskey even if you are not told to do so. Let it be a small present. but check they drink, don’t make such a present for an alcoholic who was sober for years.

So the drinking traditions difference is probably the worst inconvenience for newbies in Russia. Just remember we are about to pay for our own drinks by ourselves! And that no one buys drinks for the company here unless he or she really wants to make a surprise or celebrates a birthday!

PS Alcohol is sold in shops from 8 am to 10 pm only. Go to a bar after 10 pm. Drinking on a street is forbidden (but it is OK in open air cafes). Cops ignore drinking foreigners, the wors thing is they tell you it’s illegal and you pretend you didn’t know that. Paper bags on bottles are usually OK but there is no law about them so do that at your own risk.

Advice: be sure to understand the concept of our drinking: we buy our drinks by ourselves. Don’t buy too much drinks for other people unless you just really want to. This is a simple secret to avoid confusions and have an awesome party!

Tips

Tips are gladly accepted in bars, coffeeshops, restraunts, etc. Most waiters have nearly zero salary here. So please leave 10-20% tips if you like the service and the food. You can also tip your guide, taxi driver, etc. We don’t usually have tip boxes (you rarely find it) so leave the money at a table or at bar or with your check. You can also handle the tip personally. No any special rules about that here.

Advice: tips are OK, especially for waiters and bartenders.

English language in Russia

People say no one speaks English here. That’s a lie: English is compulsary in most Russian schools. But most people have a low level of English. So if you come to a person and ask ‘Where is the airport?’ he or she will definitely understand. If you say ‘Do you speak English?’ you give them a chance to say ‘no’. If you say ‘Wassup, mate! Where do they sell booze?’ they may not even understand. So ask simple questions! The other nice surprise is that young and well-dressed people most probably speak English. So remember that nearly every hipster here is an English speaker! And there are tons of hipsters everywhere, even we are. Look for hipsters! Finally go to a Poison bar where everyone sings English songs. There is a smaller chance to talk to someone if you choose older people.

PS Menus in English are available nearly everywhere in a city centre. Everything in the subway has an English translation. All street names on the houses number plates are translated too. There are some information booths in a city centre so look for a blue ‘i’ symbol.

Advice: ask simple questions. Look out for well-dressed people under 35, lots of them speak English. Hipsters most probably speak English so ask a hipster.