I’ve been travelling internationally for the better part of my adult life. And while I’d never been to Russia before, I’d heard the various stories circulating among the travelling crowd about “Russian Hospitality.”
There was that one, frequently repeated saying that stuck in my mind as we flew in to the Sochi airport last week. It goes something like this:
“If you happen to be walking down a street in Moscow and you see a man coming the other way, and he’s smiling, he must be one of the following:
A – Crazy.
B – Drunk.
C – American.”
Such is the reputation of the Russian style of interaction with foreigners. Cold. Stoic. Icy, unsmiling faces under fur hats. A society full of the epic tragedy and madness in the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. The sadness of Ovechkin.
Truth be told, I wasn’t expecting much.
But let me tell you now I was wrong. Way wrong.
While I obviously can’t speak for all travellers, my own little journey here has exploded the myth that Russian Hospitality is as freezing as a Troika ride in Siberia in January.
Landing in Sochi (Adler to be exact), the usual chaos ensued as our crew attempted to get its myriad cases of TV gear through customs. It took the usual amount of time, no big problems. And then just before we left there was this stunner from one of the customs agents.
“Thank you for being understanding and putting up with this hassle” she said.
Wow.
In all my travels, I’d heard that from an airport customs agent precisely ZERO times.
Not at Pearson airport in Toronto. Not at New York’s JFK. Not in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Then another shocker: the customs agents actually posed in a picture with cameraman Dan Hodgson and I. They smiled.
So far, I have to say the Russian people I’ve dealt with have been nothing short of warm and engaging. Now, you could accuse me of having low standards (many have), but I’ve really enjoyed living and working here. It’s not Thailand, the “Land of Smiles,” but it certainly isn’t North Korea either.
The Russians involved with the Olympics and dealing with reporters like me have been helpful, resourceful, surprisingly skilled in English and knowledgable about our needs.
I can’t say I have had a single big problem with any of them.
The service staff at our hotel and in the restaurants have been kind and efficient. If there was a problem with something they’ve been quick to apologize and try their best to make it right. I’ve had much worse service at many places in North America.
But what’s been most impressive is their curiosity about foreigners. Their willingness to engage you in conversation and ask you where you are from and what your home is like, and to tell you a bit about theirs. Sadly, I often find I’m the one who has to break off the conversation and run off to do some fiddly reporting thing.
Whatever their reputation, it was either wrong, or they’ve changed, or they’ve decided they’ll put their best selves forward for the Olympics. Maybe a bit of all three.
Usually the best things about travelling aren’t the ones you’ve planned, but the random, serendipitous encounters with people that are totally out of your control. And I’m finding plenty of that here.
The other night I was heading in to the hotel restaurant for a quick dinner before returning to work.
While walking through the lobby I encountered a Russian guy, about my age, who stuck out his hand and introduced himself.
“I am Pavel” he said. “Sorry, English bad. I am from Yakutsk.”
Well I’ve never met anybody from Yakutsk before, so Pavel sat at my table and I enjoyed our attempts to communicate without a common language.
At one point he asked “you like whiskey?” I told him yes, but none tonight, as I had to work.
Pavel smiled and got up and headed for the bar area and I realized I’d made the mistake of letting him think I wanted to have a whiskey with him right then and there. Oh, well, I thought. One whiskey won’t hurt.
When Pavel returned a few minutes later with a whole BOTTLE of whiskey I knew I was in for a major traveller’s adventure.
I won’t tell you how I got out of that one. Suffice to say, “Russian Hospitality” has exceeded my expectations.
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