culture shock

People keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what they think it means.

No, but seriously… It’s different than I expected. You hear a lot about adjusting to different foods, different ways of dressing, different ways of talking, different necessary polite sayings. I was mostly prepared for those things, then, and they didn’t feel all that shocking to me. (Of course, maybe it’s because I’m pretty ill-adjusted to my own culture’s social norms.)

I’ve been here almost three weeks now. Some things that really surprise or irritate my fellow students don’t bother me at all, but here are some of the things that have been sort of “shocking” to me:

1. bathrooms. Public restrooms are almost always co-ed. It’s very weird. I have, in America, come out of a stall to see someone male in the room, but it has almost always been someone under the age of three. I haven’t gotten used to this yet.
2. low grocery prices. I can get a yogurt for the equivalent of 20 cents, a banana for 15, and six liters of water for 80. My first solo grocery-shopping trip was absurdly economical. $10 for 2 weeks’ worth of water and snacks!
3. high grocery prices. Okay, so you’re telling me I can buy a full loaf of bread for less than a dollar, and 100g of almonds are going to cost me three? And a small hot chocolate is six? This is ridiculous.
4. smoke. I’m pretty sure my clothes and everything else I own smell like cigarettes. Because everyone smokes, and they smoke everywhere. I almost don’t smell it anymore, except when it gets in my hair.
5. door etiquette. Basically, knocking is not a thing. Also, strong locks are not a thing. This has led to several instances in the more-acceptably-co-ed restrooms (i.e. there’s one single room for the whole café/restaurant/church), where I do my best to lock the door, and some overly confident man-type just yanks the door open on me. Whoops. As Caroline says, “supes awks.”
6. teachers. Most of my professors are of the babushka variety*. They find it no strange thing to tell me that I, in fact, should be wearing a turtleneck sweater, that the reason I’m always hungry is because I’m cold, and that I need to make sure my classmate doesn’t drink too much on the weekends. They also tend not to call me by the name I gave them (Katya), but rather by whatever affectionate/diminutive variants they think up (Katka, Katyusha, Katyenka, etc).
7. cashiers. In America, the customer is always right. In Russia, if the cashier does not approve of your order or your method of payment, he/she will tell you. And will send you back to the menu where you can choose something better. (Which is okay; I’ve saved some money thanks to them.)
8. sorry. I’ve mentioned this before. Russians just don’t apologize as often as Americans. Things that would immediately merit a “sorry” or “excuse me” in America (stepping on someone’s foot in the metro, getting somewhat in someone’s way on the sidewalk, walking into a store with no intention of buying anything but only to ask directions)… don’t, here.
9. outerwear. There are two sides to this coin. (1) One must always and without fail be FULLY bundled in order to walk out the door. Hat, scarf, mittens, coat, and shoes that cover the whole tops of your feet. (2) One must always and without fail be FULLY un-bundled in order to walk in the door. No shoes in the house. No hats, ever. No coats. Thankfully, scarves are usually okay.
10. bars. The first Friday, to celebrate a successful whole week in Russia, my classmates wanted to go to a bar. I tagged along to hang out, though I didn’t really want to drink (and didn’t—don’t worry Mom, I am good at saying no). I don’t know how to pinpoint what exactly was shocking about that… It was just shocking, вообще. The only time I’ve ever been in a bar before was before 5pm on a weekday.

I never said the only part of culture that’s shocking is the Russia part. There’s also a good bit of the 21^st-century-secular-West part that will take some time getting used to.

*We like to say of the one female teacher who looks about 25, “Она ещё не бабушкировала.” Alternately “Она ещё не забабушкела.” I don’t know which I like better.