If you’re working in international business, you have most likely participated in some kind of diversity or cultural training sessions. You know the kind. Those meetings where we learn that Germans are punctual, Italians are emotional and Finns don’t talk — without some alcohol.
For me, the past 1,000 days of working in Russia have been a true deep dive into the Russian landscape, business culture and mentality. And I have gained an understanding that is impossible to get from these sterilized meetings, which tend to focus on stereotypes.
During this amazing journey, I have visited 59 Russian cities, embraced numerous governors and seen all 11 time zones of this enormous country. And it is worth mentioning that all my preconceived notions about Russia were wrong.
Before deciding to come to work in Russia, I had very little knowledge of it, even though my own country — Finland — shares a long border with it. I had been a tourist in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but as the Finnish and Russian languages share probably only three common words, my ability to communicate and get to know people was very limited.
So what are my observations so far?
I’m a nerd, so I was thrilled to see the level and quality of telecommunications across the country — in complete contrast to my wildest expectations. Russians truly love and use all the latest gadgets. The post-Soviet “PlayStation Generation” is particularly well connected. Social media is widely used, and news from all over the world is at everyone’s fingertips. There is no “Great Firewall,” on the Russian Internet, like in China, so it is very annoying to see even serious, informed people lump Russia and China together in the same category when discussing online freedom.
Despite all my doubts, the infrastructure of the cities I have visited more or less meets European and American standards. Yes, some of the roads are pretty bad, but airports, hotels, restaurants and other services are well developed. Starbucks is everywhere, and I use my credit card for almost everything. I pay my bills using the online services of Russian banks, and money transfers from my home bank can be arranged overnight. For travel I use mostly airlines like Aeroflot, which has a very modern fleet of Airbus planes. I am not a specialist in air travel by any means, but as an anecdote I must say that in the past 1,000 days, I have only had my flights delayed twice, and for 15 minutes at the most.
Of course the state of the Russian economy right now is not good, but this current turbulence is good for my business — promoting the culture of startups and innovation in Russia. If oil prices were high, it would be practically impossible to convince any local businesses to make difficult restructuring decisions.
Naturally, I don’t wish hard times on anyone, but now, when I see the creation of new businesses and the modernization of big companies, I can’t help but think that there are some benefits to the current situation.
Also from the standpoint of an investor, the devalued currency has created many opportunities — after all, our potential to make money occurs in the “buying” stage of the investment.
But I must mention the most beautiful part of life in Russia — the food. When I arrived in the country, the only Russian food I knew of was borscht. But in the first few days, I realized that Russians will spend a lot of money on two things — high-quality food and high-heeled shoes. In every city I visit, I just have to log on to TripAdvisor to see an amazing variety of restaurants and cuisine.
There is something for every taste — from sushi to Caucasian cuisine.
So, dear friends in the global business community, open your eyes to Russia. Take it from me — seeing is believing!
Source
Showing posts with label expats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label expats. Show all posts
Some reading for the inspiration
Funny and sad, thoughtful and brief, but blogs of expats living in Russia always make me read them. Maybe you'd like that too...
"A question I have asked myself a thousand times about Russia is: why can it be so difficult dealing with people I like so much? I have come to the conclusion that this is a problem of mutual misunderstanding due to asymetrical thinking. This is a result of our languages having a different logic and etiquette. Moscow's main publisher of contemporary Russian literature in English once said to me: "There is no such thing as the 'mysterious Russian soul', only bad translation."
Ian Mitchell, http://elerussians.blogspot.com
"One of the first questions guests have when planning to go to Russia is how to say "Hello". Unhappily, the answer is "Здравствуйте" (pronounced... hmmm, something like Zdravst-voo-tye). The bold guest will make several brave attempts at popular pronunciation before asking the local, "Isn't there another way to say it?".
The local in question will then invariably mention that you can say "Привет" (Pronounced "pree-vyet", and make it only two syllables, please), which means "Hi", but not "Hello". Our intrepid guest will be happily shocked by this turn of events because he (or she) will immediately recognize that it is easier to say "Pree-vyet" (even if it is only two syllables) than to say "Hello" in Russian which, for some reason, is a sound akin to a controlled sneeze".
Andy Freska, http://andyfrecka.blogspot.com/
"The funny thing about Russia is that foreigners that come here either love it or hate it – rarely do you see any middle ground on this one, but the question is: will you be a lover or a hater?"
http://www.england-moscow.com
"In the United States it’s common to ask people where they are from and then form an opinion about them based on their answer. I’m originally from Ohio and though I don’t come from a small town I constantly heard jokes about how I grew up on a farm. But in Russia no one knew where Ohio was or what it meant to come from there or what the local stereotypes were. I wasn’t an Ohioan, I was an American.
Like most people, I’d always associated tea with England. I had no idea that Russians drank so much tea. While I rarely drank tea on my own, it was something of a social activity at work and I soon found myself mindlessly drinking cup after cup of tea throughout the work day. At home I never drank tea but always kept some on hand in case I had Russian friends visiting".
JoAnne Stein, http://interculturalist.wordpress.com/
"The metro. On my first trip I didn’t realize that there was a reason all the other people were holding on to the handrails. I realized that only after I became a flying trajectory. Then there were the times that I thought I was transferring lines but instead ended up exiting the metro altogether. It would take me ages to read the signs to figure out where to go and even then my success rate was only marginal. Fast forward a bit. Today I can recognize stations by their appearance, not just by name, and without even looking at the signs I know which escalator will take me to the connecting platform".
Hannah La Luzerne, http://hannahgoestorussia.blogspot.com/
"A question I have asked myself a thousand times about Russia is: why can it be so difficult dealing with people I like so much? I have come to the conclusion that this is a problem of mutual misunderstanding due to asymetrical thinking. This is a result of our languages having a different logic and etiquette. Moscow's main publisher of contemporary Russian literature in English once said to me: "There is no such thing as the 'mysterious Russian soul', only bad translation."
Ian Mitchell, http://elerussians.blogspot.com
"One of the first questions guests have when planning to go to Russia is how to say "Hello". Unhappily, the answer is "Здравствуйте" (pronounced... hmmm, something like Zdravst-voo-tye). The bold guest will make several brave attempts at popular pronunciation before asking the local, "Isn't there another way to say it?".
The local in question will then invariably mention that you can say "Привет" (Pronounced "pree-vyet", and make it only two syllables, please), which means "Hi", but not "Hello". Our intrepid guest will be happily shocked by this turn of events because he (or she) will immediately recognize that it is easier to say "Pree-vyet" (even if it is only two syllables) than to say "Hello" in Russian which, for some reason, is a sound akin to a controlled sneeze".
Andy Freska, http://andyfrecka.blogspot.com/
"The funny thing about Russia is that foreigners that come here either love it or hate it – rarely do you see any middle ground on this one, but the question is: will you be a lover or a hater?"
http://www.england-moscow.com
"In the United States it’s common to ask people where they are from and then form an opinion about them based on their answer. I’m originally from Ohio and though I don’t come from a small town I constantly heard jokes about how I grew up on a farm. But in Russia no one knew where Ohio was or what it meant to come from there or what the local stereotypes were. I wasn’t an Ohioan, I was an American.
Like most people, I’d always associated tea with England. I had no idea that Russians drank so much tea. While I rarely drank tea on my own, it was something of a social activity at work and I soon found myself mindlessly drinking cup after cup of tea throughout the work day. At home I never drank tea but always kept some on hand in case I had Russian friends visiting".
JoAnne Stein, http://interculturalist.wordpress.com/
"The metro. On my first trip I didn’t realize that there was a reason all the other people were holding on to the handrails. I realized that only after I became a flying trajectory. Then there were the times that I thought I was transferring lines but instead ended up exiting the metro altogether. It would take me ages to read the signs to figure out where to go and even then my success rate was only marginal. Fast forward a bit. Today I can recognize stations by their appearance, not just by name, and without even looking at the signs I know which escalator will take me to the connecting platform".
Hannah La Luzerne, http://hannahgoestorussia.blogspot.com/
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