More Russian stereotypes and completely random thoughts

Traveling on trains as much as we did, it gives a person time to think (insert joke here). Supposedly, many writers found inspiration traveling the Trans-Siberian. Rest assured, these musings won't win any literary awards.

Continuing on the stereotypes:
Russian cuisine:
IMO, its not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Most meals start off with soup and bread, followed by numerous small dishes (tapas portions), such as salad, fish, beef, potatoes, etc. Omul, a smoked fish common in Siberia, is really tasty. And western food (and fast food) is a common sight in Moscow.

Carry-overs from the Soviet-era:
- All the menus contain the size/weight of each portion. Apparently during the Soviet-era, food was rationed out, but its pretty cool now, because you can tell if you're ordering a little bit of food or a lot.
- Restaurants frequently don't have the item you want on the menu (we experienced this in Siberia, but not in Moscow)
- At "all you can eat buffets", you're only allowed to go up once and take one plate.

Customer service and hospitality:
The stereotype is best summed up by Aeroflot's (the national airline of Russia) slogan during the 80s, which was "We don't smile, because we're serious about making you happy". And its true we experienced many customer-unfriendly items, such as restaurants not having items on their menu, all the railway schedules are set to Moscow time (even the train station clocks in other cities are set to Moscow time), and of course, you've already read about our train facilities and immigration experiences.

Having said that, we do have a new appreciation for the message the fine folks at Aeroflot were trying to convey. Clearly its not an appealing tagline, but it does seem to sum up our experiences with Russian customer service. Once you move past the fact that very rarely do people smile (everyone looks really angry), and the difficulty in interpreting the tone of the language as friendly, most of the people we met were rather accomodating. Examples:
- Waitress at a restaurant: We ran out of that. And that too. Not that -- No, I bring you this - its good.
- Provodnista in train: Its not cold; the train temperature is always set to 18 degrees centigrade (64 degrees F); this is normal temperature. Oh, you have the sniffles. I turn off the a/c.

There was an episode of the Simpsons (Lost Our Lisa) where Lisa got lost on the bus and ended up in the Russian area of Springfield. If the Aeroflot slogan is the stereotype, the Simpsons episode truly captures the essence of what Russian customer service and hospitality is all about.


Getting there and around:
In order for foreigners to enter Russia, they must first get a letter of invitation from the country, then apply for a visa that has strict "valid from/to dates". Best to use a travel agent to facilitate these. And at Russian customs you have to declare practically everything, including mobile phones, cameras, computers and foreign currency. These are considered "temporarily permitted devices".

Getting to the major cities (e.g, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Ekatinburg) is easy, since most major European airlines (and Delta) have flights, and Korean Air flies to Vladivostock on the Pacific Coast. But, anywhere else and you're either driving, taking the train, or one of 6 or 7 different Russian airlines. And while aviation safety records as a whole are improving, statistically Russian airlines continue to be the most dangerous (followed by Africa-based carriers, save South African Airways). Hence, why we're taking the train (frankly, I would love to take a Tupolev TU-154; its a very well engineered, albeit old plane, but Marie is afraid -- something about not wanting to die. Her dad summarizes her thoughts well, by saying "better to take a dirty train, than an unsafe plane").

Driving:
Like in Mongolia, Siberians drive their cars on the right hand side of the road (like in the US and France), but both left-hand and right-hand drive cars are prevelent. Moscow has only cars with the driver on the left-hand side. And the accident rate is amongst the highest in the world.

Completely random thoughts:
- Russia is the anti-Dubai: If Dubai is diversifying its economy through improved financial services, tourism, and trading, then Russia is doing exactly the opposite. Flush with money thanks to rising oil and gas prices, Russia is placing one big bet on its future.
- With Russians, one always know where they stand. If they like you, you'll know it -- and if they don't like you, you'll DEFINITELY know it.
- Marie's grandparents visited Russia in the mid-80s, and her grandmother said Russians have really nice eyes. We agree with her.
- We consider the fact that Marie and I have spent every moment together for 4 months (including a 6' x 5' room for 77 hours without showering) and not wanting to kill each other (that much) a good sign.
- If there was ever an "Ultimate Fighting: World Leaders", my money is on Putin. The guy is former KGB, jacked and always looks ready to kill. Bush would do reasonably well (apparently he works out everyday), while the odds would be against Sarkozy.
- My Indian skin has no problem with intense sunlight, but the wimpy American office worker can't deal with monsoon-like humidity. For Marie, its quite the opposite.
- Why is prostitution is rampant in countries that claim to have "conservative values"?
- No matter where we travel to, no one thinks we're married. Having passports from different countries certainly doesn't help (even though the last name is the same).
- I lost count of how many times on this trip Marie has said "If Frederic saw me wearing this..."