Are you tired of my cultural observations??

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So perhaps you are tiring of my essays on how culture here is different from ours. However, I find that this is really what makes this trip so interesting. In many ways, if you were to drop me down here without hearing the language or seeing words on the walls - that is, if it were only the scenery - I am not sure that I would know that I was in Russia instead of something like Austria. Much of the old town of St. Petersburg was built at the same time as the grand palaces and towns of Western Europe, and being as close to Western Europe as we are here (my understanding is that Finland is only an hour or two by train/boat) and given the “intermarriage” history of Russia and Austria/Germany, it isn’t surprising that they look so much alike in the historical districts.

Having said that, just observing daily life around me reminds me that I am not in Western Europe. Some additional observations…

1) Attendants - Every building is heavily managed by attendants. When walking into any academic building on campus, you immediately encounter a minimum of two attendants. One sits behind a desk in a booth and is typically female. The other stands just beyond this booth somewhat like a guard and is typically male. I THINK that these folks are there for information and that you are supposed to “check in” if you do not belong in the building. Having said that, I have no idea what their real role is in many buildings because we never stopped and “checked in” with these people (I guess I must have belonged). Occasionally I observed people check bags with the booth, and I did observe the “guard” question one or two people, although I do not know if this were a matter of “can I help you” or “do you belong here”

These same attendants are all over most other buildings you go to. In the museum, there is an attendant in every small room you enter. At the theater, or the museum, or the like, you will check your coat with one of close to a dozen attendants (and this is not a service you are expected to pay for, nor tip for upon retrieval). There is a shopping center near our hotel which consists of room after room of small shops laid out in a LARGE rectangle with an incredibly large courtyard in the middle (I would estimate that this is roughly two city blocks). Each room is maybe 30x50 feet?? Each room would have its own cash register and attendant, and a guard would stand at the doorway between each room. This town must employ THOUSANDS of people to be attendants.

2) How to shop - If you are in a grocery store or a touristy shop, then you shop in the American tradition. That is, you grab your things off the shelf, present them at a register, and pay for them. In many smaller shops (such as the “convenience store” in my hotel/dormitory and the art/jewelry store I snooped in the other day) you still shop what I have assumed is the “soviet” way. In these shops you proceed first to the cash register where you pay for your items. At this point you are given a receipt. You then take this receipt to the counter that has your goods and present the receipt as proof that you have already paid. At that point you are given your item. Depending on the store, you may also exit through a third location where they check your receipt versus your goods and tear a small rip in your receipt to indicate that you have taken your goods (and don’t try to use it again at a later time). Now, try this when you can’t speak the language. The ladies who run the store in our hotel understand that we have to gather our goods and THEN pay, but they get cranky that you don’t do it in the “right” order. I tried to be polite and pay in advance the other day, but it turned out a miserable failure. She simply looked at me sadly and said in very broken English “Just go get” My guess is that this system is on its way out due to the globalization of things (and the tourist trade that makes it hard to keep doing) but it is one of those hold over things.

3) Checking in at the front desk - Another hold over thing may be an old traditional European thing and I have simply never encountered it before (since we frequently stayed in private zimmers/rooms rather than hotels when we traveled in Western Europe). Upon checking in to the hotel we were given a small key on a LARGE key chain. I should take a picture of it so you get an idea of what I am talking about. The key gets you into your room. The little green tag is an RFID chip and you use it to get through locked doors that separate the different wings of the hotel/dormitory. The black thing is just a gigantic key fob.

The first few times we went out for walks I felt very conspicuous with that giant thing sitting in my pocket. However, on one of the first days here, several of us came in together and walked past the security desk to the stair well (you walk through a turnstile that can be locked certain times of day and the RFID chip unlocks the turnstile). The man running the security desk was clearly angry with us and trying to give us instructions in Russian. Through a little bit of charades we managed to figure out that he meant that we were not to leave the building with our keys. Instead, behind the desk is a large wooden rack that spins. On both sides of this rack were drilled holes slightly smaller than the widest part of the black fob on our keychains. When you leave the building you are expected to give the security desk your key (in this case, the key woman, NOT the security man who evidently will not touch the keys no matter how unbusy he is and how very busy the keywoman is). At that point you are given your “guest card” which has your name and room number and dates of your stay on it. When you return, you trade them this card (which slides into a storage slot under the hole where your key is stored) for your key. In many ways, it is a smart system. It makes it nearly impossible for you to lose your key except in the confines of the building which means that those who don’t belong in the building would have a hard time sneaking in. If you carried your key, you could lose it or someone could lift it from you. By carrying only a small guest card it is, perhaps, harder to lose.

4) Russian Woman - Ok, this is going to sound like a sexist statement, but Russian women - at least those on the streets of St. Petersburg and the campus I am on - are incredibly in touch with fashion and their appearance. I don’t think I am overgeneralizing when I say that the vast majority of women we encounter on walks and on campus are dressed VERY well. They almost always are wearing relatively short skirts, relatively fancy stockings/hosiery, and relatively tall, pointy, uncomfortable looking shoes. And they are wearing these, often, on cobblestones when they walk. They are tall (in part from the heels), skinny (when you get tall stocking clad legs you want to maintain them I guess, and their hair and makeup (if they are wearing it) is always in perfect order. They often have very stylish scarves around their necks or handbags that cost more than the laptop I am carrying in my backpack (and the pickpockets will come for me??). Those who aren’t in skirts are wearing nice slacks or even jeans, but then are wearing midriff showing shirts - and they have the midriffs to pull this off.

On the flip side, men are relatively unfashionable (although that depends on age). Adult males are certainly wearing slacks and dress shirts if not ties and jackets - although these tend to be nothing very fancy. In fact, at the opening ceremony of the conference the other night, the president of the University was wearing a robin’s egg blue pinstripe suit that looked like it came from my Grandpa Schafer’s wardrobe. In fact, he had the woven white, wicker shoes to go with it, just like Grandpa Schafer. Most of the younger men and teenagers look like they came off a US campus or high school, although the colors tend to be restricted to darker, plain, colors.

Ok, enough of my treatise for one day. FYI, today I had my final rounds of business meetings on campus. The dean was very interested in making sure that we discussed collaboration efforts before she said her goodbyes. I was supposed to have a tour of St. Isaac’s this afternoon, but the student leading the tour had something come up, and since I have seen it already this trip, I told him that I would not be offended if I could have some quiet time in my room to rest and do some work.

Someone asked me via email how I was finding the ability to post these blogs. I brought my laptop with me so that I can do some work. Unfortunately, it turns out that there is no Internet access in our hotel, nor is there anyplace on campus where I can use my laptop or the computers on campus (their version of internet security involves locked doors and carefully controlled wires). However, there is an internet café about three blocks from our hotel. They charge 20 rubles for 15 minutes of time (about 80 cents). I write these blogs on my laptop and then take them down to the café on my USB drive. In 15 minutes I can read the important email from my wife and daughters (Margaret writes me every day), put out fires at work as needed, and quickly post this blog from my USB drive.

It is less than $1 a day VERY well spent to let everyone know that I am alive and well (and vice versa).

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Photos

My room key
Key, RFID tag, and "security device"

Comments

[Mike W]

Actually, I'm enjoying the observations . . .
Sounds like Russia has a unique combination of traditional and Western culture. Clint Eastwood movies and South Park . . . sounds like they have embraced some American favorites.

[Nancy G]

Thanks for all the blogs
I never would have anticipated that description of Russian women. I always have the grandma-type in my head. I'm glad you are safe and having a wonderful trip!