Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
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Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
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Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#2We (Latvians) are actually really similar to Russians in this matter. We generally don't smile and if there's someone walking down the street with a big smile on his face - the first thing that comes to mind is: "He must be a tourist."
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#3I'd generalize this to (continental) Europeans, and it becomes more true the further East you go. Being in Poland, I notice the same thing.
However, I did notice that New Yorkers are also closer to the "Russian" camp. Not totally (especially when it comes to retail), but closer...
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#4Combine this with the Finnish attitude towards smalltalk, and I think you'd get the ideal sort of country for me.
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#5I worked with some Russians a few years ago. Great guys. One wasn't very well adapted to American culture. He came to my cube one day. He's like "Let's go get a smoke", but his face and tone was flat, so it came across as "You've pissed me off in some way and I'm probably going to kick your ass now". I demurred. A couple more offers over the next few days and I finally relented (I don't smoke, but went to hang out). Pretty soon he was smiling and cracking jokes. A few months later he asked me, "Why do Americans always have to act happy? It's so fake."
*edit: I a word
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#6I would say it is the terrible weather, too cold in winter, too hot in summer. It probably means something like "serious people are the rulers, because if you do stupid crazy things you are dead" over thousands of years that forge a culture.
Russia is so big, and yet so ugly. I took the transsiberian train and it was so boring. In 40kms of Chile you see more than in 3000 of transsiberian. In Winter there is no light, and no color(snow everywhere).
When you travel to places where the sun shines all year long you find that everybody smiles so much. You go to Bali, Brazil, Cuba, Costa Rica, kenia, Nigeria, all people smile all the time.
Boston, New York,Seattle, Germany, they are in the middle-upper scale of seriousness. Miami, California, less serious.
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#7Living in far Northern Canada I can relate to this.
Up here, if someone wants to smile and say "Have a nice day", they will do so while making eye contact and you can tell they genuinely mean it. They are usually prompting you for further friendly chit-chat and happiness. Even when there are other customers waiting in line - those customers will be made to wait while two people have a friendly chat.
When they don't want to say "Have a nice day", they won't. Likely they won't say anything at all or kind of grunt/mumble and just move along (even in retail) - but at least you know they're being genuine either way.
Last time I went back to "the real world" I was shocked time and time again when someone would say "Have a nice day" - I'd start to return the sentiment and be utterly disgusted the person wasn't even looking at me, and wasn't even paying attention to me. It all felt so fake, and I was quickly tired of it.
Lots of business up here have a little sign in their shop "Yukon hospitality - it grows on you".
I genuinely wonder if the climate has something to do with this. Extreme cold and very dark days tend to bring people together, and tends to make people more genuine and humble, in my experience.
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#8I would say it is the terrible weather, too cold in winter, too hot in summer. It probably means something like "serious people are the rulers, because if you do stupid crazy things you are dead" over thousands of years that forge a culture. Russia is so big, and yet so ugly. I took the transsiberian train and it was so boring. In 40kms of Chile you see more than in 3000 of transsiberian. In Winter there is no light,…
Did you read the article?
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#9There's really no need to be stingy with your smile.
If you smile more often at work, even if there's nothing specific to be happy about, it really does lighten up the mood and make people cheerier. People will want to work with you more.
Also, I hope I don't sound like a sociopath here, but smiles are a form of brain hacking. If they are genuine, or at least seem genuine, they disarm people and make them more receptive to you. Also, I've heard that it's a way of hacking your own brain, to make yourself happier than you would otherwise be, just by smiling.
One of the easiest things you can do to give better presentations is to learn to genuinely smile while giving them. Not all the time, but a smile peppered here or there. This works wonders on investors.
Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)
#10Spot on (yeah, I'm "russki")
Russians do like to laugh, though. We don't have as much stand-up comedians as Americans do (and skits by the one we do have are very low-brow), but a related genre of satire is quite popular among performers and listeners alike. Not sure if Jvanetsky's performances are available in English, but for those studying Russian I'd highly recommend listening to those.