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Getting To Know the Russian People

If your city is big enough I am sure you saw those tourists flooding the place. What chance they have to actually see the town?

Buying a bus tour, visiting some museums... a pretty standard program that is informative and boring at the same time. I bet anyone who has lived in that city long enough could tell a lot more interesting story, but how can you make them share? This is especially true in the context of Russian culture whose people are famous for their hospitality.

Did I mention lots of Russians under 35-40 speak pretty good English?

Here's a little secret that will help you look at Russia at a more personal angle. Do you have a hobby? Do you like fishing? Do you love blues? Play harmonica? Fond of Elvis? Have a motor bike or an MTB? Are you a fan of your Subaru car?

Find an internet community/forum closest to your hobby and make friends with them!

Say you're an inline skater, you're coming to Moscow/St.Pete with a business visit, you can't take your skates/helmet for obvious reasons (are sure? you might as well try to actually do it) but you'd love to meet with Russian inline skaters. And you hope they'll show you around the city a little bit. Write a couple of messages at inline.spb.ru, or at speedskater.ru, or at roller.ru and you're done!

You're guaranteed a hearty welcome and an interesting visit to Russia. Trust me, it works.

When I was planning to visit Tucson, I contacted a local skating community a couple of weeks before the trip. Someone would pick me up at the hotel where I lived and bring to the place where a skate would start from. It was no formal ride in a tourist bus with a guide wearily telling the tourists the same story for the 2,000th time. It was real communication with people who were interested in me no less than I was in their town, and I got a lot more from them than I would from a tour program. Places to eat, places to visit, bike routes, you name it!

When I get to welcome people from Singapore, U.S., Australia, Great Britain or some other country where they speak some English (it's the only foreign language I know) here in Russia I always have things to tell and places to show. I am not saying it's better than a commercial tour. It's a lot different from a commercial tour, and and a lot more personal if that's what you like, of course.

Have any translation company where people speak English do a little Russian internet search for you. Tell them what internet community forum you'd like to find, from Elvis fans to young moms in Ekaterinburg, Irkutsk or St.Petersburg. Give them three days and you'll be set!

Not many translation companies advertize foreign web search as a separate service, but I'm pretty sure if you ask them they'll do it for you. For some $50-$75 you'll get the best friends here in Russia whose friendliness you have already earned by loving the same things they love.

It works!