Asian Russia

Another piece of the jigsaw puzzle fell into place for me about life in Russia. I have long thought that Russia is a blend between Europe and Asia. In fact it is often referred to as "Eurasia." Certain aspects of life in Russia are European- sport, clothing, some food, a trend in shopping towards the European model and a tendency to look towards Europe for cultural inspiration. But many other aspects of life in Russia are actually more Asian- the approach towards time, finding a job through family connections (morphed by the Soviet mindset to include close friends), the bureaucratic mindset plus many more.

The piece of the jigsaw puzzle is this: when I went to Russia, I never expected that I would need to adjust my thinking to an Asian world view. Someone who chooses to live in a different part of Asia or the Middle East naturally does so, they prepare themselves. This is like flexing your stomach before the punch. If you know culture shock is coming then you can prepare yourself. The comparison is a little like the Australia who goes to America and expects things to be quite similar, but then really struggles when finding out that there are so many subtle differences. In the case of an Australian going to Russia, I expected things to be European of a kind and did not expect the Asian aspects.

Many of my frustrations that happened were with the Asian mindset. If I had expected this, if I had made a decision that I would accept this world view, there would have been less frustrations. Now it is my decision that as much as I will accept the European type aspects of life in Russia I will also accept the Asian world view.