Comparing my perception of American students with that of Russian students and perceptions described by Nathan (2006)

             In one of the chapters of her book, Nathan (2006) describes what she has learned about American culture from illuminating conversations with international students. Being an international student myself, I could not help but reflect on other international students’ perceptions of Americans and comparisons with their own cultural norms and behaviors. As Russia is a part of the Western civilization, I used to believe there were hardly any substantial differences between our attitudes, reactions and mindsets, and was surprised to find a few. Below, I am going to look at international student’s perceptions of Americans described in the book and compare them with my own perceptions of American and Russian cultural differences.

            To begin with, Americans are famous for their friendliness and hospitality. However, in many cases what they say in a light and casual conversation often has no “social substance” (Nathan, 2006, p. 69). They say words such as “Nice to meet you” and “See you soon” without actually implying for an invitation for further contact (Nathan, 2006, p. 69). Besides, it is not considered polite to answer “Not so good” in reply to “How are you?” if you do not know the person very well or if the person is making small talk (Nathan, 2006, p. 69). While this is somewhat true for Russian culture as well, there are some major differences. For example, if a person I barely know tells me that he or she is not doing well, I will never leave saying “OK, bye” or without asking “What’s the matter?” Thus, as much as I might not want to hear about the person’s problems, it is not polite or friendly to leave someone in trouble. Moreover, Russians will never say “Drop by” without actually meaning it because the person one is saying this to may actually come. And one would not want such misunderstanding to happen. Additionally, many Russians are less friendly than Americans and more direct.  They will not make small talk with someone they do not like or if that person is a customer. Nevertheless, polite Russians still make small talk which might have no social substance.

                As to the college culture, in the book, one Korean student mentions that if Koreans take a class together and their class ends at lunchtime, they would go out together as a group. In terms of group outings, Russians are very similar to Americans. If I have friends among our classmates, I might ask them to join me at lunch. However, most students would go in different directions and mind their own business. On the other hand, when my parents were in college, they used to go out together as a group after classes most of the time. Therefore, it can be suggested that Russian culture is changing and moving towards greater independence.

                It is also true for Russians as well as Americans to link their lives with a small set of close relationships. We surround ourselves with two to seven close friends which we keep in touch at least once a week. These friendships are usually made early in life. For example, I know all of best friends from high school.  However, when I visited Russian villages I was surprised to see a very different picture. Everyone in the village knew each other and constantly interacted with one another. They invited many people to dinners and were very hospitable to strangers that were immediately asked to join them. I find it strange because I grew up in a megacity where it is hard even to get together with a bunch of friends as everyone there has a very complicated life and something always comes up. From this it can be concluded that the more urbanized we become, the fewer sets of close relationships we have.

                Separating friends and family is another topic worth speaking of and another point where our college cultures intersect. To illustrate, if I have a party, I will ask my parents to leave before my friends’ arrival, even if they helped me organize the party. I believe this is partially because of the generation gap, partially because of the rebellion aspect of college culture and partially because of the shift towards more independent and individualistic lifestyles. However, despite the fact that the book argues that it is not true, I am sure that American students’ best friends know their parents and are not afraid to come to a friend’s house when they are around. (Nathan, 2006, p.74) They would simply spend time in different rooms.

                Another notable topic is informality. Like many other international students, I have noticed that American young adults have more freedom than Russians do. In Russia, we are not allowed to eat in class. One can sneak in some food, but if a professor will notice the person eating, he or she will probably scold this person. However, it depends on the age of the professor; young professors tend to give their students more freedom. However, putting your feet on a chair or table is still considered inappropriate. I cannot say how many times I was so tired that I wanted to put my feet on the chair, but I had to restrain from doing so to avoid disapproving glares and reprimanding words. As to academic culture, in Russia interrupting a professor to ask him or her a question which is related to the subject is encouraged. However, still many professors consider only their point of view to be the right one, which keeps many students from speaking up. Moreover, most professors are not interested in students, their backgrounds and consider casual conversations with students to be inappropriate.  Nevertheless, most young professors enjoy talking to students about all aspects of students’ lives. From this it is easy to see that Russian culture is shifting towards higher informality.

                 As to the cultural awareness and mindset, I do not agree with the point of view introduced by Nathan (2006) that American students express a lack of interest in international students’ lives and backgrounds (p. 70). From my experience, I noticed that Americans constantly ask me about my country and my background. They seem genuinely interested and some of them know even more about my country than I do. Of course, in a large number movies Russia is misrepresented and some students might think that there is Russian mafia all around the country or that it is still a communist country.  They might imagine Russians riding bears in ushanka hats while drinking vodka.  This is funny because I have only seen bears in the zoo, ushanka hats are only sold at tourist stall and only tourists wear them. Finally, few Russians like drinking vodka and they do not drink it every day. However, I believe there are a number of narrow-minded, poorly educated people in every country. Therefore, it is unfair to judge the whole country by a few narrow-minded persons.

                Lastly, I would like to talk about propagandize superiority of both United States and Russian Federation. As Americans constantly hear from their childhood that they live in the best country in the world, Russians are brain-washed that all Americans are stupid, while Russians are the cleverest nation on the planet. However, when people start travelling, and seeing other places, this propaganda does not make sense to them anymore. This situation has more to do with politics and mass-media than with people. If one hears something many times, he or she finally starts believing it.

                To conclude, Americans, Russians, and other nationalities are both different and similar at the same time. And we must not forget to respect each other and also use every opportunity we get to learn from one another.