Russian Etiquette

I was doing my daily CNN.com reading, and I stumbled upon an article called Etiquette 101: Russia.  Of course I clicked on the link.  I'm obsessed with things having to do with Russia right now.  I think it's mainly because you are learning Russian, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit the concept of Russian spies has totally caught my fancy.  It was that beautiful Russian spy Anna in the news that did it.  Plus, I saw the movie Salt last night, and that just got my imagination all aflutter.  It's very similar to the Ancient Egypt phase I went through earlier this year after I watched that King Tut documentary.  Remember?

Anyway, the article is actually found on concierge.com (whatever that is), and it's basically a Russian etiquette guide.  I read the whole thing.  I think it's interesting to note that Etiquette 101: France (which I also read) is only 3 pages while Etiquette 101: Russia is 11.

Two things I would have pointed out to you in this article had you been home:

In the section talking about what to expect at business meetings in Russia, the subheading, "A Cornucopia of Caffeine" made me laugh out loud.  What an excellent use of "cornucopia."  I don't think I've ever actually seen that word used outside of a Thanksgiving reference except, of course, on that Even Stevens episode where Donny gets a word of the day calender.

I thought this little piece of advice was really interesting: "Don't Show Anyone Your Back(side): When entering a row of theater seats, whether at the Mariinsky or the cinema, work your way in facing the people already seated. It may be uncomfortable to have to look them in the eye, but putting your butt in their faces is considered very rude."  I've never even thought about that before.  It makes sense, I guess.  When I read it, I couldn't help but think of the time you told me, "everyone has a butt" after my negative reaction to being mooned.  Then, I remembered when Brooke said the exact same thing to Golden (secretly quoting you), and he replied, "But only boys have weiners."

Awesome.