Russian Etiquette
It is considered highly improper to display these while sitting.
The soles of Your feet.
Flower bouquets should should never be given in_________ numbers.
Even numbers (Funerals only!)
The leading cause of apartment fires in 1970's-1990's Soviet Union was:
Exploding television sets. Boom!
The descendants of invading Mongolians who mixed with the local Slavic population and who continue to speak a number of Turkic languages are called the...
Tatars (5 million).
Moscow/Moskva comes from a Finno-ugric word meaning...
Dark swampy place.
You should always remove these when entering a Russian household.
Your footwear.
Upon accidentally mentioning good news or hopes for success, one should...
Say: t'fu-t'fu'-t'fu! (to ward off the evil eye.)
Windshield wipers. (to prevent theft)
Considered Russia's most assimilated ethnic group.
Ashkenazi Jews
This capital has been destroyed multiple times, most recently by the Nazis during WWII.
Minsk (Belorus')
It is considered somewhat tacky to bring Your own_____ when visiting a Russian household.
Your own tapochki (slippers)
Empty buckets.
A majority of URBAN Soviet citizens lived in these until the end of the 1960's.
Communal Apartments (Kommunalki)
Russia's greatest 19th century poet Pushkin was descended, in part, from members of this non-Slavic Christian nation.
Ethiopia (Africa)
The name of this capital city actually means "hot springs."
Tbilisi (Georgia/Sakartvelo)
Russian men will most often greet each other (multiple times during the day) with this accompanying gesture.
Shaking hands.
Russians completely ignore this American superstition.
Opening umbrellas indoors.
Soviet married couples typically did this separately.
Go on vacation.
The second largest ethnic group (beside Russians) in Russia are the...
Ukrainians.
This capital city was the original center of all East Slavic peoples (Russian, Belorussian and Ukranian).
Kiev
Doing this excessively in front of complete strangers may be considered odd, deceptive, foreign or insane.
Smiling
One should NEVER hold this kind of a party (in advance).
A baby shower. (After the birth of a baby, it's ok.)
After the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the Soviet Union suffered a major shortage in this essential commodity.
Men.
This ethnic group, originally from India, face great discrimination although their music and dance is very popular.
The Roma People (aka "Gypsies")
Peterburg (Petrograd, Leningrad)