迷信又嚴肅的俄羅斯人

Russia, officially the Russian Federation, at 17,125,200 square kilometers,is the largest country in the world by area with diverse nationalities.As one of the great powers in the world,Russia has the largest mineral（礦物）reserve（儲備）and energy resources in the world,as well as being the biggest exporter of oil and natural gas.

Superstitious?For Good Luck

Just like the phrase“knock on wood”is used in many English cultures to ensure good luck,a lot of superstitions（迷信）are habits to Russian people.Before a trip,many Russians will sit down inside their house for a while,then leave from home to ensure they can come home safely.Russians will look into the mirror if they suddenly realize they have to go back home for things they forget to bring.They consider it good luck to break glass accidentally.They spit（吐）three times over their shoulders after they knock on wood so the good luck is locked in.Russians don’t shake hands over a threshold（門檻）.They send an even（雙數的）number of flowers for celebrations and an odd（單數的）number of flowers for funerals（葬禮）.Russian people do not whistle（吹口哨）indoors and do not wish people happy birthday prematurely（過早地）.

俄羅斯聯邦，簡稱“俄羅斯”，國土面積約1712.5萬平方千米，是當今世界面積最大的多民族國家。作為世界上最強大的國家之一，俄羅斯擁有世界上最大的礦產儲備和能源資源，同時也是最大的石油和天然氣出口國。

Mostpeople don’tactually believe these things work,butthe culture and habits have been widely spread and accepted among people due to pre-revolutionary pagan mysticsand Orthodox priests.Most Russians do these things unconsciously（無意識地）.

Blunt and Serious

Russians have a serious demeanor（行為；舉止）,especially when in public.In Russia,it is considered rude and uncivilized to express personalfeelings to strangersyou meetforthe firsttime.Because,you should not burden a stranger with your emotions.

迷信？為了好運

就好比很多英語國家使用“敲木頭”這個詞來確保好運氣一樣，俄羅斯人的生活中也有很多習慣成自然的迷信存在。出門旅行前，俄羅斯人喜歡在家中靜坐片刻再出發，以求安全歸來；如果已經出門，突然想起忘在家中的物品，俄羅斯人會照照鏡子；他們認為偶爾打碎玻璃杯，會驅走厄運；敲敲木頭之后朝后背吐三次口水，能鎖定好運氣；不在門檻處握手；喜事送雙數花，喪事送單數花；不在室內吹口哨；不提前送出生日祝福等。

并不是俄羅斯人深信這樣做一定有用，但這種文化和習慣在俄羅斯社會改革之前，就因為東正教牧師和異教徒的神秘傳說被廣泛傳播，深入人們骨髓。大多數人很多時候想都沒想，就已經做完了一整套動作。

正兒八經

俄羅斯是一個正兒八經的民族，特別是在公共場合。在俄羅斯，向初次見面的陌生人傾訴衷腸，太快表達過多個人感情，都是粗魯和沒教養的表現。因為你不應該讓一個陌生人承擔你的感情包袱。

Unlike English people’s weather chatting habits for no reason,and Americans compliments to a person’s appearance to starta conversation,Russians dislike wasting time chitchatting（閑聊）.Instead,they prefer to getto the pointrightaway.Walking on streets of Russia,you will not hear strangers greeting each other with “how are you”,since for Russian culture,you need to give a sincere answer to a question,not just an American friendly“Fine,and you”.

Sometimes,the straightforwardness（提早）in Russian culture makes people who are unfamiliar with the local culture think Russians are grumpy（脾氣壞的）with bad attitudes.It can be a shop guide,a restaurant server,or a random Russian co-worker.They can suddenly appearblank faced and cold.However,all these are acceptable in Russian culture as long as you fulfill（履行）your duties.Russians believe it is more important to express real feelings than pretend（假裝）to be happy and nice.

俄羅斯人不會像英國人那樣，有事沒事談論天氣，也不會像美國人從贊揚一個人的外表、著裝開始一段對話。俄羅斯人不喜歡浪費時間的廢話，相反，他們直切主題。走在俄羅斯街頭，陌生人之間是不會隨意點頭致意詢問“你好嗎”的。因為，既然是問題，俄羅斯文化要求的是一個誠實的回答，而不是友好禮貌的美式回答“好啊，你呢”。

有時候，俄羅斯人的這種直接會讓不熟悉當地文化的他國人覺得他們心情不好，態度欠佳。也許是商店店員，也許是餐廳服務員，也許是偶爾合作的俄羅斯同事，隨時可能板上面孔，拒人于千里之外。而這一切，只要是在完成了自己的工作職責和任務的前提之下，都是被俄羅斯文化接受的。俄羅斯人認為，表達真實的情感，比假裝開心和假裝友好更重要。