

Do Russians smile at each other? - nsaparanoid
http://travel.stackexchange.com/q/25506/101

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cema
Did not quite expect this question to be here. But, as a _former_ Russian,
here is my 2 kopeks.

One of the reasons I left the country was the clash of cultural codes. I am
used to smiling at people for no reason at all, which is normal where I live
now (the US, at least the coastal regions). In Russia, this often makes people
uncomfortable, and that in turn made me feel awkward. There is a Russian
expression, "a laugh without a reason is a sign of insanity" (loose
translation), which I could never internalize.

Whether there are deeper reasons for this, or just "it so happened" over the
centuries, I am not certain.

