Little Differences

The time has gone by somehow quickly and slowly at the same time, and I realized I have not made a post for about a month. In case you were thinking I'd taken to Moscow like a native, I thought I'd share some of the little differences that annoy me, but fortunately I still find amusing, rather than frustrating.

* In any government building, you will frequently find on staircases one stair that is a sustantially different height than all the rest. Quite dangerous if you're not prepared for it. * Here cars will not stop for pedestrians unless they have a red light. Even then, it's best to look around even when you have the walk signal. What's annoying is the walk signals give you no warning that they are about to change; they give one blink and then the other traffic gets the green light. So if you're in the middle of the intersection, you have to sprint to not get hit. This will be interesting to deal with during wintertime. * Moscow has so many people (15 million, unofficially) that sometimes the large amount of people can be overwhelming. However, if you bump into someone, you don't need to waste time saying you're sorry, and likewise you will get jostled without apology. With so many people, there's no way to avoid it, so logically, it is just expected. Only if you step on someone's foot is a "pardon me" necessary. * Russians do not have clothes dryers. Many Russians have washing machines in their homes but prefer to line dry their clothes (I realize clothes last longer this way, but line drying takes so long). This brings back memories of my early childhood in North Dakota, but we eventually had a dryer. I don't know how I'm going to get my clothes dry in winter. The laundromat at the university has dryers, maybe I'll use it from time to time. * While there is quite an evolved coffee culture here, one that a Seattlelite can appreciate (except for the lack of soy milk), very few places give coffee to go. I asked at one cafe I frequent, and the girl looked at me like I'd made a joke. She went on to explain that I could get a sandwich or pizza to go, but not coffee. * Most buildings here have double doors at the main entrances. However, they are never both unlocked, no matter how busy it is. So people going in and people going out have to go through the same door. I haven't been able to figure this out; if they don't like having both doors open, why have double doors? Perhaps it's a way for the guards (all public buildings and many stores have guards posted at the entrances and inside) to control foot traffic, I don't know. I need to ask someone.