Привет из Одессы! Welcome to Odessa in Ukraine and did you know
that it's really really important to avoid doing things that will annoy local
people and you come here to Ukraine you might not actually be aware of them
now I'm sure that you've seen that kind of tourist who comes anywhere in the
world is just kind of like a little bit clumsy in terms of making faux pas and
doing things that really upset local people because maybe they behave a
little bit too much like in their own culture and that might actually be rude if you
come to a country like Ukraine so in today's video I'm going to give you five
things that really annoy local people here in Ukraine about foreigners so you
can avoid them on your next trip to Odessa Mama. Поехали!
So habit number one that you really want to avoid if you don't upset the
friendly locals of Ukraine and that's feigned interest in their lives so what
I mean is things like you know in the US in particular people turn to how
you today sir how are things going we turn up at least
American culture a little bit less than European culture ask people all these
intimate questions well that's the thing they're gonna seem really intimate to
Eastern Europeans and Ukrainians in particular and especially if you you
know go a little bit further like you see a lot more in North America maybe
then in Western Europe that's smiling for no reason because in Ukraine only
the crazy and the weirdos they smile at strangers here if you don't know someone
you do not smile and that also includes if you are in working in the service
industry like an a restaurant or in a bar that's why a lot of Western
Europeans or Americans they think that Slavs in general I mean Eastern
Europeans like Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians that they are unfriendly
because they have this dour face like this but it's because they're not
feigning interesting in you they don't fucking care an interaction with those waiters
in New York City and especially New York City because they want that
juicy tip that they're expecting that twenty plus percent at least in France
you know that's when one of the reasons why the French are known for being rude
because they don't get much tip they don't have a reason to try and you know
beguile you with their fake smiles so that's definitely one thing just smiling
at people are feigning interest in them because you say like как дела? to someone
they might start telling you all about their life because I think you're really
interested in them it's not just what's up like hi which is kind of extension
like we use in English you just remember that and as a converse if a
Ukrainian girl smiles at you it means that she's really interested or she's a
scammer and she wants to lure you into a false sense of security but anyways definitely don't
smile at strangers unnecessarily or feign interest in them that's the first
habit that's really gonna annoy local people here
So the second big faux pas that you want to avoid it's a little bit connected to
what's behind me right there which is the Black Sea that goes over to a
peninsula called Crimea and that's mistaking accidentally mistaking
Ukrainians for Russians this is not Russia we are in Odessa okay there's a
big dispute about Crimea obviously it was annexed by Russia and de jure which
means legally it's still part of Ukraine but that's another separate legal debate as you see
I'm still a lawyer to a certain extent but it is very easy to make the mistake
and accidentally call Ukrainians Russians because in reality most of the
cities you're going to visit people actually speak in Russian normally and
not in Ukrainian I've gone into that a lot in my videos Lviv in the west of Ukraine
is the big Ukrainian speaking city but basically for all intensive purposes even in Kiev
the capital most people are probably still gonna address you in Russian there
and not in Ukrainian definitely in this city Odessa Mama the main language of
communication is Russian but don't be mistaken to think that that means that
just because people speak the language a bit like I was born in Ireland
and telling Irish people that their English is because we speak
English is of course super annoying I think this become a bit of a less of a
problem in the last few years say with the war unfortunately with the war in the
east of Ukraine people are a little bit more aware when they travel here but
definitely don't make the mistake and just assume people are like Russians
just because they speak that language so definitely and also actually in the
Russian language a little bit probably trivial for you but there used
to be very frequent to say на Украину you know if we're going to Ukraine instead
В Украину you I think that's probably disappeared to a certain extent but you
still hear that in Russia and it's a bit like saying the Ukraine a lot of British people
still say the Ukraine as opposed to Ukraine and the implication of using na
in Russian or saying the Ukraine is actually that it's not an independent country
So the next point up is when you enter someone's home you have to take off your
shoes I know that depends in Western Europe North America exactly the country
you're in or at social class about whether that's the right etiquette but
here 100 percent think Asian in terms of this etiquette about shoes
it's about hygiene and especially in the winter where there's a lot of snow a lot
of slush you definitely don't want to bringing that in and I think that's probably
where it comes from in particular keeping everything neat and tidy inside
so definitely do that do not walk around at anyone's home with shoes on a pretty
simple one to remember I think for for you but just be aware that that's 100%
gonna be the case here in Ukraine and actually when you check into an
apartment they always give you the little slippers as standard here in
Ukraine so that you don't have to walk around in your socks
So the third faux pas that you really want to avoid when you come here to
Ukraine is talking about prices yes I know that if you come from New York you
come from London actually if you come from Central Europe here is a lot cheaper
but you don't have to keep talking about all the time this is something I see a
lot of tourists - yeah it's your first time somewhere cheaper or dramatically
cheaper but talking about it non-stop that's so cheap think about if you are
going out with Ukrainians whether it happens to be just male friends or a girl
you're dating you can tell how cheap it is kind of gonna make them uncomfortable because
they're probably paid in the local currency, hryvnia, and for them maybe
it's not that cheap to be here of course if they make their money online or
something then they can make a higher salary probably or they just happen to
make a high salary and fine but talking all the time about it it's just gonna
devalue whatever gesture you're making maybe you pay for dinner or something you
tell them it's so cheap kind of you know degrades what you're doing so definitely
something to avoid big time that actually is a nice segue into another
little point connected with it and that is about etiquette if you do bring a
Ukrainian girl out I've talked about in so many videos but you have to lead and
definitely if you invite a girl out there's no going Dutch here you are
paying the bill otherwise you will look extremely cheap and actually really
really rude if you don't have money to go to a restaurant bring her for a walk
in the park buy her an ice-cream buy her a coffee but definitely if you invite a girl out you
are paying the bill on a date here that is the norm
so just budget accordingly on that one and we're good to go so
So the fifth and the last annoying habit that you really need to avoid when you come here to
Ukraine is can you hear the silence speaking way too loud this is
definitely something that I think afflicts North Americans in general
especially Americans even in Ireland when I was growing up we used to say those noisy
Americans make you so much of a ruckus when they're in places but this is
definitely something that's not done in Ukraine and people especially in the
restaurants they tend to be you know when having conversations a lot quieter
than you're going to be used to in the US where everybody kind of shouts and doesn't
care if the neighbors can hear conversations it's all part of the culture
but in Ukraine that's not the case so it will come across this a little bit rude
if you're just shouting about something especially if the other person thinks
that it should should be more private so just a different cultural norm just
be aware of that one and you should be good to go I've given you 5 here
So there you have my five faux pas or annoying things that you really need to
avoid when you come here to Ukraine of course as always there's a link to my
application form for living the tsar experience I will see you very soon
as you see we have spectacular weather for March so I'm gonna go meet up with a
friend and enjoy not making any faux pas not offending anyone there aren't
too many people to offend around actually at the moment and enjoy this
spectacular weather because it's really phenomenal and bit weird to see Odessa
with no tourists so actually there are some upsides see you very soon!
До побачення! До свидания! Ciao!