A Russian student does a Spanish course

Natasha is a beautiful Russian student that signed herself up for our advanced Spanish classes from Saint Petersburg . She signed up in November and it is when it the most cold in Russia and she has come with her boyfriend Vladimir that has basic Spanish. What caught her attention of Bilbao is the kindness of its people and of course an exceptional climate compared with Russia. She even had an ice cream this morning when she left class. She says that 12 degrees in Bilbao is a very pleasant temperature to be winter. It surprises her as well that there are florists in Bilbao compared with Russia. The people over there are very romantic and the tradition of giving presents is very present. Natasha tells us the opposite of what people think the most popular drink is in Russia as it is tea. Making gifts for whatever reason is very important in the Russian work and if they invite you to their house you have to give a gift aswell .

The majority of Russian women tend to dress well and do themselves up a lot when they go out, even if they are going on a dog walk or go shopping. In the Spanish course, Natasha does not leave anyone feeling indifferent but her boyfriend watches her cautiously as she leaves class ¨Unless they carry a cane, you have to call the Russian women devushka (young in Russian)´´.

Also drinking is very important to the Russian culture as her boyfriend tells us who is also a Spanish student. There are many toasts and the majority of Russians have long and complicated toasts, tell jokes and stories of their lives. When I am here in Bilbao those small glasses to drink wine or beer make us laugh. In Russia they would be for children.

The old Soviet Union is very present in trivial things such as cartoons that are very popular with adults that lived in this time period. They tell us many things and in our Old Town they mix wine and stories of Russian culture and the snow of Sibiera in the horizon .