20 things that prove you are Russian

Lifestyle
RUSSIA BEYOND
Here is a checklist of things that you do or believe in that make you undoubtedly 100 percent Russian.

1. Answering the question "what's your favorite poet & favorite fruit" you say "Pushkin & apple" without any hesitations.

2. You always finish your dinner with a cup of tea and a sweet snack.

3. You take off your  shoes immediately after entering anyone's house, and you instantly change into home clothes after getting back home (the possibility of sitting in street clothes on your bed makes you cringe).

4. You never say 'na zdorovye' while toasting (it's either 'za zdorovye' or even better - an emotional speech).

5. When you are far from Russia, you miss birch trees (and here’s why). 

6. When you hear someone playing the accordion, you start dancing automatically.

7. You differentiate your friends into best friends, close friends, comrades, acquaintances, fellows and mates.

8. You always do what your granny says and eat everything she offers you.

9. You believe in superstitions: you are afraid of black cats, sit for a while before leaving home for travel, and spit three times over your left shoulder so as not to jinx.

10. If you are a man, you accept that women are strong and independent beings, but understand that they need just a little bit of help opening the doors in front of them or paying restaurant bills. If you are a woman, you understand that a path to a man's heart is through his stomach.

11. You know at least five poems by heart (here is your checklist).

12. At least once in your life you've picked mushrooms and berries in the forest. 

13. You celebrate Victory Day on May 9 and cry watching some WWII movie that day.

14. You are proud of your country's military glory and especially past victories.

15. You like to compare everything around you with that in the U.S.

16. You often criticize the government but justify its decisions in front of foreigners.

17. You haven't read all of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (at most you scrolled through either war or peace scenes depending on whether you are a man or a woman).

18 .You have a proverb for any occasion in life. (And you believe that a spoken word is not a sparrow. Once it flies out, you can't catch it).

19. You can’t imagine early May without shashlyk outside. (And you know for sure what is shashlyk and how to cook it).

20. You don’t think that Russians are rude and unfriendly, yet you keep your big open smile for the really close ones.