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.
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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.