The ‘Horror’ of Cultural Diversity – Greetings

Europe is a diverse place with a number of languages and cultures. Despite knowing and understanding the differences, we still have some confusion in communication. One of the aspects I want to discuss is greeting people from other countries. The reason is that greetings caused many awkward moments equally for me and my conversation partners.…

Russian vs. Finnish Soups

Today I will have a food related post, particularly I will introduce the difference between Russian and Finnish soups. In Russia, soup is basically the main dish of the day, and it is served for lunch. If you have any space left in your stomach (which I doubt), you can continue with another dish. Russian…

Smiling

Did you notice while travelling that people smile more in some countries and less in other ones? I lived in Russia, Finland, and Portugal and visited other countries in Europe. Interestingly, smiling is a part of the culture, which has its local norms. This means that smiling should occur in definite situations with definite people…

Conclusions on Malta

This is the last post of Malta, and I want to summarise all my experiences and impressions. First of all, I am always very careful with my expectations regarding new places. However, it was not the case with Malta. I was already overexcited with the place just from seeing pictures. I felt that the country…

Mdina, Malta

Mdina is the former capital city of Malta. Nowadays, it is called the 'Silent City' because it is there hardly any cars and traffic. Indeed, the atmosphere of this historical place is indescribable. There is a sacred silence in the air. You are allowed to talk, but you just don't want. There are tiny shady…