One of the first things most people learn about Russian culture is that Russians are extremely hospitable. We learn this in an abstract sense, in stories that are passed down from generation to generation of Slavic Studies students. Stories about being invited over to homes and force-fed course after course of delicious homemade dishes, all washed down by rounds of vodka that can’t be refused without offending your hosts. These stories inevitably end with the sudden realization that the hosts have shared out of their poverty, treating the foreigner to richer offerings than they themselves enjoy even on Easter.

The legends of hospitality persist although most study abroad programs are designed so that students cannot actually experience them firsthand. You do everything in groups with other Americans: classes, excursions, trips to the store. In really good programs you might meet a few Brits or maybe even some people from Germany or France. It’s possible for one day’s most meaningful interaction with a Russian to be ordering a Big Mac. Universities here still house their foreigners separately from the rest of their students (in the case of RGGU, on separate sides of the city). People in homestays are usually overfed, but it’s a transaction rather than generosity. They pay for room and board, and that is what they receive.

I’ve been lucky. My first trip to Russia allowed me to meet and get to know Russian students who have been extremely generous with their friendship in the years since then, even though I’m not the best at keeping in touch. Because of these friends and other people I’ve meet since then, I can give many examples of Russian hospitality to prove that the stories we hear about in Russian 101 are not just myths. But today, for the first time, I was fortunate to experience the famed Russian Hospitality in all its archetypal splendor.

Not many Americans go to Izhevsk. To most of her students, Hannah is the first American they have ever known. So, when she talked to the international office to get permission for me to come, they were a little more excited than the office at RGGU would have been. Okay, a lot more excited.

Today, there was a wine and cheese reception for me in the Russian-American center, just because I’m American and was in town. They went all out. They had lots of cheeses, champagne, imported wine, and Hannah’s supervisor even baked “apple kerchiefs” (delicious pastries with a fresh apple filling that look like they would take a long time to prepare). At the beginning, mostly I was answering the basic questions (the most important being: where are you from and why are you here). It could have become awkward, but before it did, a huge group of Americans arrived. I think there were maybe nine of them (well, two people were their Russian translators). It was a church group Meredith had met on the train from Moscow. Meredith invited one of the women, but wasn’t sure if any of them would be able to make it, let alone all of them.

It has probably never before happened that the Americans outnumbered the Russians at any of their events before, but I think the Udmurt University people were truly delighted to host. It’s a good thing so many people came because we’d never have finished the refreshments without them, and it made for lots of interesting conversations.

Izhevsk, Day 2 photos