From Da to Yes; Understanding East Europeans

Editor's Note:  The following sampling of savvy cross-cultural insights and advice comes from the author of the highly regarded From Nyet to Da; Understanding the Russians.  In addition to East Central Europe, From Da to Yes covers the Baltic states, Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine.  Richmond's counsel is so telling, it is hoped that many readers will become motivated to order From Da to Yes for themselves.

I. Tips on Crossing Cultures

• Language is often indirect and imprecise, and purposely so.  Watch for allusions and hidden meanings, and listen to what is not said as well as what is said.  Understatement is usually the rule.  East Europeans consider it impolite to say no directly.
• First-time visitors to Eastern European countries should hire a facilitator--someone on the ground who speaks the language, knows who is who and is at home with customs of the country.
• When using an interpreter, speak slowly, avoid complicated words, repeat important ideas in a slightly different fashion to make sure you are getting through, and look at the person being addressed, not the interpreter.
• English, the language of choice, is becoming the lingua franca of Eastern Europe, the language Balts use to talk with Bosnians. Those under thirty are likely to have studied English in school, as have professionals who need it in their work--scholars, scientists, medical doctors, teachers, business people, government officials, and media personnel.  Older people are more likely to know German or French.  And all of them will have studied Russian, although in most countries they are reluctant to speak it.
• Don't drink the water.  Bottled water and soft drinks, both domestic and imported, are available in hotels and stores.  Tap water should be boiled.

• Hospitality in Eastern Europe is legendary. Meals can last for hours, with animated conversation, jokes, music, and singing, and guests are expected to join in.
• When invited to a home, guests always bring gifts. Flowers are always appropriate.  Odd numbers only though, and be careful about red roses, which are considered a sign of affection.
• In many homes it is customary to remove shoes when entering from a dirty street, especially in winter, and guests may be offered slippers.  Foreign guests may be told that it is not necessary to remove their shoes, but hosts will welcome it if they do.
• By tradition, toasts are not made with nonalcoholic drinks or water.  However, American teetotalers have been known to raise their glasses in a toast, and East Europeans will accept this as another strange custom of the visitors from across the Atlantic.

• During the communist years, family and friends became even more important because no one else could be trusted.
• Rather than going through official channels to get something done, East Europeans will first network their families, friends, and personal contacts who owe them a favor.  Do a favor for someone and receive a favor in return.
• Transactions between people are made on a personal basis after credibility and trust have been established.  That requires time and explains why it takes weeks, months, and sometimes years to get things done.
• Friendship in Eastern Europe is not to be taken lightly.  Americans are accustomed to meeting someone and in the next breath describing that person as a friend.  In Eastern Europe, such a newly met person would be called an acquaintance rather than a friend, and there are indeed different words for the two in their languages.
• Eastern Europe is run by networks of personal contacts.  Knowing the right people can mean the difference between success and failure.
• In Eastern Europe people are accustomed to doing business, not by fax or E-mail or Internet or even phone, but by face-to-face meetings, and that is not likely to change quickly.

• East Europeans have a sharp sense of history, and foreign visitors who do not know  something of that history will be found wanting.
• Progress in casting off the communist past varies from country to country, but many of the attitudes shaped by forty-five years of communist rule still prevail.
• Success in business is regarded by the popular cultures in some countries as unethical.  With the exception of the Czech Republic, the lack of a democratic tradition handicaps the transition to democracy.
• East Europeans have a tendency to blame others for their misfortunes. There is, of course, some historic reason to do so.  All of these nations were under foreign rule for much of their history and were not masters within their own borders.  And after World War II, a victorious Soviet Union imposed communist regimes and ruled through local parties. The practice of blaming others, however, continues today.  Slovaks blame Czechs for having failed to provide full equality within the Czechoslovak Republic.  Romanians and Hungarians blame each other for their troubles in Transylvania.  Ukrainians and Poles blame Russians for centuries of oppression.  Lithuanians blame Poles for treating them as second-class citizens during the interwar period.  Croats and Serbs blame each other for their long history of animosity, and Muslims blame Christian Serbs for their fratricidal  war.  All blame the Soviets for having imposed communism, and whatever blame is left over is heaped upon Gypsies and Jews. 

Written permission is required for reprinting or electronic distribution of any portion of the East-West Church & Ministry Report.

© 1996 Institute for East-West Christian Studies
ISSN 1069-5664