Lunch with Russian Family

[Polecat]

As part of our Denrus tour in St. Petersburg we will be having lunch with a Russian family in their home. We would like to bring a gift to the Russian family but do not know what would be appropriate. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[ClaudiaF]

A box of candy or a bottle of wine perhaps?:rolleyes:

[mdkatie]

My husband and I, along with another couple, used Denrus last year and were very pleased with them. We had lunch with a Russian widow in her apartment which was quite interesting. She didn't speak a word of English but our guide translated for us. We took her a pewter candle snuffer and she had no idea what it was! Good luck!

[curiouscat]

A box of chocolates and a bottle of wine, vodka is good.

 

My husband's family is Russian. You could save 1000's of dollars and come over here for lunch:p

 

Trust me it ain't no picnic. Remember they have had a still have a hard life in Russia.... and not to offend but they are not "warm and fuzzy" like Italians, Spanish etc.

 

CuriousCat

[elin]

We had lunch with a Russian family last summer. There was the mother, her son and her (brand new) daughter-in-law.

We brought the Mother a picture frame, the son a Toronto Maple Leafs sweatshirt and the daughter-in-law some maple sugar candies.

It was a great lunch, very interesting.

We thoroughly enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it to people.

Elin

[shoshona2]

Dear Curiouscat,

 

Our little group of six had lunch with a Russian Family in 2003 and enjoyed every moment of it. Our tour guide was our interpreter. I felt I was in my Russian Grandmother's apartment again. It was a dingy three story walkup to a sparcely furnished apartment. When we travel, we enjoy meeting the local people -- not just staying at the best hotel in town and doing the sights.

 

The money we paid for lunch did help out their finances and we will always remember our hour with them.

 

I suggest the people going to have lunch ask their tour operator --

Denrus, Red October or Alla -- if they should bring anything. I don't know if I embarrassed them by bringing a small gift for the teenage daughter.

 

Sheila

[drwong]

We actually gave the family envelopes filled with cash, figuring they could use the funds more than any material gifts. On one occasion, we brought US-quality toilet paper, because the Russian stuff we experienced on a previous trip was a cross between sandpaper and cardboard. Imagine our surprise when we heard later that our hosts complained that our TP was too soft!!!! :D

[cosmo49au]

After checking with our R.O guide we gave the lady who hosted our lunch some $s and she looked delighted. We had such a wonderful time in her home, all 14 of us together, such fun and laughter!

Meg

[Trece]

We thought the Russian family lunch was one of the highlights of our Baltics cruise and wish it could have lasted longer. Because we were not certain how much of the fee they actually receive from Red October (no offense to Red October), we and the couple we were with also gave cash, but we had written thank you notes in advance & enclosed the cash in the note rather than just handing it over. We then did our best to slip it to them discretely without any fanfare.

[shoshona2]

Dear Trece,

 

I think that was a good idea to put the cash in a thank you note. I shall pass it on to any people I know who will go to St. Petersburg. We were there the first time many years ago when freedom was new to the people. I remember the lines outside the trucks trying to buy basic items we take for granted - food, toilet paper, etc. St. Petersburg was in shambles -- pot holes in the streets and the buildings needing painting. I shall always remember when my husband passed a hat around the bus and gave our delightful tour guide the cash. We were told NOT to give any tips. She started to cry and said we were so wonderful that she wished our countries could be friends. When we were there in 2003 right after the 300th Birthday Celebration, the holes were repaired, the buildings painted and the people were happier. We also thoroughly enjoyed our lunch with the Russian family!

 

Sheila

[JustBill]

We actually gave the family envelopes filled with cash, figuring they could use the funds more than any material gifts. On one occasion, we brought US-quality toilet paper, because the Russian stuff we experienced on a previous trip was a cross between sandpaper and cardboard. Imagine our surprise when we heard later that our hosts complained that our TP was too soft!!!! :D

 

Toilet Paper, very interesting, guess I just would have never thought about taking toilet paper to someone for a dinner gift.

[Trece]

Sheila, We too had been to Russia before, in 1994 in the dead of winter. From our hotel room at all hours of the night, we would see these older "babushkas" standing on the corners all bundled up, holding packages. They seemed way too old to be "ladies of the evening" but for the life of us we could not figure out what they were doing out there in the snow & cold. When we asked our guide, she reluctantly told us that since there were no "convenience stores" such as we have here, and since buying food could still be time consuming, these ladies would buy bread, milk etc. during the day, and to earn some extra rubles they would re-sell it at night at a profit to people who could not get to a store during the day. These were probably the same ladies we saw during the day chopping ice with an ice chopper or sweeping the sidewalks with brooms made of twigs. These are the things that in addition to the glories of the Hermitage etc. make up my most vivid memories of Russia.

[curiouscat]

Yes, these women sold them for profit. In communist Russia they would go to people's home and hide the goods under their garments to sell for profit. If the "police" found out they would be sent to Jail.Also, the father of the family would be sent away.

 

If you had a neighbor who didn't like you they would tell the Police and they would raid your home, steal anything they wanted and beat you up.

 

Profit was illegal in Communist Russia.

 

That is why people are soooo mistrusting. It is yrs of this abuse.

 

CuriousCat

 

My husband experience this first hand as a child.....:(

[Polecat]

Thanks for all your input. It has helped a lot.

 

By the way, what did the Russian families serve for lunch?

[shoshona2]

We had beet borscht (soup) and a veal dish (very good) and a wonderful home made Russian cake. My husband was so looking forward to borscht, but it had red bell peppers in it. He is very sensitive to bell peppers and never imagined they would use them in the soup. They did serve bottled water with lunch.

 

Sheila

[Trece]

We had vegetable soup, several salads (which we all ate with no problem), vegetables, chicken, bread, and I can't remember what kind of dessert. Bottled water was served. The highlight of the meal as far as the guide was concerned was the pickled herring. I don't think any of us ate it (simply because we don't like pickled herring) but the guide snarfed it down con mucho gusto!! :D We thought the meal was fine and our hostess obviously went through a lot of trouble to prepare it.

[drwong]

In addition to the traditional borscht, salad, and boiled meat, we were served the best hand-made pirogies I've ever eaten outside of Baltimore.

 

The chat about the babushkas peddling groceries reminded me of the ones who loitered in the Metro station tunnels in the dead of winter, peddling beautiful hand-sewn lace headscarves. Under the old regime, they could have also gone to jail if they were found with US currency in their possession. Nowdays, they're grateful for dollars.

 

By the way, my wife brought along a small bag of cosmetics and toiletries for the teenaged daughter. (Me, being the practical one, thought the American-style toilet paper would be an unusual cultural exchange gift.

[shedevil]

We took with us several items from our local museum, inexpensive drawings by local artists of the desert and california poppies, carved stone by local artists, some small stuffed toys of local creatures (coyote, scorpion, and road runners) and lots of postcards showing the local (lack of) flora and fauna in the desert and the sand dunes of nearby death valley. Everything was from our unique desert community and small enough that they would not be hard to pack for us or the folks receiving them.

 

We gave the postcards and small gifts to our butler, assistant butler, room steward and assistant room steward on the second night. We just wrote a gift from us to you from our home on one of the postcards and gave them out as they serviced the cabin that night. You would have thought we gave them pieces of gold. Each of them were surprised and our butler carried the little petroglyph stone in his pocket for good luck during the rest of the trip. (We also gave several crew members that made the trip special an envelope with a USD cash gratuity about 3 days before the end of the cruise - this was in addition to the amount automatically billed on your account.)

 

We also brought some small "American" toys and when we found out our butler had 5 girls, we gave him an American present for each of his girls.

 

We also gave the small gifts and postcards to our guides and drivers at the end of each private tour. This was in addition to giving them an appropriate "cash" gratuitiy.

 

One of our group loves red wine and the driver would ask him lots of questions about wine. At the end of our 3 days in Russia, we gave the tour guide and driver USD cash gratuities and the small local gifts. Our friend presented the driver with a nice bottle of red wine, again the driver was surprised and you could tell he appreciated the guesture.

 

After visiting Russia, you will understand why a couple of rolls of Charmin would be a wonderful gift. :eek: Brown construction paper on a roll would be a fair description. I was really glad in several countries that I made the husband carry travel size rolls of toilet paper in his backpack.:D

 

A wise lady told me a long time ago that we are ambassadors for America everytime we travel. We tried to be open to new things and learn about each place and we took the time to share a little of our home.

[shoshona2]

Dear shedevil,

 

 

What a wonderful thing to do! When we went to Vietnam the first time, I brought pencils to give out to the children since I heard that the children really wanted them. I became a "pied piper" as they started following me around. When my husband went to Africa, I sent along the first Harry Potter book in paperback and pens to be given to the principal of a school they visited. When he took a 15 year old baseball team to Taipan twenty years ago, the boys brought gifts for their Chinese opponents. A little thing, but what a nice impression it leaves.

 

Sheila