6 culture clashes I had as an American woman traveling alone in Russia

1. The language barrier was more pronounced than I'd expected.

Unfortunately, I don't speak any Russian.

While I'd expected communication to be tricky in rural Siberia, I thought more people might speak English in Moscow, the capital city. But even at restaurants and shops in the capital, I found that many locals spoke little to no English.

Fortunately, thanks to a combination of hand gestures, my trusty Google Translate app, and mercifully patient Russians, I was able to make it work.

2. Unlike Americans, Russians don't tend to smile at strangers.

At first, I was intimidated by many of the Russians I saw, thinking they looked stern and unfriendly. But I soon realized they simply don't smile at strangers the way Americans do.

In the US, we expect smiles from people we do business with, from the person who serves us our coffee, and even from people we accidentally make eye contact with. This was not the case in Russia.

As Olga Khazan wrote for the Atlantic, some cultures — including Russia — perceive smiling for no apparent reason to be a sign of stupidity.

But despite their stony facial expressions, everyone I met or asked for help in Russia was perfectly friendly and helpful.

3. Russia's views on gender seemed outdated.

Several comments Russians made to me during my trip made me think that the views on gender in the country aren't quite the same as in the US — or at least in liberal New York City, where I live.

Francesca Ebel wrote for the Associated Press earlier this year that while women in Russia may hold prominent government positions, "traditional gender roles still hold sway, and efforts to address problems like the gender pay gap, domestic violence and sexual harassment have hardly scratched the surface."

Throughout my trip, locals seemed shocked that I was traveling alone in Russia as a woman.

During my two-day journey riding the Trans-Siberian Railway— the longest train line in the world — one of the Russian women sharing my compartment asked me, "You're not afraid to travel in Russia alone?"

I shrugged. "Not really."

"Because we are," she said. "Russia is a dangerous place."

While I was visiting a diamond mine in Siberia, a publicist for Alrosa, the country's largest diamond miner, told me that doctors recommend women don't work in the mines because it could harm their reproductive health.

And later in Moscow, a professional contact I spent a day with opened a car door for me and then immediately seemed concerned. He turned to me and asked in all seriousness, "In America, is it considered harassment now to open a door for a woman?"

4. Most of the Russian women I saw had a more traditionally feminine style — with perfectly manicured nails, long flowing hair, immaculate makeup, and high heels — than I'm used to seeing in New York.

As Yekaterina Sinelschikova wrote for Russia Beyond, "a Russian woman never appears in public without making herself up first (which often means foundation, powder, rouge, mascara, and something else to her taste) — even if she's just taking out the trash."

With my jeans, sneakers, and unstyled hair (I like to think of it as effortlessly tousled), I often felt underdressed on the streets of Moscow.

"For women, demonstrating femininity ... is the name of the game when choosing what to wear," Sinelschikova wrote.

5. Recycling did not seem to be a thing in Russia.

Whenever I went to throw something away during my trip, I couldn't find a recycling bin — just a garbage can.

Recycling is apparently not yet common in Russia. Only seven percent of Russia's waste is recycled, according to France 24. Some overflowing landfills have been known to spontaneously catch on fire.

6. Exchanging business cards is essential.

Exchanging business cards is a common practice in the US, but in Russia, it seemed absolutely essential.

Almost every time I met a professional contact in Russia, they handed me their business card within 30 seconds of introducing themselves, prompting me to scramble to dig around in my bag for my own.

Most of the business cards I was given were printed in Russian on one side and English on the other.

• Read more about my time in Russia:
• Photos show what life is like in a Siberian diamond mining town on the edge of the Arctic Circle, which is home to 40,000 people and where the sun is up for 20 hours a day in the summer
• I walked down Moscow's glitzy, mile-long shopping street that travel guides compare to the Champs-Élysées in Paris and NYC's Fifth Ave — and it fell totally short of the hype
• The Moscow metro is known for its efficiency and ornate stations. I rode it and found that it's miles ahead of New York City's subway system.
• I rode the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway on a 2,000-mile journey across 4 time zones in Russia. Here's what it was like spending 50 hours on the longest train line in the world.