Belarus

Greetings

Man greeting Man – Men shake hands when greeting one another and maintain direct eye contact. A relatively firm handshake is the way to go. Light hugs are common between good friends and family.

Woman greeting Woman –Three alternating kisses on the cheek (usually starting with the left) is common if two women know each other well. A light handshake or slight nod of acknowledgment will usually suffice for initial meetings.

Man greeting Woman – This depends on the relationship between the man and the woman. If they do not know each other, basically they do not touch. A handshake is possible but may be seen as strange by the woman.

Note:There are two common greetings in Belarus, one formal and one informal. For meeting for the first time or for someone for whom it is necessary to show respect, you say “Zdrastvuichi”. In a less formal situation such as meeting friends, one would simply say Priviyet!

Communication Style

• Belarusians tend to say what they mean and what they are thinking but never directly to the person they are thinking about.
• People can be quite direct when asking for something, like for instance at the dinner table, when it is usually done with a command rather than a question. Some westerners might even think of these types of social interactions as rude.

Personal Space & Touch

• The issue of personal space seems to blur with men and they usually feel comfortable "invading" another's space.
• If riding on a very crowded bus, no one complains at the close quarters and people will tolerate being packed like sardines. People also feel free talking to or dealing with other people's children.
• Touching during conversations is not very common unless necessary; such as with leading someone to another location, or, if the person with whom you are speaking isn't or is refusing to listen to you. Sometimes in such situations certain people will put their hands on another, but they are seen as the sort of people who do that sort of thing.

Eye Contact

• Belarusians tend to look at each other in the eye when speaking.
• Between men and women in non-business situations, making a lot of eye contact may be misinterpreted as flirting or the like.

Gestures

• Belarusians prefer to point to something with one finger.

Views of Time

• On time means on time. However, things break and other inconveniences happen all the time so worker mishap is completely a part of the deal. Nobody tends to apologize and these inconveniences are expected to be understood without explanation.

Gender Roles

• Usually a woman's role would be house work, cleaning clothes, cleaning plates, etc. Women also tend to do the majority of light agricultural work, such as planting and weeding. Men will do the heavy work such as cutting grass or plowing. There are definitely traditional masculine and feminine roles here.

Law & Order

• 18 is the legal drinking age.
• Young people do drink and at 14 years of age it is not uncommon for there to be smoking and drinking.
• There are strong penalties for drug abuse (marijuana and heavier narcotics) for those over 16, possibly prison, but for those younger, there are only fines and they are sent home.

Dress

• For Men- Suits and ties, like anywhere. Black and grey are popular. Dark colors and even dark shirts with dark ties are acceptable.
• For Women- Mid-length skirts and jackets. They can show color in their blouses, but very toned down; conservative.

Titles & Business Cards

• When it comes to titles there is something called "Imya Otchestvo" which is basically that one's middle name is a variation of their father's first (given) name. For men, the ending would be –ovich for a man or -yevna for a woman. (Sergeiyevich if his father's name was Sergei, or maybe Alexyeivna if her father's name was Alexei.)
• The Otchiestva is used in place of Mr. or Mrs. in all respectful social interactions-even if people have known each othger for years, they will call each other by their first name and Otchistva. If you were to meet the president, you would not call him Mr. Lukashenko, but rather you would great him by saying, exactly, Zdrastvuitye Alexander Gregorivich.
• There is no specific protocol surrounding the giving and receiving of business cards.

Meetings

• It is best to arriving on time for a meeting even though you may be kept waiting.
• Business meetings tend to be quite structured. The leader/host speaks and runs the meeting per plan. The plan is presented for the meeting and it is usually followed to the last line and then the meeting is adjourned.

Negotiations

• Avoid hard selling tactics and any sort of conflict or confrontation.
• Important decisions can take a while but simple decisions should be made on the spot. It used to be that people would talk things to death and possibly even then never reach a decision, but it is becoming more straight forward now.

• At the market and some stores it is possible to negotiate but basically the price is the price. This means that you can ask for more or less, but basically, asking for less money means humiliating the seller. This doesn't mean this doesn't happen, but it is offensive to bargain someone down without a real reason.

Gift Giving

• Gifts usually mean corruption so it is best to avoid any gifts at initial meetings.

In the Classroom

• Students tend to dress upscale casual at most schools. Jeans are normal but often black before blue and shirts with buttons before t-shirts. It is common for women to wear short skirts and tight tops. Sexy is fashionable- in some cases perhaps too much, but this is accepted as being what it is. Also jeans and t-shirts but with spike heals and jackets.

• Grades are usually give on a scale from 1-10. 8 is very good, possibly an "A". 7 is a "B" and 5 or 6 is "C". To receive a 9 or 10 means extra special work has been done. Nines are more possible to achieve for good students and ending the year with all 9's or better means qualifying as "Otlichniki"- with honors.

• Lecture is the most common form of teaching. Group works is common as well.

Other Observations

• Belarusians are kind people, they like being with friends, relaxing and having a good time.