What Russia Taught Me About Warmth at -40°
Politics aside, here’s the Russia I know: generous, complex, and unexpectedly full of warmth.
Let’s get one thing clear up front: this won’t be about politics. Every country has its contradictions, its good and its bad. There’s a time and place for those conversations, and this isn’t it. This is about a country that changed me and left a lasting impression on me: one filled with laughter, warmth, intellect, and an unexpected generosity that still defines my memories of it.
My First Time Outside North America
My first trip outside North America was to the Soviet Union in 1988. I was a teenager, clutching a paper visa and staring out the window of an Aeroflot plane, not realizing that this trip would change how I saw the world. Well…not actually clutching that visa because somehow I lost it in transit in London. Our group leader decided if the airline didn’t check we would risk it…and after a brief interrogation by the border police I was allowed in….with a Soviet citizen domestic travel pass to replace it since that’s all they could come up with. Glasnost in action.
We visited Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) first: elegant, historic, and just a little bit snow-covered (but nothing new for a group of kids from Minnesota) then on to Moscow, a city that felt like a grand symphony of stone, sound, and snow.
And finally, we landed in Novosibirsk, deep in Siberia, where I spent many unforgettable days on a homestay in Akademgorodok, a scientific suburb that was once the Soviet Union’s “city of intellects.” Built as a planned academic community, it was where scientists and thinkers lived apart from the ordinary life of Moscow…where ideas could quietly flourish even under a watchful system.
Yes, our host family was probably handpicked for their loyalty to the government…but most importantly they were incredibly kind. They opened their home, fed me like royalty, and treated me like family. I remember the wonder of having Pepsi (not Coke, of course, Gorbachev famously loved his Pepsi and later Pizza Hut) and fresh fruit in the middle of a Siberian winter. I even had my own room, which felt like a luxury in the Soviet Union in those days.
Despite the subzero cold, -40°, where Celsius and Fahrenheit finally agree, the warmth of that family, and of the other hosts in our group, was unforgettable. We celebrated New Year’s together with singing, dancing, and yes… more vodka than I was ready for. Russians are often painted as stoic or serious, but once you’re accepted, their hospitality knows no limits.
Culture, Grandeur, and Grit
Russia is a place of strong contrasts. Red Square, the Kremlin, and Lenin’s Tomb sit steps from the Bolshoi Theatre, where ballet remains a national obsession. The GUM department store, once a Soviet symbol of scarcity, is now a palace of designer boutiques…though that feels paused for now…but still serves the same famous ice cream cones it did decades ago.
A Taste of Russia
Meals can be as simple as black bread and soup, or as intricate as modernist tasting menus that rival anything in Copenhagen or Tokyo. The food scene, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, has come alive in the past two decades — a fusion of tradition, reinvention, and a dash of audacity.
Back Then and Now
When I returned in the early 2010s for work, I was stunned at how much had changed. The Moscow I saw then was sleek, cosmopolitan, and fully plugged into the modern world: fast Wi-Fi, global brands, and restaurants that could make Paris blush. Yet the essence was the same: people still cared about literature, music, and conversation. I even made it back to Novosibirsk, where the academic energy of Akademgorodok still pulsed through cafes and research labs even if it wasn’t the hub it once was.
Music in the Metro
Russia’s metro isn’t just public transit, it’s a literal art gallery. The Moscow Metro remains the most beautiful in the world, filled with chandeliers, mosaics, and marble halls that make you forget you’re underground. And in those tunnels, you’ll find street musicians playing everything from jazz to Radiohead covers.
Every Season, a Different Russia
Winter can be brutal, but it’s also magical. Snow falling around onion domes, ice skating in Red Square, steaming cups of tea from street vendors. And summer? A performance of color and celebration. The long evenings fill with festivals, weddings, and flower-lined streets that feel almost Mediterranean in their energy.
The Dream Yet to Come
A trip I have dreamt about for a long time, and will take as soon as the time is right, is the Trans-Siberian Railway. A slow, sweeping journey across 9,000 kilometers from Moscow to Vladivostok, through birch forests, steppe, and time zones. It’s the ultimate meditation on scale and patience, and the perfect metaphor for this complex country and its people: immense, complicated, beautiful, and impossible to fully grasp in a single visit.
The Heart of It All
What keeps me coming back, though, isn’t the architecture or the history…it’s the people. The same quiet generosity, humor, and unshakable sense of pride I felt in 1988 are still there. Whether it’s a scientist in Siberia or a barista in Moscow, there’s a shared resilience…and a belief that art, friendship, and decency matter.
Why Go, When the Time is Right
Maybe this isn’t the moment for everyone to visit. That’s okay. There will be a time when it is. And when that day comes, GO! Not just for the onion domes and ballet, but for the laughter over dinner tables, the long train rides, and the feeling that you’re glimpsing a culture that goes back more than 1000 years and has always found beauty in endurance.
I visited Moscow and was also pleasantly surprised. I loved the underground. It was beautiful and I would definitely love to go back one day.