Russian Pod- Stories from Russia

Russian Superstitions

March 01, 2018 Ryan, Abe and Leysan Season 1 Episode 5
Russian Pod- Stories from Russia
Russian Superstitions
Show Notes Transcript
In Russia, getting pooped on by a bird is a sign of good luck. Also, Russian unmarried people should never sit at the corner of the table. Listen to this episode to learn about all the weird Russian superstitions that almost everyone in Russia follows without question.
Speaker 1:

So Russian podcast,

Speaker 2:

let me get to one point yet though,

Speaker 1:

and he said, well, the plumbers coming in the morning today we'll be talking about superstitions. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Russian pod. I'm listen, I'm Ryan and I'm Abraham. Russia is a extremely superstitious. There were superstitions on every minute of your life. Pretty much. One of my favorites is a superstition that you can't answer a new home or new apartment, a yourself because you are going to die. Like whoever enters the apartment first will die. So what you need to do is to either let an old person enter parking first because you know they're likes old people are older and they're like to diverse or did that or let a cabin first. So wait a minute, you're telling me that Russians might actually be immortal for old people being pushed into buildings and new buildings in houses? I think so, yeah. Okay. I have so many questions here. If you build an apartment complex, do you just need one old person to walk into the building or do you need them to go into every reading a new old person to go into every single room. It keeps it in your purse to go. There have been instances like somebody gets a new apartment. They invited their older parent or family member to help them out. People do tricking people into this or, or the old person knows, well, you're young. I've lived my life. I have not personally experienced that. I've only experienced people getting a cat to pass the threshold into the apartment first and they do it because, well, first of all, cat is going to die first, you know, out of the family and cats apparently according to Russians have this sense of energy and they will go into corners of the House that have negative energy in them and we'll basically cancel out the negative energy. So, um, one of my aunts and uncles bought an apartment and no one had a cad, just grabbed a homeless cat, shoved it in your house house and then you just throw the outs. It's like get out and so everyone was just standing there watching hog cat is going to react to the place and how much negative energy there is in that apartment. I was small but I was wondering what is going to happen if cat is like, no, this is like going like it's back curling up and everything. Exactly. Like that's it. You're going to not live there or what happens. But yeah, this, this cap, poor, poor little account. I had to, you know, sit in that apartment and then they're like, okay, we're safe to go in and feed him. Give him a treat or something. I don't remember. I just remember getting a, the cap from the street and the other one that's my favorite is you can sit on the corner of the table because you never going to get married. So every time that it would sit down and especially when it's like a family gathering, there's not a whole lot of space. So you sit down and you are kind of on a corner, but not really. My mom would come and like move me just like an inch or two to be like, okay, now you are not on the corner. Very worried about me not getting married.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Basically what it sounded like to me as you just can't straddle where you know, like the head of the table in the side of the table meet. But if you're just. Even if your right leg as like hanging off the edge of the table, if you don't make that attempt to round the corner, it sounds like you're safe. Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much. But if your body is like a little bit tilted towards the corner and you know the edge of the table, either your aunt or your mom will call out and be like, can you move a little bit? Otherwise you're not going to get married. When I was reading on this one, it sounded like there's an alternate version where it's only seven years. It's seven years of um, I don't even know. It's not bad luck. It's just seven years of not getting married. And so if you're young, you know, seven to 12, it's fine. I remember being told that

Speaker 1:

from a very early age, maybe my parents were hoping that I'm going to get married by the twelfth maybe. Who knows?

Speaker 4:

What are some other things that you guys read about? Well, I found a little interesting, a superstition that also kind of intertwines with Russian history and it's about putting empty bottles on the floor. I read out that in Russia it's bad luck to put an empty bottle on the table. You have to put it on the floor. And actually that tradition dates back to the early 18 hundreds when Napoleon first innovator France, and then he was forced to retreat. And the, the, the cost side, which is pretty much Russian peasants, right? They usually are warriors from Ukraine, a phone. Well, this tradition dates back to when the Cossacks drove Napoleon back to France in 18, 14. And then, uh, you know, how we talked about how the board Bistro is actually Russian for hurry up and that adept. So there was a lot of cultural interchanges between the French western Europeans and Russians. And so one of the things that the costs x soldiers realized that in Paris restaurants, they charge you by empty bottle on the table, so the waiter goes around low, see so many empty bottles are on the table and they charge you like that and be able to get away with it and not pay as you know, uh, as much as they would have, they would put the empty bottles under the table and I just on the floor, but they would hide them under the tables, you know, and this tradition was brought when the

Speaker 1:

Russian soldiers returned back to Russia in the 18, 15 and 16, they brought this tradition with them them and save money. They send money. But also because, well at that time Russia pretty much defeated Napoleon's army. It was thought of as something that have good luck, you know, and anything that they brought with them because they weren't victorious was something to replicate, you know, to keep the good luck going end up. So that was a pretty interesting. I had no idea that that's where it came from. To his day though. Even if you were like in the club, you have a VIP table, if if you've finished a bottle of vodka, which is a bottle of services and thing, like anywhere you go inertia, you have to put it under the table and you do it at home. You do it in a bar or club and I think personally that they do it because they don't want to see how much they drank. Imagine you sitting around the table and then you think, oh, there's five of us at eight bottles of vodka on the table that are empty. Maybe you will think maybe I should go to sleep. Right. But like if they're under the table you'll keep partying, but then it just disappears. Like I don't feel drunk. No idea. Like how many bottles he went through. Well I was also thinking about it. I mean if you think about it, it's it also in a way it makes sense because if a bottle has no liquid in it and you put it on top of the table, you hit the table. That could easily fall over and spill, you know, or have as a little bit of. It makes a lot of sense, not just to put it on the floor but under the table because no one's really going to go under the table, what people fall under the table eventually. Let me. Yet when you're. And then you realize how much alcohol you've had. There were actually, I mean there are quite a bit of traditions around alcohol. So before you go on the trip they call it and the stroke, which means that like for good luck for a good trip, you would take a shot of something. And um, I remember when my friend's parents came to visit, they were leaving and it was probably 6:00 AM when they had to be packed and we're on the way through the airport. So we came to her apartment and say goodbye. And they say okay. And the shock. And so they made us drink a shot of cognac. All of us had to drink a shot of cognac because just a Russian tradition before you go in the long trip at 6:00 AM, we were kind wasted. I mean you're hungry and at 6:00 AM and you have a shot of Cognac, you're going to be drunk and another part of that tradition for you go on trip is to sit down and you have to be silent for a minute and I think that tradition is smart because you can calm down. I think about whether you packed everything. Maybe you forgot something. So I agree with that. I don't agree with taking her shot for you go. Especially depending on the time of day and the decision you're gone. But yeah, that's. That's another tradition is tied in with alcohol. I have another one that was I guess because I do consider myself a bit ocd so I would totally pay attention to this too. It's the receiving odd or even number of flowers. If it's a festival it has to be odd number of flowers and if it's something like a funeral or anything you didn't like, funeral can get a nice Saturday. Isn't that supposed to be even? Yeah. And if you give someone like from other from other or what do you call it? Women's Day or women's Day? March camp. If you give them a coming up boys, even number of flowers, like that's considered like bad luck, bad luck and especially if you're going to give to the specialty bed number, I think because it's just easier to count, but two is a very bad number. Uh, anything even will be considered very bad log or even and then south and nothing yellow like yellow flowers are supposed to be representing sorrow. Sadness are yellow flowers, Houston funerals. Yeah. That's the only appropriate time to use them. I think. So I just imagined, you know, have a very Russian way, like a man giving more foreigner, giving a woman flowers and it's like six lady picks him two strikes. One we'd like to totally rush. Way To do it will actually be like, I'm not even going to explain to you, I'm just going to drop one flower and just don't pretend it didn't happen. It happened to one of my friends. Um, basically what happened was his mom received an even number flowers from a friend of his and she was very upset because it was even number and she thought maybe they're ill wishes behind this purposely progress. Yes. So they have to take one flower away from this bouquet and put it in a separate room and then leave the odd number in her room so that she doesn't think that something will happen to her because of the even number of flowers. Wow. So if you want to be really shady to someone in Russia to flowers and will hate you forever.[inaudible], that's a big one. That's a really big one. I mean the girl will be very upset if he gave her even flower number. I mean if you get her like 30, maybe she won't go through them account, but if it's anything that tells me they would be like, how much do you love me when

Speaker 3:

I have one that's about people showing up. If you drop a fork or spoon on the ground, you should expect a female gas. However, if you drop a knife on the ground, you should expect a male guest and if it's a spoon, as a child, oh, it's child first child, female, or just child. Any child to have you dropped with respect to a baby or a child visitor. Oh, that's a good question. The visitor to come and just buy themselves a lot in Russia. Really? Children are quite independent. Oh Wow. Good for them. And it also says that if you eat from a knife, uh, you'll be considered angry. Like a dog. It let's say cottage cheese and stick it to the knife and just kinda like. Yeah. So it'd be like, that person's angry. You're not angry.

Speaker 1:

Oh, you'll get anger. Not that you're already angry. Yeah. My mom was told me don't eat from the knife, from the knife, but I actually never knew what it meant. I don't think I want to know because like, you're so overwhelmed by the other one. Superstition. Number six. So far we have another hour and a half. It says here also that if you watch a cat washing its face, you should expect guest of any type. And if a cab that's washing its face is dropping a fork that is having a party party. Yes. I mean I do this to this day. If I drop a spoon, I'd be like, Oh, child was coming. I have one that I thought was pretty cute. Mother's typically do not show their baby to anyone except the boys that midwife and other close relatives for 48 hours after the baby's born. Uh, I know that you are not supposed to show your baby or the picture of the baby for three months. So why you would see a. If your friend in Russia has baby, they post pictures on instagram but they would put something over their face, like a circle on maybe like a sticker of some sort. And you wouldn't see their face. It's bad luck. Yeah. So it's like when someone sends nudes here and they put something over their face, I suppose. Well, babies, the babies, that's a, that's a good one. I think those pictures are called Babes instead of nudes. I, I mean in the Hispanic culture it's like you're not supposed to take the baby out for like six weeks. Like you're the mom supposed to stay with the baby at home we have the same but I think it's because in Russia it's like minus 40 degrees outside. You probably shouldn't bring a difference. It's like it could get sick, but also, um, also if you see a really cute baby and you want to pinch it's cheeks are touching it, it's recommended that you do it because our Lsu gave the baby a bad aura. If you wanted to touch him, if you want to touch it but you didn't. But you did. You give the baby a bath. Aura and the baby could get sick. So a lot of like Hispanic mothers and babies. Cute. Oh, come and pinch his cheeks or something. Even if it's a stranger like you'd like. Oh yeah, like touching it. So. And you know, it Kinda like it doesn't happen. Does everyone have like a skin disease? I mean after everyone has touched, I thought I always thought that one was pretty weird. It is weird. We have something similar to that superstition where if you see a cute baby and you tell the mother, oh my God, baby, so beautiful, she will be a grid and you, because you are not supposed to give compliments because you're going to jinx the baby. So if you are giving a compliment, the mother will do content to it. So spit three times higher on your shoulder and then knock on something wouldn't three times, otherwise you will drinks the baby and baby will get sick. So can I say your baby is ugly? I don't know about that. I think that mother will get angry the way. That's why we're now going to try and test the knowledge of our own superstitions and even myself, we're going to go one by one, um, back and forth and try and stump on. And every time she can't explain your superstition, you get one point. Let's

Speaker 3:

hear what you got a

Speaker 1:

like students on a test day or uh, you know, any kind of career veterinaries it's bad luck to first. While there are many. Oh boy, don't play with your hat. If you play with your hat, it will your head to heart second. Um, some people say that you put a book in a freezer, any book or the book that he can't help it outside. You can sleep with the book under your pillow. That helps chew gum during the test. Yeah. During a test or eat chocolate. What about make your bed? You're not allowed to make your bed. Oh, that's right. And uh, where anything new, you can wear anything new or cut your fingernails. I don't hear that one. I think I deserve half a point because she felt bad about that one because I never make my bed in the morning. Are you wasting all of your tests? I wish.

Speaker 3:

All right. What happens if your cheeks or ears are hot?

Speaker 1:

Someone was talking about you. If your ears a hod, that means someone's talking shit about you. If your cheeks a hot, someone is just shocking, right? You zero points for me. What are you supposed to do when you step on somebody else's foot or somebody steps on your foot? Are you supposed to step on their food and what would happen in school? Because children step on each other a lot off course because they are not coordinated. Someone step on my foot and that would step on them. They were like, no, I'm going to step on your food so you have like Brazilian children outside. We're just stepping on each other's foot because you have to be the last one to step on them. If your nose itches when you're going to be drinking, if you forgot something at home, you have to come back and look at the mirror. Otherwise it's going to be bad luck or think about whether you could really wanted because it's bad luck to come back. Especially if you go on a long trip, it's really back to come back and not look at the mirror. It's really creepy by the way you come back because I have to do with once I forgot something, so I came back. The house was empty and then I had to stand in front of the mirror and stare at myself and only then I can go back to the car.

Speaker 3:

All right. What if your right eye itches and then ultimately what of your left eye itches?

Speaker 1:

A left, I think is for money. No. What is it? Sad. Sad. If you're eyes itchy, that means you were sad or you're good to go.

Speaker 3:

You will be sad. And the right it says you're going to be happy soon and if you're left out inches, you're going to be sad soon. Okay, so it's one point five.

Speaker 1:

What happens if I have a bird lands on your window sill money. Now I didn't get a point and you're supposed to chase it away. If they tap on the window or flight into it, open or close, it is considered very bad. Omen often death.

Speaker 3:

When I was in Russia, burden landed on the window sill right next to me or no one cared. No one said anything to me. I'm. I could be doomed right now. You will die eventually, right?

Speaker 1:

Okay. If you have the hiccups, what does that mean? Someone is thinking about you. So what you should do is to keep naming people that he know and once the hiccups stop on, you know the next name that you say that means that that is the person who's thinking about you based on non. By the way, in high school I would have hiccups and then I would keep calling names and then I would say like a name of a guy that I liked and now that he got beat and I was like, oh, that's it. He likes me. That's cute.

Speaker 4:

I'll just say this. They guy that liked over and over again that what happens if a chicken crows three times before noon, I thought, no, it's so weird how people would come to this, but it's the death of a close family member can be expected within a fortnight and is recommended that the chicken should be killed, but not eating as consuming. It will bring about further ms dot fortune. That's two point five to one. Wow.

Speaker 1:

Wait a second. You know, there was so many superstitions in Russian culture that are about dying or your family member dying. I mean, you were constantly in fear because before you even went to work, the chicken yelled at you three times a bird, like blended on your window seal. God forbid it, like flew into your house and manages eclipse time sheets. You said die and you're going to be die.

Speaker 4:

What happens if you find a bailiff in your soup?

Speaker 2:

Baby? I don't know.

Speaker 4:

You get mail from someone soon. Very mundane thing. Okay. Wha Wha? What, what? Uh, when giving an animal as a gift, which ones should you also attached to it? Animal like a cat or a dog or bird?

Speaker 2:

I don't know.

Speaker 4:

Yeah. Uh, uh, the receivers should give to the giver as symbolic. Some of money. For example, one restroom. So if I were to give you a dog, you should give me one Russian ruble. Okay. Three and a half to three and a half on fire. And I'm not even from Russia. What do you do if you have an undershirt on inside out?

Speaker 1:

So you have to take it off and step on it. Otherwise, if you don't do it otherwise your parents will be cute. That's this person. That's a great superstition.

Speaker 4:

Correct. A woman with empty water buckets coming towards you was considered

Speaker 1:

bad luck. Yeah. That's why when you go, and I think we did that too when I would be living in the village, will take two buckets to grow to get water and then we would put something in them so they're not empty. Even if it's like a stone.

Speaker 4:

If a Russian couple is planning on getting married and they sent a date but ended up not getting married on that date. What should this couple do? Not Get married and furthermore

Speaker 1:

not dating anymore. Yeah, it's really, really bad luck. If the date that he said it doesn't work out. Should you cut a bread with a knife or with your hands while your hands? No, it says with a knife, with your hands. It's considered bad luck. You're supposed to break the bread with the person you just met and that's for your friendship and that's breaking the bread. But

Speaker 3:

well you're saying is like when you're around the table, do you break the knife if he gets a point or half to make it? Three. Oh, four and s tire. What would you do to have a grossed take possession of something in the house?

Speaker 1:

If goes took position. Uh, we usually would put out a plate of milk or some food. So the ghost will eat it and return the possession. Yeah. Yeah. Damn right. It's called the mccoy into basically like a little creature that's supposed to live in your house. And usually they live under a broom. So you're suppose to take your broom from your old house to your new house to make sure that this home ghost council with you. And of course, don't forget to let the run the cat in first. Yeah. What happens? Have one or more birth certificate on your property? Your car. Oh, it's a, it's a good luck. It's supposed to bring your money. Um, if, if the bird shits on you as well. Again, when you're close, that's good luck at school. I've been shown by a lot of birds. Lots of birds. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

If you show up late to a party, what must you do as penalty

Speaker 1:

during the shot of vodka? Probably someone sneezes while they're telling a story. It means it means it's true guys, the real person. What happens if it rains on your wedding day? Good luck or wealthy. I think all of the superstition that either for wealth luck, bad luck, deaths for things that are coming your way.

Speaker 3:

When refilling a glass should the glass beyond the table or in the air

Speaker 1:

on the table. What did you do with your in between two people with the same name should make a wish and you know, we used to do that all the time. If we have two people in the class had the same name, we would take turns sitting in between them making wishes. I don't know if any of them.

Speaker 3:

What would happen if you made a toast with an empty glass that's bad luck. You're not supposed to do that. And how. What? The punishment would be for you to actually drink a shot of. Fuck yeah. Here it says you have to finish off a bottle of whatever you're drinking.

Speaker 1:

Oh, okay. Damn. I don't know how to explain this one, but when talking about future success, you supposed to like spit three times and knock on wood. Not to jinx yourself. Yeah. It also says it's. It's, it's bad luck to talk about like future successful and it hasn't happened yet. It's better if you hold it, keep it to yourself or if you sound pessimistic about it, which is why Russians are very pessimistic outlook. Yeah, that's true. If someone is not recognized when they are seen or heard, for instance, if you called them and weren't able to recognize their voice, what does that mean for the color? For the person who you're going to be wealthy. I really thought of my agile. Yeah. I'm running out of the. If someone was talking about you before you enter the room, what happens to you when I'm just the person who's being talked about? Same. I think you're going to be rich. You know what happens if you give a watch to your boyfriend? You can't. You shouldn't give clocks or watches as gifts because they're counting down the time of their life. It basically gonna die of force or their relationship is ending. Oh yeah. It's like counting down the time of your time together. Anything else, Abraham? Hands down. Well now I'm. Now I'm going to test your knowledge of fresh and superstitions. You remember, it has to do with either dying financial stability. What? What is gonna Happen? If you're going to kill a spider inside the house, do you want to. Here's a question. Do you want to team up on these superstitions? We should team up. If so, if you kill a spider in the house, you will be bit by a spider. Feel like it has to be some sort of battle and he'll be run over by a car. Some, some giant hands going to step up. I think you'll be bitten by bugs. It's gonna rain. Oh, clear. Wait, so we can. We can cure all of spiders because all the spiders out of the house instead of killing them. That's the problem. I kept all the spiders. I see. I'm doing my part. If you give, give a wallet as a gift, but some money in it. Yes. That's a bit of American superstition. Universal. Why are you not allowed to do with umbrellas inside the house? Opening? Yes. That's an American thing too. Okay. If a black cat crosses your path, kill it, and I'm like, yeah, but how can you prevent that prevention for this? I can't do it cause I already know the answer to that. So it's all on you. There are two ways. It's quite obvious if you think about it, but it's again, it's not a walk backwards. No. Each as a category. Think about how many times across if you chase it, you take it up as a pet. That's a good one. I charge. That's not a bad answer. You keep that one as a function to harm you. If you're friends with and feed it, it'll like you. You're supposed to hold onto the button to a button on you, on your friend. It didn't happen to me where it was three of us and a cat crossed the road and only one person had buttons and we all held them to her or you just stand there and wait for someone else to cross the path to unknowingly and give themselves a bad luck in the middle of the field. Just wait for it. Wait for somebody else. And then one time we saw a cat cross and there was no one else coming. So we went a different way. Was this counting backwards? You run over a black hat. Unknown. Not one time late at night. I was driving in a cat just lends itself into my car. You killed the cat. I didn't care. I was on the road driving and the cat just jumped to the cat die. I guess. Let me rephrase that question. I thought I felt something bumpy. I felt terrible, but it was a black cat and I, I didn't. I wasn't looking to Kelly and killed itself. When should you take the trash out at night? Never at night. Never. The only answer you could have done taking trash out at night means taking secrets out of your house. That means you are caught. You will cause like rumors. It's like, I think there's an American expression like drying out your dirty laundry. It's Kinda similar to that. Don't take your trash out at night yoga thing. Yeah. Yeah. But everyone. I would say everyone here in America does it at night, mainly because trash passes during the early morning and you don't want to get up. Here's some superstitions about sweeping. You already started with the thing that lives under the broom. Now we're going to real superstitions. So when you're baking bread with a broom, baking bread in the house. When I used to to sweep after the bread is done. Yes, because otherwise it was disrespectful to the bread, into the oven so it doesn't have to see it. It was the depression. After a guest leaves the house, you're not supposed to sweep. Why? Because the. Well I think because the mean to the guest as if like you want to get all remnants of them out of your house. What do you think? You're not supposed to sleep after a guest leaves right after? Yeah. You have to wait like an hour because you're giving them bad luck. So yeah, it's sort of like you are removing their energy by and by doing that you are harming them. How are you supposed to sweep to the room? Door to the window or window through the door. Entrance to window to the door. You only supposed to sweep window to the door. I'm sorry. Door to the window of someone died and it gets. If they didn't die you through a window to the door. When you say someone died, you mean like someone in that room died or just rambling here? Uh, I got yelled at for them. Our daughter window? Yes. My mom was like, you only supposed to do it if someone died, no one died. Now someone is going to die because you're doing a lot of attention for sweeping. I don't know how people live because I obviously haven't followed a lot of those. I still remember them but I'm thinking you have to not only think, alright, what should I do today? Like a to do list, but also, oh no, I need to move trash taking to the early morning. And then, you know, God forbid I run into her chicken early in the morning when I take the trash out and she like yells at me three times and someone was going to die and then I have to make sure to wash the house this way, but not when I'm doing made baking bread. So I need to move the bread baking session sounds like a

Speaker 3:

persons really does, really does just not leave my house. Charlie Day over here. Switch on the lights on, foreign off four times on, four times off. There was a died in the night. So listening, how many times a chicken grows at you? Two and a half or a third one to me or someone else.

Speaker 1:

Um, another thing I was yelled at and my brother was yelled at many times is wearing just one shoe so we weren't like wearing it to outside. But as we were getting dressed and put one shoe on and then we walk around looking for another slip into them both at the same time. We're almost at the same time. But if you walk around with only one shoot, what does that mean? What will fortunate bring to you

Speaker 3:

injury. That's what I was going to say. No, you're going to hurt like your leg or you know, or health health. One of your parents will die. So nothing major too bad. I can see why your mom was really strict about that. Do you want me to die?

Speaker 1:

Uh, talking about dying, there are a couple of. I don't know. Actually. I was curious to know if American students. So um, when someone dies and you have their body in the house, I'm like awake. Like yeah, you have to cover all of the mirrors. You have to stop all the clocks and you have to remove tv from the room where that person is. And the TV one, I would assume it's just out of respect.

Speaker 3:

I mean, one of the football games on. You don't want to have to turn that on in the same room. Oh. So, but it doesn't say don't watch TV in that room. It just says remove it to have a TV in that room where the TV is reflective. Much like a mirror. The marijuana makes kind of sense because there's a lot of superstitions with mirrors. I can not supposed to break him her right here. Do you guys have the ladder? You can go under a ladder in between like we have that one too, so I'm going to combine two superstitions. If there was a dead person in your house and you went on a long journey or let's say you just went on a journey and you forgot something, you want to be able to return it all because there's no mirror still again, to be a little too.

Speaker 1:

I think I'm prepared where I'm preparing myself to go to Russia on the 40th day of death. Um, you set a place for your loved one at the table. Oh, after the 40th day. After they passed away, I thought he did 40 days of death and that's a lot of death happening or someone that you're supposed to have a dinner like in memory. And I think that's the, that's the day when the soul leaves the earth and his is more like with Christianity or just like just a Russian thing. I'm not sure. I just know that we do it, and you put a shot of vodka with a piece of black bread on top. Do you know why? Because I'm a black always means bad. We're dead in the middle of Vod, so no death could come to the feminine. Again, it just a reversal of Russian tradition where if you meet someone for friendship, you break the bread is supposed to be white. I don't know how you break bread with a friend. You know how you have you ever seen when someone arrives, like a delegation arrives to Russia and they were like dressed up in Russian, close women, greeting them with bread and you supposed to break a piece of bread and eaten. That sounds delicious. Much better than getting weighed in Hawaii. If you're honest, laid the blame. They have CECI immediately. Let's book a flight to white bread. It's way better than sex. Now it is a flat bread or no, it's not flat. It's fluffy. It's fluffy brother. So it's sort of a reverse. All of that tradition of meeting someone and now you're saying goodbye to them. And what do you do with the bread and the alcohol when you're done with this? Throw it away. Do you take. Oh, so you know, one takes a shot up the bulk of what? The bread? No, because it's for the disease. Do you have your own shop for you? I'm not bright, but the dead people and and now the worst one I think to me because my classmate died and we had to go to the wake and before we left we were told you have to touch his shoe. Otherwise he will haunt you. And so apart from just the terrible experience of experiencing death of someone you know in your class and having to be there, see, you know, like all, if he's family grieving and he's dead in a coffin, then you have to touch him. You have to otherwise you will home here. It's like a lose lose situation. Also viewed him. If it's a loved one and you're sad to see them let. Oh I could imagine someone being like, I'm not going to touch that person. I want them to stick with me forever, but is it a bad hunting or more like that person just follows you? I didn't specify because I was way too terrifying, but honestly I think that the combination of like being there and then having to touch him, I was unable to sleep for days. That was very terrible. My father was very scary, but that's, that's another thing that you're supposed to do with the worst part of it is just being forced to do it. You know, like if it's. Yes, it was. I imagined so people at awake as they passed by to the body. Everyone just touching him. Yeah. Just kinda like the shoot, right? Yeah. Yeah. Just seem a little odd to some people. Okay. We're done with this little game, which by the way, I have a couple more that I don't think anybody can really guess, but whenever I'm. You have to sell something on yourself. You all. First of all, you're not supposed to do so anything on yourself, but if you really have to, you can't speak otherwise you will. So your mouth shut and don't know what that means. But my mom, whenever she will be sitting there and she would have to sell something on herself, if you have like an urgent question, she back and only after she gets sews it up she can talk to you again. And then in some superstitions, in some families they hold the thread and their mouth thread throughout separate thread from what you saw with I guess to help you keep your mouth shut. I also always thought that it's a weird thing but you cannot talk. And then I have one last one which I think that I've experienced that like a million times in my life where you can, um, you can go on different sides of a poll with your friend because that would mean that you're going to either fight with each other or your friendship or I read a similar one where they used to treat. But I guess it's any object, right? If you're walking someone together, you can't split up. Both of you guys have to take the same route around any options. And so many times we would have to kinda think about like, maybe it's not a very long pole, but it only reaches your waste, will pass it and then be like, wait, I think that counts and will have to go back and make sure we cross on one side. I've heard this one for couples in America, but I've only heard it in the sense that if you're holding hands and you have to break hands in order to cross a poll, it's bad luck. So if you're with your couple, your partner, you're not holding hands. You can split polls all day long. The second you let go of someone saying you've caused yourself bad luck. Didn't hear that. I'm honestly really happy that I will have to follow

Speaker 4:

those restrictions anymore. I would have a nervous breakdown. I was very superstitious and religious kid. No one weird one that promote this tucked. I remember the one weird one that I learned in middle school was if you are near the train tracks and the train passes by, if you climb a any fence near the train track, you pretty much forfeit a year of your life. So imagine a suicidal middle school. They're just holding on to dear life train passes. Where did you hear this one? Not so my middle school was right next to the train tracks. It's, it's in men. Kids would just fuck up that train track. They'd put like supermarket cards from the trains were pass, you know, like pennies and just, it was like a disaster gift cards. Yeah. Just then, you know, just to see ever derailed the train. I mean no one ever derail the train, but the train did have to stop, like it happened a couple times. So they bought a car for a car, like a supermarket cart. A lot of, um, my, my fellow classmates would put like supermarket cards are just a bunch of stuff on it to try to block it, just to see it get run over. And you know, you're told as a child, if you put a nickel on a train track, it would derail it. Really. You get used to do that and put a nickel in it. It just stays there. But you're. And then you're supposed to pick it up and it's hot. I don't know what that would mean, but uh, one of the things. So they built this huge fence where the field is huge. And so a lot of students were just like, if a train was about to pass by and you were like on the fence trying to ditch or something, you're supposed to get off of it. It was like a lake on wait until the train passes through you and then climbed the fence again. Huh? Interesting. I, we talked about whistling inside, but I did read up on it. It's bad luck.

Speaker 1:

So it means you're going to be poor if you were still inside. And so whenever our mom would yell at us for whistling, trying to withhold side will be like, we don't have any money anyway. She was like, well that's why, because you execute. So another one that actually just remembered is if you sitting at the table and you move your legs like, oh, you can just shake like they just have it. The saying that the demon will come and eat your legs. Oh my God. It's very much fun. I feel like if an American parents had half of these superstitions to the child, child protective services would come and take them away and mom says my legs are going to be eaten by demons and she can't talk to me. When she sews I was wearing one shoe and now my parents, his dad apparently because that I was living under a swimming, which I can't use one. The pred is being baked and honestly I think those are the most popular ones that you do experience quite often, but there are a lot more or a lot more. So anyway, read up on that before you come visit Russia.

Speaker 3:

I mean some of them are not just full pause. Abraham's a flowers. That's mean. That's like almost contempt. If you bring someone the wrong number of flowers as a gift

Speaker 4:

only in Russia, would you give someone a gift and they take it that way just because it has even.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. It could bring even a number of flowers, a wallet without money. I'll and an animal. That's it. You're done some never bring those gifts to anyone in Russia. It's like a minefield out there. Really. It's like life ed rush is not hard enough. You also have to navigate this complex. It'll maze of traditions and superstition. Exactly. I want to hear everyone's breakdown for what they think the purpose of these superstitions are. Whether you think you're right or not.

Speaker 4:

I feel because Russian history as it's, it's good and the bad, just like with anything in history, but they've had some pretty bad, you know, invasions and their own repressive government. I feel like it's a way to manage the things you can't control that are out of your control. Trying to give you control over certain aspects of your life as we would with any superstitions. Um, either one that definitely stood out to me is a. I mean, it's never okay to brag anywhere, even here in America, you know, like, but it is more accepted to think positively about the future and you know, we do have things like don't count your chickens before they hatch, but in Russia it's encouraged to even be pessimistic as opposed to here in America, if you're pessimistic, you're labelled negative nancy or Debbie Downer, which they're all female names as funny, but it's already, you get like a bad aura, like that energy as opposed to someone in Russia that's pessimistic, you know, and in a way it's also like, Hey, have you expect the worst of it? You're just having a regular day. That's when, you know, it's uh, it's, it's as, as bad, but it has, it's good to like managing your expectations. Yeah. My Day is going to be shitty and then it's okay. And you like my book, I'm under a lot of my parents died today. It's all good. Yeah. So definitely I feel like that whole, like really pessimistic, like, you know, serious Russian exterior that they put out that correlates with a lot of what they've had to go through. So, um, it's, it's, it's definitely interesting. What about you Ryan? What do you think?

Speaker 3:

For me, I feel like there are a lot of superstitions. I go way back in Russian history, but then I think there had been little addendums added in from mothers and fathers who have been trying to corral their children and they were saying things like, don't walk around with one shoe, you know, don't, don't walk around with no socks on. Things that are just like small roles that kids aren't going to follow. But if you put, they feel, if they put this braveness, this importance to it, that it's going to cause them to hopefully listen this time

Speaker 1:

I agree with both of you. I think part of it is trying to in a way control your destiny or feel like you do have an impact on your future. And another part of it is terrifying your country into submission and terrifying your children because, um, I, I understand why as a parent you would try to make it really grave. So true. Then don't do it. But then at the same time, your children grow up being fucked up in the head being

Speaker 3:

kind of a lazy way because it's almost feeling like you can't explain something to a child because they don't have the capacity. Yeah. So you're like, oh well someone's going to die. They understand death. That'll be fine. But instead of being like, no, you're going to get cold feet, which could cause you to get a sickness which caused you to get all of us take, which might make dad lose his job. You know? It's just like A. Exactly.

Speaker 1:

And you know when, when Russia and parents, and this is the case with me, when they're like, I can't believe you're afraid of darkness inside while you've been telling me the demon, I'm gonna, eat my feet table. Of course I'm going to be afraid of darkness and things obviously. And in a way you also, if you do misbehave, Yak, you don't wear a shoe or something. And then indeed something happened. Someone dies in your family. Then as a child you might think, shit, that's fine. I was walking around with Alisha yesterday and you put that on yourself and I do think that even though superstitions are not necessarily shape your identity, I think they do contributes to Russians are in terms of fears, in terms of, you know, believing in fate and also feeling that guilt for everything that happens around drew, especially bad things. On that note, save out there, knock three times on one instead three times over your shoulder. In the case of someone gives you a compliment, them sending corners of your single. Until next time, I mean Abraham, I'm Ryan and always on. Thank you for joining.