How did I change to the unexpected in Moscow?

Did Moscow surprise me? The answer is - yes and no at the same time. I heard a lot about Moscow before coming here. My parents lived for a while in Moscow (well it was 30 years ago). Several of my good friends visited Moscow recently and were able to tell me their opinion about the modern Moscow. Also when I’ve lived in Kazakhstan I heard a lot about Moscow as a center of influence on the post-soviet territories. Looking back I can conclude that a lot of things turned out to be as I have anticipated, but still the city had surprises for me.

In general I find people here to be relatively polite, with major exception sales persons. Such unprofessional sales personnel I have never seen in my life. No matter whether you buy a product, or inquire some information from a salesperson usually you will be disappointed with their rude responses. To deal with such situations I have noticed that the best tactic is to change the tone of your voice. If you get a rude response then adopt the command voice. Usually it works! As I understand it you have to appear assertive and confident in order for others, especially salespersons, to pay respect to you and, hence, be polite with you.

Accommodation and living expenses are exceptionally high in Moscow. Before coming here I heard that the city is famous for overpriced products and services (I believe it was ranked in 2007 as the most expensive city). However, the city was able to surpass all my expectations. Amazingly but I end up spending here more than I have used to spend in Toronto, while the quality of products and services that I get here is much lower than in Canada. As a result I had to restrict my spending. I did impose spending restrictions in the past, but this time it is different as I impose them not because of lack of funding, but because I don’t want to waste so much money for poor service and bad products. I am planning to keep records to see more precisely where the money is gone! That will be an interesting observation.

These were my ideas when I’ve asked myself a question: what did surprise you and how did you change? Looking at them one may say these are not huge changes. However, it is difficult for Moscow to surprise me because I have got used to live in a relatively similar environment in Kazakhstan, Almaty. But in my homeland people are much more polite and prices are relatively reasonable (I am not advertising Kazakhstan, but all of you are welcome to visit it). So these are the two not so pleasant surprises that Moscow had for me!