From Russia to Cyprus, with love
I am writing this in response to the recent viral post about the Russian IT community supposedly hating Cypriots.
I really want to say that this is not true. At least not for me, and I believe not for a very big part of the Russian-speaking community here.
Since we all coexist on one small island, I think we really need to learn not to generalise people by nationality.
Many Cypriots understand that “Russians” are not one single type of person. The Russian-speaking community here is very different: Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Kazakhstanis, Armenians, Buryats, Yakuts and many others. Some of us do not even look “typically Russian”, whatever that means :)
And I think it is also important for Russian-speaking people to understand that Cypriots are also very different. Greek Cypriots, Pontic Greeks, refugees from the north, people who grew up abroad, people from villages, people from cities, people with very different families, stories and views.
So when someone has a bad experience, I really wish we could stop saying “Russians are like this” or “Cypriots are like that”. Bad behaviour is not nationality. Sometimes it is lack of culture, sometimes stress, sometimes low salaries, sometimes a broken system. And to be honest, Cypriots suffer from this system too.
And actually, I think we have much more in common than it seems.
We both know what it means to live with the pain of war. We both live somewhere between Europe and Asia. We both have this strange mix of hospitality, strong family culture, love for cities, and also abandoned villages that make your heart hurt a little. We both know how to complain about bureaucracy for hours and still survive somehow :)
For those of us Russian-speaking immigrants who want to stay here, we also need to learn more about the local society. Not only beaches, rent prices and immigration appointments, but the real details, history, sensitivities and differences between people. And yes, maybe sometimes we also need to lower our expectations from the abstract immigration officer, because if he earns 900 euros and does the work of six people, he is probably also not living his dream life there.
And for Cypriots, I think there is also something good you can take from the Russian-speaking community, especially from the IT people. Use us in a good way :) We are actually very helpful. Because of our own problems and backgrounds, we are very good at building a system on top of a broken system. We know how to make chats, maps, guides, spreadsheets, communities, emergency solutions and 25 backup plans for everything.
We are generous and we are not evil, I promise :) But we do feel insincerity very strongly. And we really do not want to feel like we are being cheated, especially with crazy rent prices or “special foreigner prices”. That hurts and creates more distance between people.
Also, many of us really do want to learn Greek. But it is hard 😥 Please help us. Speak Greek with us, even if we are slow and sound terrible. We are trying. Sometimes very slowly, sometimes with panic in our eyes, but still trying.
I am honestly very sad when I see tension between Russian-speaking people and Cypriots. I really want us to find more common ground. We live on the same small island. It would be so much better if we treated each other with a bit more curiosity, humour and kindness.