Every culture has its unique etiquette and customs. First time visitors to Ukraine are often pleasantly surprised, sometimes confused, and in certain cases, taken back by the peculiarities of Ukrainian etiquette. To minimize the culture shock for first time visitors, we’ve outlined some of the more prevalent conventions of social behavior found in Ukraine.

“Cold” Public Behavior

The first impression of many foreigners, particularly those visiting large cities, is an environment void of emotion. Strangers seldom greet one another in the street, cashiers rarely engage in “small talk” and a simple smile is sometimes difficult to find. At first glance Ukrainians seem unfriendly, somewhat “cold” in nature.

While it’s true that Ukrainians are very restrained in public, the characterization of an “unfriendly” nationality is quite undeserved. Once you form a friendship with a Ukrainian boy, or group of Ukrainian boys, you will quickly change your opinion about Ukrainian character.

From the opinion of a North American gay man who has lived a considerable time abroad, not only in Eastern Europe, but in Latin America, I can sum up my impression of Ukrainian character as such:

For Ukrainians friend is not a word used loosely. In Ukraine one has fewer friends and more acquaintances. In North America the term friend is more widely used, even when “friends” are little more than mere acquaintances.

In Latin America you can be a complete stranger on the street, but get lots of smiles and have lots of friends – “Hola amigo! ¿Como esta?” With such a breakdown, most people naturally say that Latin America is the most “friendly” culture. While it is just the opinion of one person, I may disagree.

If I got in trouble and needed assistance, I would certainly choose the assistance of a few good Ukrainian friends versus all my “amigos”. A Ukrainian friend is someone you can always count on.

“Warm” Ukrainian Hospitality

The contrast between the “warmth” and hospitality of Ukrainian homes versus the restrained, sometimes “cold” nature in the streets is like night and day.

It is a contrast you can sense both physically and emotionally. Walk down a typical Ukrainian street and what do you see? Most of the time it’s gray, square, Soviet constructed buildings void of emotion. It’s kind of depressing.

Enter an apartment building and walk up a few flights of stairs. It is still the same – gray, dark and kind of depressing.

Now walk through the doorway of a flat and enter into a Ukrainian home. Wham – suddenly you are hit with warmth and color and tidiness that are non-existent on the other side of the doorway. Any visitor who has formed a friendship with Ukrainians can attest to this experience. The warmth and generosity of Ukrainian homes, both physical and emotional, is quite incredible.

Food and drink is a very important part of Ukrainian hospitality.

When invited for dinner you will be treated to a variety of home prepared dishes. When socializing around the table with spirits, there is always some sort of snack food, which is particularly useful as a “chaser” after drinking.

Vodka and the toast are important components of Ukrainian culture. One minor problem for foreigners (particularly for those who don’t drink much), is that toasting and drinking is a social event performed in unison for comradeship. In the West one is more accustomed to drinking at your own pace (so as to last the whole evening). While opting out of a toast is totally acceptable, some foreigners may get themselves in “trouble” when they try to keep pace with their Ukrainian hosts.

If you do drink, here are a few tricks that Ukrainians swear by.

First – don’t drink down in order. That is, if you start with beer, go up to wine, then to vodka, but never go the other way – from strong alcoholic beverages to sparkle wine or beer.

Second – eat more fat food before and when drinking. Ukraine is famous by “salo” – rough pork lard covered with salt; people eat when they drink vodka. As the lard consists mainly from fat you won’t get any hangover next morning.

Third – if the hangover is unavoidable, you can always use a trick of the Ukrainians. Drink a glass of beer or small amount of alcohol the next morning to kill the hangover. It really helps!

When invited as a guest to a Ukrainian home it is customary to bring some sort of small gift for your host (box of chocolates or a cake), and it is obligatory to bring a bottle of vodka or brandy (Ukrainians call it “cognac”) with you. Domestic alcohol is very cheap in Ukraine – even excellent Nemiroff vodka promoted by Lady Gaga costs as low as US$3 per bottle, famous Crimean cognacs cost US$5 per bottle.

Gender Roles

Gender roles in Ukraine tend to be much more traditional than they are in the Western countries. In general, men should be strong and assertive while women should be tender and beautiful. Accordingly, Ukrainian women tend to dress much more femininely (as to accentuate their sex-appeal) and men still adhere to traditional male clothing like sport suit or jeans.

Unlike in many Western countries most Ukrainian men both straight and gay still wear sexy tight Speedos on the beach, although Western fashion slowly reaches Ukraine and there are more and more guys in beach shorts every summer.

Traditional gender roles in the Ukrainian home are also still quite common. Women typically cook and clean, men take care of repairs and maintenance. Although this isn’t a great revelation (this still is customary for majority of cultures around the world), some feminists from the West may object to a certain degree of “inequality”.

Respect of Rules and Laws

For most Ukrainians rules are meant to be broken. At an early age school children develop innovative means to pass exams – using notes when notes are prohibited, “cooperating” with classmates when teachers exit the room. While such forms of cheating are frowned upon in the West, rule breakers in Ukrainian schools are largely ignored.

In business, black market and bribes (which were refined during Soviet times), are still key components of commerce. Rules are meant to be bent and circumvented, right from the wealthiest Ukrainian oligarchs who made fortunes in fraudulent loans-for-shares auctions of the early 90’s of the last century, to the small businessman who avoids expensive taxes via less expensive bribes. This is, without a doubt, the biggest barrier to foreign business in Ukraine. Without a trusted local partner, many Westerns struggle to figure out all the nuances of the Ukrainian system.

If you are not working in a school or in business, then your biggest exposure to Ukrainians’ disregard for rules will definitely be in the streets. Ukrainian drivers are chronic offenders of traffic rules. Speed limits have little significance and red lights are frequently ignored. One should take extreme caution while crossing the street, as most drivers are oblivious to crosswalks and have complete disregard for pedestrian traffic. And while it’s often fun to make light of Ukrainian driving habits, it’s really no joke. The single biggest health hazard when traveling to Ukraine is the risk of traffic or pedestrian accidents.