7 SIGNS YOU’VE STAYED IN RUSSIA TOO LONG

May 17, 2026
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When I packed my bags to move to Russia, I promised myself one thing, “I am just here to get my degree, make some money, and leave. I will not let this country affect me.”

Then, years pass and now I look at my life, my habits and my grocery cart, and I realize the Russian lifestyle has quietly entered my system and changed me in ways beyond my expectation.

I remember when I first arrived in Russia nine years ago. I was sitting at the train station, and I saw a man aggressively eating roasted sunflower seeds, the Russians call it семечки.

The smell completely put me off. In my mind, I was like, “What are these people even enjoying in this thing? It honestly looked like bird food to me. Fast forward to today, my weekly grocery shopping is literally incomplete without a big bag of семечки. I have become the train station man.

If you are wondering whether you’ve crossed the line from “temporary foreigner” to “permanent foreigner,” here are seven signs that you have definitely stayed in Russia too long to not be affected.

1. Strange food cravings

Back home, your dishes were predictable. Now? You find yourself having intense cravings for blinchiki on a Sunday morning or tracking down the best plov in the city on Friday afternoon. Your taste buds have done a complete 180. Suddenly, a meal of steamed broccoli and creamy mashed potatoes doesn’t sound so bad. In fact, it feels like a comforting dinner instead of “white people food.”

2. Spice tolerance left the chat

This especially for people from certain parts of Africa (and we will not point fingers). You used to be the champion of spice. You used to look at Russian food and think, “Why is everything so bland?” But after years of eating cafeteria food or restaurant meals, your tongue has gone soft. The other day you put a tiny bit of chili in your food and your eyes started watering. See your ancestors looking at you with side eye.

3. Running is no longer foreign

Back home, if you saw someone sprinting down the street in the morning, your first instinct was to ask, “Who is pursuing you? Is everything okay?” Running for fun or fitness felt like a purely Western hobby that didn’t concern you. Now, you own proper running shoes. You actually check the weather to see if it’s a good day for a jog. You have embraced the fitness culture, and now you know nobody is chasing you.

4. You became a professional walker

In our hometowns, if a place is more than a ten-minute walk away, we catch a bus or find other means of transport. Walking for the sake of walking is considered a chore, especially with the weather most of us had back home. But after staying here, you’ve picked up the Russian love for the progulka (the stroll). You will, on your own, actively suggest meeting a friend just to just гулять.

5. Russian slipped into your daily vocab

You are speaking English to your mother on the phone, and instead of saying “In short” or “In general” you say короче or вообще. Certain words have permanently replaced their English equivalents in your brain. You don’t even realize you’re doing it until the person on the other end of the line asks, “What does that mean?”

6. You legit prefer the cold over the heat

This is how you know things are getting serious. When summer hits 25°C or 30°C, you start complaining bitterly. You find yourself sweating, looking for air conditioning, and actively wishing for autumn to return. You have learned the art of layering clothes so well that the winter no longer terrifies you. In fact, you prefer the cold over a scorching, humid afternoon. Son of the soil! Just look at you now.

7. Mindset shift

The biggest sign isn’t the food or the weather, but your mindset. Russia is a country that teaches you resilience through experiences. You’ve mastered the art of being assertive and direct. You’ve dealt with bureaucracy. You’ve dealt with winter blues. And all this made you fiercely independent. You look at problems now and your first instinct is not to panic, but to solve it, quickly and quietly.

If you checked more than three things on this list, just don’t fight it anymore. You are no longer just a foreigner passing through. You have built a life here, you have absorbed the culture, and you have grown in ways you never expected.

Congratulations on that.

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