“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” is a very popular proverb among Russians. Friendship as a value means much in the Russian culture. If you are looking for serious relationship with a Russian lady, you should be aware of the cultural difference in the perception of friendship by people living in Russia and in the USA.
American people are often surprised by depth of relationships customary in Russia. Russian people have no secrets from their close friends. They openly share with them their joys and sorrows. For a man, a male friend is like a brother, a person the man can confide in. For a Russian woman, a female friend is the person with whom she can discuss things that cannot be shared with her husband or mother. Closest friends substitute shrinks, so to say. There are even notions of women’s and men’s solidarity in the Russian culture, when men or women feel the need to help or support people belonging to the same gender when they find themselves in a predicament. In short, both genders perceive friendship as a bastion against the outer world.
The communities of Russian immigrants maintain this spirit of friendship and the habit of relying on each other. As in Russia, friends are expected to be of help while facing different life challenges, such as overcoming bureaucratic barriers, finding a job, making repairs, borrowing money, etc. Few Americans are open for such relationships, because they require a lot of patience and understanding.
That is why your Russian bride can find close friends among other Russian women who have married Americans and come to the States with their husbands. There are both positive and negative outcomes of her joining the Russian immigrants’ community. On the one hand, your bride will feel thoroughly equipped with knowledge and better adjusted to her new life in the USA. On the other hand, she might start comparing you with her new friends’ husbands and your lifestyle with theirs. As you might have guessed, it is natural for Russian women to discuss in detail such issues as their income, or personal relationships. So be prepared to accept this part of Russian culture too if you want to help your sweetheart successfully adjust to her new life in the American society.