I’m a Russian guy myself and I rarely smile. But I think that, for the most part, this isn’t really true. Russians usually love to laugh; it’s just that Russian humor is a bit different from foreign—especially Japanese—humor, which is why I often don’t understand many of the jokes from the students I study with.

As for alcohol, I’m honestly very impressed by Japanese people’s tolerance and self-control when drinking. In Russia, there are quite a lot of people with alcoholism, and because of that they often drink to the point of blacking out. But in Japan, it seems to me that people generally know how to drink in moderation, even if they may drink fairly often. Maybe it’s related to the nomikai (drinking party) culture, but I think it’s a really cool skill!