One of the main peculiarities of Russian hospitality is that friends are always welcome to come and visit. You don't even need to make a call or set a certain time for visiting. Just come and the host will be glad to see you.

       If the guests are expected to come at a certain time, the whole house is cleaned and prepared for the visit. If the guests come unexpectedly, and are offered a meal, they often politely refuse, because they don't want to burden the host with cooking or worrying about the food. However, one of the rules of Russian hospitality is that hosts should softly insist on offering their guests something to eat or drink until the guests agree.

       You can become a witness of Russian hospitality if you get invited to a birthday party. Birthday parties in Russia are a big deal. While in Europe and the U.S. the tradition to celebrate birthdays fades away among people of middle age, in Russia people celebrate their birthdays throughout their entire lives, young and old alike. Also, guests are always expected to bring presents. In Russia coming to any party without bringing anything is almost considered rude, but it is still fine among close friends. They also don't set a limit of money that shouldn't be spent for a present – everyone buys whatever they can afford to.

       When Russian people prepare for a party, they cook a lot of food. Mainly, it includes a large first course dish (hot and steamy), second course and several different salads. If you are on a diet or don't eat high-calorie food, forget about it! Russian cuisine is all about mayonnaise, eggs, bread, meat, and other fatty products. Of course, you will always find vodka – probably the symbol of Russian hospitality - or wine (for female friends) on a Russian table. After everything mentioned about is eaten, it is not over. Russians like drinking tea with sweets or a cake. It is believed that hot tea promotes good digestion.

       Russians can stay at the host's house for as long as they want. Sometimes such visits take longer than planned, and if it's already late at night, the host usually offers his/her guests to stay overnight.