Life in Tashkent

UZBEK DAILY TRADITIONS

Tips and information about Uzbekistan and its traditions. When visiting any foreign country it is always polite to respect the local customs and traditions. Uzbekistan is a multinational country, and besides Uzbek population there are also many other nationalities with its own mode of life. The following are the general traditions used in everyday life by many nations living in Uzbekistan.

GREETINGS, PARTINGS, AND EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

In Uzbekistan people usually greet each other once a day and say good bye when they leave. With people you don't know well you would use formal words like "Zdravstvuite" or "Dobryi den/vecher" for Hello, and "Do svyidania" for Good Bye, and with friends you can say "Privet" (Hi) and "Poka" (Bye). The word in Uzbek for Hello is "Assalom Aleikum " (literally "Peace upon your home"), and for Good Bye -"Hair" or "Salomat buling" ("Stay well"), if you're the one who's leaving, and "Ok iyul" ("Have a good journey), if you're the one staying. It may sound complicated at first, but with time, you will learn all these things and many more. In the west it is very typical to say "Thank you" very often and it is considered rather rude when a person does not use polite phrases like "thank you", "you are welcome", etc. In Uzbekistan the situation is slightly different. There is no doubt that Uzbek people thank each other and say "you are welcome", but they probably do it less than Westerners. So, at the beginning it might seem a little bit surprising, and you would have to get used to this cultural difference.

HANDSHAKING

Handshaking is a common social custom in Uzbekistan, but is used by men mostly. Men shake hands to greet and congratulate one another and also to say Good Bye (friends, acquaintances, and strangers at a meeting or a conference). Close friends hug and even kiss, and this is considered to be normal. Typically men do not shake hands with women. If a man extends his hand first to a woman, the woman is supposed to shake it. If a woman extends her hand first to a man, the man would shake it, but this is not a very common thing to happen. So if you're a woman, just wait till a man initiates it. In hand-shaking business here, the woman is supposed to take a passive role. This takes a while for Western women to get used to, and often it is a very sore point. That a man will walk up to a group of men and women, shake hands with the men and ignore the women is not a cultural point that one should get used to, but a difficult custom to change. Concerning kissing hands (men do so sometimes when they want to greet women), this tradition does not really exist or lets say never existed here, but some people (in large cities) can practice it, but it is rather rare. Sometimes older men may greet young ladies in this manner.

TIME

Standard hours of business are from 9:00 to 17:00-18:00. Rush hour is from 8:00 to 10:00 in the morning, and from 17:00 to 19:00 in the evening. Lunch time in government and private offices is usually from 12:00 to 13:00, or from 13:00 to 14:00. Uzbekistan is an oriental country, the people here do not have the concept of time and are not very disciplined at keeping time. They are often late for appointments, business dinners, conferences and all sorts of other events. It can be very annoying for someone who values his/her time, but be prepared for that. It is another cultural difference you would have to if not accept, at least be aware of. You will find that you are used to making a schedule for the day and trying to keep to it. Here that is almost impossible. Somebody will hold you up, offer tea and be offended if you refuse or the car can break down. There is that fine line to walk, one is to not give in and say, "Listen, you where supposed to be here at 2, now it is three and I do not have time to meet you now" Or get used to having a messed up schedule everyday. There is a line in between that you have to find. If you try to keep to standards that you are used to you will only get frustrated and upset. If you decide to drink tea and at every occasion you will end up getting nothing done, somewhere in the middle is the answer, but it is a hard happy medium to find.

DRESSING

People in Uzbekistan wear different types of clothes. In villages you will observe women wearing traditional clothes like long variagated dresses, kerchiefs, etc. In cities they are less traditional and more modern. As for male clothing, most men wear pants more often than they wear jeans. Shorts are worn rather rarely, and by city folks mostly. In rural areas it can provoke unwelcome attention from the local population. Also, you may notice that, to your taste, people dress too classy for everyday things like work (especially women), and not classy enough for special occasions. It is not unusual to see men dressed in three-piece suits for a football match, or men wearing jogging suits for concerts at the Music Hall. All of this may strike you, but it is yet another cultural difference you should be aware of. The summers often get very hot here, that is why many people, including government officials and even the Prime Minister himself, won't wear a suit to work from May through August. A shirt and a tie for men, and a summer dress for women in an office environment in the summer are perfectly acceptable. There is one more cultural thing about dressing. In western countries people tend to alternate their clothing daily, but in Uzbekistan it is not very typical. You can see that your co-workers, students and people around you wear the same clothes two or three days in a row. It does not mean that they do not have enough clothes, or they put on dirty ones. It is just not very traditional to wear different things every day. Do not be surprised.

SOCIAL OCCASIONS

During your stay in Uzbekistan you may be invited to a social occasion like a Birthday party or a wedding. If it's a close friend, one is expected to bring a gift. If it's a colleague you do not know well, you may just express you best wishes, and maybe give flowers but usually only for women.

GUESTING

Guesting is a big thing in Uzbekistan. People often go guesting just like that, even without a special reason. If you are invited to a typical informal Uzbek party, be aware that there are also special seating arrangements for guests. The eldest person or honored guest is usually invited to sit either at the head of the table. Young people or hosts sit by the door to act as "waiters". They bring and take away dishes, pour tea, and do other things. In general, the younger you are, the more work you do. Going to somebody's house take some sweets or souvenirs for children.

INSIST ON IT

When you go guesting or invite guests over to your place, you may become a witness to a very peculiar situation. When you offer something to eat (for example, some chocolate or sweets) to a Uzbekistani person, he/she tends to refuse after your first try, in which case you would probably think they do not want it. As a matter of fact, they would love to taste what you are offering, many people here consider it to be impolite to say No the first time. If you push a little bit, saying: "Oh, please, take a piece of it and taste it!" and insist on it, it is only then that they may consent, saying: "Oh, OK. I will taste it. Thank you.", though, they may have dreamed about it from the very beginning. So if you have a similar situation, and offering something to somebody, try several times to make them taste or take something that you're offering. If you give them one shot only, and they say No, and then you don't offer again, people would most likely feel ashamed to ask for it themselves.

DO'S AND DON'TS

Sitting on the ground: As you know, in Western countries people (especially students) feel comfortable placing themselves on the ground or on the floor. In Uzbekistan, you may observe that people have a different attitude towards it, especially older ones. Most of the older people think that it is not very good for health (the risk of getting cold), and it is not very polite to sit on the floor instead of a chair, or on the ground instead of a bench. Of course, young people worry much less about such things, but by and large, it is not customary to sit on the ground or the floor. Another reason for not sitting on the floor might be that the floors are usually not covered with carpets like they are in foreign countries, and are usually quite dirty to sit on.

POST

To send letters/packages you would have to go to a post office. There your package will be checked for contents, weighed and put in the mail. Letters and parcels to Western Europe and the USA can take between two weeks and two months. Stamped envelopes can be bought from post offices and book shops. Delivery within the republic takes 3 to 5 days. Addresses should be laid out in the following order: country, postcode, city, street, house number and lastly the person's name. The postal service is rather reliable when you send things out of Uzbekistan, but you can't rely too much on it if you're on the receiving end. Letters are OK, but packages often take up to two months and are sometimes opened. Do not send any valuable items through the mail. Having them delivered to Glavpochtamt (general delivery) is a safer way of getting them. Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1800. The Main Post Office in Tashkent is open daily from 9:00-19:00 and located on 7, Shahrisabskaya st. Visitors can also use the post offices situated in the major hotels. There are also a number of international courier services based in major cities. Regular mail (letters, newspapers and magazines) will be delivered to your apartment or house every day except Sundays and official holidays. If you are sent a package though, it will not be delivered to your apartment/house, but instead you'll receive a notification that it has arrived to your local post office where you can pick it up from. With regard to letters, our advice is have them put in the rented mail box at the Main Post office ("Glavpochtamt") and do not just drop them in the mailbox in your house. Going through the Glavpochtamt is always faster and safer.

UZBEK NATIONAL FOODWAYS