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> if you smile, those people will take it as an insult

The article is well-balanced except for this. In Russia, a smile is not frowned upon, as this may imply, it's just not on by default. Being a Russian, I just don't feel obliged to keep a smile on my face for politeness or whatever, but it doesn't mean that it's harder to break the ice with me than with anyone else.

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I agree. I grew up in Moscow, have lived in Norway for some time now and (I think) picked up the friendlier attitude - but I've never experienced that others are somehow uncomfortable with me smiling or whatever when I'm back. (I think this is important because a lot of the stereotypes come down not to the smile per se, but to the fact that people maybe be more self-conscious about talking to a foreigner or similar.)

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