Originally Posted by
travelmad478
I think you’re just dealing with a “when in Rome” situation here, and you might as well just go with the flow rather than trying to impose your own cultural expectations/attitudes on an entire population of people that do not share them.
So where you draw a line then? There is one Russian proverb/expression - "Бьет - значит любит", even more - "бей бабу молотом, будет баба золотом" - I assume that you know Russian enough to understand. For the rest - these are two Russian proverbs. First - "He beats you - he loves you". Second - "hit woman with a hammer, she will turn into gold" - literal translation.
These (and other) proverbs are frequently used in speech and in practice as well. So... do you do the same 'when in Rome"?