I don’t think I know better, but I do know that I grew up with Russian and Lithuanian (and Polish and Ukranian) culture as they were transported to America, so I do know something about them, yes; I was exposed to the languages, food, traditions (mostly religious) from various relatives (both blood and those married into the family) from the time I was born. There are certainly differences as there are from town to town within any country, but yes, I see similarities as well–though some from those cultures are too stubborn/proud/or something to admit it.

Besides, visiting a country doesn’t necessarily give one any impression of the entire country’s culture anyway–going to Milan isn’t going to tell you anything at all about southern Italy just as I’m sure visiting Kaunus probably wouldn’t tell me much about Lithuanian village life.

There *is* a lot to be learned apart from visiting places as well, and unfortunately for many of us, that’s the only way we can afford to learn. I’ve never been to Greece, but it’s not difficult for me to see similarities between Italian and Greek culture especially when I read first hand accounts of Greek life in books by Gillian Bouras and various blogs by both Greek natives and expats.

I’m sorry that you hold such hostility for a nearby country, but there is certainly a certain degree of cultural overlap–I have many friends of Russian heritage as well and we grew up eating many of the same foods, for example. I’m well aware also, of course, that Russians don’t enjoy being mistaken for Lithuanian…or Lithuanians for Polish, etc.

But I don’t think that’s what I did here. I referred to a geographic part of the world and for me, this is the same as some Mediterranean countries like Italy and Greece sharing the same geographical corner of the world as well as cultural similarities (and many differences!) even though they are very distinct, independent countries.