She was <em>wonderful. </em>
Edit: That said, if you mean what is the common cultural stereotype of Russians, as people, in my country (the US), it has to do with the idea that they/you are very stoic, very spiritually deep, "long suffering", very emotionally unexpressive or even taciturn, and that you folks pour out all your deep, complex emotions in your literature. This supposedly makes your literature sublimely profound, and almost unfathomly intellectually rigorous.
The thing is, these ideas are really just extensions of how Americans tend to think about <em>Europeans </em>in general. There is a lot of overlap between how Americans think about cultural stereotypes of the French, the Italians, the Spanish, the Germans, <em>and </em>the Russians.
You are all "Old Worlders".
The Russians I got to know through work are very direct and do not use many 'flowery' words. That is why Koreans (I work in South Korea) think them unfriendly, because according to Korean manners this is not considered polite. But this is just their culture, they are not unfriendly. Since some years many Russians travel to India and South East Asia (such as Vietnam, Thailand and so on). Many of them do not know English, that's why communication is not easy. When you do not share a language, this is a fertile ground for prejudices. The same is true for the Chinese traveling abroad. But the Russians I met were nice people (like most people you meet). There is no country where I would say 'they are bad people'.
Next month I will go for the first time to Russia, we will visit Vladiwostok, the ruler of the East, and Ussyrisk, a town 80km close to Vladivostok. Any recommendations?
It's pretty complicated to make the visa. I need an invitation which you have to make through a travel agency, an insurance specially for Russia, a letter with details of your travel and an interview at the embassy.