Milaya, that's great. Have you got interested in Russia through him, or were you already interested? I had a Russian boyfriend for a while and I certainly found I got a closer look at cultural differences, usually fun, sometimes very bemusing!!
Vance, I always heard that English speakers saying bless you dates back to the Black Death. They taught us in school that sneezing was the first symptom, and so people would just assume you were going to die soon if you were sneezing a lot. So, they wanted to wish you luck at the pearly gates by blessing you. This may be nonsense however. The Russian one seems a bit more optimistic!