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Dear Friends! You are welcome to visit our new web-page “Russia in the view of foreigners”. Here you can find short tales written by foreign people about their life in Russia, useful recommendations which could help you to adapt yourself to conditions of life in a foreign land, you also can amuse yourself by reading funny stories about communal living in Russia posted by some visitors of our web-site. Moreover you will be able to place your own comments and describe any unusual events which occurred to you in our country, to tell something of your own experience of living in Russia and other facts that you’ve found entertaining, to give your own view on Russian lifestyle, traditions and habits, to share your impressions with other visitors of our web-site. We hope you would find interesting and valuable the information at this web-page and would not grudge a little time to write your own review of Russian way of life!
Marga Suvaal My adventure in ArtËmovski Artymovski is a town with te population of 40.000 people, including the villages. Before Perostroika the main source of income for the habitants of Artymovski was a local radio factory producing equipment for the military industry and a couple of mines. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and decline of the whole economy and military industry as a part of this, may people have lost their job or left to Ekaterinburg. In the meantime the poor families from Ekaterinburg, mainly singele parents or pensioners winth grantchildren, who sold their flats to unscrupulous dealers ended up in Artymovski.They live in very poor conditions increasing the social tension in the local community unable to solve their own problems. Until th 1990s, the whole Sverdlovsk Oblast was een area of industrial and military development. Currently there is a high unemployment, and many of those in work have not been paid for many months. I do not life in Ekaterinburg but in Artyomvski I work for the VSO in a school and for the education for and I have been here for 17 months and I will be leaving in April. Yhe VSO, is a Volenteer Organization who sends professional people abroad to share their skills. But here in Russia they are closing down in March 2003. That means for me going home, after spending a great time here. i am working for the education department here, and i am working with kids with behavoiur and learning difficulties Artemovsky is a former mining village, and it was named after his leaders Artem Until the90s Sverdlovsk oblast wan an area of industrials an military development. as such it has suffered much as a result of the changes to the economy under perestroika and the collapese of the SU. Currently there is a high unemployment and many of those in work have been not paid for many months. Pensions are also in arrears There has been a sharp fall in incomes in the region since the early 90s with a further fall after the crisis in 1998.This particully felt within vulnerable groups as elderly people and young children The urals has problems typical for many other regions of Russia. Artymovski is a small town wich has not been exposed to many contacts with forneigners. Even after pererstroika it is not a popular destination for for foreigners. Weather wise it can be cols, -40 is almost normal, but a average 0f -20 is really normal, and yes I am speaking about the winter. The summer is very short. On the first of may suddenly the first leaves apear on the trees, and then witn in a couple of weeks, it is a explosin of green. And then half way of august you can smell the autumn in the air. What can I tell you more, i love it here, some times it is difficult, because I am the only forneigner here, and almost ebery one knows me, but that is a pre too. I have to speak russian and sometimes miss contact with dutch or english speaking people, but when i can I will go to Ekat I do have to ekat regular though, cause when i need money I can not get it here, so i have to travel 120 km to Ekat to get my momey, sometiems a drag, but it is nice to be in a bif town once in a while. I will meet other expats and go to pubs and just wonder about, some times I will go for a day and sometimes I will go for a couple of days. But when ever you have change to get outside the big city just doo, the most towns do have hotels, and often very cheap. i know Artyomvski has one, and it cost 80 roubles a night. And if the local peole find out you are there, you will apear on t.v and in the local newspaper, and peole will take out for meals, so my advice is, get out the big citeis and start seeing the smaller towns. DO IT NOW
Happy days in Moscow Hello dear friends, i have been to Moscow. Moscow is a great, beautiful city, but very expensive. The prices are euroepean. But shop around and you will find cheaper places to eat and drink. We went to the Bolsjoi theatre, and payed 250 rouble for one ticket. Just go to one of the ticket boots in the city, and if you speak a little Russian you will be okay.\As you can see I will not tell about the history of Moscow, you can read about it on the other pagers or in the guide books. I liked the atmosphere there, it is a cosmopolitan city, and in the summer there all kinds of festivals, music but theatre to, just go and see for yourself, and yes this me during a smoke break. Was getting Russian lessons, by the way Russian is very difficult to learn, but going to Russia it is a must to read and speak Russian a little at least, other wise you will be lost. I loved the changing of the guards, it is a form of art and i think they are very fit
Jan 11, 2003 Our winter trip to Novosobirsk Hi all, yes we have been to Novosobirsk in December, ans agian it was a great trip. The trains in Russia are so much fun, and very warm in the winter. Make sure you have some summer clothes with you. espiaclt when you have to sleep in the upper bunk bed. what can i tell about the cit. it is big, and it has a great number of cafe's and restaurants. i did find it a bit expensive. About the history of the city you can read about it in the various guides, so I will not write about it. Poeple were very nice, and you know what we had the warmest winterday ever in N -7. If you have a change go to the opera, we saw a ballet there, Pippie Langsocks, great. it was a kids performance, but it was performed by the ballet school. We had great fun, and it cost us only 85 roubles for a ticket, on the firts row in the middle and first balcony. Going in the winter by train trough Siberie is a wonder, it is so beautiful, all the snow, the landscape is so great. I almost like ( no i like it better) then in the summer. So if you have a change, do this in the winter. the cold is ok when you wear ten right clothes, and again the city is great with the buildings and it's people.
Irkutsk Page Hi all went and been to Irkuts and lake Baikal, and had a great time we went by train from Ekaterinburg, and we went on the 25th of may and arrived there on the 27th. It is a great experience to travel such a distance by train, and it is very relaxed. But lots of people wrote about already!! As you know, I live and work in Russia for a while, and my husband Albert came and visit me, and that is the reason we we went on a holiday here. He to liked it very much. As we both did. From Ekaterinburg to Irkuts it is 3300 km, and if you are lucky, like us, you have the compartment for yourself, but on the way back we had to share and this was great to. I can tell a lot about the city but the most things you can read on internet or in the guide books, so I just will tell about what we did and again we liked it very much.
WARNINGS OR DANGERS
'On my first trip to Russia I was surprised by the level of bureaucracy which is still in practice. A really simple exercise like buying a train ticket can become a major operation. It's not hard to get used to this after a while, although working in Moscow definitely reinforced this impression. Also, women in Russia still have considerably less social freedom than in Western Europe.'
'Completely different culture from England. Politeness, in shops, bureaucrats' offices etc, is unheard of, but real friendship is quite easy to come by in comparison with the experience of international students in this country. If you don't want to drink too much, steel yourself - many Russians really just don't get the concept of stopping at your limits and will try to get you as leathered as they are. Seriously.'
'All the hospitality rituals involved after initial acquaintance with any Russian family can be quite overwhelming. The concept of going out for a drink becomes problematised, as many Russian students are completely skint by our standards, and you need to be very sensitive to this.'
'Do not let them try and give you medicine if you tell them you're ill. For tonsillitis I was made to eat raw onions soaked in salt, then gargle the most unpleasant combinations of oils, and be forced not to drink for several hours etc. When I went to the doctor, he told me that I probably had dyphtheria (99 percent fatality). Thank God you can buy antibiotics over the counter there, I was better within twenty four hours, no thanks to Russian homeopathic remedies.' 'In St Petersburg, it was shocking how many times I got asked for sex for money (must be the way I dressed...)' Isobel Walsh |