Nordic person moving to Russia — can you answer some questions that I have?
Dec 24th 2017, 9:40 pm
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Nordic person moving to Russia — can you answer some questions that I have?
Hello, I am a university student from a Nordic country, I apologize for posting here though I'm not British, but the forums for mine and neighboring country are mostly focused on gaming and local things, the other relocation forums are very sparsely populated and although I do plan to post this query on Reddit, I find that site to be generally terrible and avoid it when I can.
Since I was a young boy, I've been fascinated with Russia and I've long endeavoured to move there. As I've gotten older, my reasoning has changed a bit but the urge to go there is ever strong. I've been to Russia proper twice, once on a Baltic holiday where I went to St Petersburg and earlier in the year when I went to a festival/gathering in Kaluga, and in addition to that I've spent time in primarily Russian parts of other countries in the Baltics, surrounded by their culture. I already have a plan for my relocation there from a legal perspective, and that is to study as a postgraduate, and right now I am trying to decide whether to study at Moscow State University or St Petersburg State University, both of which are very good for my interests and have renowned scholars that I would be honoured to work with, and that is where part of my question comes in:
As I've said, I've been to St Petersburg and I loved the city, but I've never been to Moscow. Both cities are extremely appealing to me, but I would like to know a comparison between life in either city to help me make my choice. I know the historical differences and the superficial differences — SPb is a newer city that was built to compare to Western centres like Paris and Vienna, while Moscow is an ancient Russian city, however I don't know if or how that translates into daily life, as my time in SPb was not long enough to get a strong feel for how the people live. Any differences, especially with regards to culture and people and daily life, I would love to know about.
The second part of my question is much broader, I would like to hear from anyone who has lived or is living in Russia, and know any tips or advice you'd like to share, or anything you'd wished you'd known before you moved.
I ask that we not make this post political or that people don't insult me or my choice to want to live in Russia. I want to hear from those who have experience as foreigners living in country, even better if you're a long term resident as ideally I will stay there. Also, I apologize if this isn't where I should be posting, I could not find a Russia or Eastern European sub-forum. I thank everyone for their help.
Since I was a young boy, I've been fascinated with Russia and I've long endeavoured to move there. As I've gotten older, my reasoning has changed a bit but the urge to go there is ever strong. I've been to Russia proper twice, once on a Baltic holiday where I went to St Petersburg and earlier in the year when I went to a festival/gathering in Kaluga, and in addition to that I've spent time in primarily Russian parts of other countries in the Baltics, surrounded by their culture. I already have a plan for my relocation there from a legal perspective, and that is to study as a postgraduate, and right now I am trying to decide whether to study at Moscow State University or St Petersburg State University, both of which are very good for my interests and have renowned scholars that I would be honoured to work with, and that is where part of my question comes in:
As I've said, I've been to St Petersburg and I loved the city, but I've never been to Moscow. Both cities are extremely appealing to me, but I would like to know a comparison between life in either city to help me make my choice. I know the historical differences and the superficial differences — SPb is a newer city that was built to compare to Western centres like Paris and Vienna, while Moscow is an ancient Russian city, however I don't know if or how that translates into daily life, as my time in SPb was not long enough to get a strong feel for how the people live. Any differences, especially with regards to culture and people and daily life, I would love to know about.
The second part of my question is much broader, I would like to hear from anyone who has lived or is living in Russia, and know any tips or advice you'd like to share, or anything you'd wished you'd known before you moved.
I ask that we not make this post political or that people don't insult me or my choice to want to live in Russia. I want to hear from those who have experience as foreigners living in country, even better if you're a long term resident as ideally I will stay there. Also, I apologize if this isn't where I should be posting, I could not find a Russia or Eastern European sub-forum. I thank everyone for their help.
