Establishing Realistic Expectations for Americans Considering a Move to Russia
For an American relocating to Russia, which changes or differences in life are to be anticipated?
In the picture: A tap decoration in a beer place in Moscow. The picture was taken years ago, during Mr. Trump’s first presidency. That beer joint, sadly, had closed down since then.
If you are an American and considering a relocation to Russia, first you need to check your motives for the move. Then you need to do a bit of research to establish realistic expectations and anticipate things that will change in your life upon relocation. There are changes that are obvious: you’ll lose your circles of support, you will be far away from friends and family, the surroundings will be different, big and small things that comprise your daily life will not be the same. Still, despite the obvious and a plethora of resources available on the subject, I will bring up certain things that often get overlooked. The below is not an explicit list; but what comes to mind in general. Obviously, each and every relocation story is different, bringing up individual challenges and adjustments required.
Unless you speak some Russian, no one will understand you, and you will feel completely lost, not being able to decipher any written, verbal, (as well as nonverbal) information. You might accidentally bump into people here and there who speak broken English, sometimes very good English, but those encounters will be very few. In all government organizations, banks, shops, everywhere people will only speak Russian, every piece of paperwork will be in Russian.
If you relocate because you believe Russia is a sanctuary for conservative Orthodoxy, a Jurassic Park of sorts that preserves social norms and lifestyle like they were a hundred years ago, a Christian paradise where people live a strictly traditional lifestyle, you are setting yourself up for a great disappointment from the very first steps you make in the country.
When you smile at a stranger and say “Privet!”, you will get a perplexed look in return. If you ask strangers for help, they will try to help.
In the case you come with an expectation of meeting people who read Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and other world-renowned authors, you’ll quickly realize most Russians haven’t opened any of those books since school, where it was required reading. A typical reply to “When was the last time you watched a ballet performance?” will be “Never.”
If you are from a Russian family which relocated to the US when you were very young and you were raised in the US, you’ll discover that there is very little, if anything at all, Russian in you. You will feel like a complete stranger, an alien who simply doesn’t fit.
Those of you who had houses in the US will have to live in a cramped apartment in a huge apartment building block. If you make big bucks, your apartment might be larger. You’ll have a washing machine in your apartment, but no dryer. Your fridge will be twice smaller than the one you left in the US. You won’t have to sort garbage, and there will be no food waste disposer. If you opt for a village residence outside bigger cities, you are to find out that American and Russian definitions of a good house are miles apart.
Your kids will walk to school. Not guaranteed, but odds are they will not like their Russian school.
Most likely, you will not be able to find a job in your current field, unless you speak Russian with proficiency close to a native, or your profession is IT or something that requires universal knowledge and skills applicable across the globe. If or when you find a job, you’ll discover that the Russian definition of working and management are not what you ever knew before.
Whatever your job is, if you are employed in Russia, you’ll make much less than in the US. You will pay much less in taxes too. You will not have any retirement funds, no pension you can live on when you get older. You will have neither credit cards nor checks. You may opt for a loan to help your budget or finance a purchase, but when you learn the APR, you’ll back up. Your bank cards issued in the US will be useless pieces of plastic in Russia.
You will pay times less for basic groceries, all essential services of similar or notably better quality, such as mobile phone or landline internet. In stores, you pay exactly what is on a price tag; no taxes will be added. Your utility bill will be significantly less. Hiring a plumber or electrician won’t break your bank account.
There will be no Fahrenheit for temperature, no ounces and pounds for weight, no gallons for volume, no inches, feet, or miles for distance.
You’ll be positively surprised at how much you can do using phone applications with their functionality and overall convenience.
Your online shopping experience will be way richer and convenient compared to the one in your home country. Many of the goods availability of which you take for granted in the US are either nowhere to be found in Russia or difficult to find, and cost more. Still, in Russia, you’ll find everything you need, oftentimes cheaper, if you know where to look.
No one will respect your time and your money. You’ll have to be on alert to avoid being fooled or defrauded.
You’ll have to pay for water in restaurants. There will be no mandatory tips everywhere, and for your table service, you’ll tip 10-15% at highest. The variety and affordability of places to eat out will easily turn you into a foodie. Customer service won’t always be as nice and polite.
If you can afford it, you’ll be able to travel to Europe for vacations. With your Russian full-time employment, you’ll get a minimum of 28 days of paid vacation each year, plus almost three weeks of public holidays in total.
In central and northwest Russia, you will not see the sun for months. It will be cold, gray, dirty, and depressing. In summers, it will be so much sun that you’ll have to hang blackout curtains to have a quality night’s sleep. You’ll be opening windows in winter because of the overheating of the apartment. In summer, in public places, the air conditioning, if it is available, will not be as cold as you’re used to in the US.
You’ll have to take off your shoes when entering a Russian apartment. In winter and in-between seasons, entering hospitals and some other public places, they will demand you to put disposable plastic boot covers over your shoes, which, the covers, you’ll have to buy.
Shall you need an MRI, it will cost you from US$30 to US$100.
If you go to a gym, it will be completely empty in the mornings, but packed in the evenings.
Be prepared to be pushed, poked, nudged everywhere, and forget about your personal space as it will be broken into all the time. You'll be yelled at and stared at, and you can do nothing about it. No one will ever apologize to you for causing an inconvenience or for making a mistake that causes you trouble.
Public restrooms will be hard to find, and they will shock you, not in a positive way.
If you’re a woman, men will open doors for you and help with heavy stuff. If you’re a man, you’ll do more handshakes daily than you can count.
If you make a mistake of doing your own driving, be prepared that traffic signs are completely different, there is no right turn on red, and other differences, great and small. In larger cities, traffic will be horrendous. Plus, you’ll find other drivers extremely impolite, driving crazy, honking at you, and cutting you off all the time. Roads will not be as smooth. Parking your car will be a problem each time you have to park. Driving will cause you a lot of stress.
Leaving Moscow and other major cities, you’ll discover that the rest of Russia is radically different.
I’ve never had to pay for the shoe covers in doctors offices, but yes, I can attest that most of this is correct.
Don’t let any of it scare you off.
Visiting Russia is like visiting an Orthodox Church for the first time; you can read about it all you want, but you won’t get a feel for it until you spend a lot of time here.
Two weeks isn’t enough. Several months comes close, but a year is better.
Болшое спасибо за то, что поделились этой информацией - I hope that one day I get the opportunity to visit your great country and experience this for myself!!