Moscow

[sexualhelon]

Is there anyone on the forum from there, been there, or lives there? I lived in Poland for a while, then Serbia, and spent a little over a year in that part of the world. I absolutely loved Poland and the Baltic states but with the whole European Union/Schengen zone in place it's nearly impossible for me stay there teaching English forever when the Brits can do it sponsor-less.

What I'm getting at is, I have the opportunity to teach in Moscow with a visa that's good for up to 3 years. It came as a surprise to me and now I'm just looking for some insight as to life there. I love the culture, the food, the wild-west feel, and LOVE the women just a bit worried the winter, skate scene, and lack of diversity would get to me. LA's great and all but I miss having the foreign effect, people being genuinely interested in you, and probably got laid 10X more when I lived in Eastern Europe....basically your odds go way up when you're foreign in general. I'm always down for an adventure.

So yeah, anyone want to give some insight as to life in Moscow or even just vibes you got from visiting? Thanks!

[Sognar]

Well, I do not live in Moscow, however, I have been there a couple of times so I can give you some insight. I would describe Moscow as a very hectic city. The traffic jams are completely horrible, it is very crowded all the time, etc. The winters are pretty harsh and in the moment Moscow hasn't got a single indoor skatepark. Those are drawbacks. The merits are: tons of spots (street, diy, pretty good public skateparks), lots of different events and stuff. You definitely won't experience any lack of diversity there!
And do you take other cities into consideration? If you do, I would highly recommend checking out St.Petersburg for a number of reasons: more friendly atmosphere than in Moscow, very healthy skate scene, tons of parties, closer to Europe, it is cheaper to live here and so on. But my opinion can be a little bit biased, because St.Petersburg is my hometown. And I forgot to mention that we have a pretty kickass indoor skatepark so skating in winter is not a problem at all! You can check out a video of my homie from there:

Just read my post again, sorry if it is a bit chaotic and gramatically incorrect...

[sexualhelon]

Thanks so much man, I really appreciate it! I could take other cities into consideration I suppose but the way things are going both options I have are in Moscow but that's really all I've been looking at. I feel like St. Petersburg would be a good place to spend sometime but more touristy feeling and, for lack of a better word, maybe a bit more superficial? One of the reasons I like LA is because it is seedy, it is grimy, but once you've lived here and now where to go it's amazing. There's not even a real tourist center - for better or worse. I tend to enjoy the intensity of places like NYC, Istanbul, or Tokyo which is why I had my sites set on Moscow.

It seems like maybe Moscow offers more opportunity to make money teaching English? Also that it's perhaps a bit more of a 24-hour city? Don't get me wrong - I'm sure I"d love them both - just maybe prefer living in Moscow. St. Petersburg is really cheaper though? I'd heard they were about the same. I could go sooner but I was planning on spending up to the next year still living in LA just so I can save up a lot so I can live a little crazy at first.

Oh, and that park looks sick as fuck. I didn't realize this until you said it, but you know NYC doesn't really have an indoor park either...

[Alan]

I've no info to help you out, but was just wondering how you figure that a European city of 5 million people wouldn't be a 24 hour kinda place?

[sexualhelon]

Well my perception of a 24 hour place is a city where you can basically find anything at anytime and businesses,stores, and clubs alike operate later than in most other cities - basically, that it's almost always bustling. I'd definitely consider NYC to be much more of a 24 hour city than say Paris.

Just because it's a large European city of 5 million people doesn't "necessarily" mean it's a 24 hour kind of place. True, I suppose you could just assume it is but I'm not one to assume. Perhaps I should have added exciting to that statement. For instance, I think Bangkok and NYC are both very exciting and could be called "cities that never sleep" whereas I'd definitely call Hong Kong a 24 hour city but didn't find it nearly as exciting as the aforementioned cities.

It's all subjective really. I'm sure I'd love them both but people tend to refer to Moscow as a crazier, more bustling city however that's not saying they're not both 24 hour sorts of cities. I tend to have more of an inclination for grittier, higher stress, keep you on your toes cities. I've never been to Russia though so I'm obviously just going off what I've heard.

I also know this guy and keep up with his blog: http://www.england-moscow.com/

[Sognar]

Then I think Moscow will be just fine for you. It's definitely a "24 hour" kind of place.

[Leo Chumack]

I've spent 2 weeks in Moscow before. It's a very dirty city. Think 1st and 3rd worlds collide with one another. As far as skateboarding goes, the subway system will get you all around the city and the first spot you're gonna wanna go to is gonna be Poklonoya Gora, right next to the metro station of Park Pobedi. It's the local's gathering point, and as far as the spot itself it's a lot of shitty marble ledges and some banks and tiny stair sets. The locals are super welcoming and will tell you everything you need to know, I'm sure you'll make all the skateboarding connections you need such as more spots and shops. As far as skateparks, a new DC plaza was built there and I'm sure there are even more parks, I just didn't have the time to go to very many. For the winters, there is an indoor skatepark, and the locals all told me they skate outdoors underneath covered areas in the traditional russian spirit. I assume that you are fluent in russian?

at 1:16 is the spot, it's very fun although the marble ledges have seen better days,

most of the locals still meet up there.

[sexualhelon]

Nah, I'm not fluent in Russian. I can make small talk in Polish but it was about 2 years ago since I lived there. After returning to the states I figured if I really want to learn a Slavic language and it be applicable then I should focus more on Russian. I work with some Russians/Ukrainians and walk around little Russia here in L.A. everyday so I'm working on my Russian language skills.

I've got a one year plan at the moment - so to speak. At the rate I'm going I should be able to save 10k+ in the next year and get better with my Russian. One of the reasons I like LA and NYC so much is that they have the extreme sides of grit and then glam. I feel like I might miss the diversity that's here but staying in the USA, no matter what city, gives me the excitement of just up and moving abroad. That's basically what I would do. I wouldn't visit first but just get my visa, get all my deposits back, and get on a plane to Moscow.

It's definitely a ways away but the way I am in a year I'll definitely be trying to bank it somewhere and stay there for a while at that. Why not learn a language with it?