Job Discussion Forums

[lemke2020]

How much money, minimum, should I show up with say in Kiev? I have BA, tefl, 3 years experience. How long can I expect to look for a job before finding a 20-25hr/wk gig?

Also, do most esl teachers tend to end up in the red, break even, or save a little in the Ukraine?

Also, do you like living in the Ukraine? Positives/negatives?

Thanks

[abauer]

So you wanna come to Kiev.

Just to let you know, the economic situation already sucked before the crises hit, however if you can find a good a employer (they are few and far in between, but they exists), then you should be good. I know a guy who has been teaching here for the past 8 years, so anything is possible.
If you don't know any Russian, I'd suggest you learn ASAP, it'll help! If you're willing to adapt to Slavonic culture, then you shouldn't have that many issues living here. With your quals, I'm sure you can find a job with a reputable employer. I can suggest Nova Mova and...I forgot the name, but here's the web-address english.com.ua if ye seek ye shall find!

Goods and Bads. I'll start with the goods

- Low prices on stuff
- Hospitable people (but you need to get acquainted with a local or few to experience this)
- Natural food, and some of the best food you'll ever eat
- Very nice historical sights
- Very good metro (train) system

The Bads

- Just consider how many years of communism would impact a people of a nation
- Most places (outside of the city centre) look like the ghetto
- Pay isn't as high as other places in Europe
- Stupid cops (various reasons) + they speak no English
- Relatively high level of antisemitism and racism
- Some really shady people floating around

[lemke2020]

Thanks for the info. My next move is there or Colombia, I guess I'll flip a coin.

[Cardinal Synn]

Low prices on stuff? A tad too general. Of course, there are low prices on "stuff", but what kind of stuff? Sure, buses, trams, metro and taxis are all cheaper than western European cities, but this isn't western Europe and salaries reflect this. If you are happy eating pototatoes and bread and cabbage, then yup, they're cheap here too. Milk's not badly priced. Local beer's cheap but it isn't very good and you will have to aquire a taste for headaches, even after a mere two bottles of local stuff. Vodka's really cheap.
Let's get to my point here. Do you like coffee? Happy forking out 35 grivs (around 3 euro 50) on a packet? Like a bit of tasty salami? 25 grivs for 100 grams sound good? Maybe you'd like to pop into your local supermarket for a loaf of Danish (though baked in Kiev) toasty bread? Yours for the equiv of 5 euros.
So, what exactly is my point, you ask? Well, if you're from the UK or USA, you're used to buying decent imported foods at fairly affordable prices. Forget that here. You will need to stick to locally produced "stuff" if you want to avoid astronomically high shopping bills. Fine, up to a point. A fall in the value of the local currency coupled with high import taxes, means crazy prices on imported items. Locally produced things aren't always of good quality, so the "when in Rome" thing doesn't cut it for me.
Kiev is not a cheap place to live. Ask a local.

The metro in Kiev is super efficient - get's you to distant points of the city in double quick time. Down side is it's very crowded. A mad crush at busy times. Still, very handy and (despite the massive price increase) cheap.

I like living here. It's Kiev, it's the way it is. Just don't expect it to be super cheap.

[Cardinal Synn]

A little addendum: I popped round to my local supermarket after writing the above post. I was wrong about the coffee. It was 45 UAH for a packet of half decent ground coffee. Infact there were several brands on the shelf with ridiculous prices - 60 to 100 UAH.

One of those tiny bottles of Tabasco will cost 60 UAH (about $8 US)!!

[eclectic]

nice to see a civil disagreement for once.

Im in Korea nd the same protectionist crap goes on. Local stuff is the way to go. Anyting imported is quadruple the US price.

[qwertyatoz]

interesting