Job Discussion Forums

[Yorkshire Ian]

Ok, So I am in Poland, and I am looking for a move.

I am interested in:

Moscow
St.Petersburg
Kiev
Tblisi (Not Sure about that one)
Odessa
Minsk (Not Sure about that one)
Vilnius

I am looking for any input about these. The type of things that I consider important are:

1. Women : I am not going to lie about this and shroud this in smokescreen. Being a typical Yorkshiremen, I'll get to the point - I am particulary looking for quality and easyness. How much value do British men have in these places. In Warsaw, not a great deal. I am 25 and consider myself middling/above average looks with confidence to match.

2. Job Situation : Namely freelancing, ie can you do it? I don't really do observations and seminars every second lesson, and tend to err towards the conversation end of the market. What is the availability to these in these countries?

3. Prices : Accomodation and Food, what % of salary would go on Accomdation and food, is it realy that expensive. I have a flat in Warsaw I can rent out so I can subsidise.

4. Social Life : eg. English/Russian Social group. Is the male population looking to stove me in.

5. Cultural Issues : Is there a lot to see and do, I enjoy Soviet Style Architecture, eg. Old Statues and grand buildings and monuments.

6. Transport : Metro = good. Traffic Jams = bad.

These are the main points, I think I have covered everything.

Any useful contributions would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, if there are any cities I have missed please point me in the right direction.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[canucktechie]

Moscow. Lots of work. Yes you can make a living freelancing, many do. The downside of Moscow is the terrible housing situation and dreadful bureaucracy which make it very difficult for a newcomer just to come in and freelance. Almost everyone works for a big school for a year or two and then decides to freelance. The big schools are always hiring.

Kiev. Yes freelance work is available - in fact more easily available than full time work. The downside is that the pay is bad and work unreliable. A very large number of EFL teachers are in some kind of semi-retirement, work/study or similar situation. Very hard to make a real living. The upside is that the housing and bureaucracy situations are much more manageable than in Moscow.

Odessa. Great city but not cheap and dismal job situation.

As for prospects with women, my feeling is that your chances of success are in inverse proportion to the number of desireable (i.e. well-off) local and foreign men in a particular place. Just like most other places. That's talking about Russian and Ukrainian women, I have heard that Georgian women are not "accessable" (Middle Eastern cultural values).

[Yorkshire Ian]

Hi Canucktechie!

Thanks for your response! Really useful info for me. I like the sound of it.

Cheers

YI

[jonniboy]

Hi about Vilnius, I found it the dullest capital city in the Baltics to be honest and the influxes of stag parties have made local women a bit more wary of foreigners. When I first went there in 2002 in pre-EU days it was a totally different kettle of fish. Nonetheless, it is the cheapest of the 3 Baltic capitals - about 10% cheaper than Riga (Riga in turn is about 10% cheaper than Tallinn due to the Finnish tourist connection so work it out.) The women though in all the Baltics are amazing

Can't comment on the job situ too much but probably similar to Riga - very easy to find privates as there are a distinct lack of native speakers. If I had my own unshared flat in Riga (as opposed to getting lucky and getting a free one due to my girlfriends dad!) I'd probably be paying out nearly 40% of my income on flat and food. The Baltics aren't *that* cheap.

There's no metro in any Baltic state by the way although road congestion isn't a big issue as the trams do the same function. Safety hasn't really been a factor - I've felt a lot safer walking through Central Riga and Vilnius at night time due to a decent police presence than in many English towns. The outskirts of town are a totally different story but then why would you want to go there?!