Job Discussion Forums

[jonniboy]

[BELS]

[expatella_girl]

I don't have a wide knowledge of either Riga or Latvia. But I have been there. In my humble and limited experience, I would say that there is a strong anti-Russian sentiment. There is palpable hostility for those who speak Russian.

But I would say that it's not any more hostile than other former soviet bloc countries. I have felt hostility for Russians and the Russian language in every former soviet country I've ever been in. Let's face it, Russia did not treat those countries well and the people certainly remember and are very much holding a grudge. Who can blame them?

On another note, believe it or not, I was never so cold in my life as I was in Riga. I took the train from Moscow to Riga, it was the first week of March a few years ago, and Riga was just a sheet of ice. They have no Tajiks busily removing ice and snow, nor the centrally steam heated cities that Russia has. Even in my Moscow coat, after the first day I ended up buying a fur hat and muffler and mittens. The Baltics are damp and miserable in the winter. I have heard Muscovites say the same thing about St. Petersburg too.

Have you considered Dubai? That seems to be where all the Brits are headed off to these days.

[jonniboy]

[BELS]

Thanks for that Jonniboy, what you said is worth a lot of thought and discussion with my wife. We will see . But I have no doubt that Russians in Russia have doubts about living in Riga, and this might be due to the news they see, and in my wife's case the experience she has gained being a tour operator. We now have a battle in argument, and peacefully I hope, as sh does get passionate about certain subjects on occasions. We are dealing with cultural differences here, I'm afraid.

[canucktechie]

[maruss]

I was away in England for three weeks and only the last one had some decent sunny weather!Bels,Moscow would never be the same without you-how could you even THINK of leaving?Your reference to past lives etc. is one of my speciality interests but I'd rather leave it for p.m.'s as not everyone believes in such things!Paris is a city with a certain lure that you either love or loathe-I definitely like it, but no doubt my ability to speak French is a big help,although the British and French have never exactly loved each other!Last week I spent three days in Berlin,a place I had not seen since 1972!!Meeting my former East German friends again was a very emotional experience and visiting the former Stasi prison and H.Q.brought back memories of some very painful times in my younger days-and also reminded me that Putin and the F.S.B. regime are the current day successors of them...Apart from that,Berlin is a vibrant,clean and very interesting and exciting city-people seem laid-back,liberal and very easy to get on with.It is almost impossible to tell what was East and what was West any longer.There seems to be only one firm which recruits teachers though and it's freelance.When I called in on the off-chance,the British director was very friendly and gave me a good impression of the place,but said they will not be recruiting again until next spring.