Job Discussion Forums

[maruss]

I am in the middle of reading Jonathan Dimbleby's excellent book on Russia which came out to supplement his t.v. series last year.Not only is it very readable but he also asks some very pertinent questions to various people during his extensive travels.Most of us who post on this site,myself included, have worked mainly in Moscow or a few other key cities where living standards for a considerable proportion of the population can at least be compared to those which an average person in our own countries probably experiences,but in most other areas of Russia they are far worse!I really recommend this book to everyone,especially anyone naively contemplating coming to work there with their eyes shut.The exception of course is those receiving ex-pat conditions and benefits,but such jobs are in ever shorter supply nowadays and probably virtually non-existent in e.f.l. teaching!!Most of the things we complain about such as crummy accomodation,long hours,poor pay and the attitude of employers etc etc. would be quite normal routine for many Russians!As Dimbleby reveals,many aspects of life there are still nasty for the vast majority so maybe we should have this in mind???

[expatella_girl]

Maruss, as you yourself have pointed out before, even in Moscow there is a veneer of wealth surrounded by third world poverty. Living in Moscow is no insulation against the brutal realities of life for the average Russian. And if one needs a better look, one need only venture outside the MKAD to see the real Russia.

But this hardly justifies taking an innocent expat English teacher with perhaps the barest grasp of the Russian language (which is a major handicap) and misleading them with false promises and contracts they have no intention of honoring.

If bare survival is the living standard for too many Russians, I don't see why expat teachers should be satisfied with the same? That Russia has the second largest emigrant population in the world speaks volumes.

[maruss]

It's nice to hear from you again-I know you stuck it out in Moscow for a lot longer than I did!You put the whole point very well-the city is just a veneer which you can easily see underneath without too much effort and I gather the cracks are showing up everywhere nowadays with abandoned construction sites and empty advertising spaces,even on the metro!So where did all the money go which the country was earning for several years when the oil prices were so high?Where are all the promised new schools,hospitals and roads etc?Dimbleby asked a similar question in Samara about who owned a luxury gym and fitness centre he was visiting and the manager suddenly became 'very busy' and made it clear he wanted him to leave....
We all know that the country is rotten and corrupt from the very top downwards and that it not going to change any time soon,any more than in any African or other third-world place.As some nouveau-riche people in St Petes, also told the author ,nobody cares about anything in Russia except getting what they want for themselves,and the same goes for democracy and the kind of freedoms we take for granted and perhaps too often do not appreciate.
But despite all that,he also experienced the same kind of genuine warmth and hospitality from Russians in their homes which I did from my friends there and this what perhaps makes their situation all the more poignant and even tragic.You really do feel these people would share their last crumbs of bread with you without hesitation in a way which people in western societies would probably not do so readily and it makes you wonder at the end of the day whose values are the most correct???
They are the people who I miss,along with the young children in the orphanage I used to visit in Fryazino,who don't even own the clothes they have been given to wear and who have been abandoned by most of their parents and are ignored by most of the local townfolk.