Job Discussion Forums

[maruss]

Following all the correspondance from Kent,Rogan and others in recent months,which has been very interesting and thought provoking about the whole spectrum of working and living in Russia,I last week had a lengthy discussion with an English guy who runs a travel agency in Moscow and being married to a Russian woman for quite a long time,I would consider him quitre well-qualified on the whole subject of what life is all about overt here:
Firstly,he told me that most ex-pats now consider even 2000 u.s. per month as no more than average,and certainly not a fortune by any means-when I remarked about the measly 500-600 offered to teachers by the schools who we all know about,he told me that the situation is well-known and unfortunately will continue,like most other negative things which plague Russian life,until people rebel against it and refuse to go overt here an work for that kind of money-he had also heard plenty of "horror stories" about the hours,working conditions and standard of accomodation many of these people have to endure,so it is no surprise that they are always advertising!Their marketing is perhaps the one good thing which they do get right,and an unsuspecting person who reads their web-sites with a romantic idea of finding a job in Russia,could easily be talen in!When I tried asserting that Russians earn far less,he fully agreed with me,and said that if they didn't have their own appartments to live in,many of them would be starving and this is no exaggeration!Ex-pats earn far more because they are sent there on special contracts by overseas firms who are earning colossal amounts themselves in a small handful of professions,and for agreeing to live and work in Russia,which is not exactly the Carribean or Miami,they get well rewarded for their endurance!Most of them apparently also have a lifestyle which is completely different from an average Russian person and exist in a different world of luxury,guarded appartments and offices and eat in high class bars and restaurants that the average Russian couldn't dream of going to!As it has been suggested before,perhaps it would be more accurate to see Russia as a third world country like Mexico,but with vodka and snow instead of Tequila and sunshine,rather than somewhere which is on the eastern edge of Europe!In such countries,a small elite live a life of luxury which is provocative and almost disgusting,while another middle-class section of rather larger numbers aspires to catch up with them and imitate them-but the rest of the people who are the vast majority, live in poverty and misery and are seemingly too tired and despondant to do anything to change the situation!His final suggestion was to ask the question as to why,the worlds largest country and former super power,which has in the last few years earned billions every day from the sale of natural resources,cannot provide a decent standard of living for millions of its people?The answer to this surely explains everything else that is wrong with Russia today....................

Your comments are welcome,as always!
M.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

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[Brooks]

because of corruption and don`t forget the influence of the mafia.
And maybe too, by living year after year in a society like Russia, people get passive and cynical.
Russians are not used to living as cut throat individualists.

Brooks

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

**********

[maruss]

Thanks you guys,for hitting the nail on the head,and also for raising some very interesting points for further consideration.......................
My main argument against the big schools is that they try to con people to come and work over there for what is essentially peanuts.It seems much worse when you arrive and quickly realise that there are a FEW people working alongside you who are making really good money and having a great time,but of course,they are the ones who are" in" with the course directors and school management and also have an unwritten task of weeding out any dissenters or possible trouble makersThis seems to have always been a part of the Russian system,and is well detailed by Solzhenitsyn in his books when he refers to "stool pidgeons etc."But realising that there's a party going on for some people around you,which you cannot join in,in this case because you simply don't have the money,hardly creates a good atmosphere for work,or play for that matter! On my first visit to the then S.U. over thirty years ago, people were queing outside in the snow to get places in the restaurant at the National Hotel in Moscow-as residents,we were priveledged-and allowed to queue inside the door of the hotel!!When we finally got a table,the waiter told us that there were two dishes on the menu of about 15 pages that were actually available,and that was all-I walked out in disgust.naively thinking I could go and find somewhere else to eat outside!!Luckily,at that moment,a lovely Russian girl pianist who I had met earlier that day with her parents and who was part of an official delegation who were also staying at the National with an orchestra from Austria that were on a concert tour,spotted me looking very miserable and fed up,and invited me to join them for dinner-this turned out to be in a private banqueting room and when I saw the buffet tables,mu eyes popped out of my head,as they were weighred-down with every type of food imaginable,all immaculately presented,and being allowed to indulge myself,along with unlimited champagne etc. I soon began to think that Russia wasn't so bad after all!(In case you were wondering,no I didn't manage to make it with the girl and she couldn't even give me her address so I could write etc. as she explained that it would be a big risk for her due to mail being sensored etc. in those days!)But it was definitely them and us then-and still is today,the main difference being that in those days,you neede"blat" or connections to get what you wanted,while nowadays,you need only the cash more than anything else!
Perhaps we all need to understand this fundamental aspect of Russian life before we criticise anything else................

[rogan]

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[maruss]

Now that's what you call a sliding scale Rogan-but in a downward direction when most people try to move upward! Like we wrote last year,living in Russia has many downsides,and can literally make you ill physically,if not mentally as well from pollution,stress etc!That's one good reason why if I do go over there,at least I insist on making decent money for my efforts!
By the way,did you see the economic report in the press yesterday about the Russian economy?A foreign analyst warns that conditions are disturbingly similar to those prevailing in 1998 before the economic crisis,and he believes it could happen again,the main reasons being that despite the apparent income from oil and natural gas exports etc,none of the other sectors have improved and the reforms promised by the government,these have remained largely on paper..................
Of course the ordinary people will pay as they always do,while the real culprits get away scot-free and continue to amass their fortunes!

M.

[rogan]

*****

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

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[maruss]

Hi there-sounds like what we SHOULD earn for going to live in Russia,but is she genuine???By the way,what school is it-I would not of course try to approach her myself on principle,but would still be interested to know which one it is.
Have a good weekend!

M.

[Zolushka]

Hey guys, if you are prepared to be nannies to Russian children with wealthy parents in Moscow, you too can pick up $2000 a month plus free housing, a car with a driver at your disposal, and loads of overseas trips with the family.

By the way, Intergration XX Vek in Strogino (NB That is not too far away from Shukinskaya and Krylatskoe for your info, Martin) is looking for an EFL teacher for the next academic year. The pay is not bad and the teacher's flat is less than 10 minutes from school. You've got to like working with teenagers though.

[maruss]

As far as Moscow goes,the area is quite nice but as for this school,I replied to an advert they posted some months ago,and a friend of mine in Moscow rang the director for me to find out more-she was initially very enthusiastic about me,but then never followed it up or contacted me again.................so sorry,if that's the way they do things,how do they run the place and treat their staff??????
Actually,the money was advertised at 25 dollars per hour but I never managed to find out how many hours were involved and she seemed reluctant to tell my Russian friend this either!

M.

[Zolushka]

Martin, are you really interested in working in Russia as an EFL teacher? You seem to be doing a lot of research, but have not yet taken the plunge. I guess business is still good in Cyprus then.

[maruss]

I appreciate your time and interest in my correspondance,but my situation is rather complicated by personal circumstances:
Firstly,my son is at present taking "A" level exams and hopes to start university in the U.K.in the autumn,depending on his results of course.I also own a travel agency here in Cyprus with my wife,which I am hoping to sell to a group of agencies in England,possibly on a shred partmership basis,as my wife has things to do in England and wants to be free of commitments here,at least for a year or so.Until I resolve all these issues,I cannot practically contemplate going anywhere,but would be very interested in Russia IF something worthwhile comes along.............
To be honest,I have devoted a lot of time and effort since 1994 visiting Russia and trying to develop incoming tourism to Cyprus,which is my main field of work-to avoid writing a long discourse on the subject and
repeating what I have said before,all I will say about dealing with Russia in this type of business is:FORGET IT!! Firstly because the market is not actually that big for Cyprus like it was back in the mid 1990's,and what there is has been monopolised by a very small number of large firms such as Nataly,Biblio-Globus etc. in Moscow,who offer very cheap package deals which smaller agencies cannot compete with.In addition,tourism deals with foreign currency,and in Russia,this involves "black business"-i.e. invisible for tax purposes etc!If myself and many other travel agencies from Cyprus were to write down our experiences trying to deal with Russians who said they owned travel agencies and could send us tourists etc we could fill up volumes of books!
Many of them wasted our time and money sending people on so called "reklam tours" which are offered free here by hotels for promotional visits with the obvious aim of attracting business-unfortunately,many of the people who came on these tours were not travel agents at all and had nothing to do with the travel business,their sole intention being to have a good time in Cyprus without paying anything!What made us more angry was when we learned that the agencies in Russia usually charged these people for their airline tickets,no doubt earning commission in the process!
A lot of agencies here also lost large sums of money,especially in the 1998 financial crash when their Russian partners could not pay them for accomodation and services they had already provided-fortunately,I was not one of the unlucky people!
Knowing Russia as I now do,and at almost 50 years of age with many years experience in travel and tourism, I will not be conned and exploited into working in Moscow for 500 u.s. per month when I know that many people there earn much more,even Russians!This is why I feel,very strongly about the situation and will only come over if I find a decent salary and conditions!
Hope this is of interest and I would be happy to read your comments,as always!

M.

[maruss]

I appreciate your time and interest in my correspondance,but my situation is rather complicated by personal circumstances:
Firstly,my son is at present taking "A" level exams and hopes to start university in the U.K.in the autumn,depending on his results of course.I also own a travel agency here in Cyprus with my wife,which I am hoping to sell to a group of agencies in England,possibly on a shared partmership basis,as my wife has things to do in England and wants to be free of commitments here,at least for a year or so.Until I resolve all these issues,I cannot practically contemplate going anywhere,but would be very interested in Russia IF something worthwhile comes along.............
To be honest,I have devoted a lot of time and effort since 1994 visiting Russia and trying to develop incoming tourism to Cyprus,which is my main field of work-to avoid writing a long discourse on the subject and
repeating what I have said before,all I will say about dealing with Russia in this type of business is:FORGET IT!! Firstly because the market is not actually that big for Cyprus like it was back in the mid 1990's,and what there is has been monopolised by a very small number of large firms such as Nataly,Biblio-Globus etc. in Moscow,who offer very cheap package deals which smaller agencies cannot compete with.In addition,tourism deals with foreign currency,and in Russia,this involves "black business"-i.e. invisible for tax purposes etc!If myself and many other travel agencies from Cyprus were to write down our experiences trying to deal with Russians who said they owned travel agencies and could send us tourists etc we could fill up volumes of books!
Many of them wasted our time and money sending people on so called "reklam tours" which are offered free here by hotels for promotional visits with the obvious aim of attracting business-unfortunately,many of the people who came on these tours were not travel agents at all and had nothing to do with the travel business,their sole intention being to have a good time in Cyprus without paying anything!What made us more angry was when we learned that the agencies in Russia usually charged these people for their airline tickets,no doubt earning commission in the process!
A lot of agencies here also lost large sums of money,especially in the 1998 financial crash when their Russian partners could not pay them for accomodation and services they had already provided-fortunately,I was not one of the unlucky people!
Knowing Russia as I now do,and at almost 50 years of age with many years experience in travel and tourism, I will not be conned and exploited into working in Moscow for 500 u.s. per month when I know that many people there earn much more,even Russians!This is why I feel,very strongly about the situation and will only come over if I find a decent salary and conditions!
Hope this is of interest and I would be happy to read your comments,as always!

M.