[speakeasy]

Just saw this and passing it along. They'll sponsor you a visa to teach English for a month and you get free housing, free Russian language lessons and visa reimbursement, but no pay. It may fit the needs of some guys in here who want to make contacts in Russia.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/1-month-in...76?sk=info

Quote:

We invite native speakers for teaching English in Moscow! Duration – one month (longer stay is also possible).

Hosting organization – The Institute of Humanitarian Development (web-site: ihumd.ru – at the moment is available only in Russian; our group on fb - http://www.facebook.com/groups/ihumd/) – a youth international NGO which works in Moscow for intercultural development of youth and for improving the English language skills of young people.
The organization hosts long- and short-term volunteers from abroad.

Tasks of a teacher:
Teaching English to students (target group – students of Russian universities)
Conducting seminars about own country
Conducting trainings on development English language skills

The intern will be provided by brief training in order to give him/her an idea on how he/she should implement the tasks.

The teachers will be provided:
Accommodation in Moscow
Reimbursement for visa costs
Administrative support (including the support for obtaining the visa and necessary support in Moscow)
Transfer from Moscow airport
Free Russian language course

We do not cover travel costs; we do not provide pocket money.

The requirement to candidates:
Native English speaker
Readiness to stay in Moscow during the whole project
Teaching experience is an asset

At the moment we're looking a person for the period from the beg of April till the end of April!

If you’re willing to apply – please send you CV and motivation letter as soon as possible to the addresses: [email protected] and [email protected]
Please indicate as a topic “Teaching ENG in Moscow”.

[Sebastian]

English language skills of young people -> that's all you need to know lol

[Aliblahba]

I'm going to email them tonight and see if they have anything for a little later in the year. I could be the real life Hank from Californication.....in Mutha Russia.

[Pilgrim37]

With free accomodation it might just be worth it if they mean your own room.

[Ami5]

Actually I know this organization.

I myself look forward to going to Moscow on such an internship, but they actually stuff you in a flat with a bunch of other people. So, forget about bringing girls to your pad as you'd be living with a bunch of other inmates.

Although if your reason to go is not girls, then this is really a nice opportunity out there.

[oldnemesis]

I would also make a point that the food is expensive in Moscow, and they don't seem to provide it. Even the food you need to cook is expensive. Expect to spend $500+ in a month on food only. Any entertainment would also be very expensive. Think Manhattan prices.

[Aliblahba]

LMAO. Oldnemesis+Teaching thread. This is where Dash Global would have come in telling ON about how Moscow is a communist dictatorship republic, how to teach Russian, and how easy the girls are from someone he talked to.

That sucks about the accommodations. I'm stuck in a tent w/ 9 other mofo's. Fuck all if I'm gonna live like that in the real world.

@ON- Do you think it would be worth covering down on the cost of living in Moscow to have access to the university?

[oldnemesis]

Maybe. I haven't been there for two years, so I do not know the recent prices. However some things do not change:

- Food is very expensive there. Roughly 2-10 times more expensive than in the US. Locals survive it because they know which stores have which items cheap, and don't mind traveling for a few hours to buy them cheap. Unless you meet the locals who would share this information with you, you gonna buy everything in a single grocery store, and your food budget would be 3-5 times larger comparing to a local eating the same food. Add to this that most Russians do not eat as much meat as Americans do, and the meat is expensive.

- Any acceptable (by Western standards) accommodation cost roughly $1000/mo. This will be a small but decent apartment outside the city center, but still in a decent area. Sure, locals can live in $500/mo apartments but you do not. You can rent a room, but you need to be very careful there. Roommating is very new practice in Russia - it was non-existent just five years ago, so pay attention who're you renting the room from. There are also a lot of scams in the rental market when you find an apartment, sign up the rent papers and pay the security deposit and 1-2 months of rent - and when you come to move in the next day, there is someone else in the apartment who says he/she is a real owner and you've been scammed.

So you're roughly looking for at least $2000/mo with expenses. If you stay longer and speak/read fluent Russian, you can lower this amount to around $1500/mo. This covers decent survival with no entertainment. If you're going out often, you can easily spend twice more that.

[Arado]

(02-25-2012 08:31 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

Maybe. I haven't been there for two years, so I do not know the recent prices. However some things do not change:

- Food is very expensive there. Roughly 2-10 times more expensive than in the US. Locals survive it because they know which stores have which items cheap, and don't mind traveling for a few hours to buy them cheap. Unless you meet the locals who would share this information with you, you gonna buy everything in a single grocery store, and your food budget would be 3-5 times larger comparing to a local eating the same food. Add to this that most Russians do not eat as much meat as Americans do, and the meat is expensive.

- Any acceptable (by Western standards) accommodation cost roughly $1000/mo. This will be a small but decent apartment outside the city center, but still in a decent area. Sure, locals can live in $500/mo apartments but you do not. You can rent a room, but you need to be very careful there. Roommating is very new practice in Russia - it was non-existent just five years ago, so pay attention who're you renting the room from. There are also a lot of scams in the rental market when you find an apartment, sign up the rent papers and pay the security deposit and 1-2 months of rent - and when you come to move in the next day, there is someone else in the apartment who says he/she is a real owner and you've been scammed.

So you're roughly looking for at least $2000/mo with expenses. If you stay longer and speak/read fluent Russian, you can lower this amount to around $1500/mo. This covers decent survival with no entertainment. If you're going out often, you can easily spend twice more that.

Been here for 6 months, will agree on all of the above. The food budget really depends on whether you are picky with your food and can live off the typical Russian diet, or if you want American brands, etc, which will be at least 2x more expensive than in the US.
There is a huge demand for English teachers, I've heard stories of upwards of 60$/hour (but you have to factor in commute time and time spent getting opportunities).

Most people inherit their apartments from their parents or still live at home.

Keep in mind timing too. This place is awful during the winter...it didn't get above 10 degrees fahrenheit for 2-3 weeks straight at one point. I expect the permanent snow cover for at least another few weeks....

[presidentcarter]

(02-28-2012 11:46 AM)ao85 Wrote:  

Been here for 6 months, will agree on all of the above. The food budget really depends on whether you are picky with your food and can live off the typical Russian diet, or if you want American brands, etc, which will be at least 2x more expensive than in the US.
There is a huge demand for English teachers, I've heard stories of upwards of 60$/hour (but you have to factor in commute time and time spent getting opportunities).

Most people inherit their apartments from their parents or still live at home.

Keep in mind timing too. This place is awful during the winter...it didn't get above 10 degrees fahrenheit for 2-3 weeks straight at one point. I expect the permanent snow cover for at least another few weeks....

ao85/ON, since you've both spent time there...what would be your thoughts on living in Moscow under the following arrangement:

- $1300/month net income
- Company provided private room in shared 2-br accommodation. Most likely 45-60min from city center via metro
- Renting city-center flats on airbnb for weekends, 1-2 times a month
- Teaching English 30-40 hrs per week

- Option to convert provided housing to $300-500 extra income per month so potentialy $1600-1800, but would need to pay for my own place.

OR...a similar arrangement except in Novosibirsk, Eka, Piter, etc (probably not a huge cost-of-living differential, but more central housing location, shorter commute, being in a smaller city, and with no airbnb rental expenses on the weekends)

Possible selling point for me would be networking opportunities in Moscow - being in the economic hub may make transitioning to a better job easier later on - any thoughts on this?

[Mersault]

(01-30-2013 12:50 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(02-28-2012 11:46 AM)ao85 Wrote:  

Been here for 6 months, will agree on all of the above. The food budget really depends on whether you are picky with your food and can live off the typical Russian diet, or if you want American brands, etc, which will be at least 2x more expensive than in the US.
There is a huge demand for English teachers, I've heard stories of upwards of 60$/hour (but you have to factor in commute time and time spent getting opportunities).

Most people inherit their apartments from their parents or still live at home.

Keep in mind timing too. This place is awful during the winter...it didn't get above 10 degrees fahrenheit for 2-3 weeks straight at one point. I expect the permanent snow cover for at least another few weeks....

ao85/ON, since you've both spent time there...what would be your thoughts on living in Moscow under the following arrangement:

- $1300/month net income
- Company provided private room in shared 2-br accommodation. Most likely 45-60min from city center via metro
- Renting city-center flats on airbnb for weekends, 1-2 times a month
- Teaching English 30-40 hrs per week

- Option to convert provided housing to $300-500 extra income per month so potentialy $1600-1800, but would need to pay for my own place.

OR...a similar arrangement except in Novosibirsk, Eka, Piter, etc (probably not a huge cost-of-living differential, but more central housing location, shorter commute, being in a smaller city, and with no airbnb rental expenses on the weekends)

Possible selling point for me would be networking opportunities in Moscow - being in the economic hub may make transitioning to a better job easier later on - any thoughts on this?

$1300 isn't a suitable income for Moscow. I'll break down a few reasons why.

If you're living 45-60 minutes from the centre it's Yugo-Zapadnaya territory, or something alike. You'll be paying next to nothing to go in to the city (metro) but you'll be paying gypsy taxi drivers between 400-700 roubles to take you back. I don't know the current exchange rate but that is about $15-20 to take you back at night once the bars close (this is if you speak sufficient Russian and quickly develop the 'which taxi to choose technique'. Before that add an extra 50%) . So, 3 nights out a week x $17.50 a time = $52.50 x 4 = $210 for the month on taxi's returning home from the bar / club after the metro has closed. That's at a good rate.

Food isn't included. Should you home cook 2 of your 3 meals of the day (for example pasta, tomato / onion / garlic sauce, small salad, 1 breast of chicken each meal) and eat the other 1 meal of the day somewhere out at a mean price of $12 (this isn't exactly a high standard meal - it might just be shopping mall pizza)....you're still going to be spending around $20 a day on food.
$20 a day x 30 days = $600 on food for the month

Going out money. Ok, bars aren't cheap. Even if you frequent some of the dives, like Papa's Bar or Coyote Ugly, and have only 3/4 rounds of drinks without buying any of the university students any, and let's presume it's the cheaper native beer or vodka (whiskey etc is more), that's still around $20-25 for the night, and I'm being very generous with the prices here. 3 nights out at a week x 4 rounds of drinks totalling $22.50 a night = $67.50 a week x 4 weeks = $270 for going out drinks for the month. That's for 3 nights a week, in the dive bars. If you want middle or lower upper range bars like Gypsy or Rolling Stone then double the prices. Forget the high end bars. For example, if you wanted to go to a high end night, maybe Oblaka on a Thursday, where the dime pieces are, you're looking at triple the prices.

The option to convert, for an extra $300-500 a month, to your own housing is not something you want to pursue. Travesties of architecture and aesthetic principles might cost you your entire monthly income in rent alone, and the hot water still might not work on a Thursday morning. Especially in April when they begin cleaning the pipes. You might be able to find a decent shared apartment, but finding one of those willing to take you on without any guarantee of a long term rent, well, that's going to prove difficult. Again, i'm being kind. Should you even happen to find a place that is willing, the prices won't be favourable, and neither will the location.

Renting city center flats for the weekend. I haven't been on airbnb in Moscow (although i am friends with the Central / Eastern Europe airbnb main guy, who happens to be in Moscow right now, but that's another story which I'm just dropping because why not, I'm aristocratic like that and don't give a damn if your introspective being calls me out on my pretentiousness.....please don't hate me) . Ok, where was I? Right. Well, knowing the prices like i do, without having been on the airbnb website, I'd say forget this idea. Your budget is too short.

Networking opportunities? Sure. They exist. As anywhere it depends on you and your affability / ability to get what you want. It's more about looking the part than being the part. I can't stress that enough. Well, i probably could, but that sentence with the qualification will suffice.

So, $210 for taxi's, $600 for food, $270 for drinks, and we are at $1080. Now let's include daily metro travel (I'm going to unbelievably accurately and precisely estimate the amount of travelling you will do) and say it will cost circa $70 for the month. That's $70 + $1080 = $1150.

So by accounting only for 3 cheap nights out a week (travel + drinks), every day public transport travel for a month and the food for the month you have spent $1150, and that's by being disciplined on your budget of $1300. Add in other variables, and well, you're beginning to use your credit card or staying in at your shared accommodation, browsing the rooshv forum, jerking off to youjizz gangbang porn and wondering where is your Kitty and asking yourself why you went to Moscow. Or maybe you won't. It depends on your character. Then again, what doesn't? Well, my character probably doesn't. Then again, we are all guilty for each other, so, who knows?

Anyway.
You don't quite make it clear whether the $1300 per month net income is separate to or as a consequence of the 30-40 hours a week of English teaching you mentioned doing. If it is additional to the $1300, then you are closer to a wage that will enable you to live beyond a frugal manner. I'd guess teaching English would be between $20-30 an hour, so, let's say $25 an hour x 35 hours = $875. Add that to the $1300 you mentioned originally and you have a monthly income of $2175. Hmmmm. Even then, I'm afraid to say you won't be balling. You will be comfortable, though. You still would struggle to rent more than a damp studio room that is so communist era it looks like it has been instagram sepia filtered.

Despite all of this, I'd suggest you persevere and go with it. Moscow is a fantastic city for several reasons. It has a unique type of demographic. I don't mean that in a sociological sense. No. Rather, in an obtuse psychological one. The type, and variety, of character you meet in Moscow surpasses that which you meet in almost all megapolises. There isn't the variety of nationalities that you have in London or New York, no, i don't mean this. What i mean to say is that the mind set, the way of being, the reasoning behind actions, is quite unique, often from individual to individual, but even generally so when considering the city's citizens as one. I confess, I'm explaining it terribly. I could try again, but i won't, because words will surely fail me again. It's one of those paragraphs. Still, the sentiment is genuine. Moscovites, not so much the new hipster 3 years behind London generation (18-27 year old Moscovites), but the rest of the city. From the Ukrainian to the Kazakhi to the Armenian to the Siberian. All of these that you will find in the city are attached to Moscow in some convoluted way and yet each has a way of deduction that just doesn't seem to follow the type we have in Western Europe or America. They are neither gopniks nor city types. They are, as it were, brain fevered, over educated, nostalgic, patriotic, melancholic types that are simultaneously cynical and naive. You can't fool anybody else like you can fool a Russian, but you can't fool a Russian like you can fool everybody else.

Oh, what's more. The summers are decent in Moscow.
Besides, did anybody mention the women?

Just go. You'll bang. And if you don't, well, i guess you just won't. But you probably will.

[The Fantasist]

(02-01-2013 01:13 AM)Mersault Wrote:  

Going out money. Ok, bars aren't cheap. Even if you frequent some of the dives, like Papa's Bar or Coyote Ugly, and have only 3/4 rounds of drinks without buying any of the university students any, and let's presume it's the cheaper native beer or vodka (whiskey etc is more), that's still around $20-25 for the night, and I'm being very generous with the prices.

Mersault,you seem to know Moscow quite well. Has Papa's Bar become the new meat market hangout since the Hungry Duck closed? If not then what has,if anywhere?

[polymath]

For you college and grad school guys in the USA, the Department of State offers many unpaid internships in embassies worldwide. Some posts will put you up in embassy housing. You can learn more on their website.

I believe the application deadline for summer 2014 is around Nov 1.

[Mersault]

(02-01-2013 11:25 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:  

(02-01-2013 01:13 AM)Mersault Wrote:  

Going out money. Ok, bars aren't cheap. Even if you frequent some of the dives, like Papa's Bar or Coyote Ugly, and have only 3/4 rounds of drinks without buying any of the university students any, and let's presume it's the cheaper native beer or vodka (whiskey etc is more), that's still around $20-25 for the night, and I'm being very generous with the prices.

Mersault,you seem to know Moscow quite well. Has Papa's Bar become the new meat market hangout since the Hungry Duck closed? If not then what has,if anywhere?

Hi Vorkuta. If you speak of the Hungry Duck then I'd imagine you know the city and the gist of the scene well yourself. Still, i might as well post something now that I'm here.

Papa's Bar can be a meat market. Now is that ambiguous or what? I know. What i mean to say, and will do now, is that it depends on the night and a million other variables that you can't really accommodate for.

I'll give a stupid example. If a plethora of MGU students just had an exam on a Monday afternoon and have no more for the week, you might well find ample young pussy in Papa's on a Monday night with the majority of the competition being male students on the same course, the odd Brazilian exchange student frat boy type in the country for a semester and drunk out of his face plus a table full of 40 year old American's with less hair between them than a freshly cleaned hotel bath tub. Basically the competition is negligible. This isn't an arbitrary example, for what it's worth. I've seen such nights. You roll up, see 5 tables with around 8 on each table, that's 50 students, half of whom are female, plus another 30 on the dance floor, that's 15 more females, and there, straight away, you have 40 female students. What's more is those students chose to come to Papa's knowing that it is frequented by ex-pats. They aren't there unaware of that. That's half of the attraction of the bar for the girls.

Then again, in another scenario, however, you might turn up, even perhaps the same day, that is the Monday of the following week, expecting it to be something like the same, and find that the place has 3 guys to every busted miserable Belarussian 24 year old female, a miserable ambience and a stench of sweat.

The place doesn't have any discernible rhythm and it's pretty much suggested to just roll by, make out what is happening, and then take it from there.
What am i getting at? Drop by, just never plan your night out around Papa's if you want to bang.

All in all, i haven't really revealed anything beyond what is typical of most dive bars. Might as well have not posted.

[presidentcarter]

Solid post Mersault. I'm going to read it again and digest it all.

The $1300 is the teaching salary and could be subsidized with savings...but of course I'd prefer not to be cash flow negative on a regular basis. I'm also surprised to hear about food costs as everywhere I see to look people are saying food is very cheap there (not fine dining or supermarkets - the local type markets...and in fact I'm reading that rent and clubbing are the only expensive things but maybe that's outdated or incorrect info). I trust you know what's up. Ramp up of that would occur in year two and could hit $3-4k/month in a couple years with contacts and private lessons...and it sounds like that would provide for a pretty good lifestyle even in Moscow.

I've seen several job postings paying good money for people with a few years experience. Even saw a few for a job teaching at an elite private school paying £3000/month-!!!...plus housing and meals for people with only 2 years minimum experience. Granted they wanted you to have a childhood ed. or psych degree in addition to some experience teaching. I know it's a gold rush and these types of jobs are rare, but I've also personally talked to a guy that has been in Piter for several years and makes $3-4k teaching part time and DJing. Said he could make more than that if he taught full time but that he wanted more time for DJing and whatnot (I believe he does about 2 weeks/month in a public school and some private lessons). He says the money is there.