[marinhogomes]

Sup,

I need some help for you guys.

I've decided to study in EE so I can live there for a couple years.
Been checking the subjects I want to study and I've decided that it's either film or music (don't want a masters in Business or anything else).

I have my own online business which makes enough money for me to work remotely. I'm not making tons of money, but I can live a remote-work lifestyle like Roosh. But I don't want to spend tons of money doing it either (living in Scandinavia, or England or any other country in Western Europe)

The reason for a Masters is not so much to make more money (specially cause it's music and film), the course is mostly just to get to stay as a student in a country for a while, meet some new people and have fun doing it (that's why I want to do something I actually enjoy)

So I've chose music/film because of two reasons:
- They are my professional hobbies.
- It won't be a daily drag with me thinking "Why god!? Why???"

My budget for a Masters in EE is around 3500 euros/year (for the classes) and 1500 euros/month for living expenses

The only music school that is not a conservatory is in Latvia. And it seems like a nice enough course and it's 2200 euros/year (which seems like a super bargain for me).

The problem is that I don't know the city very well. It's Liepaja in Latvia, I have been to Riga and think it's a nice enough town, from what I've seen Liepaja is a nice beach town and seems nice but it's small with 80k (I'm scared of getting bored around there... and I have to stay there for 2 years so).

The other option is Riga, where I can study filmmaking and pay around 3300 euros per year. In Riga there is also a school for Eletronic Music production (that's a huge plus) and it's not expensive.

Another other is Vilnius in Lithuania. There is a filmmaking Masters course there for around 3300 euros per year.

I'm leaning towards Latvia for now.

What do you guys think? Should I go to a smaller town or a bigger town?

Thanks in advance

[zuma]

There is no big cities in Baltics, Vilnius, Riga, there are small ones.

My choice would be Vilnius, stunning city, easy to go to Warsaw by plane or Bielorussia.

[littleG]

M, out of curiosity what language will you be studying in?

[Gopnik]

I agree with zuma, 2 years might be a long time for such small cities. I'd consider somewhere in Poland instead.

[marinhogomes]

(02-01-2016 03:47 PM)PJ25 Wrote:  

M, out of curiosity what language will you be studying in?

Most of the ones I found said "english" the one in Vilnius said it was like 75% in their language. But the one in Liepaja it's definetely in english and the one in Riga say they are one of the only ones that offers courses in english/latvia/russian

(02-01-2016 03:16 PM)zuma Wrote:  

There is no big cities in Baltics, Vilnius, Riga, there are small ones.

My choice would be Vilnius, stunning city, easy to go to Warsaw by plane or Bielorussia.

(02-01-2016 03:49 PM)Luisaceo Wrote:  

I agree with zuma, 2 years might be a long time for such small cities. I'd consider somewhere in Poland instead.

Liepāja is definetely out of question, 80k total. Too small. The pool of talent would probably be way to limited too

I'll check to find schools in Poland.

One friend of mine has been living in Bratislava for 5 years now, it's a tiny town with 400k but he seems to be enjoying it.

I thought Riga was a good size when I was there. Haven't been to Vilnius yet, but it seems like a very nice city. Actually I'm getting in trouble finding nice Masters in some of this cities.

[Rocha]

From your 3 options, I would immediately exclude Liepaja. It is a small 80k city that as a brazilian who probably likes to party, I believe you will get bored really fast. Keep in mind that the Baltics are very boring in general for the party scene, all is dead during the week, even in the capital cities. Other note about Liepaja, I met a girl from there and she hated it, says it is only tolerable in the summer when other people go there for some sunbaths. Of course this is worth what is worth, and girls opinions tend to differ from ours, but it is worth something...also it was a closed town until 1990, the end of FSU.

As for the capitals, I have been twice to both Riga and Vilnius, and will breakdown a little the plus and minus from my observations:

Riga

+ Central location in the Baltics, in a couple of hours you can be in Tallin, Parnuu, Kaunas or Vilnius.
+ Percentage of Russian blood (some say 50%). Russian girls have much more spice and sexuality than the ice cold natives of Latvia or Lithuania.
+ Biggest town, 1 million inhabitants.
+ Better nightlife and options to go out.
+ More cosmopolitan than all others, all others cities in the Baltics are provinces compared to.
+ More possibilities to learn Russian Language...If needed I can explain later the benefits.

- Foreigners are usually not welcome. The tourist thirsty and bad behavioured hordes ruined the image on foreign people.
- Scamming. Quite common among the Russian community, girls lure, guys beat the crap out of people of poor judgement.
- For the above reasons, I believe it will be harder to mix in the social scene. In the good clubs, foreigners only get in in the company of locals, or paying 200€ minimum for table service.

Vilnius

+ Proximity to Poland, and specially to Belarus, 2 hours distance to Minsk.
+ Lithuanians seemed more easygoing and jovial than their northern neighbours, also more hotheaded, for some reason they are called the Latins of the Baltics.
+ Very cheap flights to Kiev. I once bought one for 12€. Also some Ukranian tourists.
+ Student town of Kaunas just 45 minutes distance.
+ Girls hair...by far the best hair I have ever seen, long and straight all down to the bottom in most cases.
+ Cheaper than Riga, nightlife can be half the price, and the rest some 30%.

- Smaller of the two, can be completely dead on weekdays.
- Smaller russian community, and due to the harsh conditions for them, all turned into mafia. Also much more tension between locals and russians than in Riga.
- Less options to go out, and a bunch of loud tourists can make a lot of damage compared to Riga, also a bunch of good players can also skew the few available girls in night venues.

Both cities are wonders of architecture and very liveable, though with very harsh winters. Also the quality of the girls is very high in both of them, but I would rate Riga higher due to the Russians, it is just a personal taste, both are great. I met a fellow Brazilian in Vilnius, and the guy was addicted to it, for him it was the best place in the world. I could see the happiness in his face.

[marinhogomes]

(02-01-2016 08:49 PM)Rocha Wrote:  

From your 3 options, I would immediately exclude Liepaja. It is a small 80k city that as a brazilian who probably likes to party, I believe you will get bored really fast. Keep in mind that the Baltics are very boring in general for the party scene, all is dead during the week, even in the capital cities. Other note about Liepaja, I met a girl from there and she hated it, says it is only tolerable in the summer when other people go there for some sunbaths. Of course this is worth what is worth, and girls opinions tend to differ from ours, but it is worth something...also it was a closed town until 1990, the end of FSU.

As for the capitals, I have been twice to both Riga and Vilnius, and will breakdown a little the plus and minus from my observations:

Riga

+ Central location in the Baltics, in a couple of hours you can be in Tallin, Parnuu, Kaunas or Vilnius.
+ Percentage of Russian blood (some say 50%). Russian girls have much more spice and sexuality than the ice cold natives of Latvia or Lithuania.
+ Biggest town, 1 million inhabitants.
+ Better nightlife and options to go out.
+ More cosmopolitan than all others, all others cities in the Baltics are provinces compared to.
+ More possibilities to learn Russian Language...If needed I can explain later the benefits.

- Foreigners are usually not welcome. The tourist thirsty and bad behavioured hordes ruined the image on foreign people.
- Scamming. Quite common among the Russian community, girls lure, guys beat the crap out of people of poor judgement.
- For the above reasons, I believe it will be harder to mix in the social scene. In the good clubs, foreigners only get in in the company of locals, or paying 200€ minimum for table service.

Vilnius

+ Proximity to Poland, and specially to Belarus, 2 hours distance to Minsk.
+ Lithuanians seemed more easygoing and jovial than their northern neighbours, also more hotheaded, for some reason they are called the Latins of the Baltics.
+ Very cheap flights to Kiev. I once bought one for 12€. Also some Ukranian tourists.
+ Student town of Kaunas just 45 minutes distance.
+ Girls hair...by far the best hair I have ever seen, long and straight all down to the bottom in most cases.
+ Cheaper than Riga, nightlife can be half the price, and the rest some 30%.

- Smaller of the two, can be completely dead on weekdays.
- Smaller russian community, and due to the harsh conditions for them, all turned into mafia. Also much more tension between locals and russians than in Riga.
- Less options to go out, and a bunch of loud tourists can make a lot of damage compared to Riga, also a bunch of good players can also skew the few available girls in night venues.

Both cities are wonders of architecture and very liveable, though with very harsh winters. Also the quality of the girls is very high in both of them, but I would rate Riga higher due to the Russians, it is just a personal taste, both are great. I met a fellow Brazilian in Vilnius, and the guy was addicted to it, for him it was the best place in the world. I could see the happiness in his face.

Thanks for the pros and cons. No city is perfect. I'm leaning on Riga just because I could find an actually Masters course that I like and I like the price and the school (so I'm really thinking about it). The fact that girls are not very welcoming and the scamming part does scare me a bit, it reminds me of Brazil.

I found a course in Vilnius that has a great price, but I have to research the school a bit more to decide. Good thing that my TOEFL score is still valid, so I don't need to take it again.

I'm not the typical brazillian party crazy guy. I'm super chill.

[RandomGuy1]

(02-01-2016 08:49 PM)Rocha Wrote:  

+ More possibilities to learn Russian Language...If needed I can explain later the benefits.

If you don't mind I would love to read it.

[Rocha]

(02-02-2016 06:23 AM)RandomGuy1 Wrote:  

(02-01-2016 08:49 PM)Rocha Wrote:  

+ More possibilities to learn Russian Language...If needed I can explain later the benefits.

If you don't mind I would love to read it.

Basically, knowing russian opens many doors in a universe of more than 200 million speakers, with the hottest girls in the world. It is essential in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

[RandomGuy1]

Oh, okay. I thougth you would explain the "more possibilities to learn Russian Language". Anyway.

[marinhogomes]

Nice.

I actually started stuyding russian a couple weeks ago because I was planning of spending a month in Ukraine.

I actually started looking at schools in Ukraine, but the Universities there seems to be quite crappy in terms of infra-estructure.

From what I've heard (and read in other threads) people from Vilnius/Lithuania are way more friendly than Riga/Latvia. And it's important to making some local friends.

[marinhogomes]

Decided to go to Lithuania. Vilnius.
Found an affordable course in an interesting subject for me. Not music or film, but kind of a hobby.

[Vinny]

(02-09-2016 07:12 AM)marinhogomes Wrote:  

Decided to go to Lithuania. Vilnius.
Found an affordable course in an interesting subject for me. Not music or film, but kind of a hobby.

Good decision. Liepaja is extremely small and almost a necropolis all year except summer. Don't know much about Vilnius, but Kaunas is a good place for both day and night game. There is a high speed motorway between Vilnius and Kaunas so you can get there quick. To bad you can't study there.

[Vinny]

(02-02-2016 08:31 AM)marinhogomes Wrote:  

Nice.

I actually started stuyding russian a couple weeks ago because I was planning of spending a month in Ukraine.

I actually started looking at schools in Ukraine, but the Universities there seems to be quite crappy in terms of infra-estructure.

From what I've heard (and read in other threads) people from Vilnius/Lithuania are way more friendly than Riga/Latvia. And it's important to making some local friends.

If you want to study Russian Latvia is a better choice. In Vilnius biggest minority is Polish, so I am not sure Russian is very useful there. Unless you are planing meeting older women, who grew up in soviet union speaking Russian
Riga is most Russian speaking capital in Baltic region.

[marinhogomes]

Right now I'm not studying Russian anymore. But I was doing it for Ukraine though.

Now that I'm heading up to Vilnius I'm planning on not stuyding any new languages until I'm there.

Yes, I've thought about Riga for russian learning, I like the city but I didn't have a very warm reception from the people.

I actually found a Masters course in Riga that was an affordable price but the main points that got me excluding Riga is:
- Scams
- People being agressive OR unfriendly towards most foreign single guys.
- The classes were 75% in Latvian