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I think there is opportunity in Russia even though, as you stated, it's not stable, but the kid wants to party it up, sample the local dveys, and maybe make a few bucks....this is possible is it not?
Not when the bullets start whizzing over your head, or the nationalists start marching on the streets on a daily basis. A city's curfew could interfere with that "glamorous night life" as well I think - wouldn't you agree?
with all due respect...are you not being too harsh....homeless people die in the US every year to? kids in missipi and W. Virginia dont event have indoor plumbing. and gang bangin punks in the US can jack or beat you in a minute if you are in the wrong place...but America is not a malnurished or dangerous place.
I haven't been too harsh - I am simply explaining what really took place. May be you are not aware that Russian demographics came to the verge of collapse after the nineties; do you think it happened because of the "natural causes" - sort of like "natural decline of birth rates" all over Europe? I assure you it's not the case, it's precisely what it was; lack of food, absence of simple medications ( like insulin that treats diabetes,) and the list goes on and on.
When you are saying that "homeless people are not dying in the US," you are comparing incomparable, because number one the US traditionally used to have sizable middle class that always practiced charity, and number two - the US government has been running social programs since thirties of forties ( would be my guess.) There was no middle class in Russia and Russian government shut down practically all social programs, since people there were too busy stuffing their own pockets. And if they've had any running, it was a drop in a sea of desperation. So in winter time, comes shortage of shelters for homeless, in the US they open temporary hypothermia shelters, where in Russia people were left to die on the streets. ( They still are dying by the way, because in Moscow for example, in order to be admitted to a shelter, one must have proper Moscow registration papers - don't know about the other cities.)
So this is Russia's demographic chart - you can clearly see what I am talking about; Russia's Population Fallout: The Aftermath of Communism
or better else - this is an old article from BBC. Another good example of things that took place in the nineties.
"In the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russians have become used to seeing children begging on the streets and scavenging in gangs around housing estates and railway stations.
But the figures makes bleak reading.
According to the report, which was prepared for International Children's Day, mental disorders among children and adolescents have increased by 25% during the last five years.
And despite some progress in the fight against disease, there are parts of Russia where the incidence of measles, mumps and other diseases is up to 15 times the national average.
More than 2.5 million children live on the streets - many of them abandoned by parents who can no longer afford to bring them up.
Out of every 100,000 children, 760 are registered as alcohol and other drug abusers.
These are devastating figures for a country in the grips of a deep demographic crisis."
Coincidentally those were the years when childless American couples flocked to the country to pick up children whose mothers couldn't afford to feed them any longer and were forced to put them into orphanages. Which, needles to say didn't add any love for Americans from your average Russian.
So no, I haven't been too harsh - 2,5 million children that became homeless as the direct result of the reforms - those are the numbers that are quite comparable with the consequences of the civil war.
And if you don't believe that there was hunger in the country in the nineties as a direct result of those thuggish reforms - here is an excerpt from an article written in Russia in more recent times ( 2010.) ( After the death of the economist Yegor Gaidar, IMF's darling, who was put in charge of those reforms.)
"May be because of the old Russian tradition to say only good things about the deceased or not to say anything at all, the mass media was full of praiseful articles devoted to Gaidar. And we would have accepted such approach, if not for one essential differentiation. It's true that one should say only good things about the deceased or not to say anything at all. What you can't do though, is to lie about the deceased.
One of the authors of this article recalls a particular episode, that can't be regarded of any importance on the governmental level, according to what took place there. Yet he remembers it as vividly as if it happened yesterday. It was February of 1992. The meeting on urgent financing of social projects was taking place, and Gaidar was presiding over it... There was a big crowd gathered in the hall, where in not so distant past Yegor Ligachev was presiding over the meetings. Now at the same table was a person with the same first name, but this time around it was Yegor Gaidar.
The discussion went on about school construction, pensions that came practically to zero, about savings of an average citizen that turned into dust overnight. Yet one of the authors of this article informed Gaidar that in Zelenograd, ( small town near Moscow) doctors placed on record 36 deaths from starvation. Gaidar's answer was pretty simple; the radical changes are taking place in the country, the government is short on money and people who are not able to cope with these changes are destined to pass away - it's only natural. When someone asked "what if your parents are among these people" - Gaidar sneered and said that he was not going to answer stupid questions.
The next issue up for discussion was the construction of schools and day cares. Gaidar's answer that followed was "we don't have money, stop the construction." The government won't finance it. Back then it sounded very unexpected and even cruel. But looking back from the eighteen-year old distance, it becomes clear that those answers were not spontaneous. They followed the same dreadful logic that Russian government was implementing throughout Gaidar's times, up until the beginning of the 2000ies."
So as I've already mentioned - if you are not aware of something, it does not mean that it never took place.
I should add a few things that I have not already said before. I have to choose by the end of the year if I want one of my minors to be Russian. I love the country and the language, so it is a definite possibility. But, I already have a double major and two minors, so adding Russian to the mix would be a lot on my plate at one time, but I am sure I could handle it.
What does Moscow need or have a market for? Finance? Marketing? Management? I have read in a few online articles about the Skolkovo (sp.) Moscow School of Management--my goodness what a neat place, both architecturally and academically.
Even if I am not completely fluent in Russian by the time I graduate, I would continue to learn the language. I love having Spanish and Italian under my belt already, so it probably shouldn't be a problem to learn a fourth. (I love learning languages.)
Also, RT seems to put Moscow and Russia in such a good light, I really enjoy watching the program.
Skolkovo???!!! (Yet) another big con of mr. Putin ( or was it Medvedev - sorry...)
RT?
Oh boy...
The best advise I can give you at this point - start reading this particular blog - page after another, may be you'll get a better idea about Putin's Russia, business and politics ( that are really one and the same in Russia.)
I should add a few things that I have not already said before. I have to choose by the end of the year if I want one of my minors to be Russian. I love the country and the language, so it is a definite possibility. But, I already have a double major and two minors, so adding Russian to the mix would be a lot on my plate at one time, but I am sure I could handle it.
What does Moscow need or have a market for? Finance? Marketing? Management? I have read in a few online articles about the Skolkovo (sp.) Moscow School of Management--my goodness what a neat place, both architecturally and academically.
Even if I am not completely fluent in Russian by the time I graduate, I would continue to learn the language. I love having Spanish and Italian under my belt already, so it probably shouldn't be a problem to learn a fourth. (I love learning languages.)
Also, RT seems to put Moscow and Russia in such a good light, I really enjoy watching the program.
I've also been told that business rent/property is extremely high in the city centre (a given), but also in MBIC. Do you think MBIC in five, ten years is going to be what they are planning? If so, it is one of the neatest and most well-though urban planning projects I have ever seen.
Thanks again everyone for your feedback, it has helped me learn much more.
P.S. What are dveys and kavartals? Unfortunately I do not know much Russian as of right now.
you cant love her until you meet her. spend a semester or summer abroad in russia. that's what you need to do.
if you graduate and want a good introduction to the business world take an alfa(sp) fellowship. It's an excellent program and they will look out for you.
moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in.
RT TV...lol..is a propaganda piece for Putin....much more biased than say Al JAzera or CNN.
it will be hard to get a serious job in russia as an american unless you are well connected--possible if you do a semester at a good university--or go to a very good american grad school.
i know a guy who was tulane ugrad and did a joint MBA/JD at tulane too and he could not crack the multinational/consulting/legal arena.
Not when the bullets start whizzing over your head, or the nationalists start marching on the streets on a daily basis. A city's curfew could interfere with that "glamorous night life" as well I think - wouldn't you agree?
mam, i was in la one time, this dude shot in the club, the music stopped, the patrons beat him up, and the music was turned back on and we continued to party.
curfew smurfew....unlike in America, a $20 slipped to the militia will get you a smile from the cops as you go about your merry way.
the russians were partying like there was no tommroow when the nazis were at the city's gates..tough people who like to have fun.
mam, i was in la one time, this dude shot in the club, the music stopped, the patrons beat him up, and the music was turned back on and we continued to party.
curfew smurfew....unlike in America, a $20 slipped to the militia will get you a smile from the cops as you go about your merry way.
the russians were partying like there was no tommroow when the nazis were at the city's gates..tough people who like to have fun.
Right.
(and all this time I was thinking that back in 1941 they were digging tranches - silly me))))
(and all this time I was thinking that back in 1941 they were digging tranches - silly me))))
why the hate? i am being slightly flippant. you seem jaded. sorry. I can tell you really care.
maybe I am a merc, but i work in these countries, try to make the best of if, get my check, and go home. i am slightly more than an irish pub tourist but do leave the "compound" and meet some local people.
you can't get so involved in other's people's problems. at the end of the day it's every swingin' one for himself.
actually, when one does not know if the day will be their last...and accept it... people really cut loose and truly enjoy themselves.
this WWII vet who worked security at our building met his wife during WWII and told us stories how they fought or aided the fight against the wermacht during the day but got drunk as a skunk and danced at night as if it was their last...a very heartwarming story.
ever seen the scene from that russian sniper movie..kinda like that.
OH, to the OP:
Mind my spelling but dvey is short for dveuska (a russian girl) and kvartal is an old soviet style apartment building.
why the hate? i am being slightly flippant. you seem jaded. sorry. I can tell you really care.
maybe I am a merc, but i work in these countries, try to make the best of if, get my check, and go home. i am slightly more than an irish pub tourist but do leave the "compound" and meet some local people.
Huh?
I know you are a "merc," so why would I hate you? What would be the reason?
Nooooo))))) I've been simply ironic in this case.
And if I do care, it has got nothing to do with you, really.
I sure hope that on the Judgment Day Gaidar, Chubais, Putin et al ( add all those Russian billionairs there - all 62 of threm ( or whatever number there is.)) I hope that on that day they will be all lined up.
PS. Oh, and one more thing; "kvartal" = block.
So if you hear "walk few kvartals" - that's precisely what it means - walk few blocks. They are much smaller of course than American "block" designed for a ride, so the distance is much more walkable.
What do I know about Moscow? Hmm, out of every 100 Muscovites only 1 was born there. Churka kiosks are everywhere making an already ugly city even uglier. Its nice here in the northern capital to walk 20 meters without seeing a falling down shack trying to repair my shoes poorly or copy keys or sell me rancid shverma. Its a hole with no real culture.
За «Спартак» болеют Фанов миллионы, Но мы точно знаем -все они гондоны!
I'd rather sit for 25 years than see Lenin in Leningradsy vokzal ever again.
(and all this time I was thinking that back in 1941 they were digging tranches - silly me))))
Sunday I will ask my grandmother for tales of her 900 day party from 8 September 1941 – 27 January 1944. I'm sure the party was great with plenty of sawdust bread to go around.
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What would be the reason? 
