How is life in the Pacific Coast of Russia? (cost, jobs, house)

[nobettername]

Well. To many Europeans Russians have always been in kind of "undeffined category" when it comes to their identity, First of all, keep in mind that only a small part of Russia is located in Europe, the rest is in Asia. Second, that the Russian political, cultural and sociological traditions are very different than those of most other European nations. While Europeans were enjoying democratic and libertarian progress flowing from Magna Carta and French Revolution, Russians have been ruled by strong and strict rulers, being it cruel Tzars or even harsher Lenin and Stalin who did not even think about sharing their power with anybody else. Hard to believe but Russia had no democratic tradictions prior to perestroika i.e. 1980's.
Russia has always been very different than other European countries: feared by many and accused of being as much European as Asian.
Of course ethnically Russians are white, just as are most Australians or Canadians,. But European, as in part of European culture - that's a different story.

[Sasha Nevsky]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Has anyone else visited there besides Tiger Beer? The whole area is really interesting to me, and I'm sure that there are a good number of established smaller towns with interesting histories (like the Wild West history of the US as the cities of Sibera and the Far East of Russia were settled around the same time). It seems to me that the Pacific Coast of Russia has suffered mostly from neglect and probably has incredible potential if it weren't for all the funds being siphoned elsewhere.

Yes I was in the Navy stationed at Petropavlovsk on Kamchatka. I don't think your comparison to the 'wild west' is very accurate, and it isn't more 'neglected' than other places in Russia. Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk are practically twins.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by nobettername

Well. To many Europeans Russians have always been in kind of "undeffined category" when it comes to their identity, First of all, keep in mind that only a small part of Russia is located in Europe, the rest is in Asia. Second, that the Russian political, cultural and sociological traditions are very different than those of most other European nations. While Europeans were enjoying democratic and libertarian progress flowing from Magna Carta and French Revolution, Russians have been ruled by strong and strict rulers, being it cruel Tzars or even harsher Lenin and Stalin who did not even think about sharing their power with anybody else. Hard to believe but Russia had no democratic tradictions prior to perestroika i.e. 1980's.
Russia has always been very different than other European countries: feared by many and accused of being as much European as Asian.
Of course ethnically Russians are white, just as are most Australians or Canadians,. But European, as in part of European culture - that's a different story.

It's undeniable that Russia has a strong European heritage closely tied to other East European states and the majority of the Russian population resides in what's considered European lands. Russia is a funny case though because of its vast size and does have special exceptions, but I wouldn't argue it's because of huge cultural intermingling with far East Asian societies in recent centuries. Anyhow, the unity of the Russian language is far greater than the draw of East Asian cultures even in the Far Eastern reaches.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Sasha Nevsky

Yes I was in the Navy stationed at Petropavlovsk on Kamchatka. I don't think your comparison to the 'wild west' is very accurate, and it isn't more 'neglected' than other places in Russia. Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk are practically twins.

I think it's accurate in the sense that both Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk were frontier towns and developed a sense of independence from the Russian mainstream. Certainly the share of federal funds has not been directed towards these places in comparison to the more established cities of Russia.

[Sasha Nevsky]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

I think it's accurate in the sense that both Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk were frontier towns and developed a sense of independence from the Russian mainstream. Certainly the share of federal funds has not been directed towards these places in comparison to the more established cities of Russia.

Well, Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk do get a lot of federal funding because they are important naval cities, trust me. If you want to see places that are neglected you need to look at Middle Russia, not places that are viewed as important by the government.

You are better off living in Vladivostok for maintained infrastructure than say, Kostroma Oblast

[MalaMan]

Wow! Lots of interest in this thread! I couldn't imagine!

When I was a kid, I used to play a manufactured table game that was very popular here in Brazil, called "War" (yes, the name of the game was in English). In that game, each player owned "territories" in the world map, and Russia, due to its big size, was divided in many "territories", with names like "Vladivostok", "Omsk", "Dudinka", and others. Since that times, I was very curious about Siberia.

(One thing that is deeply inserted in the popular culture of Brazilians of my generation - born between 1975 and 1985 - is the idea of "attacking" Alaska from Vladivostok, or vice versa, since it was a very usual move in the "War" table game )


The "War" game:

[Sasha Nevsky]

Vladivostok isn't in Siberia though

[GlockUnderMyKilt]

Originally Posted by MalaMan

Wow! Lots of interest in this thread! I couldn't imagine!

When I was a kid, I used to play a manufactured table game that was very popular here in Brazil, called "War" (yes, the name of the game was in English). In that game, each player owned "territories" in the world map, and Russia, due to its big size, was divided in many "territories", with names like "Vladivostok", "Omsk", "Dudinka", and others. Since that times, I was very curious about Siberia.

(One thing that is deeply inserted in the popular culture of Brazilians of my generation - born between 1975 and 1985 - is the idea of "attacking" Alaska from Vladivostok, or vice versa, since it was a very usual move in the "War" table game )


The "War" game:

I wonder if Parker Brothers knows about this Risk knock-off.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by MalaMan

Wow! Lots of interest in this thread! I couldn't imagine!

When I was a kid, I used to play a manufactured table game that was very popular here in Brazil, called "War" (yes, the name of the game was in English). In that game, each player owned "territories" in the world map, and Russia, due to its big size, was divided in many "territories", with names like "Vladivostok", "Omsk", "Dudinka", and others. Since that times, I was very curious about Siberia.

(One thing that is deeply inserted in the popular culture of Brazilians of my generation - born between 1975 and 1985 - is the idea of "attacking" Alaska from Vladivostok, or vice versa, since it was a very usual move in the "War" table game )


The "War" game:

"RISK in the U.S., by Parker Brothers, Inc.



I took the photo from here: Giant Battling Robots: Taking a RISK - the distribution of armies lost

[jeffpv]

This thread has gotten a little off-track. However, I'll chime in.
I'm actually sitting in Vladivostok at the moment; I have lived here over six years.
I've met Tiger Beer, we went out and had a few one night.
Vladivostok is a unique city in many ways, with its plusses (the sea, mostly), and myriad minuses (traffic, weather, prices, etc).
I moved here because I have always been one of those "map-lookers" who romanticized about places that were "remote". Thus, when I got the chance to move here, I took it. I ended up staying because I've started a family in Vladivostok.
I have traveled extensively in the region; I've been to Kamchatka, Yuznko-Sakhalinsk, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, Khabarovsk, and Novosibirsk many times. The only place I haven't hit up is Magadan, but I've been here long enough to know that it's just a neat-sounding, remote-looking place on a map. I'd still go if I had a free ticket, though :-)
If you have specific questions about Russia in general and the Russian Far East specifically, I would be happy to try my best to address them.
Stchastlivo!