Blogs from Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 10

One of the women in the family I am staying with (my "sister") teaches English to Russians from her home - all day long there is a stream of students coming and going, about 50% adults and 50% children. The lessons for the younger children are quite intensive - it is not uncommon for them to come for 20 minutes or half an hour 7 days a week (their parents usually sit in on the lessons, which seems the done thing in Russia). A woman I met explained that in Russia parents will often work very hard and stretch their budgets in order to have at least some level of private schooling for their children, because the state system is considered poor and in order to get a good job a good academic record is necessary. ... read more

Novosibirsk is not known as one of the great stopping-off points on the Trans-Siberian railway, with some justification, as there are no real interesting "sights" here. However it is a pleasant place to live and as I am busy here I am enjoying the stay. On a sunny day the nicest part of the city is by the river, where there is a promenade with a fairground (fairground rides are very popular in Russia, and can be found in all parks and other communal areas), and a view of the bridge over which the Tran-Siberian train travels. Nearby there is a monument to Alexander IIl, who built the railway and responsible for Novosibirsk's existence (there is also a monument to him in Irkutsk). Aside from that there are a few pretty churches, though the same sorts ... read more

The family I am staying with, unusually for Russians, are enthusiastic couchsurfers. It is typical to meet Russians who have never left Russia, or who have maybe been to Europe once or twice in their lives only (or sometimes Thailand, which is also very popular), and when they do go away, it is usually to stay with family overseas or on package tours rather than as independent travelers. Naturally, as couchsurfers themselves, my famiy often have couchsurfers to stay at their home. This week two people stayed on separate nights. By coincidence, they both happened to be Spanish guys couchsurfing their way along the Trans-Siberian from Europe to China. One was travelling because the economic crash in Spain had seen him lose his restaurant, and was planning to move to Portugal after he returned for a ... read more

For the next two weeks, I will stay in Novosibirsk, and attend a language school here with the aim of improving my (pretty basic) Russian language skills. I am also staying with a Russian family so it's meant to be "immersion", although my family speaks perfect English, so it's hard to resist the temptation to speak English around them, as Russian can be an uphill struggle. Today was my first day of lessons, and after over a month of "just" travelling, it took a bit of adjusting to: lessons from 10am-1:15pm, then a tour around the city, then a tutorial until 6pm. Although I have used my Russian over the past few weeks that I've been in the country, it's only really been for practical stuff - checking into hotels, ordering food in restaurants, and so ... read more

One of the most interesting aspects of a homestay is discovering what everyday life is really like for the locals. In my case, the homestay has been particularly interesting as my "family" have many friends keen to practice their English language skills, so we have spent a lot of time comparing life in the UK with life in Russia. On the surface, the differences are not that obvious - in many ways, life in Russian cities looks the same as life in European cities, though poverty is more visible. Many Russians I met described life in Russia as very hard, and express envy for the apparent ease of life in Europe, although also great pride in being Russian. One regular complaint from the Russians I spoke to was that in Russia there is no middle class ... read more