After settling in, the next step is to explore your new environment. Here are ten suggestions to enhance connections and make the expat life in Russia more fulfilling.
Living as an expat in Russia
Adapting to life in a foreign country requires time and effort. You are faced with adjusting to a different culture, language, and climate while settling into your new residence, workplace, surroundings, school, and the local community. Your focus is on dealing with everyday tasks, learning new things, moving your possessions and pets, and simply navigating through life.
However, as time progresses, you will start feeling more at ease. You will no longer perceive yourself as a recent arrival. This is an ideal moment to seek out opportunities to broaden your horizons, get more involved in the community, and enhance your daily life in any Russian city of your choice. In essence, it’s time to thrive!
Here are ten recommendations on how you can achieve just that. Regardless of the duration of your stay in Moscow or your future plans, these suggestions will aid in your flourishing in your new environment.
Acquire new knowledge
Explore as a local resident, not a tourist
Expand your cultural awareness
Participate in Russian holiday traditions
Be physically active
Familiarize yourself with Russian politics, matters, and history
Engage in volunteering activities
Enhance your skill set
Broaden your social circle
Venture outdoors
Acquire new knowledge
One of the best ways for expatriates in Russia to grow personally, stay mentally sharp, and connect with others is by learning something new. Pick up a new language. Take an art class or a writing, quilting, or crafting workshop. Pursue university studies through individual courses or a specific program. Learn to play a musical instrument. Master the art of cooking Russian dishes or your favorite international cuisine. While these activities can be done elsewhere, the unique experience comes from doing them here.
Explore as a local resident, not a tourist
Expats may want to visit the popular landmarks that Russia is known for. However, try exploring Moscow from a local’s perspective by taking day trips to different areas and embarking on brief excursions. Instead of sticking to the typical tourist spots, actively seek out lesser-known locations and regions that offer authentic insights into Russian life.
Expand your cultural awareness
Attending cultural events can significantly broaden your understanding of society and the world. Visit art galleries, museums, cultural exhibitions, or theaters. Attend book readings, concerts by bands, orchestras, or choirs. New encounters and fresh perspectives come from fresh experiences.
Participate in Russian holiday traditions
Regardless of your time in Russia, you likely have some knowledge of the various holidays celebrated by Russians. Instead of merely observing these holidays, consider actively engaging in them. Embrace the local customs.
Be physically active
Join a photography club, writing group, or sewing circle. Sing in a choir or play a musical instrument in a band. Support a cause or group that aligns with your interests. Attend gatherings at your chosen place of worship. Join a chess, bridge, mahjong, or scrapbooking club. Connect, make new acquaintances, and enjoy with a Russian twist.
Familiarize yourself with Russian politics, mattersand record
Your familiarity with past occurrences, governmental principles, and noteworthy societal concerns in your own region aids in giving background to current news stories. However, this knowledge wasn’t acquired overnight. You gathered information about these subjects in your native land gradually, over time and in both formal and informal environments.
The same is true for expatriates in Russia. One of the quickest and most efficient methods to feel more immersed in Russian society is to acquaint yourself with the history and ongoing matters in this country. Besides news broadcasts, there are English-language websites, local newspapers, and magazines accessible. Strive to familiarize yourself with the events and reasons behind them. Seek the opinions of neighbors, acquaintances, and allies. Request them to elucidate matters in a simple and personalized manner.
Volunteer
Establish deeper ties with Moscow society by devoting your time and energy to enhancing the quality of life. There is always a high demand for assistance and numerous volunteer opportunities exist. Lend a hand at a school, retirement home, food pantry, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter. Contribute your time and expertise to a non-governmental organization or public interest entity. Engage and provide support.
Enhance your skillset
Whether your profession led you to Moscow, you are in a temporary job transition, taking a work hiatus, plan on re-entering the job market in your former job or a related field, contemplate a career switch, or are uncertain, it’s time to reassess your skillset. Update your resume. Improve your marketability through education. Stay informed about the latest advancements in your current or potential future area of work.
Learn what is required to enter the local or international job scene. Consider seeking vocational counseling or life coaching. Enhancing your skills while in Moscow not only grants you insight into Russian and European business customs and perspectives, it also provides a unique encounter not found elsewhere.
Expand your network
Certainly, no two expats in Russia share identical experiences. However, at times, work, school, and lodging decisions result in expats residing and socializing in close proximity. Whether intentional or not, they might discover themselves leading nearly parallel lives to the Moscow populace. The shared experiences among expats in Russia that bring them together should not be underestimated. Yet, it is also crucial to contemplate broadening your social circle to include others.
Invite your Russian (or other) neighbors for a cup of coffee. Arrange a lunch with a new acquaintance. Host gatherings. Extend and initiate friendships with individuals who differ from you in terms of age, nationality, or life stage. Not only will you gain one or two friends, but you will also observe the world and yourself from varying perspectives.
Explore the surroundings
Russians excel at spending time outdoors and relishing the fresh air. When the sun is radiant and the weather is delightful, everyone seems to partake. Join a jogging club, a football team, or another sports group in Russia. You will meet new people and view the country from an alternative angle.
It might appear contrary to seek out fresh activities and ventures after recently enduring the arduous process of relocating to a new country. Indeed, at this juncture, many expats in Russia are eager to settle into their daily routines. They may be content with living a somewhat detached expat existence, comfortable with the idea of considering themselves as visitors in this country rather than fully integrated members of Moscow society. Some might even question their capacity for further change.
However, this is precisely the moment to delve deeper into the Moscow experience. The objective isn’t change but growth. By transitioning from mere survival to flourishing, you blossom and thrive. By embracing some of the aforementioned recommendations, expatriates undergo personal development while broadening their comprehension and strengthening their connections to the society they inhabit. This process aids in integrating expats more profoundly into their environment and the social fabric of Russia.
These recommendations would undeniably be advantageous to anyone who has navigated the upheaval of uprooting and adjusting to a new location. However, when that place happens to be in a foreign nation, these endeavors assume added importance. By immersing yourself in the surrounding community, you are essentially broadening your personal horizons through the lens of Moscow society. Elect to become a part, rather than apart. The outcome is a richer, more fulfilling expat journey.