Adapting to Moscow

Is it possible to adapt to Moscow? Yes and No. A lot depends on your personality, on your former home location, on your gender and on the size of your wallet (I did say wallet!). Don't expect it to be the same or similar to back home. This may seem an obvious thing to say and it is, but expect it to be different and to be a challenge. The roads are busy and the city is very congested with traffic. Russians are very nationalistic and if you were to say anything like this to them they would simply reply 'Moscow is like any other big city' this response always amazes me. In some ways, they would be right but in other ways they are rather narrow minded about their own city and country. This is not meant to be a negative suggestion from me, but rather an observation. If you drive here, it will take you ages to travel even a few kilometers in any direction during a week day, driving in the city is aggressive, slow and stressful. If you use any of the big supermarkets, it will be a stressful and an annoying experience simply due the sheer volume of people that go to these international supermarket chains here in Moscow.

As a foreigner here, it will be very important from your first week of arriving here, to get out and to meet people. You can do this by joining many of the clubs that can be found online. Many of them are for women as there is still the out of date view that its usually women and wives that follow husbands to Moscow rather than men that follow wives to Moscow, role stereotypes die hard. These clubs cater mostly for women but do allow men to join via their wife's name. If you are in this situation as an 'accompanying spouse' as they are known, then join these clubs as Moscow is a big lonely place despite the huge bursting population. Here you are just another face in the crowd. There are many foreigners here. If you are single, male, young and with money and in a good job, adapting will not be so hard as you will have a social and sexual adventure of your life. Russian woman can be beautiful, sexy and latch onto single foreign men like a limpet to a rock. Sadly, I don't speak from personal experience but only from what I have seen, read and heard about .....but I'm not bitter!. If you speak Russian, Russians will be a lot warmer towards you and I have to say, Russians seem to love children although child facilities in restaurants etc are not so good. Traveling on the metro with a small young child is not recommended.

Russians in shops can be very rude and abrupt but don't take it personally its just their way. Russians like to shout and if you speak Russian and are spoken to rudely shout back at them. This will be your only weapon and only way to win any argument. Russians are proud and proud to be Russian. I am from London and although people can be rude here in Moscow, I think they are no ruder than in London, so Moscow is no different to any other big city in that respect. Big cities make people like that since life is stressful. You will find it hard to adapt to the pollution, unless you come from a large city and you may find it hard to adapt to the daily corruption and expense of Moscow living. Moscow rent and food buying is highly expensive. For many months I compared prices of food stuffs and rent to my own country. This is a very big mistake, don't compare prices just adapt and switch off, its the only way or you will only feel sick, depressed and will not do anything or go anywhere here. Some young Russian women can seem very vain and cold. To be fair, Russian women have a hard time here, since Russian men do little to help at home and its only thanks to the women of Russia that Russia functions at all, since they are the main driving force behind the men and the family. In my view Russia would stop to run without them. Russian woman truly are the unsung heroes of this country.

Sink or swim, good luck to any new arrivals or soon to be new arrivals to Moscow, Russia.

See: New Arrivals to Moscow