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CHI Home >> Work & Travel Abroad >> Teach in Russia | |
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Russia
Programs Available: Overseas English Tutor
Overview | Culture | Sightseeing | History | Money & Transportation | Support | Map Overview:Russia is a vast and diverse nation that continues to evolve politically and economically. Travel and living conditions in Russia contrast sharply with those in North American and western Europe. Major urban centers show tremendous differences in economic development compared to rural areas. Past economic difficulties have included bank closures. While good tourist facilities exist in Moscow, St. Petersburg and some other large cities, they are not developed in most of Russia and some of the goods and services taken for granted in other countries are not yet available. Petty crime affects foreigners in large urban centers. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the number of immigrants to Russia has exceeded the number of
Russians leaving the country. Travel to the Caucasus region of Russia is dangerous. Travelers are strongly advised against travel in Chechnya, Dagestan and neighboring Ingushetia. Military clashes, kidnapping of aid workers and foreigners, violent crimes and muggings are prevalent. Despite the disintegration of its empire, Russia is still huge - stretching from the borders with Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine and Turkey in the west, passing Kazakstan, Mongolia and China, to reach the Pacific Ocean some 3700 miles later. The landscape is predominantly flat, punctuated only by the Urals, which rise no higher than 6234 feet, and the more substantial ranges of the Far East. The three major rivers west of the Urals - the Dnepr, Don and Volga - all rise within 250 miles of Moscow and flow south into the Black and Caspian Seas. Russia's Far East is Siberia, with all its connotations of tundra, steppes, ranges, exile and mind-blowing nothingness. Due to its size, the land passes through several environmental bands. The northern forests of pine and spruce hide reindeer, wolves and brown bears. The mixed deciduous and coniferous forests are home to deer, lynx and the Siberian tiger (which has been known to wander into the suburbs of Vladivostok). The black earth steppes are the grain basket of Asia. Snow leopards, cheetahs, porcupines, gazelles, wild goats and the chamois grace the deserts of Central Asia, though pollution and fur-hunters threaten the existence of many species. There are over 140 state nature reserves, several of whose breeding programs have ensured the continued livelihood of animal species, including the European bison. The climate ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; sub arctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast. Population: 144.53 million Culture:Russia's myriad ethnic groups collectively form a rich cultural stew, one that has added much flavor to the country's spiritual life via institutions such as the Orthodox Church, to Russian visual arts with their recurring religious and existential themes, and to the society-focused aesthetics of the national literature and performing arts. The lifestyle of Russians depends to a great degree on their income levels. For Russia's poor, life is a daily grind of survival and many people spend hours each day selling their belongings or other goods on the street. Businessmen are in a better situation than the people that work as employees. With all the headaches and stress, they still have some money and considerably good living standards. The lifestyles of wealthier people have become Westernized to a very high degree; American-style products
and pastimes are popular, especially in large cities. Watching television and videotapes is a popular form of entertainment.
Russian television now includes Western-style programs, From icons and onion domes to suprematism and the Stalin baroque, Russian art and architecture seems to many visitors to Russia to be a rather baffling array of exotic forms and alien sensibilities. In fact, Russian art and architecture are not nearly so difficult to understand as many people think, and knowing even a little bit about why they look the way they do and what they mean brings to life the culture and personality of the entire country. In old Russia nearly every phase of life was colored by religion. Every day in the calendar was dedicated to the observation of some saint. Every individual and every trade had their patron saints. A distinctly Russian form of representing saints and religious themes is the icon. Sightseeing:Moscow
Moscow's history lies in layers. In the Kremlin, for instance, both Ivan the Terrible and Stalin orchestrated their terrors; Napoleon watched Moscow burn; Lenin fashioned the dictatorship of the proletariat; Khrushchev directed the Cold War and Gorbachev unleashed perestroika. Murmansk Surrounded by tundra, Murmansk is pitch black for most of the winter, home to Russia's nuclear-powered ice-breakers and surrounded by municipal housing blocks. Little wonder that the town goes wild every March for the Festival of the North, which features reindeer races and a ski marathon. Novgorod Novgorod was settled in the 9th century and for 600 years was Russia's pioneering artistic and political centre. Lying just 190km (118mi) south of St Petersburg, the city was annexed by Ivan III, razed by Ivan the Terrible and trashed by the Nazis, but there's still a lot left to see. Its Kremlin includes the Byzantine Cathedral of St. Sophia, the Millennium of Russia Monument, the icon-filled Chamber of Facets and the research-based Museum of History & Art. Across from the Kremlin, Yaroslav's Court includes medieval markets, churches, arcades and palace remains. Sochi With the Caucasus mountains as its backdrop, subtropical climate, warm seas and adjoining trendy resort complex of Dagomys, the resort has long attracted heads of state, foreign tourists and Russians alike. Heading inland, there are waterfalls, hilltop views, spa towns and alpine vistas to enjoy. Gardens are a feature of the town, as are therapeutic establishments and the dachas (country houses) of the powerful and famous. Heading inland, there are waterfalls, hilltop views, spa towns and alpine vistas to enjoy. St. Petersburg St. Petersburg has been dubbed the Venice of the North for its palace-lined waterways. It escaped the architectural incursions of Stalinism and its grandiose relics of tsarist days are rather intact. Sculpted by islands and the sinuous Neva River, the city is a vista of geometric elegance. St Petersburg is a wondrous city, part fable, part nightmare, floating in diaphanous light. Its heavy imperial luxuries, literary heritage and artistic bounty are enhanced by its rickety charm, a crumbling shabbiness that palliates its white-and-gold tsarist excesses. The Volga The main artery of the Russian heartland has always been the 3700km(2299mi)-long River Volga (Europe's longest), which meanders from Yaroslavl, north of Moscow, all the way down to Volgograd. Cruisers and steamships ply its waters, the most interesting section is between Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don. Towns en-route include Kazan, one of the oldest Tatar cities in Russia, which features a limestone kremlin and several mosques; and Lenin's birthplace, Ulyanovsk, replete with attendant memorabilia. Volgograd, previously known as Stalingrad, is best known for the decisive and protracted WWII battle. Trans-Siberian Railway A jaunt on the Trans-Siberian Railway is the way to see this massive country. The six-day, 5,857-mile journey takes you from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast, passing through endless forests of birch and pine, log-cabin settlements and vast steppes. Life on the rails can be boring or fascinating, depending on the nature of your traveling companions, your choice of paperbacks and the friendliness of your carriage attendant (a vital factor). The route takes you past Siberia's huge Lake Baikal and the multicultural and highly appealing Irkutsk. Vladivostok This pacific port and naval base was closed to foreigners until 1990. Its site is often compared to that of San Francisco, because of its picturesque hills, clumps of greenery and heaps of sea views - though the battleships moored offshore somewhat detract from this comparison. The city is surrounded by the Far East Maritime Reserve and the Ussuri Nature Reserve, home to black and brown bears, Siberian boars, hundreds of local and migratory birds, and, if you're lucky, you might even spot one or the Ussuri tigers or the rare Amur leopard. Vyborg This Gulf of Finland port is one of Europe's oldest cities and has an imposing medieval castle built on a rock in the bay. History has seen it tossed from Sweden to Russia to Finland and back again. Today, the town is a handsome mish-mash of architectural styles populated by seadogs and chippies. History:The early history of Russia is one of migrating peoples and ancient kingdoms. In the early part of the ninth century, as part of the same great movement that brought the Danes to England and the Norsemen to Western Europe, a Scandinavian people known as the Varangians crossed the Baltic Sea and landed in Eastern Europe. The leader of the Varangians was the warrior Rurik of Jutland, who led his people in 862 to the city of Novgorod on the Volkhov River. The founding of Novgorod in 862 by Rurik is traditionally taken as the birth of what became the Russian state. Rurik's successor, Oleg, helped make Kiev the dominant regional power in the 10th and 11th centuries, until shifting trade routes rendered it a commercial backwater. The merchants of Novgorod eventually declared independence from Kiev and joined the emerging Hanseatic League, a federation of city-states that controlled Baltic and North Sea trade. Centuries of prosperity were quashed in the 13th century by the marauding Mongolian Tatars, who held sway until 1480. The 16th century witnessed the ugly expansionist reign of Ivan the Terrible, whose incursions into the Volga region antagonized Poland and Sweden to Russia's later cost. When the 700-year Rurikid dynasty ended with the childless Fyodor, vengeful Swedish and Polish invaders each bloodily claimed the Russian throne. The issue was finally settled in 1613, with the 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov issuing in a dynasty that was to rule until 1917. Peter the Great, the dynasty's strongest ruler, celebrated vanquishing the Swedes by building a new capital in St Petersburg. The 19th century began with a bang, thanks to Napoleon, and ended with the country in ominous turmoil. The long-suffering serfs were freed in 1861 and there was growing opposition to the repressive and autocratic tsarist rule. Peasants were angry at having to pay for land they regarded as their own, liberals advocated constitutional reform along western European lines and terrorists assassinated Alexander II in 1881. Many radicals fled, including the famous exile Vladimir Ulyanov, better known by his later nom de guerre, Lenin. Under the young, weak Nicholas II, ignominious defeat in the war with Japan (1904-5) led to further unrest. The massacre of civilians on Bloody Sunday led to mass strikes and the murder of industrialists. Social Democrat activists formed workers' councils (soviets), and a general strike in October 1905 brought the country to its knees. The tsar finally buckled and permitted the formation of the country's first parliament (duma), only to disband it when he didn't like its leftist demands. Russia's disastrous performance in WWI fomented further unrest. Soldiers and police mutinied and a reconvened duma assumed government, manned by the commercial elite. Soviets of workers and soldiers were also formed, thus creating two alternative power bases. Both were unified in their demands for the abdication of the tsar, an action Nicholas was forced to undertake on March 1, 1917.
The economic consequences of the civil war were disastrous, culminating in the enormous famine of 1920-21. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established in 1922 and, following Lenin's death in January 1924, a new world record in the mistreatment of fellow humans was achieved by his successor, Stalin. He introduced farm collectivization, destroying the peasantry both as a class and as a way of life. Millions were executed or exiled to Siberian concentration camps. Russia's non-aggression pact with Germany set the scene for WWII, with Hitler and Stalin passing states between them like hot potatoes. The tables turned in 1941 when Hitler's Operation Barbarossa issued in a bloody period of warfare that would eventually kill a sixth of the population. The battles for Leningrad (former Petrograd) and Stalingrad (today again known as Volgograd) were particularly protracted and obscene. One million Soviet troops died defending Stalingrad, the symbolically important namesake of their leader. At the war's end, the Soviet's 'liberation' of Eastern Europe was soon recognized as a misnomer. Russia's extended control over much of Eastern Europe was the key to its emergence as one of the world's superpowers. Stalin re-established the old pattern of unpredictable purges and, as the Cold War developed, he established Western ideology as the country's new enemy. Following Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev emerged as leader and cautiously attempted to de-Stalinize the Party, while brazenly arming Cuba. His efforts were undone by the conservative Brezhnev, and JFK's brinkmanship. Despite increased repression, dissident movements sprang up. But change was on the way and Russian communism's poor image was soon thoroughly overhauled by soviet iconoclast Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev introduced political and economic reforms (perestroika) and called for greater openness (glasnost). In 1988 he held elections to transfer power from the Party to a new parliament. Reduced repression led to the eventual independence of the 15 Soviet republics, with the Baltic republics leading the way. This reduced sphere of influence and severe economic crisis caused Gorbachev domestic strife. A reactionary coup in August 1991 opened the way for his even more radical successor, Boris Yeltsin. Post-Soviet Russia was marked by the misdealings of corrupt officials, financiers, and gangsters, as well as soaring rates of drug abuse, racketeering and murder. Despite the unpopularity of change, Russians narrowly voted back the indecisive, dictatorial president Yeltsin in mid-1996 elections. The Yeltsin era was marked by the globalization of the Russian economy. The new democracy veered between the rise of ultra-nationalism and communist nostalgia. By 1999 things were looking even shakier - Yeltsin sacked his governments regularly, but the economy was getting steadily gloomier. In August 1998 the ruble was floated and immediately went into freefall. In March 2000, Vladimir Putin became president of Russia, after six months in a caretaker position. Money & Transportation:Travelers sometimes cannot access money easily via credit card advances or wire transfers. Very few places in Russia expect you to tip. Shops have fixed prices, but in markets you'll be expected to bargain. Flying within Russia is an unreliable, unpredictable and difficult business. Try to get a seat on a domestic flight that ultimately has an international destination, because these carriers are certified to meet higher standards than domestic-only services. European Russia is crisscrossed by an extensive rail network that makes trains a viable means of getting to practically anywhere. They're cheap and comfortable and usually take a long, long time. The rail network runs on Moscow time; the only general exception is suburban train services, which stick to local time. Russian buses are now completely open to foreigners and when going between small towns are a great way to travel. Driving in Russia can be confusing and a hassle, but it's a great way to see the country. River transport remains important and in summer it's possible to travel long distances across Russia on passenger boats. The main passenger services ply between Moscow and St Petersburg, and between Moscow and various points on the Volga and Don, including Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, Astrakhan and Rostov-on-Don.
Support During Your Placement:We will be available to give you any support, advice, or guidance you may need with any issues. There will always be an emergency number for you to contact. Our aim is to ensure that you have a happy and successful experience during your stay in Russia.
Some of the content on this page made possible by The Lonely Planet |
Despite the significant influx of ethnic Russians from neighboring republics during the early to mid-1990s,
over the past nine years Russia's population has shrunk by over 3 million people.
such as game shows and soap operas.
Moscow is the barometer and nucleus of the changes sweeping through Russia. Nowhere are Russia's contrasts more
apparent than here - ancient monasteries and ultra-modern monoliths stand side by side, and new Russian millionaires and
poverty-stricken pensioners walk the same streets.
On
October 25th a splinter group of Social Democrats (known as Bolsheviks and led by the exiled Lenin) seized control and
empowered the soviets as the ruling councils. Headed by Lenin and supported by Trotsky and the Georgian Stalin, the soviet
government redistributed land to those who worked it, signed an armistice with Germany and created Trotsky's Red Army. In
March 1918 the Bolshevik Party was renamed the Communist Party and the nation's capital was moved from Petrograd (St
Petersburg's new name) to Moscow. Strongholds of those hostile to the communist regime had developed in the south and east
of the country. Three years of civil war resulted, with over a million citizens fleeing.