life in moscow
Blog,  Life in Russia

What is it Like to Live in Russia?

Updated December 30th, 2019

This post contains affiliate links. That means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, if you buy through my site. I appreciate your support of my site.

Many Americans have not traveled to Russia, much less spent a year there. As a result the majority of people are forming an opinion on the country from the news. Now that I am not living in Moscow anymore, people frequently ask me what it was like to live in Russia. My token answer is, I loved my experience living there, but didn’t particularly connect with the culture of the country.

I know the benefits of watching the news and the importance of knowing what is going on in the world. On the other hand I think it can also create a lot of fear and stereotypes that are blown out of proportion. The news is typically negative and political. My experience in Moscow and my daily life was not reflected in the news at all. For everyone who told me to say “hi” to Putin, turns out I never ran into him. Did you say “hi” to Trump when I was gone?

A lot of what I share may encourage stereotypes of Russia. That is not my intent, my goal is solely to share my thoughts for those curious on what it is like to live in Russia. 

I encourage you to visit and explore Russia and other places to form your own thoughts!

The News Doesn’t Reflect Daily Life

State Historical Museum
State Historical Museum

What? Crazy, I know, but I felt safer living in and walking around Moscow at all times of day than I have in many other places I have visited or lived. Anytime safety came up at my school, the other expat teachers all agreed that they felt much safer in Moscow than previous places they had lived.

Before leaving for Russia I was quite scared based on all the warnings people were giving me. In reality they might be true on a political level, but they don’t affect daily life. Don’t let the political situation deter you from visiting or living in Russia. 

There is a Ton of Security

As a whole there does seem to be more security in Russia. When going in any mall or museum you need to go through a metal detector. Even in my neighborhood which was on the outskirts of the city, there was security in all the shopping centers and grocery stores. In my neighborhood and other neighborhoods outside the center there is mostly just a security element in establishments.

On the contrary the Red Square is FULL of various forms of police and security personnel. I’m not really certain on the differences between the uniforms but there is a variety and they are usually in packs. To simplify I will just call them police.

This presence was constant every-time I visited the city center. There are times where there was more than others though. I mentioned in my blog post about the Moscow City Day that there were police everywhere at the end of the day blocking off all the ways out of the main street.

The train stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg were the first that I have ever had to go through security and put my bags through a metal detector. Even walking into the airport everyone, regardless if you are flying or not, has to go through security.

Russia is Not a European Country

Izmailovsky Market Moscow
Izmailovsky Market Moscow

While Russia may be considered a European country, it doesn’t feel like one. People don’t speak English like they do in the majority of other European countries. More times than I would have liked, people continued speaking more and more Russian as I shrugged my shoulders and didn’t know what they were saying. Some even became quite frustrated when I didn’t understand them.

Russia is Full of Different Cultural Norms

Moscow Restaurant
Restaurant where the waitress got upset that we were ordering too much food.

When traveling I could always tell when I was flying with Russians. Personal space in lines is basically non-existent. When standing in line with Russians you definitely need to hold your ground. They stand very close to you and will have no shame in going in front of you if you leave too much space. When they bump into you there will be no apology or acknowledgement whatsoever. A friendly Russian co-worker even admitted that the first time she traveled outside of Russia she found waiting in lines to be so much nicer!

I personally struggled with the lack of smiling and manners. Please and thank you are often left out. Yet, it doesn’t seem right to me to label the individuals as “rude” when my idea of rude is based on my experience and the norms growing up in the United States. After-all I was a foreigner who didn’t speak their language in their country.

There is a Lack of Diversity

Buildings of Moscow
My Neighborhood – Mitino

I was really surprised and disappointed by the lack of diversity in the city. Everything felt Russian. Duh, I was in Russia! But there are so many metropolises around the world that have an international feel. You would think a major city of 11 million people would have a bit more diversity and vibrancy. I would rarely hear any language being spoken other than Russian and most people appeared Russian. Other than during the FIFA World Cup, the dynamic feel of most big cities was missing. To me Moscow is full of malls and big white apartments buildings.  

Moscow Mall
Inside of one of Moscow’s many malls

The Food Consists of Russian Staples

FOOD embassy Moscow
A buckwheat dish with soap bubbles? This is from a restaurant that has a menu “comprised of simple and affordable dishes that are big favorites in such gastronomic meccas as New York, London and Hong Kong.” WHO KNEW???

The food is ultimately what did it for me. I don’t think people believe me when I say that I might have stayed another year if it wasn’t for the food. Even restaurants that claimed to have international fare seemed to contain the Russian staples of pickled food, beets, mushrooms, dill and buckwheat.

While you might be bored with the food or wanting a bit of spice, you will be able to find food. One rumor I heard before moving to Moscow was that grocery stores would be empty. I actually had no problem finding fresh fruit and vegetables. There might not be the selection, flavor & variety that you are used to, but there is ample food at reasonable costs. 

Winters are Long, Dark & Snowy

What are Russian winters really like
Mitino

There were 6 minutes of sun the December I lived in Moscow! Let me say that again, 6 minutes the whole month of December. While Russia is known as being cold and snowy, the darkness was the killer for me. Russian winters become very depressing with the lack of sun.

Final Thoughts on Everyday Life in Russia

St. Basil's Cathedral
St. Basil’s Cathedral

When people ask me what is Russia like, these are the norms I share. Of course there were exceptions, like my kind neighbors who taught me how to work the apartment building doors and always smiled and said “hello” when they saw me. Also many of my Russian co-workers were friendly and helpful. There was the occasional meal that exceeded my expectations as well…..rare though!

Beautiful historic buildings were found in the St. Petersburg and Moscow city centers to help redeem the many basic soviet era apartment buildings. Of course there are also the magnificent metro stops that put the NYC subway stations to shame! Last of all the language barrier, my schedule and my residence further from the city center may have hindered me from taking more advantage of what the city offers. 

All in all it was a great adventure and I am glad I did it! If you have visited or lived in Russia let me know your thoughts in the comments below.  

More About Russia


Pin It!


 

 

15 Comments

  • Amanda

    This is my 4th year in Moscow and I could not agree more with you! Apart from the food… I don’t mind and actually have my favorites amongst their dishes!!!

  • Beatrice Chartrand

    Thank you for bravely writing your honest thoughts! I agree with you on many points. I enjoy Moscow on the weekends but I travel frequently (at least once a month) out of the country which is a huge part of my expat experience here. I feel very fortunate to be able to live a good life in Moscow but it is definitely not without its struggles. Congrats on launching your blog. I am really enjoying reading your stories.

    • admin

      Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts about your expat experience! I traveled about once a month when I lived there too. I wonder how that affected/affects our experience?

  • Julie

    Loved reading about your thoughts on living in Russia! Thank you for your honesty! Most people are afraid to say what they really feel. But you do it in a way that is very professional and not condescending.

  • Geoff

    I’ve only been here in Moscow 2 and a half months so far (also teaching, from the UK). The first thing I noticed was how green it was. There almost seems to be more park than city. This may contribute to the fact that compared to what I expected of a city this size it doesn’t feel very crowded or claustrophobic. Even the metro is never crowded like I have experienced in other countries that are still developing, although some of this may be due to Covid.

    It also does feel somewhat diverse to me. Especially considering it is presumably less diverse than normal with a lot of foreign workers shut out of the country. My experience is probably coloured by never living in a large city before but there are a lot of Central Asians here. They look different, most speak Russian but I have sometimes heard Central Asian languages which I found exotic and exciting. Other races are less common but still around. I guess it depends where you compare it to. It’s nowhere near as diverse as similarly sized cities in the west but I guess I’ve spent more time in similarly sized cities in Asia or other developing nations which felt less diverse (at least from my western perspective)

    I’ve liked the winter so far. The lowest I’ve been out in was I think -11 or -12 celsius which you don’t get in Britain (very very very rarely) but actually felt more comfortable than some of the winters I’ve felt in Britain. Maybe just because I had better clothes and buildings are properly insulated. Moscow is so beautiful in the snow. The parks and the city centre. I’ll see how I feel at the end of winter though!

    Some of what you say I can definitely relate to though – especially your other blog post about not knowing how to pay for things. I can read but not really speak or understand much spoken Russian, at least read enough to get round websites, but it still doesn’t make things much clearer and I actually lost a small amount of money trying to top up my phone on the wrong website! There’s a form for everything. I had to get a Covid test and I pretty much gave up with half the clinics I looked at because they did stupid things like give you a form to fill in where there was an option for “foreign passport” and then demand details that only exist on the Russian passport/ID. Or just fail to provide any information at all, in Russian or English, about how to actually book tests. That’s probably my least favourite thing so far – stupid forms for things.

    • The Fearless Foreigner

      Thanks for checking out my posts! That’s a good point in regardless to diversity, that it depends on where you are coming from. I also noticed a lot of people from Central Asia in Moscow, but I was previously living in NYC where one subway car can feel like it is full of people from around the world! I know other people from the UK also thought the winters weren’t as cold in Moscow as in the UK. Forms, paying stuff, etc is all very challenging! Hope you enjoy your time in Moscow 🙂

  • Jenny

    This was a really insightful article. I can relate to many of these things from living in Mongolia as it is heavily influenced by Russian culture. I had the same feelings there about waiting in ‘line’s, not liking the food, and the long cold winters. I’m sure it was a interesting experience living there!

  • Andrey

    Well, that’s interesting point of view. And very American, which I find funny to some extent. Maybe Russia is not European country, however it has much more similarities with European, than American reality. To tell you the truth, we in Russia find American way of life very weird – and I’m not speaking about politics now, just about daily life. One of my realtives moved from Kiev to US in 1990s and currently resides in New Jersey – she doesn’t have a car, so almost all the time she just stays home and she doesn’t even have an opportunity to go shopping, since the nearest shop is 80 km away. So she has to cooperate with other relatives since they have a car. Same applies to transportation system in general – we find it very weird that it’s impossible to cross the whole country by train, at least on a regular one and with normal fare. And so on, and so on. It’s nothing bad in it, just obvious cultural differences.
    Same applies to multiculturalism of NY, which fascinates every Russian, who visits there first time. But you probably understand that it happened because of totally different history of our countries, almost 80% of Russian population are ethnical Russians and the majority of the remaining 20% are mostly non-distinguishable from Russians for a non-Russian. You will never recognise Chuvash, Mordvin or Ukrainian in Moscow. The only places that seriously differ ethnically are Eastern Siberia and Caucasus. Plus there are lots of workers and migrants from the former USSR – mostly Caucasian and Central Asian. Apart from them, there are no other people – some rare tourists, some rare foreign students, that’s it. And we are speaking about Moscow, if you go to any average Central Russian city, you will see that there is around 96-98% ethnical Russians and literally no one else.
    Same applies for security – we don’t have any special criminal districts or ghettos in our cities. Of course, some are better, some are not, but since Moscow has dozens of cameras now in every yard, the city itself should be one of the safest in Europe. Urban criminals, the infamous “gopniks” disappeared from our cities around 10 years ago – not only in Moscow, but almost in all other cities.
    Security measures are crazy. They’ve done it at the railway stations to prevent acts of terrorism around 10 years ago. However, already there was an explosion by suicide bomber right in the queue in Volgograd in 2013. Still they are doing it, and now it’s already installed even at provincial stations. We are far from India with mandatory security checks at the entrance of every metro station, but unfortunately not very far.
    As for the food I am really surprised – because in reality the hardest food to find in Russia is Russian food. I mean authentic one, that was cooked in tzarist time, “Russian food” nowadays is mostly just a mix of various popular Soviet dishes plus some elements of Ukrainian, Cauvasian cuisines etc. However, it’s very easy in Moscow not to eat anything Russian or “Soviet” at all – we have a restaurant of almost every cuisine here. Vietnamese, Indian, Turkish, American-style diners, Afghan, Chinese, Balkan, German, even Ethiopian – literally everything. I will not even mention tons of places with Caucasian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Tartar cuisine etc., as well as obvious pizzas, cafeterias etc. Of course, not all restaurants are good (like elsewhere), but the choice is fascinating. As for grocery stores, I suggest you better go to the market, instead of a store. At least in season, fruits and vegetables are nice, however obviously many fabric products made in Russia, such as cheese leave a lot to be desired.
    Moscow winters are bad. It’s not winters, really – temperature is mostly around zero, no snow and darkness. Good winters come to Moscow once in 5 years or so – next time i recommend you to go to Siberia. I am no joking – yes, there would be -25. But it would be sunny -25 and full of snow, much easier to live than in Moscow.
    Good luck in future travels!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *