Zsuzsi Abroad pt. V

As you know by now, I studied European Studies and Russian at the University of Manchester in England.In our third year we were  to go to Russia (otherwise they would have ended up with a bunch of graduates not speaking the language): we had a few cities to choose from: St.Petersburg, Moscow, Tver, Yaroslavl and something else as well. All my classmates picked St.Petersburg, so I decided to be different and go to the capital.

We were lucky enough to have most of the paperwork done for us: I only needed to take care of the visa and getting the train tickets (if you ever get the chance to travel to Russia by train from Finland, do it!)

I studied at the Moscow State Linguistic University (MGLU) together with other students from British universities (most of them were from Glasgow). We had about 20 hours a week, consisting of grammar, translation, media studies, culture, history, etc. Most of my classmates stayed with a hosjayka (i.e. they were renting a room from an old lady), I and a couple of friends stayed at halls of residence. It was all an adventure: think drunken guards, strange rules and an interior design from the 1950s.

Life in Russia was different. Moscow is a city with a lot to offer: it’s a city where anything is possible and where you can do anything you want. However, like most big cities it also has an ugly side to it. I remember how one of my classmates was counting the amount of dead people he had seen on the metro (I never saw any by the way). It is known to be one of the most expensive cities in the world, but you don’t need an awful lot of money to experience some interesting times on the shores of the Moscow river. But then there are things that you will only see in Moscow, like normal Lipton tea for 10 euro:

Anyhow, I will shortly make another post about things to do in Moscow.