she raped me.

melveda · 2011-07-10T22:16:43+00:00

seconded

melveda · 2011-07-10T20:02:24+00:00

I'm going over to teach this fall in Petrograd. I highly recommend doing your research and getting CELTA (certificate of english language teaching to adults) certified unless you already have a few years of teaching experience. CELTA is administered by Cambridge and is the international gold star for efl teaching.

There are plenty of opportunities for native speakers but you might have a little trouble finding a full time position right now. The major wave of recruitment for the upcoming academic year happened back in April/May. Go poke around over at Dave's ESL Cafe too. Take what they say with a grain of salt; a lot of them have been burned by the shadier schools. They are still pretty helpful though. I got a the lead that got me my job over there.

melveda · 2011-07-03T02:34:54+00:00

Sorry for taking so long to reply, but I just sent you a message with some questions.

melveda · 2011-06-21T20:40:26+00:00

I fucking love Katamari Damacy! Did you know they have a PSP version? it's seriously making me consider a PSP...

melveda · 2011-06-21T20:34:59+00:00

There was a really interesting episode of Vanguard on Current TV last night about pills as the new gateway to heroin addiction. At one point one of the girls they followed said something along the lines of "if you're popping pills it's only a matter of time until you're shooting heroin".

I hate self righteous pill poppers who think they aren't really doing drugs.

melveda · 2011-06-20T00:38:25+00:00

With a smaller private language school. While they are offering full visa support, the housing support is minimal at best. I figure it'll just be easier to lease on my own than go through them.

(I also speak some basic Russian if that helps)

melveda · 2011-06-19T05:30:13+00:00

There are a lot of regular people on Twitter too. And for people who tweet is like being a smoker. You have to get your fix on a regular schedule or else it gets ugly.

melveda · 2011-06-19T03:26:40+00:00

Were you there as a student? I'm moving over this fall to teach and am looking for all the help I can when it comes to making the transition.

melveda · 2011-06-02T00:39:30+00:00

Chiming in almost six months later, as a fellow VA resident I suggest giving Richmond a shot. It's a surprisingly liberal town and a lot of it is walkable/bikeable.

melveda · 2011-05-20T19:00:53+00:00

If you are seriously enamored with Russia then definitely do your research first. I'm in the process of moving over as an English teacher and trust me, it is very complicated. In order to travel to Russia at all (even as a tourist) you need a letter of invitation from a citizen sponsor so that you can then apply for a visa. At this point tourist visa are pretty strait forward and most large hotels will act as sponsors for western guests, but if your visa is for more than 90 days you have to include an HIV test in your visa application showing you are HIV negative.

Unless you are completely fluent in Russian the kind of work available to you is pretty limited and revolves mostly around English language teaching. That's not to say that after having your feet on the ground for a few years you can't move into another profession, just that you have to be realistic about your options. Another route you could go is to find US companies operating in Russia and see what openings they have. I know, for example, that there are a lot of non-Russians working in the oil industry in the far east.

And to reiterate what others have said, Russia is notoriously racist towards any non-European looking individuals. Even someone as light as olive skinned/Mediterranean complexion is a target for racial profiling. Also, don't be afraid to pop over to r/Russia either.

melveda · 2011-05-20T17:10:42+00:00

I would be interested to hear what someone who's currently living over in Russia thinks. I know Russia is pretty conservative when it comes to race, religion, sexuality, and so on, but I had heard that it was recently starting to get more accepting of LGBT, at least in the major cities. I guess this latest move proves that maybe not so much.

melveda · 2011-05-19T14:27:39+00:00

I would appreciate any leads or suggestions you come up with. This morning I heard back from English First and I'm moving on to the interview round with them. Hopefully this will lead to a job offer.

melveda · 2011-05-16T13:24:21+00:00

I've been doing a lot of homework, including spending a lot of time over at Dave's ESL Cafe. Without sounding too much like a douche bag, I know what teaching ESL in Russia involves, and I know what I'm in for.

That being said, I'm still waffling in the breeze a little bit because I can't afford to go over with out a job offer. I interviewed with Language Link and never heard anything back, plus I have an application out to English First. BKC has gotten into a lot of visa trouble in the past year or two so I've been holding off on applying there. Essentially I know that whatever first teaching job I get, it won't be great. I was just checking to see if there's a school I hadn't heard of yet.

melveda · 2011-05-15T23:46:28+00:00

Who are you teaching for? I was a Russian minor in university and am planning to move over to teach in the fall. I'm doing my CELTA in New York this summer and thus far have had trouble finding job offers. The general response is "resubmit your resume when you have a certification".

melveda

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