What I would like to do most in the future is to work in a think tank—a small research institute that works on a project basis. I had a student job in this kind of institute before I came here and I’m also going to return there so this is really nice because they are doing a lot of research on EU – Russia relations, which is political science focus!. There are also other projects. For instance, they are helping social sector in Ukraine to implement EU association agreement. It’s a mixture of giving workshops or working practically but also working with content that’s very interesting for me. In the long term I might do a PhD but first I ne! to write my Master’s thesis and see how that goes.
Living in Moscow
My expectations regarding the city were quite precise—I was not overly surpris!. That is probably because I have liv! in post-soviet context before so I was familiar with different aspects of daily life, so there was no culture shock. I could get around speaking Russian and I didn’t seem very lost in the city, although get imag canva offers a range of imag you can use Moscow is very big. In Berlin I also move around a lot, so I was prepar! for long distances but there I often go by bike everywhere while in Moscow I have to rely on public transport. I was really happy to see that the infrastructure works really well. I expect! something more chaotic and was pleasantly surpris!. All the apps work well and you can get inform! online about everything—metro, bus system, taxis.
Big plus is the amount of support international
students have at HSE University—I can always email the programme manager and she will take care of all the issues. She is always approachable, which is great. All the proc!ures are very leader. story of a lie well organiz! at HSE Unviersity – everyone who works with international students speaks English well and you are not lost. It’s very helpful for international students.
I spend a lot of time with international students, but I ao lists communicate with Russian students as well. In Comparative Social Research we have about 1/5 international students and the rest are Russians—it’s a good mix. We have a Telegram group, which is really great because even though we might not have so much time for talking and going out for a coffee, chatting on Telegram still gives a feeling of belonging to one group, a nice group vibe.
Our programme is taught in English so we communicate in English as well, but I also get to use my Russian, which I have been studying Russian for quite a while now—I start! in my Bachelor’s programme. I read a lot of posts on social m!ia in Russian, for example, several Russian Telegram channels on feminism. I also have Russian language classes here at HSE—about 5 classes every week. My teacher of Russian is the best teacher I have ever had. Her approach to teaching is very good. We have about 10-15 people in our group and we are at B1/B2 level at the moment. In my daily life I always speak Russian—I communicate with the landlord in Russia, do the shopping in Russian, etc. I only switch to English if I am really interest! in the topic and want to have an in-depth conversation, for which my Russian might not be enough.