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Tatiana Gavrilova Editor |
Tania is a full-time journalist who occasionally finds time out of her hectic shedule to write for VisaRus. We'd like her to write more, but then so would everybody... |
| For new arrivals, finding affordable accommodation is like trying to find a match in a stack of needles- slow and painful. Tatiana Gavrilova offers some advice to teachers new to the country... | ||
Finding a place to call home
Some teachers are fortunate enough to have a good contract with a school that provides accommodation. Others may already have friends in the city who can help out. For the rest, there is the unappealing option of scabby hostels or slightly-less-scabby hotels until something more permanent can be found.
Most rational people would start by picking up a copy of the local press. By all means do- with Saint Petersburg as an example, you're likely to head straight for the Saint Petersburg Times. You ought to be sitting down when you read the 'flats for rent' section, as there won't be many places for less than four figures a month.
There are smaller publications with smaller prices, but if it's your first time in the city, you'd be well advised to avoid those. The list of property-related tricks that Russians play on each other, never mind on foreigners, is longer than the old Soviet anthem.
The ideal, the 'Holy Grail', of accommodation for new teachers is probably the family homestay. This is a great way to get your bearings in the city whilst being well looked after in a family home. Sure, the flat may be a bit cramped and you may be sharing your room with half a dozen eternally-moulting cats, but your host family will look after you, feed you, probably teach you some Russian (or at least give you plenty of conversation practice) and all this shouldn't break the bank. Many people staying in homestay figure that their hosts probably spend all the rent money, if not more, on looking after them and making them comfortable.
The cost of homestay varies according to the area of the city and how generous the hosts are. There are even families with children or teenagers who will give free accommodation and board to a teacher in return for English lessons, but these are hard to find. Some families run a type of bed & breakfast business and charge per night, whereas others charge monthly rent and are generally much cheaper.
Homestays are, on the whole, the safest option for many new arrivals. There are some horror stories, of course, but they are not the norm. The worst that is likely to happen in a family is that you may be charged a little over the odds. The Benedict school is one organisation that sets up homestays for foreign students of Russian at a ridiculous price. Steer clear of agencies and you should be able to find much better prices.
Once you are settled in the area, make friends with some foreigners (students, teachers, etc.) and subtly inquire as to where they are staying and how much they pay. Pop in for a cup of vodka and scout the premises. If it looks like a good deal, ask (again, subtly) when they are leaving the country. Get the number of their landlord and, about a month before their departure, call him with an offer to take the flat immediately upon the current tenants' departure.
The chances are that the landlord usually deals through an estate agent and will have to wait until another sucker comes along with enough cash to pay the massive agency fees before he can start taking rent again, and your offer will sound as sweet as the rustle of crisp dollar bills.
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