Hey everyone and welcome to the Understandable English Podcast.
I'm Oliver and I haven't made a podcast for a while because I have been busy moving to Moscow.
Yes, that's right.
Right now I am in Russia.
I am in Moscow.
So, I moved to Moscow to work.
I have already finished university and I decided to return to Russia to work as an English teacher.
But, travelling back here wasn't very easy, especially during the coronavirus.
Today I would like to talk about my trip back to Russia, where I am right now, what I'm doing and what I think.
So first off, many people ask me why I moved back to Russia.
And the first response I usually have is after studying, I really want to keep improving my Russian.
It is definitely one of the main reasons.
And where better to improve your language than in the actual country itself?
The second main reason is because my girlfriend studies here in Moscow.
We had been apart a long time during the pandemic, so I really wanted to get out and see her and spend time with her again.
For me, it was a matter of getting here as quick as possible, as soon as possible, as soon as I finished my exams.
I managed to find a job teaching English in companies in Moscow.
So, this is primarily business English or English for business.
When I received the job offer, they decided to start doing the work invitation process.
Also, I apologize if there is some background noise.
I am currently staying in an Airbnb and outside the window there is a playground and there are lots and lots of noisy children and parents and it is very hard to get rid of the sound.
So the company that I work for issued me, they give me a work invitation and a work permit.
I then had to take this work invitation and go all the way to London from Belfast.
I had to fly over, stay overnight and then go to the Russian embassy or the Russian visa center the following morning.
I submitted the tons and tons of documents that are required.
I gave them my fingerprints and I paid the money for the visa and then returned home.
About a week later, I received my passport and visa back in the post by post.
I was very happy that everything went according to plan.
This meant that I could now travel to Russia as soon as possible.
I was quite concerned that because of coronavirus and increasing cases in the UK again that it maybe wouldn't be possible to fly to Russia in the future.
I booked my trip and I also booked a COVID test.
A test for coronavirus.
A week later, I did my COVID test.
Then one day later, I flew to London with the results and waited on my flight the next morning.
On the Sunday, so just about four days ago now, I flew to Finland from London, Helsinki.
And I transferred to another flight which went direct to Moscow.
I had finally arrived and there were no big issues.
Because I am from the United Kingdom, right now I have to stay in quarantine for two weeks.
So I'm not really allowed to leave my flat or my apartment.
And I have to just stay here, work online and make sure that I don't get sick with coronavirus.
After arriving, I met my girlfriend and I was so tired after all the traveling.
I'm still even a little bit tired now, because I think that before I traveled I was so stressed and trying to organize everything and make sure that everything went well.
It took a lot out of me.
It made me very tired.
But I didn't have a lot of time to fully rest.
The next morning I started my job and I have now began online classes and lessons with employees from companies all around Moscow.
So far it has been really great and I am very much enjoying this job.
However, it still feels strange being back in Russia again.
It doesn't feel like I'm back yet.
And I think that is because I have been stuck inside this apartment.
I haven't been able to go and use the metro or go to the park or see people.
It still feels very strange.
I think when you move anywhere, it takes a while for you to actually realize that you have moved countries, that you have made a very big life change.
And we would say the phrase, it hasn't yet sunk in.
So I haven't yet realized it properly.
When moving, there are so many things to think about, such as medical insurance, accommodation so where you will live transport, and even just grocery shopping and making a budget.
Right now I am trying to find somewhere to actually live.
The place where I am is only a temporary location.
It is a short-term rental location through Airbnb.
I'm looking for a long-term flat or apartment to rent.
One small observation after being back in Russia is that the weather in Moscow is so much better here at this time of year than it is in the United Kingdom.
It is very sunny and I find myself leaving the windows open at night time.
Otherwise, I just can't sleep with the windows closed.
It's too warm.
One other challenge of moving has been the Russian language.
Of course, I have studied Russian language for about three years now.
However, for the last eight months, I have been at home in the UK.
Because of quarantine and the coronavirus.
I spent a lot of time indoors inside, working and studying online.
I didn't have a lot of opportunities to practice Russian.
Because of this, I feel very rusty with my Russian language.
I'm finding it difficult to speak in Russian.
Even when I have been in the shop buying some groceries, buying some food, I have almost frozen up and been like what did that person say in my head?
But I understand that with time it will get easier again and I will continue to improve and get better and better with my Russian language.
Moving anywhere is very exciting and stressful at the same time.
Especially when it is so far away.
I only really realized today when I was lying in bed and I thought wow, I am so far away from my family and a lot of my friends and I know that I will have to make new friends and new contacts here in Moscow.
Of course I have my girlfriend, but If we ever break up or aren't together at the moment I don't really know anyone in Moscow
That's why it is so important to make contacts and make friends in the location that you move to.
But very soon i will spend a lot of time working developing the instagram tick tock and all of the other projects that i am working on.
It is such a great opportunity to be able to do this in russia, and i'm very thankful that i have this chance.
One other thing which surprised me is that no one here seems to be concerned about coronavirus.
Back home in the UK they are very, very strict about wearing masks and social distancing, but I noticed when I arrived here that even in the airport not a lot of people wore masks.
And in the local shop, almost no one is wearing masks.
This feels very strange to me at first and it will take a while to get used to it after being in the UK for so long again.
Once my quarantine ends, I really can't wait to start traveling around Moscow and going to some new locations, meeting new people and trying new things.
If you have any big recommendations about what to do in Moscow, please let me know.
Give me your suggestions and I would be really happy to hear them and chat about it.
And of course, I'm going to have so many more podcast topics to talk about now that I'm here.
It is a very different time in my life, with lots of new things happening and lots of new experiences.
And I can't wait to share a lot of them with all of you.
I hope that you enjoyed this podcast.
I really hope that you're very well.
And I hope that you have a wonderful, wonderful day.
Goodbye.
