|
I wouldn't want to live in Houston either, lol.
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2015 21:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 09:14 |
|
|
Yeah you should be aware that the US is extremely diverse and you might fit in a lot more in some non-lovely part of the country. I am willing to bet you would like Montana. But there is indeed a lot to dislike about the US, especially coming from Russia, and it looks like Siberia is a beautiful place to live (with insanely cheap internet!)
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2015 21:35
|
|
|
Yeah, with the U.S. Around 320 million people and as large as it is, it's very easy to hate one location and love another. It also helps that such an enormous portion of the continental US is easily inhabitable compared to other large countries with huge arctic or subarctic areas or deserts. Looking at China's population density map is pretty alarming compared to how much space is just empty. Houston is pretty bad, climate wise. A humid, swampy area full of oil industry. Yuck.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2015 21:56
|
|
|
Of course, I know that in the USA is a lot of states, at states have different climatic zones, laws can differ... But immigration is not tourism. One thing - to arrive to the country for 2 weeks, another thing - to live in the country during 2-3 years or all life. I very much appreciate financial independence: opportunity to live without the credits, to have pecuniary accumulations. I very much appreciate a freedom of choice. As it appeared, in the USA I have less freedom of choice, than in Russia. It concerns housing, schools, kindergartens, medicine etc. Very important point - medicine. I don't accept system of medical care in the USA. To me the life in the USA is not comfortably.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 06:34
|
|
|
mlmp08 posted:Houston is pretty bad, climate wise. A humid, swampy area full of oil industry. Yuck. In the Tomsk region there is a part of Vasyugan Swamp. (one of the biggest swamps in the world.))))))))))) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasyugan_Swamp Vasyugan Swamp (http://www.liveinternet.ru/community/geo_club/post117164026/)      [
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 06:42
|
|
|
I love the photos.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 06:43
|
|
|
utjkju posted:I have not visited in the USA. (2013) Hahaha, I don't blame you for not wanting to go back to Houston. I am sorry that it was your experience with the US, I hope you get a chance to visit again and see better parts of the country.  wilfredmerriweathr posted:Yeah you should be aware that the US is extremely diverse and you might fit in a lot more in some non-lovely part of the country. I am willing to bet you would like Montana. ^^ this, you would really like Montana.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 09:33
|
|
|
utjkju posted:In the Tomsk region there is a part of Vasyugan Swamp. (one of the biggest swamps in the world.))))))))))) Whoa! Very very nice pictures - love them One thing, I'd love to do one day, is to go somewhere around Tomsk and do a bit of kayaking (if that's possible?). Are there any kayaking clubs in the Tomsk region?
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 11:32
|
|
|
Mind if I answer that? Clubs? Certainly, kayaking in tomsk though... not really? Altai is popular, so is Sayani. Kamchatka, some caucasus regions, Baikal lake, Karelia(My personal favourite) etc.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 13:28
|
|
|
Kidney Stone posted:Whoa! Very very nice pictures - love them In Tomsk there are clubs which are engaged water activities (rafting). My husband swam on (какой предлог тут будет правильным?) bidarka in the Tomsk region when was at the age of 14 years. I swam in Kuznetsk Alatau on (?) a catamaran (at the age of 15 years), and the doctor, who worked in camp, swam on (?) a kayak. bidarka  catamaran  kayak  (photo from Yandex) utjkju fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Mar 26, 2015 |
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 14:25
|
|
|
HoratioRash posted:Mind if I answer that? Clubs? Certainly, kayaking in tomsk though... not really? Altai is popular, so is Sayani. Kamchatka, some caucasus regions, Baikal lake, Karelia(My personal favourite) etc. Karelia is very beautiful.)
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 15:02
|
|
|
utjkju posted:In Tomsk there are clubs which are engaged water activities (rafting). In English you would say "in" for smaller boats like kayak's or canoes, and "on" for larger boats like yachts or cruise ships. You can also use the nous as a verb. So you can say "I kayaked in Kuznetsk Alatu." Swimming is only for when you are in the water without any raft or boat.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2015 22:29
|
|
|
Patrick Spens posted:In English you would say "in" for smaller boats like kayak's or canoes, and "on" for larger boats like yachts or cruise ships. You can also use the nous as a verb. So you can say "I kayaked in Kuznetsk Alatu." Swimming is only for when you are in the water without any raft or boat. Thanks In what cases I can use the word "rafting"? I kayaked in a catamaran in Kuznetskiy Alatu. (correctly?) Is it rafting? (Kuznetskiy Alatu, Kyzyr river). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m4MrrdM24U
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2015 04:18
|
|
|
utjkju posted:Thanks "rafting" would be used to show you were riding on a raft. A raft is usually a fairly large, flat-bottomed boat either made of wood or inflatable generally holding four or more people at once. Often something like this:  Rafting is also used in a more general sense of just being on the river in some sort of boat. People will say they're going "white water rafting" and might actually use a raft, or catamarans or even canoes or kayaks.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2015 05:05
|
|
|
Thanks for an amazing thread, op. Its been a fascinating read, and the photos are all absolutely wonderful.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 02:12
|
|
|
utjkju posted:After a trip to the Czech Republic and Germany, we refused the offer on work in Germany. Why did you refuse Germany?
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 02:20
|
|
|
jyrka posted:Why did you refuse Germany? The main reason - a balance of the income and expenses. The employer offered a salary more, than in Russia. The contract for 2 years. We started considering offer, communicated with people who worked in Germany under the same contracts. It appeared that expenses in Germany it is much more, than in Russia (later, during travel we saw this). Despite a big salary it is impossible to make financial accumulation because of heavy expenses. In Russia I have financial accumulation. The system of medical care in Germany is much better, than in the USA. This is plus for Germany. Still I very much love heat. For comfortable life I need +22 +23 degrees (air temperature) Celsius to the apartment. And in Germany very expensive heating. I don't want to live at +17 +18 degrees Celsius.))) Besides, when price of oil fell, in Germany to engineers lowered a salary twice. In Russia the salary wasn't lowered.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 06:43
|
|
|
Anticheese posted:Thanks for an amazing thread, op. Its been a fascinating read, and the photos are all absolutely wonderful. Thanks.) Deteriorata posted:"rafting" would be used to show you were riding on a raft. A raft is usually a fairly large, flat-bottomed boat either made of wood or inflatable generally holding four or more people at once. Often something like this: Thanks.)
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 06:45
|
|
|
utjkju posted:The main reason - a balance of the income and expenses. The employer offered a salary more, than in Russia. The contract for 2 years. Germany has some very major price fluctuation between different parts of it. The East, outside of Berlin, is cheap. Even in Berlin, I found some things to be less expensive then in Moscow. Far more expensive then in Cheljabinsk (my other point of reference) though. Munich is very expensive. so is Frankfurt am Main and most of the South West. Ruhr Area can be pretty cheap, Hamburg is nearly as expensive as Munich. Salaries also fluctuate. Having a "Berlin Salary" in Munich is hilariously bad, if that was your offer, you were very wise to reject it. Do you own your flat or are you on one of these "like renting, but you actually gradually buy your appartment instead" things that are pretty drat cool about Russia?
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 13:36
|
|
|
The Red Bull team in the Formula 1 have sponsor from Tomsk.)))))) http://sergeydolya.livejournal.com/946597.html#comments  Exness https://www.exness.com/about_us/
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 18:48
|
|
|
The salary of engineers getting lowered due to Oil price would probably be illegal under German law btw., unless the engineers are under some hilariously bad "Werkverträge" which are like pretty crappy contracts. I have never seen any kind of onctract in which the salary is tied to oil, now what does indeed happen is boni being denied due to external factors.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 18:50
|
|
|
Mightypeon posted:The salary of engineers getting lowered due to Oil price would probably be illegal under German law btw., unless the engineers are under some hilariously bad "Werkverträge" which are like pretty crappy contracts. The salary isn't tied with price of oil. But the employer can always tell: "Or we change the contract, or we dismiss you." It is always possible to make the additional agreement to the contract.) Mightypeon posted:Do you own your flat or are you on one of these "like renting, but you actually gradually buy your appartment instead" things that are pretty drat cool about Russia? I can't understand this question. I understood that about the apartment and property... But what exactly?
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 18:58
|
|
|
As far as I am aware, in Russia there are many schemes were you rent a house/flat/appartment, but the rent is not only rent but also starts to gradually buy the house/flat/appartment, instead of just renting it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2015 01:01
|
|
|
In the US that is called Rent to Own. More common on furniture and stuff, and less common now since you just get a mortgage, but the concept was the same.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2015 07:21
|
|
|
utjkju posted:
Вопрос по собственности жилья лично вам. Типа вы живете на ипотечной квартире, снимаете, или "рент ту овн" которое, как я понял, квартира снимается но какбе этими платежами выкупаете квартиру So what's the diffrence between that "rent to own" and just... mortgage?
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2015 15:53
|
|
|
HoratioRash posted:Вопрос по собственности жилья лично вам. Типа вы живете на ипотечной квартире, снимаете, или "рент ту овн" которое, как я понял, квартира снимается но какбе этими платежами выкупаете квартиру As I understand, Mortgage means you buy the house, move in, and then start paying it down. If you can no longer pay, you still have the debt unless you can sell the house to somebody else. This also makes it tricky to relocate I guess. Rent to own is more like, you move into the house, and start gradually buying instead of renting it. You can stop at any moment without being addled by the house or by the debt. Note that real estate is not my area of expertise, but this is how I understand the difference.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2015 16:37
|
|
|
Mightypeon posted:As far as I am aware, in Russia there are many schemes were you rent a house/flat/appartment, but the rent is not only rent but also starts to gradually buy the house/flat/appartment, instead of just renting it. This is рассрочка.) This is a little widespread way of purchase of housing in Russia. People take a mortgage. The mortgage in Russia is the credit for 20-30 years (it is possible for 3, 5, 10 years, etc.) under about 13,5-16% per annum. Thus it is possible to extinguish the credit ahead of schedule without penalties. Payments can be differential or annuity. A bank register encumbrance of the apartment - you can't make the transaction on property sale without the permission of bank. The most widespread plan: People make out the credit for 20 years. Payments is annuity. Monthly payment is minimum possible from all options. People extinguish credit ahead of schedule (people make payment large, than are determined by the schedule of payments). Monthly payment is recalculated for the rest of a principal debt. Thus the mortgage is paid in 3-5 years. It is more favorable than rent of housing. I have a mortgage. In April we will make the last payment and bank will remove encumbrance of apartment (flat). We paid the credit for 3 years. I don't want to take the credit more. The income of my family increased. Now we can buy other apartment without the credit. Annuity payments  Differential payments. 
utjkju fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Mar 30, 2015 |
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2015 01:56
|
|
|
What's your house/apartment like? Is it a house? Do you have a lot of space? Does it look like a Soviet concrete block tenement out is it more fancy? Do you have a backyard? Is it similar to others in the area?
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2015 09:51
|
|
|
ImPureAwesome posted:What's your house/apartment like? Is it a house? Do you have a lot of space? Does it look like a Soviet concrete block tenement out is it more fancy? Do you have a backyard? Is it similar to others in the area? It isn't a lot of fancy in my apartment. It is standard building, with the improved planning. One of the most important criteria of the apartment is a liquidity, but not the fancy. ))) Liquidity is influenced by the housing cost, the area of the apartment and the district of the city. When you buy the apartment it is necessary to think how you will sell it. We have very liquid apartments have of 40-60 square meters. Big apartments are on sale very badly. Very small apartments are also on sale badly. During life people can often change a residence. Therefore it is always necessary to think of liquidity of the apartment. Similar houses are and in other cities of Russia. And here by an old age we want to build the house. (At the age of 50-60 years) View from a loggia of my apartment  
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2015 10:27
|
|
|
http://art-links.livejournal.com/2549850.html Ostad Mahmoud Farshchian from Iran It's very beautiful          
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2015 07:17
|
|
|
Thats amazing, I would love to hang one of these in my home.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2015 13:08
|
|
|
utjkju posted:One of the most important criteria of the apartment is a liquidity, but not the fancy. ))) Liquidity is influenced by the housing cost, the area of the apartment and the district of the city. Have you wanted/needed to move often? Would it be easy to move if you wanted to live somewhere else? I vaguely remember someone telling me you have to do a lot of paperwork to move around in Russia, but I might be mis-remembering Thanks again!
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2015 13:21
|
|
|
ImPureAwesome posted:Have you wanted/needed to move often? Would it be easy to move if you wanted to live somewhere else? I vaguely remember someone telling me you have to do a lot of paperwork to move around in Russia, but I might be mis-remembering Thanks again! We often move - we travel, work, etc. To move easily everywhere, in any city, between the cities (move around in Russia) , between the countries. Restrictions can be connected only with a visa regime of other country. For example, if I want to go to America, I need to receive the visa of America. I take in travel the passport, the health insurance, the driver's license. It everything that can be necessary.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2015 13:57
|
|
|
Photos of the district of the city in which I live. The company which built this district: http://tdsk.tomsk.ru/customers/microraions/?id=7  My house second in the photo   In this photo. The house at the left - a house in which I live. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2015 14:26
|
|
|
Thank you for a great thread! It is very easy to think about people in distant countries and imagine that they must be very different, but a lot of the things you've said resonate with me as a Canadian. We may smile too much (you must think we are idiots?) and we say things about our own leaders and the leaders of other countries that you might find disrespectful, but in many other ways we are similar people. I especially like the Russian perspective on history: You've said several times in this thread that there is no good history or bad history, there is only history, and I think that's pretty enlightened. Maybe we aren't that mature yet because our history is very short, so people take it personally instead of trying to see it as the steps that have taken us to where we are now. You should visit us sometime. The pictures you've posted make me think of what British Columbia (our westernmost province) would look like if it were cold. Seeing at least some of Russia (probably outside of the common tourist locations, to get the chance to meet some people who aren't already sick to death of westerners and their stupid cameras) is definitely on my list of things to do. I just have to get the pronunciation and basic grammar down first. utjkju posted:As it appeared, in the USA I have less freedom of choice, than in Russia. It concerns housing, schools, kindergartens, medicine etc. Not many people accept that system Can you tell me more about the freedom of housing and schools where you are? In Canada, our young children go to either a public secular school (they are okay), a public Catholic school (better quality but they insist on religious teachings) or a private school that you pay for yourself. After your twelfth year of school, you may try to start unskilled work right away, go to a community college to learn a trade like welding or fixing machines, or go to university to finish a degree so you can get a job that "requires a degree" that is probably not at all related to your field of study.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2015 14:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 09:14 |
|
|
utjkju posted:We often move - we travel, work, etc. Sorry, I was confusing, I used two different definitions of 'move' in my post. For the first question I more meant have you lived in a lot of different apartments/cities? In America, if you change where you live you can said to have 'moved'. For example: I used to live in New York but it was to expensive so I moved to Chicago
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2015 23:31
|
|