Russians about life in New York: prices are always rising

As a teenager, Ilya from Samara moved to the United States for his studies, where he continues to receive education for several years in a row. As part of a series of materials about compatriots who have moved abroad, "Lenta.ru" published a Russian story about life in New York.

Photo: Instagram / ilevyant

In 16 years I moved to the United States on an F-1 student visa, first enrolling in a private school. The Masters School, and then - in Fordham University, a business school in Manhattan, which took only 80 people per year. After the first year of the university, they even managed to get a grant for special academic achievements.

The F-1 visa was very easy to get; all you need is a document confirming admission to an educational institution. After that, the process always went smoothly. The only thing that didn’t like and still doesn’t like is that Russians issue a student visa for exactly one year and need to renew it every year (pay a fee, send a passport to the embassy, ​​as a rule, leave the USA). At the same time, my friends from Kazakhstan were given a visa right away on 4 of the year of study. A bit offensive.

The decision to study in the USA was common with my family - parents always looked with interest to the West, more than once visited many European countries and, of course, in the USA. When there was a question about my future life, we chose the States, because with employment in Europe is very difficult. I accepted the idea of ​​getting an education in the USA with delight.

Here we must pay tribute to the parents: I am very grateful to them, as they supported me at every step - in passing difficult exams, preparing documents, finding housing. They provided me before I managed to find a job and start leading the channel to YouTube (Ilya publishes videos about life in the United States on the channel Gohello). I often write guys from Russia who want to go to study abroad, but this is hampered by parents, and after all their support is the most important thing.

I had a certain idea about the United States from previous trips, but coming here as a tourist and living on an ongoing basis, getting an education, looking for a job, making contacts is absolutely different, incomparable things. Many have the feeling that, living in New York, you walk in Time Square every day, you meet the stars, enjoy the city, but this is not so. This can be done in those rare moments when there is free time, which is extremely small in a busy metropolis.

Students here have no free time at all: almost everybody has work or practice in parallel with full-time education, and often this is done not for money, but for the sake of experience in resumes. I myself am not an exception: in the second year I did an unpaid internship in one of the Russian banks, and this year I practice in the US and receive money. Yes, by American standards, my earnings are very small, but for me this is more of an invaluable experience than an opportunity to earn. The money will come later.

At first it was not easy, but it is understandable: you break up with your former life, with your friends, with your home. You have to live in a new language environment, and no matter how well you know English (and I knew him very well for a Russian), you still face misunderstanding. It took several months before I felt that I understood 99 percent of the speech of new American friends. But this fact once again confirms that the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in the language environment.

In the first year my parents helped me a lot: they tried to come as often as possible, and my mother lived in the USA almost all the time. In general, when you move to a new place, you start a new life, it is important that there are people around who will listen and support. For me, these people were my parents and a girl - despite the distance, we constantly keep in touch.

With housing in New York is very difficult - the prices are always rising. But in recent years, this has been felt especially acutely because of the large influx of Chinese students.

The first year of the university I lived in a hostel, but it turned out to be too expensive. Then I set off in search of an apartment.

In New York, this option is better for several reasons. Firstly, it is really cheaper. Secondly, there is no control from the university: do what you want, how much you want and when you want. This was especially enraged at the hostel: there was a time when I could not invite my girlfriend to the hostel and had to carry her through secret passages. Well, and thirdly, it is always more pleasant to have your own room, and not to share it with your African-American neighbor. By the way, Derek (that was his name) remained a good friend to me. It was the first American with whom I had to share space, and I understood a lot about Americans, living with him for a year in one room.

Now renting an apartment with two Americans in the Long Island City area of ​​Queens, It is about 20 minutes from my university. The area is actively developing - it offers an amazing panorama of Manhattan.

As for the service, there is a moment that annoys not only me - the size of the tip in restaurants and cafes. In the US, it is considered an insult if you leave less than 10 percent of the tea order. The fact is that the waiters' salaries are below the minimum and they live solely on tips, which is why quite expensive dishes in restaurants turn into really expensive ones after you add taxes and compliments to the waiter. But you can't get anywhere, you want to live in New York and go to restaurants - pay.

For me, this was a shock, but for almost all of my American friends I am the first Russian with whom they had to communicate. Of course, there are guys whose parents immigrated to the USA in 80-90, they know Russian, but were born in the States and already consider themselves to be Americans. I was born and lived in Samara before 16, so for many Americans I am the first “real Russian”.

They accepted me very well - in general there is a culture of communication with those who come from another country. It is clear, because the US - Melting Pot, or “melting pot” of hundreds of nations and nationalities, therefore, the attitude towards visitors is appropriate. Of course, I was asked questions like “Do you only drink vodka?” Or “Do you have bears walking through the streets?”, But this is more like jokes and jokes that I have never offended. I asked simple questions about Russia familiar to Americans, and some of the answers struck me! The main associations of Americans with Russia are Putin, vodka, cold. Many responded that they tried our kitchen. Many have Russian friends.

The Americans are very interested in Russia and the Russians. My friends from the university constantly ask about Russia, about people, and especially often about the kitchen. I celebrated my 20 anniversary in a Russian restaurant Mari vannaso local friends finally try my favorite dishes. They are also very interested in culture and art. My neighbor Johnny, for example, constantly asks about the Russian groups, we went to the Mumiy Troll concert in New York together, and he was delighted.

With friend Johnny at a concert of the Mumiy Troll group. Photo: instagram.com/ilevyant/

The most important thing for me now is to graduate with honors from university, to continue working in Morgan Stanley, make more friends and further develop YouTube-channel. 185 has already been signed by thousands of people, and I feel a certain responsibility. I can continue to develop it only in New York. That is why I hope that in the next few years my life will be connected with America. This, of course, does not mean that I do not miss Russia. It is very likely that one day I will return, since the education and the experience that I am getting now can be useful in my homeland.

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