International student studying GSOM in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Personal challenges

The first and maybe the biggest challenge to overcome was living in the dorms. Not only they were located about 1,5 hours away from the city center, but the living standard was hardly acceptable. When I first entered my room, which I shared with another girl, I found garbage and dirt on and underneath my bed. The showers (one shower room for each floor) was shared and cleaned by students. Accordingly, the floor was constantly covered in a mix of water, hair and dust - the kitchen was about in the same condition. There were no rooms to socialize with fellow international students, which made getting to know other students rather difficult. After 3 weeks we moved out. We chose a suburban area in between campus and the center to save time on traveling, but that triggered new problems: the new location was inconvenient for people we got to know during the orientation week, so we faced troubles staying in touch like before. Sometimes I felt a bit left out from the social life of the center, but I am glad I had my flatmate, who made the situation a lot better! Another obstacle was our landlord who came up with some ridiculous reasons and refused to give back our deposit at the end of our stay. Even though we used agent services to find a flat, we faced a lot of trouble when moving out.

Personal takeaways

As already mentioned, living at the dorm was a big challenge for me, so moving out was definitely the best possible solution. BUT! There are some things to consider when looking for an apartment abroad: 1. Get help! If you are not a local citizen or your language skills are not sufficient, look for someone who can help you. In the best case you get an agent who speaks your language and also will guide you through the whole process. Our agent did not speak English therefore she could not understand what we needed exactly. Also after we moved in she did not care anymore, so don’t forget to do your research beforehand: ask local students (classmates, buddies, mentors) or university representatives. The best option is to look for a flat long before you go abroad. 2. Even though the travel time may be longer, move as close to the center as possible (or close to other students) - this makes socializing a lot more convenient. Regarding social life, I would absolutely recommend participating in the intro week from the very beginning. I came 3 days late and realized that students already formed their groups. After the intro program fix up exact dates to meet with your peers: explore the city, party and so on. We all know that „let’s hang out sometime” is not going to happen, however optimistic it sounds. As a conclusion, be extroverted, open-minded and do not be afraid to be yourself. I think that is the only way to enjoy your life abroad to the fullest.

Academic challenges

First, I have to say that the school system was very different what I got used to in Austria. At my Russian host institution students had a strict, premade schedule to follow and they usually started university right after high school, often at age 16-17. In contrast with that, in Austria, students form their schedule and register to each seminar separately. Furthermore, it is not unusual to work before or at least during your studies, so all these might be the reasons why the mentality of local students seemed to be rather immature. You could sometimes clearly see that the motivation to continue their studies had a simple extrinsic nature (parents, society) and this led to an unfavourable class atmosphere. Frankly speaking, in most of my courses local students did not care about the subject and instead of listening to the professors, they discussed personal issues during class. I was not used to this approach, so I found it very disturbing and interruptive. It was a vicious circle, because this affected the quality of the lectures, and that bothered me even more. Another issue was the available facilities on the Campus. Even though there were 2 cafeterias and one canteen, it was possible (and happened a couple of times) that none of them were open. Due to the deep suburban campus, there was a good chance you spent the whole day at the Campus without food. As regards to my Russian learning efforts, I could have done a lot better. Even though I promised myself before my exchange that I would spend time with Russian students, I did not do it enough or spoke only in English with them.

Academic takeaways

For the Campus cafeteria issues there is a simple fix: bring your own food! There is not much that to be done about the motivation of local students, but there is something else that can be done by you. First of all, don’t take it to the heart if your peers are discussing other topics while you are presenting in front of them. It’s not worth getting mad at them for doing it, you will get used to it throughout the semester. If you are really interested in a topic, talk to the professors, I perceived them as very friendly and helpful – in most cases that is true for profs, because they have an always motivated, researcher attitude. For the Campus cafeteria issues there is a simple fix: bring your own food! Last but not least, take every chance you get to use the local language as much as possible. Most importantly, do not feel embarrassed about your language knowledge, you are learning by making mistakes. In case your foreign language skills are not good enough to speak out loud in front of a group of people, then look for someone who is ready for a language and cultural exchange with you. But you ought to try!