City of Happiness: the story of a Muscovite who moved to San Francisco - ForumDaily
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City of Happiness: the story of a Muscovite who moved to San Francisco

One of the most beautiful cities in America is also famous for the fact that the world's largest number of high-tech companies are concentrated here. This place is more known as Silicon or Silicon Valley.

«Lenta.ru report"Talked with Ivan Tolmachyov, who managed to live in different countries and settled in San Francisco.

People from the Valley

In 2012, my wife and I tried what I call “digital nomadism”. I am a designer of various products, I have a consulting business, and I can work from anywhere. At first we took a vacation and tried to live in Cyprus, stayed there for 3 for a month, then for some time lived in Berlin, then in London. Accommodation was rented mainly through airbnb. I remember when we lived in Barcelona, ​​I bought a ring for my future wife for the last money (and then there were certain difficulties). We took public transport and for 20 the euro reached Andorra. It was the beginning of spring, everything blossomed, and there I proposed to Tanya.

At the beginning of 2015, I launched one startup, and within a year we managed to sell it. I continued to work for the company that acquired our development, and at the same time was engaged in another project. At that time, we lived in London, and it became obvious to me that I could grow in Silicon Valley in terms of a career. I was contacted by people from the Valley, they offered to do a startup that deals with all sorts of logistic things: it helps any business to deliver anything anywhere. The project allows you to calculate the logistics, see where the goods are located, and even the driver who carries it. We have about a million deliveries per month, and we want to launch the Russian-speaking version for the 2018 World Cup.

For San Francisco, this is typical: you arrive, and after 2 of the month it becomes clear whether your business is working or not.

City for the rich

I immediately liked San Francisco, but my wife did the opposite. There are almost every day some meetings on design projects, a very fast movement within this industry. Tanya also worked in another field and was not so impressed with the city.

San Francisco just seems like a village, especially after Moscow: there are certain rules for supermarkets and clubs, after 10 evenings the city is dying out - even on weekends. People are either at home or somewhere else, but the streets are empty.

Over the past 5 years, this place has been flooded with IT specialists and designers, payroll sheets in each company have swelled very much. The city is rather strange: I read somewhere that the developers Facebookwho received $ 100-150 thousand per year, could not take a mortgage here.

Insulating tape for windows

It is wildly difficult to rent an apartment, there are few of them: because of seismic activity, low houses are more often built here. Once, in front of our nose, a magnificent apartment overlooking the ocean went away: at the same time, the 30 man came to watch it.

Our first apartment cost $ 3 thousands per month. There was no heating in it, only electric generators, for which we paid separately. Once, in the winter, we turned on these generators at full power, and at the end of the month an electricity bill for $ 250 came. We decided not to include these batteries anymore. They wrote to our landlord that it was very cold, and one day he slipped us under the door with electrical tape with cotton wool to warm the windows. After that, we decided that it was easier to wear 2 sweaters.

Later we rented a better apartment: everything is great here, and we also pay less - $ 2,8 thousands per month. This price is rather average: a luxurious one-room apartment can cost $ 6-7 thousand, in the downtown there are also such prices. In general, it is unnecessarily expensive - mainly due to the fact that supply and demand vary greatly. For example, in Seattle, people get the same money, but they pay a thousand dollars less for housing. And in the suburb of San Francisco, Auckland, my friend rents an apartment for $ 1,8 thousands, but Auckland is not the safest place to live. In any case, the real estate market in the area is bloated, and people living here hope that someday this bubble will burst.

Stained glass with Gagarin and yoga in the church

In Russia, we are used to the fact that every house has a washing machine, but there is no such thing here: people go to the laundry, throw a coin, put powder and wash it. Then dry things separately. There are laundries that do everything for you, but it is much more expensive.

We live next to the cathedral: it is of classical architecture, but inside it is like a temple of all religions: Catholic and Orthodox icons hang there, a portrait of Martin Luther King. There is also a memorial to those who died from AIDS and a stained glass window with a portrait of Yuri Gagarin. And every Tuesday there is yoga. Amazing church!

Russian California

Almost all the guests who come to us believe that only the Golden Gate Bridge and the pier stand here. It hurts me, because San Francisco has a deep history and many attractions. I try to drive everyone to more interesting places. For example, there are free tours provided by libraries: guides for them are mostly pensioners who are in love with the city and know it well.

The city is multifaceted and very lively, I call it Babylon - there is a huge number of nationalities. He began to settle in the middle of the XIX century, when they found gold in the mountains of Sacramento. People from all over the world who learned about gold, sailed here - including from Russia. All arrivals immediately went to the mountains: it is funny that almost none of them earned anything - everything went to those who already lived here. And the people who got rich were pickaxes, shovels and housing. Here I see a funny analogy with startups.

You can plan your own learning

The work allowed me to apply for the O1 visa, the wife received the O3 visa - she studies at Berkeley University in her, she fills her marketing knowledge. Her goal is to complete an MBA and build a business. The University of Berkeley is a state one; many who study here are not enrolled at Stanford.

At the university, you can sign up for various programs, Tanya now has 12 units in the year. She can choose the subjects that are most interesting to her, and sign up for them, to make her own schedule. All studies are not paid immediately, but as a set of subjects. This program is fairly affordable, about $ 5 thousand. But there is a nuance: if my wife would just come here to study, she would study in an international full-time group - 5 days a week for 5 months. The “home” students have the opportunity to plan their studies themselves, choosing courses: Tanya only includes the cost of her studies, she attends lectures once a week, and 8 takes months to study somewhere.

Many people use this kind of training system - they come overgrown with connections, try to cling to work. Such studies can last much less than 5 years and do not interfere with family life.

Taxi without driver

San Francisco is an innovative city. Here you can get any food with delivery literally in 15 minutes - this is the service of the future. Recently opened a cafe where robots serve coffee. And there are cars Uberwho drive without a driver while they are working in test mode. We here have forgotten what cash is: they simply do not exist here, they accept cards everywhere and Apple Pay.

The restaurant business is very developed, there are many Michelin institutions, where everything is insanely expensive. I remember how we came to our parents for Christmas in Europe, looked at the prices in restaurants in Rome and realized that it is half the price than in San Francisco.

Sausages, cheeses, wine - all local

The city has a huge amount of greenery, and people are engaged in various kinds of sports in the fresh air: there are walkers, kayakers, paragliders. Surfing was born not far away - in the town of Santa Cruz, where the Hawaiians brought him.

California's nature is astounding. Three hours to the north - and you get to the ski resort near Lake Tahoe. Five hours to the south - and there is already Los Angeles, warm and beaches. It is full of valleys in which wine is made as good as Spanish or Italian.

California is very similar to Italy in terms of climate and agri-cultural sector. Like in Italy, everything grows here. In the States, they learned to sausage sausage, make cheese. There are some imported products, but basically all of their own. If you buy in the supermarket for a week, it will be released somewhere $ 120. All week you can then cook at home, without buying anything, and something else from the food can remain. In general, the prices of products can be compared with Moscow.

We watch the weather in newspapers, not news

Americans are a joyful people. Someone will say that this is a stupid, insincere joy. I think she is sincere. I am very comfortable to be among Americans, to communicate with them. They are interested in my opinion, as a Russian, on political issues. For example, about Syria. I am such a person in the world who believes that if all people spoke the same language, there would be no disagreement. The average person from New York is similar to the average person from Moscow. After Trump was elected, they began to make fun of us, saying that we influenced their choices. In general, we became apolitical in San Francisco, we read the weather forecast rather than the news in newspapers. In general, on the west coast of the United States all the more relaxed, more loving.

There are people who moved here after the collapse of the USSR - they live in a separate block, we drive in there if we want to buy caviar or pies. You come up there to the saleswoman and think: “Why aren't you smiling? Near the ocean, everything is so beautiful ... ". And people who have moved in the last 5-10 years are completely different, easy to communicate with. Just those who moved after the collapse of the Union, did not assimilate - they got here by the will of fate.

City of happiness

It all worked out more than well for me: apart from working on a startup, I became a design advisor in a venture capital fund. Xenon Ventures, a mentor and a jury member in a business incubator Getaway incubatorand also an honorary member AIGA.

Neither I nor my wife are sure that we want to stay in the States: there are so many places where we have not been! It is clear that from an economic point of view in San Francisco to get our own housing, designed to increase the family, for us is unrealistic. We do not consider obtaining citizenship, but we would like to get a green card - this will allow us to move to a place where life is cheaper. If we move, then within California.

If you like a city and you are happy in it, then you have to live in it. I can not say that San Francisco is such a city, but so far happier than here, I did not feel myself anywhere. Probably, the weather affects the choice of place to live. For example, London is a gorgeous metropolis, but the weather is terrible.

We thought about this option to live in Moscow in the summer and spend the rest of the time in San Francisco. I am lucky that I can work from anywhere in the world where there is Internet: “digital nomadism” still sits in my soul. I want to try to live there and there, and there - there are many interesting places around the world. At the same time, Russia will always be in our plans: just recently I woke up in 6 in the morning specifically to watch the match CSKA - Krasnodar. I am not an immigrant who hates Russia, I just love to travel, I am a citizen of the world who wants to move freely.

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