Three stories of Americans who moved to Russia

US Treasury Department 29 January Published "Kremlin list" - a list of “approximate” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, against which new sanctions may be imposed (although some of these people are already under sanctions). In Russia, the appearance of the list was called "political paranoia." «Medusa» talked with US citizens living in Russia about how politics affects their daily lives. ForumDaily publishes an abbreviated version of the article.

Andy Freck, Mytishchi, entrepreneur, in Russia for about 19 years

Andy Freck's Facebook Page

I moved to Russia in 1999 year. He flew to Perm on religious matters - as a missionary in the Christian mission. I knew little about Russia then, it was a real extreme. I immediately liked everything, despite the frost in 40 degrees and so on. I moved to Moscow in 2010, when I started doing business - helping expats find housing. Now my family and I live in Mytishchi: the children did not want to live in an apartment, and we live in a private house. They like it, and I travel to Moscow by train.

When I first arrived, the attitude towards the Americans was rather tense due to the conflict in Yugoslavia. For various reasons, this voltage persisted throughout the 19 years. As from the very beginning, everyone was suspicious of me, so it continues to this day. Who knows me well — laughs, but almost every day someone jokingly hints that I am a CIA agent or something. After all, it cannot be that an American just lived in Russia.

At the official level, I have never had a problem because I am an American. Neither in business, nor in migration service, nor in tax, anywhere. Everywhere are treated very well; on the contrary, they are trying to help. But on the street, someone can say something when they hear the accent. When meeting me they ask me: why did you come? And I answer: Russia is a great country, why are you surprised that someone might want to live here?

I really like Russia. You can simultaneously love both countries - both Russia and America. This is nothing like that.

In Russia, people are like nuts: hard outside and soft inside; in America - the opposite. When a Russian man smiles, it means that he is really fine. If an American smiles - it means that he is at work and should smile. I also like that if a Russian really works, he directly plows, if he is lazy, then a lazy person cannot be found. All in the extremes, it is amazing.

In recent years, when relations between countries have deteriorated, this has affected my life only in that they began to talk more about the conflict. Many think that either Obama or the State Department is to blame for everything. I see some inscriptions about Obama in cars. But when I talk to the Russians, everything is going peacefully with us. There is no aggression, people just want to speak out, explain their point of view on the situation: every citizen of Russia has something to say to the US State Department, but they cannot reach him. And I - here he is, you can talk to me. So usually I just listen, I do not impose anything on anyone.

Of course, it is psychologically annoying that the states cannot find a common language, but so far the sanctions do not particularly affect me. Yes, there are fewer expats, this is bad for business. Well, the other cheese has become in stores - it's not so bad, I don’t eat it myself. Today I read about this list in the media, I believe that America behaves incorrectly, imposing sanctions. Even if Russia did something wrong, why should America teach it?

Now both of our states are doing wrong, but we, ordinary people, should just live in peace and enjoy life. And while we seem to be working.

Benjamin Davis, St. Petersburg, writer, in Russia for more than a year and a half

From the Benjamin Davis Archive

In the US, I lived in a small town in Massachusetts. There he studied for a philosopher, then worked as an orderly at a hospital. One of the patients died - it was not my fault, but it was difficult for me to put up with it, and I left the hospital. Then I was offered to go to teach in China, and I agreed. There I decided to travel further, turned out to be in Russia, I spent the year 2017 in St. Petersburg. With my friend, Russian artist Nikita Klimov, we agreed that every day I would write one story about Russia, and Nikita would do illustrations for them. Our project is available Online Training: For those who prefer the flexibility of learning from a distance or cannot make it to our Sofia location, we offer comprehensive online courses..

When I moved to Russia, I didn’t think about politics. I was not embarrassed by anything but cold weather. My interest in Russia is not political, but cultural. I thought even then, and now I believe that people are the same in all countries. Russia is no exception.

Relations between our countries do not affect my life. Most of my friends are Russian, my girlfriend is Russian. I constantly communicate with Russians, and acquaintance always happens the same. They ask why I moved to Russia, and I answer them: “I don’t know, but I’m very happy that I did it.” After that, everything goes very friendly.

In the work of my origin, too, does not interfere. My stories are read by quite a lot of people from Russia, they use them as an exercise in English. But they sometimes ask: “What the hell did you move to Russia?”.

I especially do not come across anti-Americanism. Some sellers in the store are smiling at my Russian friends, but frown when I cannot understand something in Russian.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where countries impose sanctions against each other. Even worse, they are sometimes necessary. If we talk about previous sanctions, then I have mixed feelings. America interferes in the affairs of other countries more often than others. But they don’t like it when other countries try to do the same.

Of course, from time to time I come to the United States, but I do not plan to move there and leave Russia for a long time. I thought what sentence would describe life in Russia. Thus: “Cold, darkness, sea of ​​vodka and secrets,” but I like it.

Max Kupsen, St. Petersburg, English teacher, has been living in Russia for more than two years

Max Cupsen's page on VKontakte

I first came to Russia on December 31 2015 of the year. I flew to Ekaterinburg — met a girl from there, we met in Seoul, where I had previously lived and worked. My first impression of the country is a huge holiday. But in the Urals, I did not linger. It was difficult to find a job, and very cold. For several days it was −40 degrees, my eyelids just froze into one when I went out into the street. So I decided to leave Ekaterinburg, but stay in Russia, because I liked it here. Of course, it’s still cold, but I like it, and I love traveling: when I lived in the USA, I visited 46 states, and then I went to other countries. Russians often ask me why I moved here, because many of them, on the contrary, want to leave for the United States. I think it is almost the same. People just want to try something new, and if you can live a good life in another country, that's great.

From Ekaterinburg I moved to Petersburg, where it is much easier to find friends and work. A couple of times a year I fly to a family in the USA, but I constantly live here. In two years I learned a lot about Russia. When I first arrived, I had a typical American opinion about your country: Russians live under the control of a dictator and have no rights. I was a little nervous in the first months, I thought that the FSB could watch me or listen to me. But then I realized that it was all fiction - I’m not such an important person for the FSB to steam about me. Until now, only nervous that I can be deported at any time. For example, Trump will write some stupid tweet, and Putin will decide to take revenge.

In ordinary life, I noticed the negative attitude of Russians towards the United States only once or twice. I remember one woman in a cafe called Hillary Clinton a bitch when there were elections [of the US president]. In relation to me this was not. Although I think that in this sense Petersburg is very different from smaller cities. And the same in the USA. If you are Russian in New York or Chicago, nobody cares. And if you go to a small town, you can hear a couple of comments about yourself.

In general, I believe that politics is a game for the rich and powerful. I do not notice that it somehow strongly influenced my life in Russia. I’m not an active participant in this whole “new cold war” between countries, even though I joke that I’m an American spy in Russia and a Russian spy in the United States. I think that it is very convenient and easy for people in America to assume that Putin is the true face of Russia, and the Russians think the same about Trump; but in everyday life, both Americans and Russians are not so different.

I am not going to leave Petersburg for the United States because of politics or sanctions. I really like the way Russians treat life: you have found a very interesting approach to forces that you cannot control; almost proud of suffering. And how do you feel about the weather! In the coldest part of the year, you do not complain, but simply jump into the cold water to swim! Separately, I love St. Petersburg very much. Once I talked to the homeless about the works of Tolstoy - where can this happen?

There are things that I don’t like. The language barrier; furious that the streets are not always clean. I always throw a cigarette or a beer can into the urn - why can't the others do the same? Well, the Russian bureaucracy. There are problems with this in the US, but at least we use computers there, not paper documents.

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