Josie's Letter to Aspiring Expats

This is a sample letter that Josie has written several times to people who are considering moving to Moscow. It addresses many of the typical questions of families with young children. [Note: the letter references "LDS" and "branch" because we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (see www.mormon.org) and most of these letters were written to members of our church who found us through friends. LDS stands for Latter-day Saints and branch is the name for an LDS congregation in Russia.]

Hi Bill and Sue,

I'm happy to answer any questions you have about life in Moscow. We've been here for almost 6 years now and have a 14 yr old, 10 yr old, 6 yr old and 15 month old. The first question most people ask is if I had the baby in Russia--no. I went to the states. It's not an easy way to do it, especially if you have older children. We've known one expat who delivered here and she had a great experience. Others have gone to the states, Finland and Germany. Our main reason for leaving was that if there were a problem we would really want to be able to understand what was going on. We both speak quite a bit of Russian, but not any medical terminology.

Schools

We've used Russian preschools and the Anglo American School of Moscow. We've really liked both. AAS is expensive so hopefully your company would pay tuition there. There is also a British school that some members of the branch have sent their children to (in my opinion, not a good school and it is equal to AAS in cost) and there is a new International School that I don't know much about. I believe this year was it's first year and that it also runs on a British system. AAS has a long waiting list--especially the elementary school. Unless your company has a prepaid seat (and therefore a spot is certain) I would get on the waiting list asap for your older child. AAS goes from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. Their website is here (http://www.aas.ru/) The Russian preschool we've used also has a website here (http://www.cvr-mitino.ru/). We LOVE it there and plan to have our 15 month old start "mom and me" classes this fall. They were fantastic to work with our daughter and we have referred 3 friends there who've loved it as well. We currently have one home-schooling family in the branch but in the past have had others.

Housing

There are two popular housing complexes, several newer, smaller ones, and of course, city living. We lived in the center for two years, moved a bit closer to the school for one year although still lived in the city in an apartment, and for the past three school years have lived in Rosinka (http://rosinka.ru/). The other popular housing complex, Pokrovsky Hills, is right next door to AAS (http://www.hines.com/property/detail.aspx?id=228) and a lot of people live there just for that. They are both also extremely expensive and generally speaking, people live there only if their company will pay. They each have long waiting lists as well, so if you think either would be an option you should get on the lists now. My opinion on housing--we loved living in the city and would still be there if we didn't have small children. They couldn't go outside and play without me and they didn't have any friends in the neighborhood because they didn't go to the neighborhood schools.

As far as choosing between Pokrovsky Hills and Rosinka--they each have good points. The main thing Pokrovsky has going for it is that it is close to the school and closer to the center. The rent there is more expensive and the homes, generally speaking are smaller. They do have some larger homes there and Rosinka has some smaller homes. Pokrovsky residents are allowed to use the gym equipment and pool at the school at certain times during the day/evening. It is basically townhomes, set in a circle around one main common area. Rosinka is more spread out, has three parks, it's own restaurant, pool, gym with indoor and outdoor tennis, classes for children and adults, but is a drive to school and further to the center for work too. They both have buses to the nearest metro stop and Rosinka has a bus to AAS. There are currently 14 LDS families in Rosinka (including church employees, mission president and area presidency), and 5-6 LDS families in Pokrovsky. US Embassy families live in both places. Our branch also currently has about 6 couples with and without young children living in the city center. I believe they are very active socially with one another and we often have them here as well. If you are going to live there, I will put you in touch with some of them so you can find an apartment near them. I believe they all pay their own rent. Some of them have cars and some don't.

Driving

Many expats use drivers. We used one during the week and drove ourselves on the weekends for the first three years and then we started driving ourselves full-time. Jeff changed jobs (from a law firm to a local cell phone company) and now has a driver he uses to get to and from work. I have a van I drive unless I don't know where I'm going or there isn't good parking--then I use the driver. He is available to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We generally do not ask him to work on Saturday or Sunday though. If you need to drive yourselves--don't worry. The church employees and US Embassy in Moscow drive themselves from day one and they all do fine. GPS systems in English can be found.

Language

Moscow is not like Europe where you can always find someone who speaks English. Most people have not learned English in school although it is required now. I took Russian lessons for three years. Jeff still takes them. The kids have had lessons at home and at school (foreign language starts in pre-k and in high school you can take two foreign languages). I would suggest using a private tutor at home.

Domestic help

Most expats employ nannies and housekeepers. It's a great way for your kids to learn Russian and gives you some extra time to do things like take Russian lessons. I think the hourly rate is around $5-6 for either one. We pay by the week rather than by the hour and are definitely above market for the hours worked. We pay 5500 rubles per week.Social outlets--Pokrovsky and Rosinka are both very social places. Rosinka organizes get togethers for it's residents in a variety of ways. Honestly, we don't participate much because we are so involved at church, school and with our family. The American Women's Organization also is very active and there are lots of interest groups to attend there. Our children also play youth soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball/tball in the spring. Their leagues are very international and include some Russians. Many of the children from both the British school and AAS play in the leagues.Church--the branch in Moscow is awesome. Everyone is very supportive of each other and helpful.

Expat package

For someone new to moving to Moscow with a family, I would suggest that you are certain your "expat package" includes salary (+ Cost of living adjustment-about 20% higher than NY is what our law firm used to give), housing (no less than $10K per month--although housing in the city can be found for less still I believe--our rent is currently $15K/month), school tuition from at least kindergarten and up, driver or allowance for a driver, all visa support including airfare and accomodations to travel for the visa, and many have some sort of travel allowance whether it is called R&R, home leave or just an amount of money to be used for travel however you would prefer. Not everyone has all of these things, but they make life much, much easier and your longevity here will be greater if you have this support.

Any other questions you have, just let me know. I'm happy to help and can give you some other names if you would like a different point of view. Good luck and I hope to see you in Moscow sometime!

Josie