As someone who comes from Seattle, I am a big fan of craft beer. From porters to IPA’s, and pilsners to brown ales, I appreciate them all. I was worried that Russia would have none of this wonderful variety – or even good beer in general – but I was pleasantly wrong. Prices for craft […]

One of the last things I did before wrapping up my semester in Warsaw, Poland was pay a visit to the Copernicus Science Center. In this article I will share some background on the center, talk about my visit and what I learned, and finally share some photos from this sweet place! Background The science […]

As part of SRAS’s Central Asian Studies program, students had the opportunity to travel to Uzbekistan for a full week. The first day of this week-long expedition began with a half-day tour of Tashkent’s old part of town. We were accompanied by our guide, Donat, or “Don” for short. He had outstanding English, and even […]

The walk from the Курская metro station to where our classes were held at HSE is lined with a number of small cafes and convenience stores. Typical of the average college student, we often stopped in one of these cafes on our way to class. Below are my reviews of the three cafes most frequented […]

In the two months that I have lived in Irkutsk, I have eaten out a lot. Every day for lunch, I like to try a new cafe or restaurant. I work as a host at a restaurant back home, so I’m very familiar with American dining customs and hospitality guidelines. As such, I have noticed […]

In 2005, when this resource was first developed, supermarket chains in Russia were only first developing. Brand and product selection, while perhaps normal for a post-Soviet location, was disappointing and monotonous for most visitors. The restaurant scene, even in places like Moscow and St. Petersburg, also felt underdeveloped. Of the three things commonly looked for […]

The first step to studying abroad is choosing where to study abroad. It’s not a simple decision! I struggled a lot in this aspect, but landed on Kyiv because it seemed like a unique place, and I thought I could really improve my Russian language. It didn’t hurt that Kyiv is pretty cheap compared to […]

Eurasia today is quite affordable. Students are often surprised how far their dollars will go even in major cities like St. Petersburg and Warsaw – and very surprised at how far they go in places like Bishkek and Irkutsk. However, students can also be surprised at how easy it is to run into troubles – […]