This itinerary will take you from Yerevan to Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery, and Symphony of Stones. You can take a car the full way or combine hiring a driver with a moderately challenging hike of 3-4 hours. Logistics for Garni Temple – Symphony of Stones – Geghard Monastery The furthest of these sites is only […]
This itinerary will take you from Yerevan to Dilijan National Park with a stop to see Lake Sevan. Within Dilijan National Park, you can see Haghartsin Monastery as well as take a two-hour medium-difficulty hike to see the remains of two other monasteries within the park. Logistics to Dilijan National Park The furthest of these […]
At the end of my summer program in Bishkek, a friend of mine and I wanted a weekend getaway from Bishkek and decided to visit Kazakhstan’s largest city and former capital, Almaty, which is just over the border. A few other students had already gone and encouraged us to check it out. Almaty lies at […]
Russia’s two major capitals are largely tourist friendly. Much of the metro systems and city navigation are available in English. Many restaurants have English-langauge menus and even waitstaff that speak a little English. However, not everywhere will English get you by in a Russian-speaking country. This bilingual resource hopes to build students’ vocabulary skills and […]
This free Russian MiniLesson will help you learn the vocabulary need to get a SIM card in Russia. If you are on a regular SRAS study abroad program, SRAS will help you to obtain a local SIM card. In many locations, SRAS can also supply you with a “burner” phone for use while on the […]
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation. To prevent cavities, both Russian and Western dentists recommend that you come in for regular , sometimes called . Some foreign visitors to Russian may be surprised that the […]
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation. Hopefully, students coming abroad will not often face sudden , but occasionally this might happen, and they may have to . In this case, they need and […]
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation. When addressing strangers in Russia, it is important to maintain an appropriate level of politeness. The address should be in a formal manner, a person should apologize […]
Note: This text, about a trip I took through Eastern Europe in 2006 is actually still surprisingly up-to-date. This is particularly true of the text’s main message – that actually visiting the places you’ve studied in college and written term papers professing your knowledge of is essential to actually knowing what you are talking about. […]
…what I did enjoy about Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, was that I was able to make many breakthroughs on race with locals that I have yet to experience in the United States. Instead of entrenching in their racial ignorance, Ukrainians were honest about their naiveté and open to learning about a different culture. In the […]
Christine Jacobson graduated from Stetson University in Florida with degrees in political science and Russian studies. She studied with SRAS on a custom program in St. Petersburg in 2011. She currently lives and works in Moscow, but is hoping to attend graduate school in the fall of 2014. SRAS: You worked for a year as […]
Adam Brunets is Global Trade Control Specialist / Lead for Russia with Boeing. Originally from Ukraine, he immigrated to the US with his parents. He studied international business with SRAS in 2005 at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). SRAS: You are currently a Global Trade Control Specialist / Lead for Russia with Boeing. […]
Ben Morano serves as an Assistant Program Officer, Europe for the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC. He holds a degree in Russian Studies and International Studies: World Politics and Diplomacy from the University of Richmond. He previously served an SRAS-arranged internship with Human Rights Watch in Moscow while studying foreign relations and Russian […]
Christopher Brennan is an Associate Editor with The Moscow Times and runs that publication’s website and Facebook feed. He formerly served an SRAS-arranged journalism internship there over the summer of 2012 while studying Russian at MGU. He is a recent graduate of Columbia University with degrees in Political Science and Russian Literature and Culture. SRAS: You are currently an Associate […]
Cody White is an undergraduate engineering student at West Virginia University. He is currently halfway through a year long program in Russian Studies Abroad with SRAS, and has managed to use his ability to gain friends in any culture to have some truly remarkable experiences abroad. He hopes to work for the US government in […]
Kyra Gordon is an International Program Management Specialist, working with US Army contacts to sell weapons systems to US allies. A long-time Russia-enthusiast, her experiences abroad have been long and varied, ranging from missionary and charity work, working professionally in Russia, earning a degree there, and receiving several US-government-sponsored funding opportunities to help her along […]
Elizabeth Bagot holds a BA from Stanford University in International Relations with a minor in Russian Studies. After graduation, she enrolled for a full year of Russian as a Second Language through SRAS to improve her language skills. She also served an NGO internship and business internship while abroad – which helped lead her to […]
Mark Bowman is the Manager of Moscow Technical Liaison Office (MTLO), the Deputy Director of the Human Space Flight Program-Russia (HSFP-R), in addition to serving as an attache with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. He combined an education in science with a passion for learning about other cultures and languages. SRAS: For those who are complete laymen […]
Shoshana Bella Billik has degrees in Russian and Information Technology. She has worked for NASA, helped disabled children in Russia learn computer skills, and studied the spread of the Internet in Russia and Central Asia. She also participated in SRAS’s Siberian Studies program. We recently sat down to talk to her about all this. SRAS: You earned an […]
Chris Pike is a graduate student in Russian language and literature at Northwestern University. He is also an adventurer who has scaled mountains in Kamchatka and who has ridden a bicycle across the Gobi Desert. He has worked, studied, and interned in Russia as well and has recently completed another “arctic like” adventure on Lake […]
Bradley Gorski holds a degree in Russian from Georgetown University. Since graduation he has been living in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, working as the Russia Country Coordinator for EducationUSA. He plans to apply for Ph.D. programs in Slavic Studies to start fall 2011. His research interests are Nabokov, post-Soviet literature and the interplay between linguistics […]
Interview by Lisa Horner, Program Consultant, Institutional Relations. Jess Rivet was a powerhouse during her full year (2009-2010) of Russian as a Second Language (RSL) through The School of Russian and Asian Studies (SRAS). She was always out doing something, whether meeting locals and going to concerts, helping her fellow students, and even playing hockey […]
Stephanie Briggs is a disabled student with hydrocephalus and mild cerebral palsy. These conditions reduce her mobility and are a source of chronic pain. Despite this, she has completed a BA in Russian Studies and is now perusing a MA in Translation. She also travelled to and toured Russia in 2003. SRAS: Despite your guide books […]
Renee Stillings has been the Program Director for SRAS since 1996. She is also a co-founder of Alinga Consulting Group and a board member of the US-Russia Chamber of Commerce of New England. All pictures (and captions) submitted by Renee Stillings. SRAS: When did you first become interested in Russia? Renee Stillings: In high school. I was already taking all […]
Max Yacoub was born to a Russian mother and a Sudanese father but raised mostly in Sudan and England. Most of his professional life has been spent in Russia and Ukraine working with the World Bank and over the last few years in finance and investments. He is married, living in Moscow and raising a […]
Chet Bowling holds an MA in Law from the Russian People’s Friendship University in Russia and an MBA from Kingston University in the United Kingdom. He co-founded Alinga Consulting Group, a business providing accounting, legal, and audit services mostly to foreign firms. He has lived in Russia for nearly nineteen years, where he is now married […]
David Diamonon is Deputy General Director for Transolutions CIS, an American-owned company controlled by Amsted Rail that is focused on supplying rail equipment to the former Soviet states. Ethnically Filipino, he graduated with a degree in Russian from Middlebury College and went on to live and work in Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Here, he discusses his experiences […]
Tabitha Smith completed a customized Russian as a Second Language (RSL) program with The School of Russian and Asian Studies (SRAS) during the summer of 2009. The program combined a month of RSL in St. Petersburg, Russia, with visa and travel services to support a month of independently-arranged scientific research in Pushchino, Russia. Contact SRAS for more info on […]
Julia Vail studied with The School of Russian and Asian Studies (SRAS) under the Russian as a Profession program (now part of the Russian Studies Abroad program), combining language and subject study with a hands-on internship in Moscow. She has used this experience to help land a full-time career in journalism and publishing. SRAS: When did you first become […]
Devin Connolly participated in SRAS’s Russian as a Second Language program in St. Petersburg over the summer of 2004. She has since turned her love of language and traveling into a career with MIR, a specialty US-based tourism company that leads curious tourists through destinations spanning Ukraine, Iran, Russia, and Mongolia. SRAS: How did your interest in Russia and […]
Michele Whaley is a high school Russian teacher in Anchorage, Alaska. She recently took some time to tell us of her personal travels to Russia and the USSR, the many paths her students have taken with their Russian after graduation and what it takes to be a good teacher. SRAS: How did you get into teaching? […]
Katherine Avgerinos is enrolled in the International Relations Program at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. She was accepted to this program, at least in part, on the basis of her international experience in Russia and Greece and the professional experience she built while in Russia. She recently sat down to tell us about those experiences. SRAS: We […]
