Kiev Ukraine

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2468teacher
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 5:33 am

Kiev Ukraine

Post by 2468teacher »

Hello,

Just love some information about working and living in Kiev, Ukraine if anyone has lived and worked there. I am a single male.

I am not concerned about the political situation. Just wondering about lifestyle. Sports, gym, going out, expat life, chances to travel and save.

I have a possible job here next year and its not a widely talked about country.

Cheers.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

ts pretty good for expats. Theres still a lot of money but if you want to see the disparity between the 1% and the 99% Kiev is a good place to do it. You will be doing pretty well as long as everyone is happy with you, but most of the affluent (who will be the parents of your students) are use to getting their way, and you see that in the local students.
A lot of the people you will be walking the streets with will look nice, but they will be wearing almost all of the personal net worth. The difference is 1% of them go home to the same affluence and the other 99% are living month to month. There is a certain level of grey market business going on even in ISs. You have an academic principal who shields you from most of it, but there is a director who is a local or a board member who handles the shady stuff. If you let it bother you, it kind of seems thaat everyone is in on the take. Its like a big family network, everyone knows someone and who you know determines what prices you get, and what jobs you have access too. The barista that gets you your espresso and pastry in the morning has ambitions and those ambitions require working for a certain type of people that is highly prevalent in the culture. The doctor works for people or has associates who require special favors, the lawyer works for those same people, and if you let it get to you you realize its just a big pool of sharks all feeding off of everyone and each other, with the weakest shark being the next on the menu. Youre a IT who works for an IS that is run in part by those same people who are part of the same food chain. Their children are being developed to replace their parents and build the family business (whatever that business is), you can play along, get the job down, and be treated very well, but if your going to fight the system your just going to be gone and be gone quickly. Its not a problem, you just have to be one of those ITs that sees the big picture and is more the adaptable type than the merit-crat type.

You can find just about everything you will need, though it can be expensive to get specific wants imported. At a certain price point its easier to do the import/export yourself when you consider the markup.
The cuisine is very EE inspired, heavy on dairy, proteins and starches, and the flavors are described best as robust, you dont find a lot of refined and nuanced flavors. You can eat well on small amounts of coin, as long as you understand that the cut of roast beast at one end of the street can sell for 10, 20, 30 times what you can get a comparable meal at the other end of the street or more accurately around the corner and down the side street at the cafe that has no sign. The service is a little rougher, but there is little difference in quality. Its the same way with everything, the difference is what and who you know.
If your a single or married guy exploring your options, there is a lot of distractions available that just will just wow most western males, and model types are actually available. Its the BKK for guys who dont go for Asians, but its a more nuanced social circle. In Thailand you can be yourself, in Kiev you have to be willing to look the part, or your going to be very lonely. You basically either follow the backpacker scene or you try to get into the local scene. The tourist scene isnt even a scene.

As an IT your accommodations are going to be IKEA inspired, modern, comfortable, but not opulent. You tend to get a good size space for you (or your ISs) coin. Again what will seem like a modern upscale area to live in wont even touch the palaces of the truly affluent. Your students will live in areas you will not otherwise hear of, or likely even have a chance to visit. Utilities tend to be stable and reliable for the most part, but leave a non battery electrical powered clock and you will realize that a daily power irregularity is not uncommon, they last only a few seconds to minutes, and have more to do with residential wiring than power generation, but thats because there really arent any standards outside economics, there isnt such a thing as cheap, good and fast, if you pay cheap wages and use cheap materials you get cheap products. Want your shoes made or repaired fast and its not going to be done as well as if you spend a little more coin and/or are open with your time to completion. In general the priority for most Ukrainians is their family, pride in ones work is a means to an end, not the end in of itself. You will get what you pay for, but nothing more. This tends to be the biggest issue with many westerners, is that they have high expectations for bottom coin price. In the Ukraine its linear, want better stuff, pay more and/or wait longer. Take the night scene for example, if you want to move to the front of the line you have to look the part and palm the bouncer some Euros (there are two currency markets in Kiev, hard currencies like Pounds sterling, Dollars and Euros are preferred in certain social and business transactions compared to the local currency hryvnia), you can just get more and further with hard currency, so you need to carry both. Your IS should pay you in a foreign marked stable currency, and your contract written in that currency, its important to check current conversion rates when going out for an evening, as establishments will think nothing of fleecing tourists and foreigners if they can, its a fine line between being seen as cheap and just being taken. There is an adjustment period,a nd there is some value in the backpacker all you can consume night spots with fixed prices, you might want to stay with. Thats just an example as thats the economy for everything. Theres a safe venue with fixed prices out front and in the back (somewhere) there is a market where negotiation is expected.
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