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Borys Kosarev: Modernist Kharkiv, 1915-1931 at The Ukrainian Museum thru May 2, 2012
Posted by Phillip on November 19, 2001 at 11:24:58:
In Reply to: Re: Moving to Ukraine (no choice) posted by Justin on November 17, 2001 at 19:30:36:
Great idea about renting out the apartment. But hasn't the Ukrainian (and everybody else's) tourist trade tanked recently because of all the stuff going on here and in Afghanistan? The only thing that would worry me is a shortage of tourists to rent the apartment to. As far as bureaucracy, I seriously doubt that most of the Ukrainians that do this bother to tell anyone in the local gov't. I imagine what they do is find a 'rich' American or West European tourist and rent their own apartment while they move in with family. The $500/mo. figure checks out with what my wife says and what I have seen. Curiously, though, some products (like large electronics) don't seem to be that much cheaper than they are here. I saw digital cameras in Cherkassy for USD $400 or so, and here they run USD$700 and up. Some goods and services are actually MORE expensive. Internet access here is about $22-$25 USD for a good dial-up connection, and there a basic dial up (no email service, IRC or anything) is about USD $60. Probably has to do with supply and demand.
Really, there are a lot of expats there? I saw a figure of non-military and non-diplomat of like 3000 or so Americans in Kiev, but I didn't know how reliable this was (from 99 anyway). Yes, my wife has been to Yalta many times; her family used to vacation there every year in Soviet times.
: Phil
: Just wanted to wish you all the best with your project. I myself have started a long-distance relationship witha Ukrainian lady and am planning to move from the UK to Greece; this is what I call a fair 50/50 compromise. Have you thought about that?
: I have spent a lot of time in Ukraine (sorry Geographer, THE Ukraine!) Kiev is a good choice, I have often seen ads for business opportunities there; if you have capital I would suggest investing in real estate in a good location and renting out (if one small apartment can earn a rent of $50 a day from foreign visitors, and you can easily live on $500 per month out there, figure it out!) You probably have the advantage in marketing apartment rental to westerners. Your partner could take care of the local bureaucracy part. The central area of Kiev is nice and green, and there are always plenty of US/UK expats out there, who tend to gather in regular meeting places in the evening. In fact I just changed my mind about Greece!
: For natural beauty and weather conditions, Crimea (sorry, THE Crimea) is the place to go, especially Yalta. Any business there would probably need to be tourism related though.
: If you haven't been, check it out (I guess your partner will know it).
: All the best!
:
: : Thanks for your reply.
: : I just know basic conversational words and phrases. I don't really know the syntax of either language, and I understand that Russian/Ukrainian syntax is harder to grasp than English (English is harder than Russian in another sense - not because of syntax, but because of spelling, exceptions to the syntax, and words with multiple meanings). I suppose I could learn both while I was at it, someone told me that 70% of the words are the same, but there is no basic difference in the syntax. Ukrainian has I think 2-3 more letters in the alphabet than Russian. I understand Cyrillic letters and basic pronunciation, so I am already on my way.
: : : Phil,
: : : I don't think that you should have a problem finding an IT job in Kyiv, start looking on the internet and have your fiance/wife (?) look for you in Kyiv.
: : : Why would it be difficult for you to learn Ukrainian if you already know some Russian words. It will help you alot if you use some Ukrainian words in Kyiv, even though Russian is more prevalent. The people will see that you are making an effort to learn their native language.
: : : Victor
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