Thread: I want to be a foreign exchange student..In Russia.

Hello,

I am in high school and will be in a foreign exchange program next year. I am considering Russia. (Moscow, Peterburg.) Maybe it's not the best country I can choose but it's somewhere I'm very interested in. I am aware of the problems there, but as you all may know, I will not have any family with me for 9 months. I have tried searching for "high school students americans exchange students in russia" and some other stuff. I've found nothing about experiences there, or anything bad. But I am nervous about it, more than I would going to other places in Europe. Is Russia a good country to choose for American exchange students in high school, or is it best I choose somewhere else?

Is Russia a good country to choose for American exchange students in high school

Yes, it is. What's wrong with Russia?

Originally Posted by Marcus

Yes, it is. What's wrong with Russia?

Im afraid of being attacked. Maybe I am not dark skinned but I am a light skinned Asian. I just realized I forgot to write that down... and also would Kiev be good also? Possibly Minsk (I'm actually not sure if my agency does Belarus but maybe)

Kiev is probably not a good city to go to if you want to learn Russian. Ukrainian is used a lot there, I found it really confusing.
Depending on your lifestyle in the USA, be prepared for a very different situation in Russia.
Also, you probably need to know a bit of Russian before you go. If you don't, you need to start studying.

The issue of possible racism in Russia has come up quite a bit. It seems that the people who are occassionally (very rarely) targetted for attacks are poor immigrants from Central Asia. Lots of black (and non-white) people have been on this forum and said they had no problem at all in Moscow and St Petersburg. You can probably avoid risky situations by avoiding bad areas late at night.
Russia, has citizens of many different ethnic compositions as far as I know.
It's a cool and exciting idea, hope you go through with it!

Also, you probably need to know a bit of Russian before you go. If you don't, you need to start studying.

yswag has already started learning Russian.