I dunno about you guys, Russia doesn't seem to be all that cheap it is praised to be. Every time I'm there I wind up spending just about as much as I spend in Montreal, not to mention airplane tickets etc. Being fluent in Russian in no time? I dont think so... Going for two years? It's like learning how to swim by being dropped off a mile away from the shore. I'm not even sure you'll get a visa for that long. I'd seriously consider having at least a 1000 for expenses on top of the tickets and living accomodations and go for 6-8 weeks, unless you are planning for an unsupervised jungle survival tour.