Tomsk

A beautiful 400-years-old city. Formerly the biggest city in Siberia and capital of Tomsk Gubernia. It lost it's leading position after the Transsiberian Railway was built. Yet the atmosphere of the city is excelent, the traditions of the old universities are strong and their humanitarian departments are considered stronger than those of Novosibirsk. The view of the city center is marvelous, there is nothing similar to these antique houses in Nsk.

The story is focused a lot on the relationships between the English Clubs, but anyway this can be interesting for foreigners.

http://www.demakova.ru/~detail/2006-02-18/english.htm

Thank you.

I'm from Belgium, and I have an opportunity of living in Tomsk as a student exchange. Having never heard of this city, *feels ashamed* I was a bit afraid of ending up in some 'lost' town in Siberia.

Basically they offer courses in English, which is my university consider to be good since apparently Russian universities are quite demanding in terms of Russian language knowledge. In short, I'm not sure they will accept me, even as an exchange student, for a Russian program.

Anyway, the place seems rather nice and the people friendly - but do you think it would be a good choice for a random Belgian student who only knows St Petersburg?

(By the way, I'm studying Business, but this is clearly beside the point.)

Thanks for reading, Amaranta. I'm happy it was helpful.

Tomsk is an excelent city, I'd love to live there myself. You'll not get lost :) It is not big, thus quite comfortable. It hasn't such landmarks like Krasnoyarsk, but it is cleaner (there is no large metallurgical production in the area). If you don't know Russian, in the University's sphere there are lot of people knowing foreign languages.

You are to decide. I can say what you might expect. First of all, a cultural shock is inevitable. Needless to explain. If you need to stay in winter, it may seem infinite for you. The snow appears on first days of November and melts down in April.

Here in my Akademgorodok in the Novosibirsk University, there are about 40 foreigners who stay permanently in the dormitory. As I see, they mostly spend their time together, complaining of boredom. I know, it can be tremendously boring to spend time with stupid Russians who always bug you with questions, like "do you know this mat, or that one". But it's sad that we meet rarely and don't learn many more interesting things. You may try some activity on your own. A group of more active foreigners last year made a series of lectures, for example on entrepreneurship, politics (was a funny discussion), application for a job...

I don't know the details of your program. What period does is cover?

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Originally Posted by detail

in the Novosibirsk University, there are about 40 foreigners who stay permanently in the dormitory. As I see, they mostly spend their time together, complaining of boredom. I know, it can be tremendously boring to spend time with stupid Russians who always bug you with questions, like "do you know this mat, or that one". But it's sad that we meet rarely and don't learn many more interesting things. You may try some activity on your own. A group of more active foreigners last year made a series of lectures, for example on entrepreneurship, politics (was a funny discussion), application for a job...

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Bingo (БИНГО!?). The biggest mistake you would ever make isn't getting lost or getting yelled at by a babushka or probably even getting run over by a bus -- it's getting stuck in the foreign student ghetto. Really, you should try to get in a host family's home.

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Originally Posted by detail

If you don't know Russian, in the University's sphere there are lot of people knowing foreign languages.

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Thing is, I'm definitely NOT going to Russia to speak English...

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Originally Posted by detail

You are to decide. I can say what you might expect. First of all, a cultural shock is inevitable. Needless to explain. If you need to stay in winter, it may seem infinite for you. The snow appears on first days of November and melts down in April.

I don't know the details of your program. What period does is cover?

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It would cover one half of the academic year, so either from February to July or from September to January. I'd rather start in September to be able to practice Russian some more before actually going to university. And well, I still hope that I'll be able to enroll in a Russian-language program, but it might be difficult if they are that demanding in terms of Russian language knowledge. We'll see.

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Originally Posted by Бармалей

Bingo (БИНГО!?). The biggest mistake you would ever make isn't getting lost or getting yelled at by a babushka or probably even getting run over by a bus -- it's getting stuck in the foreign student ghetto. Really, you should try to get in a host family's home.

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You are both completely right.
But then again, there is a 'foreign student ghetto' in every university, and not only in Russia. I've been trying to find a way to do my exchange in Russia for about six months now, and I definitely don't want to end up in one. Obviously I would like to live in a host family's home, but this might be even more complicated if I don't know anyone there (compared to the few Russian friends I've got in Piter.) Also, I'd say that a dormitory would probably be cheaper, but I guess the region isn't too expensive?

Actually I was hoping that there would be less foreign students in that part of the country than, say, in Moscow, and that I would therefore be able to avoid a 'ghetto', even in a dormitory. But I guess it's not the case.

Anyway, thank you for these informations, it will definitely be useful when I make the final choice.

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Originally Posted by Amaranta

Obviously I would like to live in a host family's home, but this might be even more complicated if I don't know anyone there (compared to the few Russian friends I've got in Piter.)

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I've asked a person who can know people to ask, and tell you if there is something significant.

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Originally Posted by detail

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Originally Posted by Amaranta

Obviously I would like to live in a host family's home, but this might be even more complicated if I don't know anyone there (compared to the few Russian friends I've got in Piter.)

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I've asked a person who can know people to ask, and tell you if there is something significant.

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See Amaranta, you already know someone in the Tomsk mafia! :lol:

Hello all! I'm from Tomsk and I have graduated Tomsk university. If you are interested in this Town or if you will soon visit the Tomsk, you may write me. I can tell you about Tomsk, show you photos and give more information about Tomsk. Anyway, we can just nice to talk.

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Originally Posted by Art

Hello all! I'm from Tomsk and I have graduated Tomsk university. If you are interested in this Town or if you will soon visit the Tomsk, you may write me. I can tell you about Tomsk, show you photos and give more information about Tomsk. Anyway, we can just nice to talk.

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Здразствуйте, Art!
Может быть, вы можете, пожалуйста, пишете о Томске здесь?

Большое спасибо,

Скотт

Hello Art,
Maybe you can write about Tomsk here please?

Thank you very much,

Scott