Kazan
Uniqueness.This is what sums up this city. Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan. I worked here two years ago and when walking around the city in the Russian winter I quickly realized: “Wow, hey, this Russian city, kind of doesn’t seem very Russian at all!” You’ll feel the same.
So Kazan is different. A real meeting point of Asian and Western cultures. A real cultural melting pot. There are so many places of interest to recommend but the main pedestrian street is called Bauman. Named after the revolutionary Nikolay Bauman, here you’ll find buskers performing, broke students singing sometimes well, (other times awfully),:D a museum of illusion, small mini petting zoo, cinema and lots of clubs and cafes.
I would recommend the bar Cuba Libra and Bean hearts cafe. I met my Russian friends here quite often. An upbeat vibe and a place where you can chat with friendly bartenders and other visitors while sipping the best mojitos in Kazan.
Bean hearts Cafe is a very cheerful, cosy coffeeshop-restaurant, with a full coffee and tea menu as well as light bites, soups and sandwiches is also a great place to visit and get warm if you're dodging the strong winter winds! The Kazan Kremlin and the Suyumbike Tower are really worth a visit and give you your maybe first taste of the Asian cultural influences and unique architecture in this Russian city.
People in Kazan came across as pretty open and seemed to particularly enjoy meeting foreigners from other countries and eager to practice their English so you’ll be sure to make friends very easily! :)
Couchsurfing has a meeting here every two weeks so go along to socialize and make friends.
When you arrive, the first thing you’ll want to do is get a sim card to probably call home. Megafon in my opinion is the cheapest and best value for international calls. They have shops across the city.
Shops, as well as supermarkets and the little newspaper kiosks, will sell you top-up cards as well.
At the bottom of Bauman street is a shopping mall called TPK “Kol’tso” (Ring) here you’ll find shops to get paper, pens, flashcards and all materials for your lessons.
If your goal is to save as much of your salary and kopeks as you can (hey, who can blame you?) while in Kazan, so supermarkets are the cheapest bet.
Lenta and Auchan are the most numerous supermarkets and Lenta is usually the cheapest. If you really want to save money on materials or anything, look out for “Скидка” - a very useful word to mean “discount.”
Kazan also has a very efficient metro system running from 6 am to 11 pm and the metro cars come very frequently as much as in London in fact. I would recommend saving time and money buying a smart card (passes) valid for several trips or a specific length of time.
Working in Kazan as a nanny/governor
If you work in Kazan firstly get your new sim card and google map your location and walking distance to the nearest metro station. If you’ll have separate accommodation you may need to take the metro or a bus (marshrutka) to your place of work. Working as a nanny for me here was a great experience.I worked with a small boy and I taught him through playing games, drama, and fun science experiments. With all children, the key I found is to just relax and talk openly with the children & find out what they are interested in. Then once you know, create your activities around these interests.
Quickly find what grabs and holds their attention.
Again from my own experience if your respectful, creative and open-minded to seeing what works, you’ll be successful.
Listen to the parents as they know their children best but at the heart of it, if you create fun lessons that both reach your teaching goals and show the children that you care, the children will respond positively to this.
Just remember though not to feel daunted when you walk into some of these mini palaces. At the end of the day, the parents are passionate about their children learning English and you are too.
So your working as a team together.
Also another small tip - the driver of the family will often be able to help you so if you have any questions about shops he can often help.