Moscow
I’m Simon an English teacher and governor from Bristol in the UK. So firstly, I would say: ”wow!”. The money you can earn is amazing. Not many jobs pay 1,000GBP+ per week, plus pay your rent and even flight to and from Moscow. Don’t be nervous! In my experience people in the Russian Federation are very friendly people, educated and open-minded. If you are friendly to everyone and open-minded, you’ll make a ton of friends and have a great experience. The English Nanny agency is always in very close contact with you on WhatsApp and email so you’ll feel supported and can get any queries answered very quickly. Usually always within 10-60 minutes. :)So firstly, the city. Moscow is huge. There are many beautiful green parks including the most popular to chill in Gorky Park by the Moscow River.
Did I mention Moscow is HUGE? Like really HUGE, in fact, It’s over 300 sq miles from the absolute centre. So this means when you first arrive to the metro (underground) it has many lines. If you don’t speak or read Russian so I strongly advise you to Google & download to your phone the map so you don’t get lost or confused.
The culture of the Russian Federation is both familiar because it’s a European country, but very different because of its Slavic history and culture. So you’ll really enjoy the history and walking around the streets.
Moscow is divided into 8 main districts, each with a multitude of bars, night clubs and art galleries, museums, and cafes too to relax in so you absolutely will have time to relax and have fun. Besides the famous Red Square and the Kremlin if you want to escape the touristy crowds the three most interesting and different areas for architecture, history and vibe are “Kitay Gorod” (China City/Town) “Kuznetsky Most” (Where you’ll also find the Bolshoy theatre) and the very historic new Arbat street and found at metro station “Arbatskaya”.
This is Moscow’s hipster area with a lot of cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops, street buskers trying to sing well, artists doing instant portrait caricatures and writer Chekov’s house. If your living out as a nanny an option to save you money is by staying at a hostel. If you need a quiet place to study the libraries are always entry free. Supermarkets are the cheapest places to buy your food, with “Billa” and “Perekrestok” chains being the biggest. Kitay Gorod is also the name of a very useful shop you can go buy any writing materials, flashcards or books you might need for creating lessons.
If it’s your very first time to Moscow you are most likely arriving to either Sheremetyevo airport or Domodedovo airport so usually the family you’ll work for or their personal driver will meet you at the terminal exit of the airport and take you to where you’ll be living.
Otherwise just find your way through the airport to high-speed trains called “Aero express” that will take you in 40 minutes to the centre of Moscow. The cost is 500 rubbles. Taxi cost is 1,500 - 2,200 RUB. Avoid these taxis if you can but if you must take a taxi it’s better to download Yandex taxi or use UBER.
Moscow has a continental climate so the summers are hot and winters very long and can be cold down to - 27C. Typical high temperatures of June, July and August are around 23C (73 F) so be prepared for this with the clothes you pack.
My experience as a governor/nanny
What’s a typical day as an English governor/nanny like?In an average day as an English Governor we play games, ranging from board games, hide and seek, football, tennis and arts and crafts.
I often took the boys outside and we went cycling which I must admit, to begin with, was really quite funny! Being paid to cycle? But alas, as long as you're doing all in English and you're both having fun, the parents are happy. If you make your activities fun and interesting for the children, they aren’t even aware they are learning as they are so absorbed in the game or activity. We also had sit down lessons to work on all areas of their English language, so that they are constantly improving their own English
Moving to Russia to be a governor can be a scary yet brave decision, however, one I feel so happy I made. There are so many reasons: I love my job working with children, get to be flown to a new country and city, chance to make new friends, to learn about a new culture, I love the fact I am in an amazing city that never fails to surprise me with its magic. In Moscow I have made friends from all over the world, locations including; Brazil, Netherlands and Ukraine and the expat community here is very big. So you’ll have a chance to meet other people from your country. Couch surfing.com and meet up.com have expat groups here that meet every week. Alongside expats I have met many Russian individuals who are very friendly, open and welcoming to me. They really respect you as an English teacher and treat you very well. You’ll find it easy to make friends actually.
I usually work from 8am/9am until 6/7pm and have a day off. A small extra perk, you’ll be given dinner and lunch by the family and eat in the home. Each family I have worked for is very different, just like every person is different but if you work hard, if you are passionate, creative, always professional and keep any information confidential, you’ll really enjoy this work & I can say for sure I’m very, very happy to have worked as a governor.