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I have been in St. Petersburg for four weeks, and I am too stupid to know how to take out my trash. I’ve been told it requires screaming something into an intercom, but I find screaming undignified, so I have chosen instead to hoard it. There are no doubt those who would argue that hoarding trash is less dignified than screaming into an intercom, but we will have to agree to disagree.
In this first blog entry, I want to share some experiences about living in St. Petersburg as an expat. When moving here in the beginning of May 2017, I was struck by the beauty of the city, and the cold weather. On victory day 2017 it was windy and snowing sometimes, while in my home country Austria it was already 20 °C at the time. From the start I was very lucky to have a lot of support from the ITMO Fellowship program coordination, and from my university faculty.
The hardest thing for students all over the world is always passing exams. Everybody hates books, notes, projects and reviews, university seems to be a torture. We all say "I need motivation"! Let’s get closer to the point and find the best recipe now.
This year Petersburg TV celebrates its 80th anniversary. On this occasion, I visited the St. Petersburg Television Center. The theme of the history and development of television seemed to me very interesting. Plunging into the past, I found quite a lot of new and amazing facts for myself. I hope that you will also find something that you did not know or refresh your memory.
"Tell us about sights in Saint Petersburg in English, please" - the phrase at the job interview began with. A few days later I worked in a hotel in the city center selling tours to foreign visitors. It was like being in the center of an international fest, as it was the middle of the FIFA World Cup Championship. My summer job became a journey to several countries at the same time. And every time it was not only interesting, but also fun.
But what does that really mean? What are we here at ITMO trying to do? What does it mean to be more than just a university?
To borrow Shakespeare’s words, "That IS the question."
Classical St. Petersburg is known to all for its magnificent palaces and canals, parks and cozy squares. Everyone wants to see the majestic cathedrals and fascinating drawbridges. However, there is also another St. Petersburg that the residents of this beautiful city know about. Today, I am going to share several interesting places with you.
On September 1, the celebration of first-year students ITMO.GO took place at Aleksandrovsky Park in front of Baltic House. This means that all enrolled applicants can now proudly call themselves students. Of course, for everyone this is a new and important stage of life, because getting a higher education determines not only your future professional skills, but also forms ideas about many things not related to future work. In addition, do not forget about rest and entertainment. And ITMO.GO confirms these words.
Every year, ITMO University hosts a variety of events related to various aspects of student life. For example, sports, scientific, social events. I would like to mention some events, in which I was fortunate enough to participate in one way or another.
Entrepreneurship has almost never been easier, thanks to the ease of Estonia’s e-Residency program. In December 2014, the small Baltic nation developed a new virtual system that facilitates the start-up process for non-Estonians. Now, people from around the world are able to enjoy access to Estonian services such as company formation and registration, banking, payment processing, and taxation. The benefits of such a program can’t be overstated, because in today’s world of Digital Nomads, Estonia’s e-residency is capable of providing people, such as software developers and writers, with complete location independence, access to the European Union single marketplace, and a highly competitive tax rate.