Why do you want to move to Silicon Valley?

“I want to move to Silicon Valley,” one of my students said. “Why?” I asked. To which he replied, “I’d make more money there as a programmer.” What followed was a long discussion where I attempted to prove that he could make just as much money in Russia even if he earned half of what Silicon Valley programmers do. 

To illustrate my point, I conducted research on the median salary of a Silicon Valley programmer, the average tax rate, the cost of a one-bedroom apartment, and the average cost of living for a single person such as himself. Here are the results:

Bear in mind that this analysis is based on Moscow, the most expensive city in the Russian Federation. Basically, I attempted to convince my student that if he offered his services to Silicon Valley companies for half the salary of an American programmer, he’d make just as much money as if he was living in California. In fact, a few of my students have already done this, and are now happily working from home in their underwear.

Typical Russian IT guy

Sources:

¹https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Developer-Salaries,-Silicon-Valley-CA

²https://www.gobankingrates.com/making-money/wealth/how-much-take-home-100k-salary-state/

³https://planetrussia.info/2017/09/27/russias-simple-small-business-tax-system/

⁴https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/San-Jose

⁵https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Moscow

https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Developer-Salaries,-Silicon-Valley-CA

²https://www.gobankingrates.com/making-money/wealth/how-much-take-home-100k-salary-state/

³https://planetrussia.info/2017/09/27/russias-simple-small-business-tax-system/

⁴https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/San-Jose

⁵https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Moscow

Meddling in the Russian elections

My satirical video flips election meddling allegations on its head, showing what would happen if an American chooses to try to meddle in the Russian elections. Given the difficulty of the Russian language, the protagonist simply chooses the candidate who has the shortest description on the ballot, thereby unwittingly voting for Putin.

Reuniting with old friends in Moscow

If you noticed that I have not posted in several months, it is because I've been very, very busy. I've been working, tutoring English, exploring Moscow, meeting interesting people, and spending time with my girlfriend of three months. I've been all over the place since I've been back, wearing my lucky Seattle Seahawks hat everywhere I go.

I visited Red Square.

I'm at Red Square, wearing my Seattle Seahawks hat.

I visited St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square.

I'm at St. Basil's Cathedral, still wearing my Seattle Seahawks hat in a low key way, unlike these guys, who brought a suspicious looking flag, probably to protest the twelve McDonald's that were temporarily closed. Okay, maybe not, it may have something more to do with the 12th man.

I even visited my childhood home near the Medvedkovo metro station in Moscow. We had an apartment on the fifth floor when I was a kid, where I lived until I was eight years old, before my family moved to the United States. I'm told that the place would be worth quite a fortune right now, but since we moved during the time when it was still the Soviet Union (before everything was privatized), we essentially had to give the apartment to the government, so it could be assigned to another nice family.

A typical apartment complex in Moscow, where childhood dreams are made.

While near my childhood home I went to my best friend's apartment, to see if he still lives there. I ran into his younger brother completely by accident and we talked for over an hour about life in Moscow. My friend's brother kindly gave me his older brother's phone number, which I called right away. Amazed at the fact that I still remember him after 25 years, we talked about how much Moscow has changed, and agreed to meet up over a cup of coffee. It will be very interesting to find out how it was like growing up in Moscow during the 90s and 2000s, and I am sure he will be as equally interested about my life spent in the United States. Relations between the United States and Russia may not be the best right now, but among old friends, it could never be better.

Am I still in Moscow or am I on the set of Blade Runner?

As I walk through downtown Moscow at night, I can't help but notice a certain noir-feel to the city. From the cyrillic text on neon signs to the electronic music coming from many cafes. As you walk through the city, you start to wonder whether you are on the set of the science fiction classic, Blade Runner.

Remember the flaming smoke stacks in Blade Runner? As you look at parts of the huge city from the air, you will notice similar features.

 

At the airport, at "terminal F, which looks a bit like a Blade Runner set with no rain" as one journalist put it.

Indeed, Moscow resembles Blade Runner, despite the fact that there may not be flying cars yet... well, unless you count this one:

If I have to make it here, I have to make it anywhere

I finally get my internal passport, and decide that I can go ahead and get to work. At this point, it is late, and I decide not to translate my resume into Russian. Thus, I send my resume out as is, entirely in English. In the morning, I get two invitations for an interview. I schedule an interview for the following day, despite having just learned the Russian word for interview. On the telephone, I literally use the English term "interview" instead of the Russian "sobesedovanie." Although you can't blame me, look how long that word is. Nonetheless, they still want to interview me despite my clumsiness.

I show up to a group interview, which was a really unique experience. I stand up in front of my fellow Russians and tell them about myself, and about my experience. I honestly thought that I flunked my entire presentation, which consisted of numerous English words, Russian words mixed with English (Russglish), and entire paragraphs in the English language. My application had numerous spelling errors, because Russian spelling rules are different. Keep in mind that I only went to the first grade in Russia before moving to the United States. Anyway, we had to answer a series of questions and most of my answers were in Russian, but in a literal and straightforward kind of way. For example:

Question: How did you earn your first ruble?
My answer: "As a kid I lived in the city of Boise, in the state of Idaho, in the United States. I was walking down the street and I found a five dollar bill. I bought some candy with it."
American equivalent: How did you earn your first dollar?

Question: What do you want to do?
My answer: "I want to go to that café down the street and have another Americano after this interview. They make Americanos better than the ones I had in Seattle, truly great coffee."
American equivalent: What do you want to do with your life?

Question: Where do you live now?
Answer: "In Ramenskoye with my Aunt Tamara."

Question: Why do we have to hire you?
My answer: "Well, we are all free people so no one HAS TO do anything, but I would LIKE IT if you were to hire me because..."
American equivalent: Why should we hire you?
My audience along with the hiring manager found this answer particularly funny. I found out that the phrase "have to" instead of "should" or "can" is used more often in Russia, which I find very interesting. I went on to give a long response to that question.

When they called my name from the list of accepted candidates, I was taken by complete surprise. Apparently, I've been hired. I was taken by such complete surprise, I blurted out "holy crap, they hired me?" My new colleagues laughed, and couldn't help but give me a round of applause for landing my first job at a Russian firm. Apparently, the audience took an immediate liking to me, and so did the hiring manager. Then the hiring manager said my name and asked me to stay behind while everybody else went home. Needless to say, I was a little concerned. He talked to me and let me know that I "have a unique set of skills and qualifications that separate me from the other candidates," among other things. He asked me whether the long commute from the suburbs of Moscow would be a problem. I told him that I do not mind commuting from the suburbs, that I really enjoy riding the rails and especially the subway. I reminded him how I used to commute to downtown Seattle, which at times was a two hour drive from south of Tacoma. He then offered me a place to live in downtown Moscow itself, at the expense of the corporation.

My first job interview and not only do I get a job, but an all expense paid place to stay in downtown Moscow? I am thinking to myself, "Am I in the Twilight Zone right now or is this for real?" This sounds really too good to be true, but upon doing further research, I now understand why. Apparently, the unemployment rate in Moscow is at less than 1%. Compare that to the actual rate in the United States, this is unbelievably low.

Unemployment Rate in Moscow, Russia, and the United States
Moscow
0.81%
http://unemploymentinrussia.com/moscow.aspx
Russia - Overall
4.9%
Bloomberg - "Russia’s Unemployment Plunges to Record Low as Wages Grow"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-20/russia-s-unemployment-plunges-to-record-low-as-wages-grow.html
United States of America
OVER 20%
Comparative Rate in USA using alternate data such as people who have stopped looking
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/unemployment-charts

Do you realize how incredible that is? Less than 1% unemployment, no wonder they were so generous, even offering me a very nice corporate residence to stay in. Maybe I need to give myself a little credit as well, but I think it also has a lot to do with the nature of Moscow. I absolutely LOVE this town. I think I have a new motto for Moscow:
If I have to make it here, I have to make it anywhere.

Did I Die? Because I Am Surrounded By Angels

I went to the passport office to get my internal passport done, which is something I needed for work. Also known as the "Russian Federation Citizen Passport," it is kind of like your Social Security card back in the United States, but an actual passport with your photograph on it. The passport office happened to be in a police station. There was a really beautiful lady officer there, and I really wanted to ask her to put handcuffs on me right then and there. Tell me you would not be tempted to ask these two lady officers to put handcuffs on you?

Post by Discover Russia.

At this point, I've been in Moscow for a couple days, and I was still blown away by the number of absolutely gorgeous women everywhere. It is as if you arrived in the middle of a super model convention or something. At first, when they asked me a question I had absolutely no idea how to respond, because I am not used to gorgeous women talking to me. I have always been somewhat of a nerd, to be completely honest. As I got more acclimated to the unique experience, I found it relatively easy to talk to the local ladies. Russian women are friendly, warm, and wonderful human beings. They have big hearts filled with tenderness and compassion, which is why they make such great mothers (and bomber pilots, apparently). It is quite possible that I am considered somewhat exotic to them, since I have a slight accent when speaking in Russian. Whatever the reason, they seem to find me a curiosity.

I am told that the women to men ratio in Russia is very favorable. So, it is probably impossible for me not to find a nice Russian girl who can rain down bombs of hugs and kisses upon me, the kinds of sweet, wonderful bombs that I've been only dreaming about. I know you're probably supposed to limit your smiles and look somewhat serious, as some guys tell me, but I find not smiling almost impossible as I walk through Moscow. Ladies and gentlemen, I have arrived in Heaven and I am surrounded by angels.

Do Not Smile For Your Passport, Please...

"Yeah, that thing you're doing with your face, you don't want to do that for your passport." Having just sat down to get my photo taken, I was genuinely concerned about what the gentleman was referring to. Was I looking at the camera in an odd way? Then I realized what he was referring to, answering, "What? You mean smiling? Uh, they don't smile for passport pictures here?" "No, absolutely not," he answered, while SMILING, having found my question humorous.

The President here always seems to be in what I call "passport photo mode."