Housing /Проживание

While you’re in Petersburg, you’ll be staying with a Russian host family. Your family will provide you with your own room (with linens) and two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. They’ll also give you a chance to practice the Russian you’ll be learning in the classroom and to see how ordinary Russians live.

The host families are selected from a group of families that our partners at the state university use for programs like ours, so most of them have experience in dealing with the peculiarities of foreign students. In addition, as we get closer to our departure, you’ll tell us about your own (simple) preferences—i.e., whether you’re a vegetarian, are allergic to pets and children, etc. A week or so before you arrive, we’ll give you some basic information about the family you’ll be staying with (i.e., their names, ages, professions, and telephone numbers). It’s often a good idea to bring them a small gift (подарок), especially something from your university or hometown.

In years past, our students have lived in the center of the city.  The university itself is on the southeastern tip of Vasilievsky Island, and many of our students were able to walk to class each morning, while all the rest were a short bus or tram ride away from the state university’s Filfak (филологический факультет or филфак) complex, where you’ll be taking your classes. The university is just across the Neva River from the Winter Palace.

What to bring with you?/ Что взять с собой?

Although many things are readily available in Russian stores nowadays, you might find it useful to bring the following items with you in your suitcase:

1. A folding umbrella (зонтик).

2. A raincoat or jacket to wear in the city in case it gets cool. In general, it is a good idea to pack a variety of clothes for hot as well as cool weather (see “Weather,” above). You might also want to take along slightly more formal wear for outings to the theater, opera and ballet.

3. Vitamins, if you take them.

4. Any medications that you take (e.g., for any allergies), as well as cold medicine and medicine for upset stomach (e.g., Pepto-Bismol, Immodium AD).

5. If you wear contact lenses please remember to pack your cleaning solution, saline solution, and other necessities.

6. If you have a preference for particular grooming products (shampoo, soap, etc.) please bring them with you from the States. There is a plethora of such items in stores, but you’re more likely to find European brands. “Wet Ones” (or any other alcohol-based, disinfecting hand toilettes) will be useful to have in your pockets to clean your hands, especially when we’re on the road.

7. Foods you’ll get a hankering for while you’re in Russia but that you won’t find there—such as peanut butter. It’s also a good idea to take along a small bottle of Tabasco sauce if you want to spice up your food a bit.

Communications/ Связь

Telephone (телефон)            

The international country code for Russia is 7; the city code for Petersburg is 812.

If you want to call home while you’re in Russia, it’s a good idea to buy a discount calling card. You can buy these cards in branches of the state savings bank (Сбербанк) when you arrive in Petersburg. They allow you to call America or Western Europe at a fraction of the standard rate, and they also make your host families sleep more peacefully (since they know they won’t get a big long-distance bill in the mail after your departure).

Your parents and friends can call you in Russia as well. Because it’s just as expensive to call into Russia as out of it, we’d recommend that they buy a calling card if they’re planning to call often or talk for more than a few minutes. Many of these cards can be purchased on the Internet (e.g., www.discall.com ), and some of them have access numbers both in the US and in Russia, meaning that you and your loved ones can share the same (virtual) card.

AT&T’s direct access number in Petersburg is 325-5042. This service allows you to pay for calls with either your AT&T card, with another credit card, or to call collect. For more information, see www.usa.att.com/traveler .

Cell Phone (мобильный телефон)
                                             

If you want to have a cell phone with you in Russia and avoid big bills, you will need to bring a tri-band cell phone. Soon after your arrival, we’ll make a field trip to a cell phone shop, where they’ll switch out the SIM-card in the back of your phone and set you up with a local Petersburg phone number. You’ll pay for a certain amount of calling time, and add time (and money) as you need it.

With a cell phone, your parents can reach you whenever they need to. More important, you can easily communicate with program staff and coordinate your movements with fellow students. In past years, almost half of the students in our groups brought cell phones with them, and it ended up making things easier and safer for all of us.

Cell phone service in Russia is fairly expensive (approximately five to fifteen cents a minute), but if you keep your conversations to a minimum, you can keep your tab to around $20 for the entire four-week stay.

E-mail (электронная почта) 
                                      
You’ll have no trouble keeping in touch by e-mail while you’re in Russia. Internet cafés are everywhere in Petersburg, including the филфак complex at the university, where you’ll be having your classes. Generally, Internet access in such cafés costs thirty to forty rubles (a little over a dollar) for thirty minutes or an hour, though rates can vary wildly from place to place.

Snail Mail (почта)

Postal service between Russia and America is generally quite slow. If you want your postcards to reach home before you get back yourself, it’s best to send them soon after you arrive. If you need to get something home faster, FedEx, UPS and other courier services have offices in Petersburg. If someone needs to get something to you fast, these couriers can deliver it to the university. However, be sure to ask us for the exact address and contact person because we’ll have to warn our friends at the university to be on the lookout for your package.

In past years, our students have spent out of pocket anywhere from $200 to $500 during their four weeks in Petersburg.

What you end up spending depends in large part on the kind of lifestyle you want to lead when you’re not with our group. Most of your daily needs are already covered by your tuition and fees. Your host families provide you with two meals a day (breakfast and dinner – завтрак и ужин), and we usually take lunch (обед) together in the university’s rather inexpensive cafeteria (столовая), where you can get a hot, nutritious meal for three dollars or so. The university will give you a public transportation pass, which is good for free travel on the city’s subways, buses, and trams. (Please note that the so-called маршрутки—private vans and buses that follow the same routes as public transportation—don’t honor these passes.)

Маршрутки:

During most of the excursions we go on, you won’t have to pay for anything, either (except for souvenirs and snacks). Everything else you want to indulge in during the trip—theater tickets, discos, sushi bars, матрёшки—is up to you.

Many retailers in Petersburg now take credit cards (кредитные карточки). Visa and Mastercard are much more commonly accepted than American Express. (Don’t bother to bring your Discover card.) Many credit card companies don’t charge you extra for transactions in foreign currency, but you might want to call them before you leave for Russia to make sure. You might also want to let them know that you’ll be using your card in Russia so they don’t inadvertently block access for your own security. You should keep in a separate place your credit card numbers and customer service numbers in case of theft.

Here are the customer service numbers for the major credit card companies. Collect calls can be placed through the local Petersburg AT&T direct access number, 325-5042.

American Express: 1-800-528-4800; international collect call 1-336-393-1111.

Visa: 1-800-847-2911; international collect call 1-410-581-9994.

Mastercard: 1-636-722-7111.

ATM machines (банкоматы) are all over the city. If your card is part of the Cirrus, Maestro, Visa or Mastercard networks (their logos will be on the back of your card), then you can withdraw cash (in rubles or, sometimes, in dollars) from checking and savings accounts. This is the cheapest and most convenient way to get money in Russia. Be sure to check with your bank before you leave to find out what they charge for foreign withdrawals and to alert them that you’ll be using your card abroad.

Traveler’s cheques (дорожные чеки) are also accepted in some currency exchange bureaus (обмен валюты) but they are difficult to deal with and more costly to exchange than cash.

You probably should bring with you some amount of cash just in case—perhaps $200 or so. You will be charged a small commission fee when you exchange money, and you’ll need to show your passport to the cashiers. On May 22, 2005, the exchange rate was 28.01 rubles to the dollar.

Health and Safety /Здоровье и безопасность

Safety (безопасность)

Petersburg is not the safest place in the world. Last year, for example, five of our students fell victim to pickpockets, most of them on the subway. To complicate matters, the Russian police (милиция) are not always so helpful in protecting the public, and they’ve even been known to shake foreigners down for money. And it might also seem to you that the motorists are out to run over you and other pedestrians (пешеходы) and crash into each other.

That being said, Petersburg is also not the most dangerous place in the world. If you act smart and exercise a certain amount of caution, you’ll have a fun, productive and trouble-free stay in Russia.

We’ve found in the past that the best way for you to keep safe is to stick together with one or two classmates whenever you can. In any case, you’ll be spending a lot of time in the classroom and on required excursions with the whole group. Most staff members will be carrying cell phones if you need to contact us in a hurry. It’s always a good idea in general to keep us informed of your whereabouts and plans.

The day after you arrive in Petersburg, we’ll have another orientation meeting to talk more about safety issues and other matters. In the meantime, you can go to the US Consulate’s website (see below) for more information on the seamy side of life in Petersburg. We’ll help you register at the consulate when you arrive, which will make it possible for the consulate to get information to you or locate you in case of an emergency.

Here is some important contact information for you and your parents. After you arrive in Petersburg, we’ll be giving a longer list that will include the local phone numbers and addresses of all staff members and students. In the meantime, your parents should feel free to e-mail their questions to the program coordinator, Tom Campbell.

St. Petersburg State University Special Department of Philology (our hosts)

11/2 naberezhnaya Leitenanta Shmidta, room 307

Tel: (7-812) 323-2647, (7-812) 327-7955

E-mail: info@russian4foreigners.spb.ru

15 Furshtatskaya ulitsa (metro station Chernyshevskaya)

Tel: (7-812) 331-2600 (US citizens services and after-hours emergency calls)

www.stpetersburg-usconsulate.ru

Thomas Campbell (Program Coordinator)

19/52 Pushkinskaya ulitsa, (metro stations Vladimirskaya, pl. Vosstaniia, Mayakovskaya)

Tel: (7-812) 713-1786

Cell: (7)-906-269-7782

E-mail: thomas.campbell@yale.edu

Health ( здоровье)

To stay healthy in Petersburg you’ll need NOT to do one thing for sure—drink the water. The city water supply is infected with giardia and a number of other viruses, bacteria, and parasites. To stay giardia-free, drink bottled or boiled water. (Petersburgers, especially of the older generation, drink a lot of hot tea (чай) in all seasons.)

Hepatitis A and B are dangers as well. If you go into the forests, you’ll also want to watch out for ticks, because they can infect you with Lyme disease or meningitis. For more specific information and recommendations, you should go to the Centers for Disease Control web page on travel in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (www.cdc.gov/travel/easteurp.htm ).

If you are taking medication, whether prescription or over-the-counter (e.g. allergy medicine such as Claritin), it’s a good idea to bring a month’s supply with you. Russian pharmacies, however, have most of the basics, as well as great homeopathic and herbal remedies you’ll rarely see in American pharmacies.

If you do get ill while you’re in Petersburg, there are a number of decent Western medical clinics in the city. (Go to the US Consulate’s website for a complete listing.) While many of these offer discounts to students, you should count on having to pay for services out of pocket when you’re seen. Some insurance plans will cover such out-of-country treatment, but you’ll usually have to file a claim for reimbursement later. It’s also a very good idea to check whether you’re covered for overseas hospitalization and medical evacuation.