Crossroads Eurasia: Internships in Russia

Teaching English at Global House in Ryazan didn't just put me in a teacher's position in a house next to where Pavlov was born. It put me in conversation with and thrust me into the life of a city rarely visited by foreigners, in a country whose national image is gaining attention. In the midst of the turbulent summer of 2014 I was exposed not to political points of view, but unique individual human experiences, lives, and what's more, friends.
Our Russian students, staff and their friends were extremely warm towards us and invited us on all their excursions to the countryside, visiting the rolling fields and abandoned bridge of Dobry Sot, the midnight stars at Dubki, our friend's banya in Rybnoe, and day trips to the unforgettable colorful Kremlins of Kolomna, Vladimir and Suzdal.
In the midst of it all, my friend and I got a shot at fame when a Ryazanian TV crew interviewed us at a festival!

Overall there are too many reasons to recommend the Crossroads Eurasia program for anyone wanting to experience the true Russia. Having studied abroad in Saint Petersburg before I had longed to see a glimpse of the gritty, dusty life that most Ryazanians were kind enough to let me into.

Working with Kristina, Katya, and Anna was absolutely fantastic, and the work was different every day, allowing my Russian to improve tremendously over three months.

Since the internship was only 20 hours per week, I was also able to travel to surrounding cities on weekends and explore different attractions around Voronezh in my spare time. My host family (who was actually a couple close to my age, so they were more like host friends :D) was so nice; it was a blast hanging out with them.

My summer in Voronezh is certainly not one I will soon forget!

Vlad and Martina (the program directors) are really great people to get to know, and I learned so much from my experiences living abroad in Russia. They both helped me every step along the way - including getting my visa, connecting with my host family, an in-person orientation for the program, and so on. During the program, I lived in Nerekhta for a month (near Kostroma) and I also lived in Voronezh for a month. There were plenty of opportunities for doing fun things all over the city as well as outside of the city, including a little bit of "free time" to do whatever I wanted - and I enjoyed being able to work as an English teacher abroad. This would be a great program for someone who speaks Russian very well, or even an absolute beginner.

Spending 5 weeks teaching English at a summer camp in Nerekhta ended up solidifying my decision to invest in Russian for the rest of my college career.
At the time, I only had two semesters of Russian language learning under my belt. It was enough to get by, but communication struggles were very common. However, this is the perfect opportunity to pick up the language -- I ended up skipping an entire year of the Russian language sequence at my university once I returned to school in the fall.
My host family was very sweet, caring, and understanding. They were just as happy to have me and learn about me as I was them.
Though the schedule over the 5 weeks was pretty tight, we were lucky enough to be provided with excursions to the major nearby cities over the weekends. Our transport and stays were covered even then.
Both the counselors and young campers were eager to befriend the English-speakers and teach us plenty of Russian words and phrases that you wouldn't learn in a classroom
Overall, it was a great program -- especially for the cost -- and I saw more of Russia than I did on my formal study abroad program in Russia later on.

I had never been to Russia before this program and thanks to Crossroads Eurasia, I got to experience the country, meet awesome people, improve my Russian language skills, and even propel my career back in the United States! The volunteers in Russia were fantastic and very welcoming thanks to this excellent program.

I knew no Russian prior to the program, so the great amount of independence expected of the program participants in navigating the city was difficult at first but turned out to be rewarding in the end.

The social scene was great--including planned group trips and getting to hang out with both Russian and international assistants who were around my age.

I highly recommend to anyone who wants a good work experience, while improving their Russian and seeing the country. Plus, how many people can say they worked in Russia?? Not many. You'll come back with lots of stories and new friendships, that not many others have experiences

I have participated in a number of work and study programs in Russia, and Crossroads is by far one of the best. I worked as an English teacher with Linguist and as a translator for Livestock Link in Voronezh, Russia. The experience helped me to develop marketable skills and has really given me a great jumping-off foundation for further travel and work in Russia and other post-Soviet states. The work itself was fun and left a lot of room for flexibility and creativity. The program is well-executed, and the staff is extremely friendly and supportive at every stage of the process.