'I Have Fallen in Love with Russia—Especially Your Culture'
HSE University hosted a roundtable for international students, organised by the interuniversity student project Adventures of Foreigners in Russia. Participants of the roundtable received helpful tips and guides on adapting to life in Russia, along with practical information and recommendations on getting around, where to go, and what to do in Moscow during their free time. International students also shared their personal stories about why they chose to move to Russia and how their studies at the university are progressing.
According to project head Natalia Belyaeva, Adventures of Foreigners in Russia originated from a student thesis. It is currently supported by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. 'We have personal experience being international students in other countries. The creator of the project completed an academic internship in Poland, and I did mine in China, so we know firsthand how challenging it can be to adapt to a new information environment,' Natalia said.
The project’s Telegram channel brings together all the essential information for international students, including legal regulations, answers to migration-related questions, and details about opportunities such as olympiads, grants, and forums, as well as useful links and recommendations for interesting places to visit. 'We inform international students about the documents they need to carry and how to properly arrange travel either to their home country or to another region of Russia,' explains Natalia.
The project also offers advisory support to international students via a dedicated chatbot.
'We will soon meet with Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and request clarification on the availability of grants. You may have heard that in addition to the quota provided by the Russian government, international students have an additional opportunity for social assistance: they can participate in a competition to win full tuition and accommodation. However, since there is no application platform yet, we are actively seeking this information,' explains Natalia Belyaeva.
During the roundtable, participants had the opportunity to connect, get to know each other better, and expand their network. Maria Kaminskaya, a second-year student of the Bachelor's programme in Media Communications at HSE University, is originally from Vitebsk, Belarus. 'Almost every other one of my classmates in my hometown applied to HSE University, so I decided to give it a try too,' she says. 'At the same time, I also applied to a university in my hometown and was admitted, but in the end, I chose Moscow.'
Maria shares that adapting was initially quite challenging, as her hometown is fairly small, and moving to the Russian capital felt very unfamiliar. 'I have no relatives here—none at all. I lived in a hostel outside Moscow. I enjoy studying and have never regretted coming here, even though it was difficult at first. I’ve made friends among my fellow students, and now everything is fine,' she sums up.
Benedetta Armando, a first-year student at the Doctoral School of Cultural Studies at HSE University, is originally from the town of Maratea, Italy. She has been living in Russia for three years, having earned her master’s in St Petersburg before moving to Moscow.
Benedetta chose to study at HSE University because, in her opinion, it offers the most modern educational programmes and is highly regarded not only in Russia but also internationally. She admits that she has struggled with the Russian language: 'I studied it intensively for three years, and in total, I have been learning it for six years. It has very complex grammar, including grammatical cases, and a completely different alphabet.'
The student says she feels comfortable living in Russia. 'I have fallen in love with Russia and cities like Moscow, St Petersburg, and Nizhny Novgorod. I appreciate the standard of living, transportation, and various facilities and services—especially the culture, which you cherish and take great care of,' she adds.