Can you elaborate on why you say Moscow feels scary? Is it something you've experienced or just a feeling you've had when there?

@@TheExpatEdge Customs personnel at Sheremetyevo airport are not reasonably friendly, and that's the first impression one gets when arriving there, although I had made reservations from USA, the hotel clerk wanted to give her chocolates to access my room, every seems to be fixed or resolved through bribing, everyone's tone or voice is extremely authoritarian, the minute they knew I was not Russian prices would go up on the spot, there was a sense that rules and law were a very relative concept, changeable autocratically. I have been there several times , on one of my trips leaving from Domodedovo airport, I bought a magnet/souvenir for the refrigerator, the cashier slammed it on the counter in a nasty way, when I asked for a bag her answer was: NO ! I do admire Russia for many thing, none of which are friendliness, civility and rule of law.....

Nicest people this American has ever met!

Have you visited Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, as well as Karelia in the north?

@@Ded_Silu ...no....but I took the TransSiberian train from Moscow, stopped for days in Irkutsk and then spent days in Vladivostok---all in January! Would love to see Murmansk and Arkangelsk---my next trip (when this covid ends) is probably on a Russian owned cruise down the Volga! No Viking for me!

@@sputnikcaviar5592 Would you recommend any accommodations in Irkutsk and Vladivostok? What kind of winter apparel should one acquire before stepping into Irkutsk?

@@Ded_Silu ....I had wool jacket, boots, ushanka hat--I was fine. Wouldn't even think of going now with Russia in lockdown and record high deaths!! Russians overheat their places so much so that I was roasting on the Trans Siberian (had to open windows now and then!). Have you been to Russia?

@@sputnikcaviar5592 I visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, and several small towns in European Russia more than 25 years ago. I may or may not get a chance to return, however, I’m trying to learn as much as I can about the place while being at home. In the immediate future, my goal is to be able to read official Russian documents and be able to have conversations with ordinary people about everyday lives.

exactly, it's such a bizarre way to chose a city to live in based on ''how many NEW things can we do there?'' they don't have lives? They don't work? They won't make friends? If that's how they grade cities, most cities would run out of things to offer eventually.

Ivan, we love smaller cities in Russia too! Unfortunately, it is hard to recommend them to anyone who doesn't speak Russian or ready to start their own business. Moscow is a different country even compared to St. Petersburg. You are right, the main difference between the US and Russia is that most of the US is on the same level. Yes salaries are lower in smaller cities in the US but you can still live a great life. In Russia, Moscow and St. Petersburg are really the only options... Hopefully, this will change sometime soon!

@@TheExpatEdge there are some expats in my Yekaterinburg as well (I personally gave a ride to an American guy once, had a really nice conversation with him) but of course, that's an exception. And I seriously doubt he's still here lol

We know a couple Americans in Ekaterinburg! They are there, but just a few of them.

@@TheExpatEdge do you happen to know what kind of job they do here? Are they hired or doing their own things?

Both. Some are English teachers, some have their own business and we know a few American students in Ekaterinburg.