[Fox]

Aren’t you tired of living in the city?
I'm the type of person who prefers living in the city but sometimes I wish to hide somewhere in a small village and kick back there incommunicado for a while. This desire becomes especially sharp every year before my vacation in August when I run around like a loony completely worn out trying to settle all issues.
I decided to write about it after visiting Mordovia last week-end. We spent all day at an acquaintance’s of my husband’s colleague. He has a large family consisting of 8 people: parents, 5 children from 16 to 30 years old and a daughter of one of them. All day long I was watching them going about their day. The men run a construction business (traditional for Mordovia), women keep the house. All of them have tons of work but how quiet and unhurried they are! They don’t fuss about anything at all. I was taken aback by the contrast between us. I was looking at them enviously and thought that in this Mordovian village 300 miles away even time goes slower than in Moscow. You may say that the world is my oyster and I can choose a more steady lifestyle but….”You have to admire a person who really believes in freedom of choice.”
The questions are: are you satisfied with your life and what lifestyle would you prefer if it’s possible to choose?

[Bill Stickers]

I don't think I'd stay another day in a city like Moscow if I didn't have to. But you say you still prefer the city, no matter how idyllic your brief country getaways are. May I ask why? Are we city folks actually so addicted to all the hustle and bustle and turmoil that, rail against it as much as we like, we still miss it almost immediately when we find ourselves in a quiet country spot?

[Fox]

Fortunately I have a choice where to livе. I have a house in the country. This is the house of my grandparents where I have been spending three months a year all my life. Most relatives and friends of mine are from there. Every time I go to the village first time after winter I enjoy fresh air and peace but in three days or so I start being bored and missing this "hustle and bustle and turmoil" as you wrote. And I didn't say that I loathe my city. I love it. I only wanted to say that SOMETIMES I have a wish to stay alone in a place like I visited last week-end where people live in an absolutely different way.
Another issue is that I know what life in the Russian country is. My son is 5 years old and I don't want him to live there. I think this is the main reason. Let him stay there for the summer, that's enough. But maybe... some day... when my son is an adult I would prefer country life. Who knows..

But the questions are still in force: are you satisfied with your life and what lifestyle would you prefer if it’s possible to choose?

[Dmblock]

Living in the city differs from living in the small town nowadays. If you are young, active and eager to progress your career, if you want to have many opportunities in the years ahead, so living in the city may turn out to be the best choice.It is so, especially if you are not afraid of fair competition and crowds of people. But if you are keen on a peaceful life and comfort, if you want to spend a lot of time with your family so a small town would be more preferable for you.
I like to live in the city due to a number of facts, for example, I live close to my office and get there without traffic jams. In the evening when I want to relax, there are a lot of awesome places where I chill out with my friends. In a nutshell, I love my city and I would never even think about leaving it.

[Emerald]

So as we’ve got a kind of poll started here spontaneously, here I go: I would prefer not to live in this city, I wish I could live 60-80 km away from Moscow, had a possibility to work at home and to visit Moscow somewhat twice a month or on a cultural occasion (a musical concert/ a theater play/an exhibition). I wish I could stop being constantly on the run and with time always compressed. I wish our city would be cleaner, less crowded and friendlier. I feel absolutely fine outside the city and I don't miss the hustle at all, I'm not bored and somehow outside the city I'm able to find time for the things I never get around to while in the city. The most precious thing for me is to seat out side the house in the evening at the end of the day with a cup of tea breathing the fresh air, watching the clouds in the sky and think whatever I like to think about. With no noise around, no hustle around. In Moscow I have no time for this bliss, too many things to do, too many urgent stuff and I often just drop dead asleep at night. I've noticed that a lot off hustle, urgency and rush is created by other people around not by me and most of the time it’s artificial, made up. Because it’s the way it is in Moscow. It's almost trendy to be busy or seemed to be busy. The rhythm of life is very quick, storming somewhere and it’s get into you without you even noticing it (well it’s my opinion).
I'm ready to be paid less, not to have a full-time job but to leave outside the city, having more time for my family, having more time for the things I like to do. I think it's worth it. The only problem I’m facing right now is that it’s rather hard to find part-time job in my professional area.
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[Dmblock]

All what you said is definitely true for a theoretic situation. However, reality is far from this ideal. Living in a country house imposes certain limitations and we shouldn’t forget about them. For example, it is easy to imagine what could happen to someone if he suddenly fell ill. Obviously this patient would stay without adequate treatment. It is an emergency case. But an ordinary rural life is not so easy. Country house property makes owner always keep up his house. Water supply, heating etc demands much more attending than city apartment. So it’s quite possible that you wouldn’t spend the end of the day “with a cup of tea breathing the fresh air” but with blowtorch out your water pipe

[Emerald]

Dmblock, on 24 August 2011 - 10:49 PM, said:

All what you said is definitely true for a theoretic situation. However, reality is far from this ideal. Living in a country house imposes certain limitations and we shouldn’t forget about them. For example, it is easy to imagine what could be with someone if he suddenly fell ill. Obviously this patient would be admitting in awful setting without adequate treatment. It is an emergency case. But an ordinary rural life is not so easy. Country house property makes owner always keep up his house. Water supply, heating etc demands much more attending than city apartment. So it’s quite possible that you wouldn’t spend your end of the day “with a cup of tea breathing the fresh air” but with blowtorch thaw out your water pipe

Well, I gave it a lot of thought recently and as I'm really looking forward to it I'm constantly thinking about it. And I really hope that some day my story will turn from theoretical to the real one. rephrase I'm beyond thinking that having possessed the house would be a nice relaxing stroll. You are right about all you've said about emergency and maintenance and my thinking is that even though I want to live in the country there has to be some decent small city around (3-5 km away) something like Ruza, Zvenigorod, Borovsk something of a kind to have its own hospital even small for an emergency situation, some grocery stores, pharmacies etc. (missing words) The house will definitely need keeping up all the time but I would rather keep my house in order and run a household outside Moscow than live in hard-to-breathe Moscow being constantly on the run or on the contrary stuck in the traffic but with perfect plumbing. There a lot of offers of the houses formed into the villages where administration and a maintain crew for the maintain rate are helping you with all kind of such problems you might face. missing verb, missing plural So it is slightly easier to survive in the country where civilization is also a known word now. So I'm honestly and completely not into living in this city anymore.
3 misused articles, 1 missing. Happy hunting

[Irina]

I understand people dreaming of living in some small towns. Maybe somebody knows Protvino, it is a small science town situated 100 kilometres to the south of Moscow. It is my hometown and I don't know any place which is more beautiful. I left Protvino twice in my life. First time when I entered the technical university in Moscow being seventeen, second time with my child of four after living there for 4 years (after the university) because of finding a new job in Moscow. 1 missing preposition; 1 missing plural; because of finding or not finding? Now we go to Protvino to see my parents and have a rest. And for me it is happiest moments in my life, only there I can relax and sometimes just sit and listen to the music or talk with my friends without a fuss or to go to the swimming pool through the forest or go for a walk to the lake...But very often I hear opinions that living there is ideal for people with small children or retirees. For young people it is a little boring. There was one amusement center only and now it is being reconstructed. But I can say they spend a lot of time walking and go in for sports, they learn languages and maybe read more than city people. It is paradoxical that some friends of mine go to cultural events to Moscow more often than we living here!! 'Events' works better here; occasions are closer to 'case' or 'opportunity'.The drawback there is a very poor level of medicine. Why I don't live there now? My answer is rather banal - it is because of absence of the possibility to work and develop my professional skills and also the opportunity of different education choice for my daughter. missing preposition It was impossible for me to spend so much time to go to the office daily. missing word? And I doubt whether I`ll be able to live in another town except for my nice Protvino if I want to some day. I think if people have an idea to live in some small town but it is not important where the better choice can be something near Moscow like Emerald enumerated.
1 article is missing in this paragraph, 1 misused; happy hunting

[Flame]

I was born and turned in a small village (there were less than five hundred inhabitants at that time) till sixteen years old. And it was a very happy time in my life! Undoubtedly childhood is the best period in your life for everybody, but when I listen to the story of my friends who had their childhood in the city I become stronger in the idea that I wouldn’t want another one for me. All the children in my remembrance are very healthy, friendly, free and resourceful. All our free time we spent plaing different games in the open air in the wild, but all the country little people were accustomed to working and knew the «price of labour» not by hearsay. Of course we can’t have many creature comforts and opportunities. My parents weren't able to choose the school for me and my sister, there is only one in that place. I can learn only German, but no English and my mum’s house doesn't have any water supply still. There wasn’t any amusement center and so forth. My birthplace is located in the depths of Mordovia. It’s the most beautiful place for me on the world! I agree with Fox that in that place "time goes slower than in Moscow" and life-style is more suitable for me.

But if I think about the place in which I grew up now in real life I understand I can’t return to my birthplace. There aren’t any opportunities for my work and for my career not just in my village, but in all of Mordovia.

Our village has changed with years towards bad direction and when sometimes I visit home I feel joy and sorrow together. All young people left the village. From my class only one girl lives there now. There aren’t any workplaces at all. Now only one school functions for our and for five(!) nearest villages. The pharmacy and the local clinic were closed last year. My mother worked in the village administration and I know from her that any progressive decision will not be expected from the local authorities with that entire problem.

I think that the problem is that all the people want have a good standard of life and a more comfortable life style, but not all the places in this country correspond with it. And it is obvious that all people in this country can’t live in Moscow or in a town near Moscow.

This post has been edited by Flame: 26 October 2011 - 04:04 PM

[Fox]

Hi everybody, it looks as if I'm beginning to change my point of view concerning lifestyle. Who would have thought it! Yesterday I returned from the country where I spent a week with my son. Our old house was demolished and a new foundation was laid. We lived in a small house built by my husband for living during the construction of a new house. Never could imaging that I would be able to stay more than a day in a place without any conveniences. And not just stay but enjoy every minute of it. Tomorrow we are leaving again.

Never say never.

[Lily]

I think that there isn't problem where to live if you really want to. Now I often hear that some families leave their city flats, sell them and go to the village far from the cities. They build house in the place where there aren't any people or buy a village house and live very independent. They have their light housekeeping and live without any improvements.Their children help them to do the housekeeping from a small age. It is a kind of subsistence economy. Maybe they want to live in a ecologically pure environment with their children. But as for me I was born in a big city. There live more then 1,5 million people. And I like to live in a big city and never change it for a small village. But sometimes I want to go outside the city for couple days, but it is not for me always live in the village.
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[Caledonia]

It seems to me that there is a trend nowadays to discuss different lifestyles. Almost always when I'm meeting my friends or get acquinted with new people
there is a kind of discussion about life in Moscow. And it doesn't matter if these people live here or somewhere else.
As for me, Moscow is not my hometown. I was born and grew up in Saratov, which is located on the right bank of the Volga river, approximately 1000 km from Moscow.
The town is not a great place to live now. Not only due to low salaries and a lack of career opportunities but also because of poor urban service and environment. However when now I'm looking at the children who are
growing up in the big city I understand that I would not wish another childhood for myself. My school was located not far from house, typically it took me 15 mitutes to get to it.
Usually I spend my summer holidays in a very small town,( in fact it is like a village) with my grandmother. I drank Then or now? check the tenses here and in the previous newly drawn milk, gathered berries, fruit and vegetables in my grandma's garden, spending all days long in the open air. Frankly speaking, I don't have the exact answer to the question if I would like to leave Moscow for slower pace of life or no.
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On the one hand, I often feel so tired of long distances, traffic jams, crowds of people almost everywhere etc. On the other hand, only this city provides the greatest opportunities for everything from education and career opportunities to shopping and a wide range of different services. Thinking of going back to my hometown, I can definitely say "no". I enjoy spending my holidays there with my family and close friends, usually I have a great time in summer coming to my parents' country house that is on the bank of the Volga. check what images a country house gives you, if they aren't what you expected, make a change But I hardly can imagine my life there now. Apparently there is one explanation that can dot my i's and cross my t's. Big city life works for people who are always looking for something more. I don't mean that those who live in villages or small towns are common ones. No. I'm talking about a kind of a thing that is inside you and that constantly pushes you to more challenges. Ans surely it doesn't matter where a person was born. If there is "something" (I cannot find a proper term) inside you, it will not leave you alone. That is why so many people come to Moscow every day hoping that maybe here they will get what they need so much.

[Autevielle]

Caledonia, on 05 November 2011 - 12:58 PM, said:

If there is "something" (I cannot find a proper term) inside you, it will not leave you alone.

You mean like something egging you on? Like your restless spirit or the will to succeed or sth like that?

[Prolya]

Yes, I think there is some popular discussion about ''How inhuman is Moscow life", (word order) but all of these people continue to live here, and everybody have their reasons for it.
As for me I was not born in Moscow, it was a little town. I think that my reasons to live here are the same as somebody else.
Moscow is the most uncomfortable city in the world this say differen ratings of the capitals of the developed countries. It is the most expensive, with problem movement and undeveloped infrastructure (it's about schools, kindergartens, hospitals and etc.) and I agree with this.
But I like Moscow with lots of people, cars, subway, endless movement. It is the one and only city in Russia and may be this is its problem.
I like to live here... At the beginnig I had lived on the district of the Schodnenskaya Skhodnenskaya station, far from the metro station, and further than everything alse. It was awfully. But now I have lived nearer the center of the city and next a metro station. 1 missing preposition Now I'm happy. You need to adapt to life here remembering about your reasons "Why you are here".

[Elena]

There is only one reason living (grammar) here - money. It’s all about money. There are a lot of nice places in the world surrounded by vineyards, but only one where being the Head of department in the big international bank in your 26 years is real.
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The problem is Moscow is the most uncomfortable city in the world, but it’s the “... one and only city in Russia” where living is possible...

[Autevielle]

Prolya, on 20 November 2011 - 11:42 AM, said:

Moscow is the most uncomfortable city in the world this say differen ratings of the capitals of the developed countries.

I can't help feeling that the real problem might be those comparisons with those far-off gilded dreams of developed countries. This city is something out of a sprawling urban nightmare, so if you compare it with, say, the Big Apple, it would be more fair to apply the one in Escape from New York, for instance. (that's this one).