University of Valencia, Spain, Double – degree IBSA
Master Program
February- June
2017 - 2018 Academic year
Introduction
Having spent 5 months as a student at IBS RANEPA in Moscow as part of my IBSA master’s program makes it all but impossible to fit all the impressions and experience I gathered throughout this time in only a couple paragraphs. In the following, I will try to do so nevertheless by splitting up my thoughts into chapters each representing one of the things that you might be most concerned with before coming here and while you are living here, before eventually coming to a conclusion.
The University
The university is located in a fenced area that is only accessible to students and personnel 15km beeline from the city center in the southwestern part of Moscow. The dorms, about which I’m going to tell in the next chapter, are also situated in that very area. The classes are being taught in one of four buildings that are all close-by on campus. Each building has an own canteen/cafeteria and also small stores like pharmacies or GlowSubs. The classes as such cover a broad variety of topics from Marketing over Finance to Economics etc. Furthermore, there is a healthy mix of students from different nations in the classes through which the international component of the program is being promoted even more effectively. The professors are outstandingly qualified in their field of research and all have distinctive international kudos, teaching and working abroad for some years. Classes are mostly being taught during the evening since the Russian students for the most part have full-time jobs during the day, which gives room for studying or leisure time in the afternoon.
The Dorms
The dorm is a 15-story-building with approximately 20 rooms per floor and facilities like a doctor’s office and a laundry service for your bed clothes in the lower floors. There are two big kitchens where you can cook, and four washing machines for which you have to make a previous appointment at the administration office, which is also located in the building. Every floor also has an open lobby with a couch and desks where you can spend some time or eat your meals. The rooms as such are rather small and must be shared with another student. I have got to admit though, that in the beginning it seemed to be more of a problem to me than it eventually turned out to be. There is enough space for all the clothes and other stuff you brought and after a short time it is easy to arrange with the other person. There’s also an own bathroom in each room with a shower, a sink and a toilet. The rent for a room is 400 rubles per night which usually adds up to about ~€180/$210 a month. The big advantage to live here is that you will be right in the buzz, you will get to know new people faster and socialize with them, so I’ve gotten to really appreciate the life here though there have been moments during the first two or three weeks where I was struggling, but after all it was absolutely worth it to live here throughout the whole semester!
The Surroundings
Even though the university seems not to be very central, you will have everything you need within 10 minutes walking distance. There are at least four supermarkets very close, there is a Georgian and a Japanese restaurant around, three shopping malls, KFC, Burger King and McDonald’s, so you don’t have to worry about long distances when running your errands. The metro station is also right next to campus and from there it takes around 20 minutes to get to the city center. Not too far away there are two parks where you can just go for a walk among the trees, have a barbecue with your friends, or simply take a sunbath. Also, there is a good pub right next to campus where you can watch soccer while having a beer or two.
The City
You could write books over books about this amazing city, so I couldn’t even scratch the whole topic within one paragraph. I will say though that it’s a whole different story compared to European or American standards with regards to lifestyle, people, routines, night-life, etc., so you’d need to experience it for yourself. Some things to do that you most definitely should not miss are to visit the Red Square, the Kremlin, the adjacent Museum of History, take a walk alongside the Moskva, marvel at the skyscrapers in Moscow City, visit the Pushkin-Museum and the Izmailova-Kremlin.
The Weather
The weather was one of the things I was most concerned about before coming here, especially since I arrived in February. And it did not disappoint. Temperatures went below -20 Celsius oftentimes and it snowed so much that public services had problems piling it all up, so wrapping yourself up in multiple layers was crucial. Surprisingly though, you get used to this super-fast and it does not bother you anymore after a very short while, so the weather really was less of a problem than I expected it to be, and to be honest, this weather really does belong to a proper Russian experience. Plus, when the snow finally melted in the beginning of April, spring became all the more sweeter, having survived the hardships of this Russian winter.
Traveling
In your free-time you should definitely not miss out on exploring more of this country than merely Moscow and the area around. In a circle of around 70-200km around Moscow there is the so called “Golden Circle” with cities such as Sergiyew Possad, Suzdal, or Vladimir which feature huge and important orthodox abbeys, cathedrals, churches and kremlins, so going there should be on your bucket list. Furthermore, Moscow houses 4-5 big airports and train stations from where you can go to St. Petersburg, Sochi, Murmansk, Kyiv, the Caucasus, or even further afield to experience the Asian part of Russia at Lake Baikal. Traveling this country helped me understand the Russian soul even better and I can only recommend it to all of you!
Bottom Line
When I had to decide which university I wanted to spend my second semester at, I was purely making that decision based on the specialization in Management that IBS- IBS RANEPA was offering. With hindsight, I would have undoubtedly chosen it again with any other specialization since this university and the city just offer so much more that it was absolutely worth spending this part of my academic career here at IBS- IBS RANEPA.
So, mark my words and hopefully see you soon in Moscow!
