11 years in Moscow: American Sean Thomas shares his experience

Sean Thomas has been living in Moscow for 11 years working as a TV host. The last half a year has been very particular though because of pandemic and closed borders. Sean told me about this weird time and overall about his experience of living in Russia. 🎥 ✨Shooting and video editing magic: Anna Davydova. ✔️Follow me on Instagram:   / russialikehome   *** "I love the culture, because Russian culture is rich. I mean the heritage here is just incredible. I love the people. People have the stereotype of Russians being very stern, and serious, and hard. Sometimes that’s true, but usually only when you first meet them. Once you gain the trust of a person, I’ve found that the Russian people are the most open, friendly, kind, generous, warm-hearted people you can find". *** "I will say everything in Russia – especially when I got here, it’s better now – is more difficult that it needs to be. Sure, you can find everything. Sure, you can go to the street and get all the conveniences that you can get in any modern city in Europe or even in the United States. But sometimes things aren’t as easy as they could be". *** "So it was really crazy at the beginning, all of the conversations, how many people thought is was fake and how many people thought “This is just a business, they want to get money with a vaccine”. You heard all of these conspiracy theories, both in the US and here in Russia. And then people started realizing: “Oh wait, this is…” You don’t really hear the conspiracy theories anymore, because this has really changed our lives to such a degree". *** "My best friend is really into healthy eating and the healthy lifestyle, and I’m obviously not as much into the healthy eating and healthy lifestyle as I could be. So she asked me “Hey, why don’t you try being vegan for a month?” I said “Ok, why not? I can do that.” So I did. But if I do something, I do it a 100%? I don’t do it half way, ever. So I started really cooking and really researching and doing things, really. So she would eat these meals and she’d say “You need to have a blog”. I said “Oh no, come on, really?” And she was like “No, you should do a blog”. So I opened an Instagram account and I started blogging, just as a cute little joke really, ‘cause I’m not a blogger, I’m not a vegan, but now I have a successful vegan blog". *** "’I've been very fortunate to have many experiences in my life , I mean my profession puts you in different circumstances where you’re forced to see things in a different way. So for me it reconfirmed how strong people really can be, and how supportive people really can be, how creative people can be". *** "I love Gorky park, and Neskuchny sad, and Vorobyovy gory. Sorry if I mispronounce that. I try to walk somewhere there like once a day, even in the winter, because what I really love is in the middle of night in winter to go though Neskuchny sad when it’s snowing and there is no one there in the middle of the night and you’re the only one there and it’s quiet and peaceful". *** "What I find is that people who have not been to Moscow think of Moscow, they think grey, dark, cloudy, stern. They don’t think about colors, they don’t think about trees, they have this image in they head with this idea, maybe it’s a Soviet idea, maybe it’s a Soviet stereotype, but it’s not what Moscow is". *** "The second stereotype is that it’s not safe. And I can honestly say that I have never felt unsafe in Moscow. I live in the center. Maybe there have been times when I’ve been a little bit more cautious, out in the suburbs, away from the center. There are specific places where you have to be a little more cautious, if you’re gonna be around a train station, for example, but that’s just common sense around the world. I felt more unsafe in London at times, I felt more unsafe in Paris at times, I felt more unsafe in Washington DC. I’ve never felt endangered". *** "[I learnt Russian] just speaking on the streets, being on business trips, talking in taxi. When a taxi driver finds out you’re a journalist they always want to have a political conversation with you. So you have to learn really quickly. You’re gonna learn if you want kefir or milk, you have to learn these things. What I would use, I would hear a word, and if I heard it often enough I’d say ok, I need to know what that word is. And then I would ask someone, and they would tell me, and then I would practice. I’m still doing that. And I think I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life, as long as I’m here".