The first impression of Armenia
I've recently moved to Yerevan, immediately after I got offered a place of a senior developer in the Yerevan office of American company Vineti. When I was looking for a job, I had several offers to consider, namely from Amsterdam, Minsk, Kyiv, and Moscow. But before that, I had been working for 9 years in Moscow and didn't want to return to life in a metropolis. When I got an offer from Yerevan, I thought "Bingo! It's worth trying."
I have a rather long story with Yerevan. Several years ago, while I was still working for Roche, I visited Minsk, Kyiv, Almaty, Tbilisi, and Yerevan. Out of all these places, I liked Yerevan the most. I remembered it as a European city with big potential. I lived in Switzerland for some time, and I know what a small European city entails. A place where everything is clean and people have time to enjoy life. In the future, I believe Yerevan will be a city like that.
Life in Yerevan
Gastronomy is one of the major strengths of Armenia. Yerevan boasts of a huge selection of tasty and organic food. I am vegetarian, and fresh and tasty fruits and veggies are important for me. In this regard, I feel very comfortable here.
Yerevan is considered one of the safest cities in the world. Armenians are very friendly and responsive people. Arriving in the country, you gain unconditional trust from people and a company you are going to work for. This atmosphere of trust creates a perfect working environment for people of our profession.
Now I'm actively looking for a school for my 9-year-old son. I'm sure he will adjust to Armenia without much trouble, and he won't have any difficulties communicating with local kids. Children have very flexible minds, they learn languages quickly, and in a couple of years, he will be fluent in Armenian. And my little daughter that we are going to raise in Armenia won't face this problem at all. Furthermore, almost everyone in Yerevan speaks Russian.
I like that in Yerevan everything is within walking distance. I enjoy living without a car and walking around the city. Yerevan is a very comfortable and economical city in terms of time and energy, and that helps to create a perfect work-life balance.