My Intro, From Moscow to New York

Hi guys,

My name is Nastya, I'm 27. I’m new to Steemit but am already amazed by the stories you all share here. I thought it was a platform for the blockchain fans where entrepreneurs and PR managers share news about their companies trying to hit awareness for their ICOs. Glad I was wrong!

I moved to New York City from Moscow about a year ago, last October. At the time I had been working at a business magazine in Russia. At that point, Vladimir Putin had already been in office for 16 years. When I said to my friends I was moving to New York, I was greeted by sarcastic: “You run away from Putin’s Russia, but what if Trump becomes a president?” It was in October so none of my friends really believed he would win. Jokes come true!

Anyway, I’ve been writing for Esquire, Forbes, Slon.ru, The Village, Secret of the Firm and other media in Russia — mostly about business and tech entrepreneurs. In 2015, my editor-in-chief Nickolay Kononov (who by the way wrote a good book about Pavel Durov, the guy who started Telegram messenger) He was building a new business outlet from scratch with the idea of injecting inspiring stories in the gloomy atmosphere of our everyday reality.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Russia. Although, sometimes it seems like the coolest thing about it is people’s ability to survive and endure. Unlike many outlets that were trying to embrace more desperation, we were trying to encourage new feats. I was flying to Barcelona to interview Jan Koum right after Facebook bought his messenger, WhatsApp, for $19 billion. I was interviewing almost all of the most important tech companies founders in Russia and eventually I thought: 1) I’ve done most I could. It was getting harder to find every new cool story, and, 2) I don’t find those kind of stories inspiring anymore. Back then my friends and I were going to political protests while friends of friends were taken to jails. Emigration was in the air.

Indeed, it’s not so easy to try to boost positive attitude and tell stories of self-made men while surviving in that zeitgeist of political pressure and moral despair.

During the summer 2017 I went to Kamchatka — a peninsula which is perceived as in the middle of nowhere. At least more Russians would prefer to go to Europe, US, even Australia, than to Kamchatka. The Bering Sea separates it from Alaska. Nothing to see there except magnificent mountains, huge volcanoes, grizzly bears and a slew of salmon. All you can do is immerse yourself in nature and your own self. Once, I went to a movie theater there — they showed Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society.” I found myself frozen in irony between very desolate Russian locale and joyous scenes of American chic.

Anyway, when I came back to Moscow two weeks later I announced to my boyfriend that I was going to New York. I was yearning for a big change. I had been born in Moscow and lived there for just over a quarter of a century. During the past five years I had been shuttling back and forth between my hometown and New York always felt like I wanted to stay there longer.

Most Russians (I guess, it’s fair for other nations as well) can’t imagine going to another country without a job, money, family and/or beloved people. It’s tough to tear down all the connections and start your life over from scratch. So I did it double time. It’s been less than a month since I gave notice to my ex-boyfriend, my parents and resigned from my job at a nice Russian publication. Some friends tried to dissuade me so I was trying hard to avoid the negative thoughts, like, what if I couldn’t handle living in New York (I only had 3000 euros of savings, that’s nothing in New York!). I got a ticket to the Big Apple (Moscow to NY is just $300, way cheaper than from Berlin or any other European city).

I packed my suitcase in half an hour (I did that quickly by opening my closet and picking out all the clothes that were looking at me. Then I was surprised by my selection. It was all the clothes I rarely wore!). I landed to New York with my tourist visa on 19th of October. They say the first year in New York is murder — No work permission, no health insurance, you can’t even pay for your cell phone online without a Social Security Number! Actually, it's a nice adventure that makes you stronger.

It’s my second year now. I’ve got my O1 ("extraordinary visa" in arts which requires you to prove your recognition, awards, etc. in your native country — presumably it’s intended to show how the United States would benefit by your presence). Due to the backlog of cases at the American embassy in Moscow, I was told I would have to wait at least three months for a visa interview. Instead I stopped over in Berlin, Germany and stayed there for a month until I got my visa.

I’ve opened an LLC that helps tech companies with marketing in the US. Since I’ve always operated at the nexus between entrepreneurs and artists, I see my straddling these two worlds helping both groups. I am now interested in fundraising for documentaries. Stories and movies are what I'm passionate about.

OK, enough talk. If you’re enticed you can follow this blog. I’m going to share my immigrant experience, fun times and true tales. Thanks for reading!