Comments on: hazard pay

By: irina

irina — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:15:03 +0000

@bubelah Yes. We are different now. I am Russian, but I am don't belong in Russia anymore. It is sad. I feel more at home any other place but Russia.

By: irina

irina — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:15:03 +0000

@bubelah Yes. We are different now. I am Russian, but I am don't belong in Russia anymore. It is sad. I feel more at home any other place but Russia.

By: Amber Jones

Amber Jones — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:34:51 +0000

I don't think I could have taken a job like that either. I have a family to think about here.

By: bubelah

bubelah — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:36:02 +0000

Irina, my friend who's lived in the USA for the past 12 years moved to Moscow with her husband to work. Even though they both speak fluent Russian, being born and raised during Soviet and post-Soviet era, everything in Russia is foreign to them. She dislikes living there: the mentality is different, even culture seems different, people are rude for the most part, etc. She cannot wait to come back Home to the US.
So, looks like you made the right decision not to move back there.

By: irina

irina — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:16:19 +0000

A Russian native, I have been living in the States for the last 16 years. My mom often asked me if I want to come back and live in Russia for a while. But the truth is, it is a very difficult business environment and it will require a major adjustment on my part.

Frankly, I am not sure if I would be able to adjust.

As a small business owner who works for herself, I don't want to collect my account receivables with a help of a hit man, or pay a bribe to get a hotel room. Things like that would drive me nuts. But Russian business people don't think twice about that.

If you think we got problems in the States, try to navigate your way in Russia for a year and not as a well-paid corporate America employee, but on your own. When you come back, you will re-discover how good we have it here even with the recent economic turmoil.

By: No Debt Plan

No Debt Plan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:38:03 +0000

Phew! No thanks for me either. All that risk pay is worthless if you end up disappearing…

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:47:11 +0000

My military travels took me to many places that qualified for hazard pay – and a few times I was closer to the action than I would have liked. At the time, it was my duty and I went without question. Now that I am no longer bound to military service (and now that I am married), I have no desire to expose myself to those situations. Your life is not worth a few extra shekels.

By: bubelah

bubelah — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:58:02 +0000

My father worked as a civil engineer in Afghanistan during the war with Soviets in 80's. He got paid a LOT. This was big break for our family. Suddenly we were so well off. I was 9-11 y.o. (he had a 2 year contract). We would see him every 6 months for 1 month. Saying good-byes at the airport was always heartbreaking. As a child I remember my mom cried a lot when she would not get a letter, thinking every time that I may never see my dad again. It was 2 years of agony. Plus my father would wake up in cold sweat from having nightmares for many, many years afterwards.
But we were rich. My parents finally could save a lot of money, which was devalued to a pile of beans when the Ruble became worthless, when the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. Imagine loosing $100,000 overnight?

With all this financial mess going on in the USA, I feel like I am reliving the Soviet financial crisis and collapse all over again. You know why most Russian people don't save? Because you never know what might happen to your money tomorrow, you might as well spend them now, buy something, live today.

By: Curmudgeon

Curmudgeon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:32:24 +0000

Half an hour at Newark airport is like an eternity. Oh, hold on, it was. The connecting flight was cancelled.

By: fathersez

fathersez — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:52:43 +0000

I had some misgivings too, when I took on a job in Ghana. But it turned out to be the best (the absolute very best) experience I ever had.

This week there is also a news story about a manager in India getting lynched and killed.

Bosnia (in those days) and places like Afghanistan have far, far higher danger indices, still a young person out looking for adventure and not looking for trouble might be able to save a bomb out of a stint like this.