Arriving in February: getting your first week in Russia right

On arrival, two things matter: the migration card handed to you at control, and the journey to your accommodation. The migration card must be kept exactly as it is — do not fold it, do not put it in a pocket.

• Keep together and accessible: passport, visa, migration card, invitation letter, admission statement.
• Have your residence address written in Cyrillic on your phone, and on paper in case the battery dies.
• Know who is meeting you and on what number. A night arrival in February with no contact is the one situation to avoid absolutely.

Carry in your hand luggage what you need for the cold from the airport door: coat, hat, gloves. They are useless at the bottom of a checked suitcase.

This is the absolute priority, before any purchase or outing. That office is your contact for every administrative step, and it is what triggers the notification of your place of stay.

• Have the residence or landlord file the migration registration, and collect the detachable slip.
• Obtain the written semester calendar: class, assessment and exam dates.
• Arrange the required medical examination and take out the health insurance.
• Complete administrative enrolment and collect your student card.

Some things are better bought locally than at home, both for price and for fitness to the local climate. In February they are urgent.

• Winter boots suited to snow and ice, with non-slip soles: the single most important purchase of the month.
• Mid-layers — thermal underwear, jumpers — rather than one very thick coat.
• A local SIM card, which simplifies everything else.
• Bedding and kitchen items not provided by the residence, to be checked before buying.

Ask a student already settled where to buy: you will save as much on price as on mistakes in size and quality.

An hour spent on this saves several bad days. Walk it physically, not just on a map.

• The exact route between your accommodation and your faculty, and how long it really takes in snow.
• The nearest transport stop and how to pay a fare.
• The university medical service or the reference health facility.
• The nearest pharmacy, supermarket and laundry.

This is the particularity of the February intake: you step into a calendar in progress. Two actions beat three weeks of drifting.

• Meet your group’s academic coordinator to learn precisely what has been covered and what is expected of you.
• Identify two or three students in the same group, ideally there since September, and ask them for the course materials.

If you are entering the preparatory language year, the logic is different: the group starts with you, and the priority is daily attendance from week one.

The students who succeed in their first semester are not the ones who arrive with the best Russian. They are the ones who cleared the paperwork in seven days and could therefore spend the following weeks on classes rather than in queues.

And one piece of advice we repeat to every cohort: the first three weeks of February are tiring for everyone. Difficulty is not a sign that you chose wrongly.