Goodbyes from Kamila and Lucia
Kamila and Lucia have come to the end of their internships at Liden & Denz, here they reflect on their experiences of learning and living in Russia over the past six weeks.
Lucia: Kamila, you interned with Liden and Denz in St. Petersburg last year, what made you decide to return?
Kamila: Yes, last summer I spent a month in st. Petersburg as an intern and had such an amazing time that I knew I wanted to come back. I also realised that I needed to be based here longer than four weeks to really make a notable improvement in my Russian. I was also really interested to see Moscow, I knew it would be a completely different city and that it would give me a whole new understanding of Russia as a country.
How have you found your stay here?
Lucia: Well, since this was my very first time here in Russia at the beginning I was a little bit scared to start a little venture in the capital and live here for a month. I live in a very small town in Italy, so I didn’t know what to expect from living in a metropolis. However, it turned out to be a beautiful and exciting experience: walking around, making all sorts of new friends, speaking Russian, discovering new things every day about this city… I’m happy I’ve had such a wonderful time here. I’m planning to come back next year, maybe to S. Petersburg, as you did, to gain a new understanding of Russia. So let me ask you: Saint Petersburg or Moscow?
Kamila: It’s really difficult to say – I love both! St Petes is just so beautiful and I love walking along the canals. My first impression of Moscow was mostly just of bad traffic, so it didn’t immediately have that “wow” factor. But it soon grew on me – there are so many amazing restaurants and bars and I particularly love Gorky Park.
What sort of work did your internship here involve?
Lucia: I’ve worked both as a blogger assistant and as a translator for L&D website, since they have just launched its Italian version. What about you? What were your main duties?
Kamila: I was blogging, which was great because it involved writing a lot about things to see and do in Moscow, which really encouraged me to get out and about and see the city. The work was really interesting and flexible enough to allow me to follow my own interests.
Do you have any particular highlights from your time here?
Lucia: Well, there isn’t any particular highlight if you mean most important moments or particularly liked events here in Moscow. Everything was new for me here, so I appreciated quite everything. One thing in particular got me: the Red Square. I’m going to be incredibly dowdy, but every time I went there (and it’s been like one hundred times), it was overwhelming and my heart skipped a beat. What about you? Except for the traffic, is there something that you would change?
Kamila: Yes, I know what you mean about Red Square, I feel the same – every time I walk over the bridge near my house and see the Kremlin towers it just takes my breath away. I don’t really think there’s anything I would change – I guess I could have been more organised with learning Russian, really drilling my vocabulary and practicing my grammar tables
Do you have any advice you would give to future interns?
Lucia: Just don’t forget to bring with you comfortable shoes and an umbrella: you’ll walk a lot and you’ll see so many wonderful places, but be always prepared, the weather can be so tricky here. Do you agree?
Kamila: Yes absolutely! This year has been particularly rainy, so that’s the only downside!
This blog was brought to you by Kamila and Lucia, interns at Liden & Denz
