Georgia FAQs

Where are you?  
I’m currently in the Republic of Georgia - which borders the Black Sea, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.  

Wait...  not the state of Georgia?  Isn’t Georgia part of Russia?  
No.  While Georgia was part of the USSR, Georgia is its own country.  

What are you doing in Georgia?  
I’m here with the Georgian government’s program to increase the level of English language in Georgia.  

Why Georgia?  
I’ve been interested in traveling to Georgia since my time teaching in Russia.  I figured I’d get a better view of the country if I was around for more than a few weeks.  ;)  So, inspired by a friend who did the program last year, I decided to sign up.  I started the application process in January and left Boston on the 17th of April.  

For how long?  
I’m here from mid-April until December.  Eight months feels both long and short.  I was in Russia for 24 months, so my time in Georgia will be 1/3 that period of time.  Also, I have an interest in traveling throughout Georgia as well as visiting Armenia, Azerbaijan and Eastern Turkey, so I have lots I want to see in the coming months. 

What’s are you doing there?  
I will be teaching English to elementary school kids in a location to be determined in the coming days.  I will be working with local English language teachers.  I enjoyed the two years I spent teaching in Saratov, Russia and thought it would be a fun way to get overseas again. 


Are you there alone?  
No, there are 15 people in my groups.  And a new groups comes over every two weeks.  

What language do they speak in Georgia?  
Georgian is the language spoken here.  Many people speak some Russian and there are also Armenian and Azerbaijani communities.  I've found Russian to be helpful when speaking to people (especially those over 40) in the capital of Tbilisi.  I will see how useful Russian is elsewhere.  Interestingly, signage is often not in Russian (clearly the old signs have been removed over the past 20 years).  

What does it look like?  
The capital reminds me a bit of Bulgaria and also Russia.  Photos will be posted.  So far it has been warm, sunny, and the people are friendly.