First of all, congrats to all you freshman who just started college. Your orientation weekend is now over, and university’s administration is already kindly asking you to think about where to go next year for your exchange semester. Every single person around you is talking about going to NYC, Hong-Kong or Singapore. The sophomores are constantly showing you Instagram pictures of their friends studying in places that look like paradise in South America, Australia or Spain. But what if you were to choose somewhere totally different, somewhere “hipsterish”? A place where no one (or almost no one) goes? No, I’m not talking about Berlin or Stockholm, but rather a place that no one will understand your reasons for wanting to go to, no matter how much you try to justify yourself.

For your information, you don’t have to go that far from home to find interesting internship opportunities or partner universities. Have a look at the countries close to Russia, for example. They’re small, a lot of them are members of the EU, and others are still relatively unknown in this globalized world.

Yes, I am talking to you about “Eastern Europe”, an area which is difficult to define, but roughly coinciding with the former Soviet countries. Saddled with bad stereotypes, such as being a land of beggars and prostitutes in the case of Ukraine and Bulgaria, or alcoholics in the case Russia and the Baltic States, most of us agree that this region is the stronghold of poverty in Europe.

To be honest, those stereotypes are neither true nor false. The countries mentioned have weaknesses, but more attention should be given to the many strengths that would put several aspects of the Western European lifestyle into question.

EU countries, a great starting-point for your career

This argument is questionable given the refugee crisis, the potential Brexit and the increase in nationalism. However, I truly think the EU is not going to die and a lot of people believe this crisis will make it stronger. The West (and westerners) have a lot to gain by considering spending some time in the area to find out more about the people, their culture, their politics and the way they do business. The business climate is very favorable, as illustrated by the presence of big companies such as Carrefour, Orange, Kaufland, Bombardier or Renault, who understood that this market is full of opportunities a decade ago. For instance, 15% of Romania’s GDP is produced by corporations with French shares, Dacia-Renault being in pole position. This strategic decision was a gamble that paid off thanks to low-costs and a skilled labor force. The arrival of many foreign companies in Eastern Europe enhanced job creation, which stimulated the economic growth of most of the countries in the region.

Renault-Dacia factory in Pitesti, Romania

Indirectly, it also changed the local populations’ habits in terms of consumption, thanks to an increasing standard of living. Formerly close to a “Soviet standard of living”, most Eastern Europeans wish to come closer to occidental ideals. This market, although full of opportunities, is indeed complex to understand. A semester or two abroad as an exchange student or intern in great cities like Vilnius or Bucharest will allow you to become more familiar with this two-tier consumption pattern.

Experts in foreign languages who don’t wish to live in a climate of insecurity

There’s nothing better than taking a walk in the old town of Riga or between the Soviet apartment buildings of Sofia to realize that everyone speaks English fluently and has almost perfect mastery of another two or three foreign languages. The linguistic abilities of local students are one of the reasons why many companies from the outsourcing industry decided to establish themselves in Romania or Bulgaria. They have created high-end call centers (with video-games, specialty coffee, etc.) in order to attract the best employees and increase the retention rate within their companies. Romanian students definitely prefer to work in call centers where they can have fun instead of working in a fast-food chain like their French or German counterparts.

High-tech call center in Bulgaria (Source : TELUS International Europe)

Those same students, who have, for most part, learnt French at school and have spent some time in France, decide to come back to their homeland after a couple of years in the country made of wine and cheese. This is partly due to the growing insecurity in Paris, Marseille, Grenoble and others. Indeed, most Eastern European capitals are among the safest in Europe.

Countries looking to the future

The French can thank Emmanuel Macron (the Minister of Economy) and Axelle Lemaire (the Minister for Digital Affairs) for creating FrenchTech, which helped French start-ups to have some influence abroad. But we have to admit that the real “European Sillicon Valley” is not in France. Many people are still debating about where it actually is, with different people arguing the case for Germany, Sweden or the UK.

However, a better answer could be another country, located between Russia and Scandinavia, sought after by investors from all over the world. Despite still being unknown to a lot of people, Estonia is rapidly positioning itself as a leader in the start-up and IT industries. Skype, Pipedrive and TransferWise are a sample of the start-ups that have become huge corporations in the last couple of years, and they all hail from the same city, Tallinn. The Estonian capital has less than half a million inhabitants, yet is the heart of the digitalization process within the European Union.

Luck is definitely not the reason behind this success. After the collapse of the USSR, Estonia took the initiative by digitizing its whole country, educating its population about IT and teaching them to set-up their own companies. The modernity of this country is fascinating. If you decide to live in this country for a while, you will be asked to apply for an Estonian ID-card (given to every EU-citizen for 5 years, renewable). This ID-card provides 3000 services (it serves as a voting card, for online voting no less, a national insurance card, tax payments, etc.). Furthermore, you’ll never have to go to any ATM to get cash, as card payments are possible in every single shop in the country. To summarize, you won’t need your wallet any more, since the two cards mentioned above are enough to survive in this country.

Showroom e-Estonia at the Milan Expo in 2015

If you want to set-up your own business, all you need is 10–20 minutes (it sounds unbelievable in Germany, right?). Students learn how to code when they enter primary school, and they obviously also learn to speak English at the same time. Finally, internet access has been considered a Human Right since 2000. This means that you can access the internet from basically everywhere in the country. These criteria are just a few examples that I’ll leave you to compare with the current situation in Italy, Spain, France, Belgium or Germany, for instance. It is difficult to believe, but we need to clear the backlog as soon as we can.

Do you think that what I just wrote is pure propaganda? Maybe you’re right! Let me just conclude with one fact that might make you jump ahead.

An amazing place for networking

If you don’t spend most of your time drinking vodka with your Erasmus friends in the worst pub in town, you might have the opportunity to meet great people who could have a positive impact on your future.

Just to boost my ego, I can tell you that since I have been in the area, I had the chance to meet Obama (Trump’s ancestor), Alexander Stubb (Prime Minister of Finland) and Dacian Ciolos (Prime Minister of Romania), as well as some founders of well-known start-ups and CEO’s of big corporations. I have also had the opportunity to have dinner with some diplomats and even ended up teaching French to a couple of them. I guess you are wondering why all those meetings happened. I can’t spend hours explaining why, but just keep these two assumptions in mind: most of the countries are small (=easier to meet the “elite”) + you are a foreigner from a much respected country (= you might find great opportunities). To get back to the main subject, I don’t expect these people to offer me a dream job or a visa for an idyllic location on the other side of the world, but I had the opportunity to talk to experts in various fields who told very interesting stories. The future will determine whether I will benefit from this, but in any case, I wish you the same luck in Paris, London (even though I did get to see the Queen and the now convicted Rolf Harris there), Berlin or Madrid. It is also possible in those places, but it seems to be more difficult.

As I have said above, you will be considered an “expat” and not a « random student looking for the first line to start their CV”. Local people will enjoy talking to you (your country probably still having a good reputation in Eastern Europe) and everybody you meet will offer real added-value for your future.

A personal choice

To conclude, this is YOUR choice. Maybe it would have been better for me to do an internship in France or in Germany and to do my semester abroad in Hong-Kong or Singapore, but I decided to make another move, which has, in my opinion, proved a real “boost” for my career. Corporate or distinguished? You have full control of the situation.

P.S.: You will still have to deal with roads that are in bad shape and a lack of recycling in most countries. But don’t worry, it will come soon, I promise! Meanwhile, check out my Instagram page, where you can get an idea of just how beautiful Eastern Europe is: https://www.instagram.com/lifeisjovial/

If you have any other question, you can find me here or there.

Tallinn, capital of Estonia, listed in the UNESCO world heritage.

Translated from: https://medium.com/@lukarenetomislav/stage-ou-erasmus-pourquoi-devrais-tu-te-rendre-en-europe-de-lest-9065b0e3b35f#.6aha7dqb9

Reviewed by: Zoe