The International Schools Review Forum

What are your thoughts on the country, and specifically Baku? Could you save some money or is it outrageously expensive like many other oil capitals?

It's easy to spend money. It's easy to save money. It really depends on your lifestyle/family situation/goals. Like anywhere else.

Baku is expensive, if you go to brunches, join hotel gyms, etc. If you live more reasonably, you could save a good sum of money.

Interviewed with them a few years back. Would have gone there had they offered, but received another offer first.

I concur with @Britgirl, you can choose to chase and lead a very European lifestyle and spend a lot of money, or you can embrace a more conservative Asian lifestyle and live very well on the economy and bank some significant coin. What you will find that there are not a lot of external controls for one approach over another. It is very easy to save if your disciplined, it is very easy to spend a lot of money as well, and you can do so over the course of a day.

So if you are at a top school there, do you think it would be a place you could live for a few years? What are the good things about the country vs the negatives?

@runningsloth

Azerbaijan is to Russia (and much of EE) the way Taiwan is to China. Its more western and European then some regions that have a lot of drama. Advantages are that in Baku there is a lot of accessibility to imports and western conveniences. The biggest disadvantage is that theres nothing interesting about the region, it very quickly becomes "meh". Everything about the lifestyle becomes bland very quickly. Id get bored well before 3 years, and youd have to be really disciplined that first year to bank your coin until you settled into a social routine.