How did the idea of moving to Russia to the kin's settlement come about?
The Grav family came from Germany to the kin's settlement Radosvet. The couple Daniel and Natalia met while they were still at school in Germany. As adults, they started a family, had several children, and then decided to move to Russia to the kin's settlement. They have been to different countries, but they chose Russia to create a kin's domain for harmonious, ecological development and growing up of their children. Purposefully they travelled to the south to Radosvet settlement, which they found in advance. And for two years now they have been living there.
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“In the Winter in Germany we made the decision to move to Russia. In the summer we wanted to come and see where to move to and only after a year to finally move. But our plans changed and we decided to stay straight away.”
Language barrier
At first Daniel had worries because he is a native German speaker and does not know Russian. At first he tried to learn Russian, but due to a lot of household chores like building a house and landscaping there was not enough time to learn the language. Nevertheless, Russia has received him well and he feels comfortable even without knowing the language: “People are kind and try to communicate in every possible way.” In addition, his wife Natalia was born in Kazakhstan and is a native Russian speaker.
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Building a house
For the first few months the family lived in a motorhome. They didn't want to winter somewhere else, so after a couple of months their first house was built.
“While still in Germany we decided to build a frame house. According to our project, the house was supposed to be one-storey. That's how it turned out. It was difficult for us in Germany - our house was three storeys high and with children it was inconvenient. We didn't build the house ourselves, we found workers that we immediately liked and our construction started.”
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It took the whole first year to develop the plot and improve the territory, and this year the family has already planted a garden and vegetable garden: fruit trees, berries and vegetables.
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“Life in the Radosvet settlement has taught us a lot. First of all, not to rush and to know that everything will be fine. Everything has its own time. You have to be able to stop and look at your current priorities.”
How did the children react to the move and how does the family earn money now?
The children didn't want to go at first, but once they were in Russia, they quickly found friends, adapted and never wanted to leave again.
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The family travelled without fear of being unemployed. “We were looking for a business that we wanted to do in Russia and we found it: we opened a café in the Radosvet settlement. Apart from the café, we did not refuse the one-off jobs we were offered. We gave ourselves time, the first 2-3 years, to choose the path in the new country that will bring us not only income, but also pleasure from work.”
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The Grav family is an example of how firm confidence in their choice and the desire to change their lives for the better blurs the boundaries not only between cities and towns, but also between countries. Today, the couple are happy to live in the Radosvet settlement and raise their three sons, one of whom was born in Russia.
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