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The original was posted on /r/armenia by /u/meandmyghost1 on 2025-05-27 22:50:42+00:00.

Hello, very sorry for the long post. But I wanted to give some background info :)

I’m a student from Belgium who’s currently in university. Since a few years I’ve been playing with the idea to move abroad after I finish my degree. Still got a few years to figure it out though.

I travelled to quite a few countries in Europe and Armenia is one of the main contendors to potentially move to in my eyes.

Why? I’ve always felt a bit out of place in my home country because of the mindset of people here. Life here is in my experience very self-centered. People are quite closed & reserved, starting conversations is hard, meeting new people is hard, smalltalk it non existent in many places. Life is very artificial & rushed, no one has time for one another etc. That’s a general dynamic in the world, I know.

But I feel like the Eastern part of Europe & The Caucasus still have more of a ‘slower’, ‘more pure’ life. What I mean by that is, neighbors know each other (I don’t know who lives next to me), people talk to each other in the streets, more value for family & friends, food is often less artificial… I’m looking for a more basic lifestyle in general, less digital, less globalized etc. You get the point.

I visited Armenia this winter and I was stunned by the country, and mainly by the people. I’ve never visited a place that was so welcoming. I think I can say that I didn’t meet a single unfriendly person on that trip. It’s literally the oposite of what I’m used to at home.

Armenia seemed to also be one of the more safe & developed countries I visited in Eastern Europe, I read that healthcare isn’t too bad etc. Some of the infrastructure might not be the best, but I’m fine with that to some extent.

Now, my main question is, how much of this perspective I have is actually true when living in Armenia? Because this is obviously a view I got from being there as a visitor. There could be a big difference, a lot of things I don’t know or didn’t see.

How kind are people to foreigners/immigrants? Since I don’t know anyone there, would people/neighbors be willing to help me intgrate/figure out things? Or is there more of an ‘anti expat’ dynamic like in some other countries? How hard is it to integrate into society, make friends, socialize etc. as a foreigner? (willing to learn the language ofcourse)

And secondly, how are the job opportunities in Yerevan? I’m not sure if I’d be able to get a remote job, but if I don’t, how is the wage-price ratio? Is it still affordable to live with a normal Armenian wage? How is the bureaucracy for work/residence permits and whatever else would be required?

Thanks a lot to anyone who read all of this! :)