Lisa, tell us about yourself.

I’m a software engineer with a degree from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Informatics of Belarusian State University. I worked in my field back in Belarus, and I always thought about moving to Europe, but I imagined doing it a little bit later. Yet here I am today – in Vilnius

Did you move here alone?

No, with my husband and our two dogs. Moving with pets, of course, is an adventure… My husband was the one who had to handle the larger part of it as I had left for Vilnius earlier. Both of our dogs are from kennels, so we had passports, but we still had to prepare a heap of papers. We worried a lot, but everything went great. People even laughed seeing such a pile of documents that we had amassed. In the end, everything went perfectly.

And why did you choose Lithuania?

First of all, I did not want to go far away. My grandmother in Belarus, and I try to help her as much as I can. Also, because of the coronavirus and the situation in Belarus, it is not easy to travel back and forth.

Also, I have been to Vilnius many times before. We used to visit Vilnius and Kaunas because it is close to Belarus. For a weekend trip, there is a lot to see. Very nice, cool and… Why not Lithuania?

Of course, I looked into the job market. I am a system programmer working on mainframe projects. In general, for me it’s a bit harder to find a job than, let’s say, for a Java programmer. There are large companies, but not too many of them. I looked at the current vacancies list, and one company I already knew before had a pretty suitable one.

Where did you look for information about all the details about moving, finding a flat and life in Lithuania in general?

I was fortunate, as my company Rocket Software provided me with a relocation agent, who helped me to deal with everything. Also, there is now a simplified application scheme in terms of documents for Belarusians. And, together with the fact that I applied for a Blue Card at once, there was an opportunity for me to have this process reduced to just five documents.

My husband was also able to do everything at once. As for the flat, again, I also have colleagues and acquaintances who have moved here before. I even stayed with them in quarantine for a while. They were also helping us out.

By the way, my acquaintances told me about a webinar from Work in Lithuania. There they told us a lot of different things, including information valuable for people with kids, like kindergartens and schools. And about living in the country in general. It is a very useful thing. And they also give you contacts to whom you can reach out if anything happens. They can even consult you about your pets and their documents as well.

Belarusian also have a “Belarusians in Vilnius” channel on Telegram. There they also have a lot of useful information there, people answer each-others questions. And they can also recommend trusted specialists. For example, I found a manicurist, which is also very useful.

How do you find working at Rocket Software?

What surprised me most is that there’s a lot of people my age who already have experience working on mainframe projects and are interested in this field and technology. I have hardly seen that before. It is very cool, like this kind of community, where people share their knowledge. So far, I’m really enjoying it.

During lockdown did you have an opportunity to discover something interesting even within those few kilometres where we can move around freely?

I have always found Vilnius a beautiful and interesting city. It is a pleasure to simply wander around. But before we have never been to the Zverynas area where we rent a flat. We rented it because we have two dogs, and we wanted to have a green space for walks nearby. And just next to our house there’s a huge forested park — a nature reserve. And it is such an exciting feeling when you are in the city, but you still have this piece of wild nature where you can walk for hours. It helps a lot to be here during the quarantine, it is very beautiful, it is like being far away from the city bustle! That is from the new things we have found.

How is life during the lockdown in general? Maybe you have discovered some good places for takeaway?

To be honest, we don’t order in much. Again, because of the quarantine, there is nothing to do. I have been fond of cooking for a long time, so now it is like a fun pastime activity for us. Before, on a Friday, we would just go to the bar, but now we can spend the entire evening cooking!