first paper i wrote here

Russia

After living in Russia for these few months what still strikes me is how hard working these people are. Learning about their complex history and comparing it with the present just shows how far this country has come and how strong it makes its citizens. Riding on the buses the babushkas have stern hard faces while the youth is cheerful. I have gathered that Russians live their life one day at a time while putting so much effort into that day.

Our host father survived the Leningrad blockade as a child, worked on rockets, spaceships and missiles, overseeing hundreds of people during the cold war, lived under a fake identity in America during the Soviet era to return to his motherland to find his job gone, power diminished and yet he still found time to write poetry and paint. Here is a man who I see daily still working strong, still raising his sons, hosting random exchange students, who has this complex past. It still dumbfounds me to realize this is the same man who laughs at me and calls me lazy for sleeping in.

The two prodigies of our host father on the other hand, literally grew up in another world. The youngest host brother, at 24, is still in school learning his 4^th and 5^th language mostly to avoid the draft. His favorite past time is surfing and drinking. I have yet to fully understand his real job, if it is a real job, but from what I gather he does “deals” of exporting and importing items from China. Through these jobs he’s gotten in trouble and also gained a tanning bed while at the same time having enough money to travel and surf in Venezuela for a month this winter. He has many connections around the city that manage to get him into the top clubs without a wait or a bribe. I cannot say that this falls into the stereotype of a Russian. Sure walking around the street people seem quite cold and unfriendly, but I assume most of the time it is because of the weather. My host family is not cold in the least. This past weekend my real parents were in town and we had a huge dinner with 12 people. There was so much laughter, pictures and stories going around. Our host family is so generous and understanding. They even have the patience to deal with students who are terrible at Russian.

I realize that the language barrier has taken away a lot of what I could be learning from this experience but at the same time it makes the experience so much more real. I learn more from the youth of Russia. I met a girl one of the first weeks we were here who is 18 now and gorgeous. She told us of how when she was sixteen she lived in California dating a 51 year old. Her type now is still 47-53. I found this very odd, but I guess everyone has their type. Her and her friend refuse to ride public transportation because by the time they get off they are just in the worst mood. Russia was the first place I have ever used public transportation. The convenience and price is nice, but I still prefer driving. Both girls seemed to come from money and had their own cars. They also knew where they would be and what they would do as soon as they finished school.

Every student I have talked to seem shocked that I have no idea what I’m going to do once I graduate. My response tends to be “Well, if I get a good job offer clearly I’ll take it. But if not, I’ll probably go to grad school.” The idea of a liberal arts education does not seem realistic in this society. Students apply to study in particular faculties because that’s the area where they want to work upon graduation. They know this by age 16 or 17. When I was that age I was more interested in driving and going to the movies. I didn’t have to declare my major until I was 20, and even still I can change it or find a job in a totally unrelated field.

Russia made me realize that I coast through life. I tend to go with the flow and wander. Even with walking I notice people passing me by left and right. My host mom always asks if I have a plan for the night and my answer is always no, or maybe this maybe that. I love just soaking Russia in. Hearing people’s stories or just watching them interact. Russia is like a whole new world but I have not yet been able to describe how or why. Russia does feel like my home. The food is great, my host family feels like my own family, the weather is comparable to Minnesota, and I am in love with the city. I am going to miss it here.