|
| Home | Search Study Abroad Programs | Student Center | Adviser Resource Center | Scholarships | Hot Programs | Internship Center | Site Map |
IIEPassport's Student of the Month
Click here to view previous Students of the Month
By Sara E. Savage
Hannah Kay is a senior at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and she studied abroad for a semester in Moscow, Russia. A Russian major, she studied abroad during her junior year through a partnership between Truman and the College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS).
Kay's study abroad program was hosted by the GRINT Centre for International Education in Moscow, and she attended Russian language, culture and civilization courses at the Moscow University for Humanities. She received a full scholarship from Truman, which covers her tuition, room and board. That aid, along with an additional study abroad scholarship from the school, helped her finance her trip.
Kay studied a few languages during high school, which inspired her to take up the "challenge" of learning Russian. She tells us about her adventures in Russia, as well as how important the concept of total immersion is to studying a foreign culture.
Q. You decided to stay a week in addition to the 15-week program. What did you do during that week?
A. My roommate and I went a week early and it turned out really well. We arrived a week before classes started and spent half of the week adjusting to the sleeping schedule. Then we went exploring, finding the major places we read about and wanted to see right away. We hung out and went places with some other students who got there early, and got to know our host mom. I would have stayed longer after the program ended, but we decided to visit a friend in Latvia.
Q. As a Russian major, how well did your language skills serve you while abroad?
A. It went pretty well. At first, I could understand better than I could speak. I could pretty much get across what I needed to. We got there a day later than we'd planned, we hadn't slept in two days, and we were still getting complimented on our Russian! The home stay was definitely good for making us speak Russian-our host mother didn't know any English. Being in Moscow, if you really wanted to speak English, you could in stores, but we tried to use Russian as much as possible. We mainly used English when talking to friends from the program.
Q. What opportunities did you have to choose from through your program?
A. We did a lot through the program. Every week they'd have a cultural performance or something. There would be at least two things going on every week. It was mostly musical performances, and we went to the ballet once, the opera at the Bolshoi Theater and a hockey game. On weekends we would go somewhere historic. We went to see Lenin's body and multiple museums. Outside of Moscow, we went to Star City where they train cosmonauts.
Q. How intense were your classes? What was so different about studying in Russia than studying at home?
A. They were very different and kind of refreshing. The program is set up as mainly a language program. We spent about four hours a day in class learning things like literature and grammar in Russian. The goal was to get you to speak Russian. We had lectures in English as well.
It was great because I wasn't worried about my grades. The goal was to learn, not to get an "A." It became very practical learning Russian because I could walk into a store and apply it to the street. Getting to know the culture was the big thing. I wasn't stressed and I was learning so much-learning the way it should be-through immersion.
Q. What was it like to be an American in Russian? How did you fit in?
A. As soon as you open your mouth, sometimes before, they realize you're a foreigner. Mostly they are curious, and they're really surprised when you, as an American, can speak Russian. Everyone I met was nice-I never encountered anyone mean.
Q. Did you enjoy your experience with your host family? You lived there with one of your friends?
A. One of my friends from Truman stayed in the same home. We were worried about how we would meet up once we were in Russia, and we had no idea we'd be put in the same home stay until we got there. It worked out really well!
Russia tends to be different than the rest of world because of its economy-there are really no nuclear families who take in foreign students. We stayed with a babushka (grandmother) and her 17-year-old daughter. Her son and his family lived in the center of Moscow. Our host mother was wonderful to us and she let us have a lot of freedom. She didn't care if we went out all day or night.
Our host mother would also help us with our Russian, but the 17-year-old was not as interested-like a typical teenager, she felt like we were ruining her life! I was really sad at the end to leave our host mother-once we went on a trip and she baked us food to take with us. She is an excellent cook and made us eat a lot!
Q. What cultural issues made you uncomfortable?
A. None that I didn't get used to. I'd been prepared for a lot of things before we left-things seem very bureaucratic in Russia. But my perceptions of what a good bathroom is were changed a lot! If they have toilet paper and hand soap in Russia, it's a great bathroom!
Mailing a letter takes 20 minutes. Post offices have multiple lines with multiple purposes, and sometimes you'd wait in a long line and find it was the wrong one once you got to the front. We stayed in Moscow, but barely, because we were at the end of the metro line, so it was always an adventure to mail a letter home or pick up a package!
Q. Did you experience culture shock or homesickness?
A. I didn't get homesick. By end of program I was ready to go home, but I loved it. There was lots of adjusting and growing involved, but nothing I thought was horrible. Things that were hard were interesting challenges. I'm trying to figure out a way to go back to Russia.
Q. How did you enjoy the food?
A. Russian food doesn't sound appealing, but I loved it. Everything I ate was delicious. It's all pretty basic-they don't like spices too much. There are lots of potatoes, butter and oil and I thought that the borscht was actually really good.
Q. Besides in class, how did you spend most of your time in Russia?
A. I loved Red Square. The day my roommate and I arrived was orthodox Christmas, which is not that big a celebration as Easter, but pretty big, with traditional costumes and music. We went there multiple times and it was interesting to see it change with the seasons.
We did a lot of just walking around the city. On Sundays my roommate and I would go to church and then to the Arbat, which has lots of artists and museums and coffee shops. There are people selling pastries and dried fruit, and we'd walk around and try new things.
It was interesting visiting the other markets around. The markets sold anything you could imagine-one stall sold toilets, another just wedding dresses. We went to many museums, including some really fun, quirky museums. Moscow is known for its nightlife, but I'm not a big partier and we were so far out. We'd hang out in the dorms and walk home from there. People may think we're crazy for walking home at one in the morning, but we felt safe together.
Q. How has your study abroad experience enhanced your education and experience?
A. A whole lot. In terms of Russian, it was renewed-I love this language. It is real and practical, and my desire and excitement to learn it improved. The experience had me realizing how much is going on in the world. I used to like to live in my college bubble, but now I'm a news junkie. I've been keeping up with the Russian elections going on.
There are lots of other views in the world than ours. Russians tend to look at the world differently-I'm a logical person, and in Russia you may not get a logical answer. Tragically romantic is better than a happy ending for them. There's no "and they lived happily ever after." So much of their history hasn't been that way, so it's understandable. There, things like having a job to go to is more important than knowing the truth.
Q. Did you experience reverse-culture shock when you returned home?
A. It was weird being back with friends I hadn't seen in so long. Coming back to school was the biggest shock. It was really hard-I didn't have time to go to museums because I had homework to do. Going to college here, it's hard having to learn something that really has nothing to do with my life and interests, as there's not much of a chance to speak Russian in Missouri.
Q. What advice would you give students interested in studying abroad? Would you advise them to study in Russia?
A. I would say go-it was worth it. I think that even if you don't fall in love with the country as I did, it will be a great experience. Go with an open mind. That, and bring hand sanitizer!
Click here to view previous Students of the Month