Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
My first experience (that I remember) with flying was a trans Atlantic flight of some eight hours. It was the beginning of a five week journey that would open my eyes in many ways.
A five week summer study abroad program to Russia – St. Petersburg. Along with the classes in the morning, there were tours and touristy things in the afternoon. We were on our own for the evening.
St. Petersburg is a city with many canals – it is often referred to as the Venice of the north – 24 to be exact, creating 42 little islands with the Neva River running through the middle. I loved walking the streets and crossing some of those canals.
While in many ways the city was very different from those in America; there were also some similarities that eased any shock of being in a country some 4,000 miles from home.
Shopping was an experience unto itself. Many of the items were behind a counter and you had to ask the worker to let you see whatever you wanted. Then if you decided to buy the item, the worker would fill out a ticket. Then you went to the cashier, presented the ticket, and paid for your purchase. The cashier would give you a receipt which you would take back to the counter and the worker would give you your purchase. A “mall” was actually many of these “little stores” and you had to repeat the process for every spot. No bulk buying unless it was from the same seller. Imagine doing this in a place where you have some language skills but are far from fluent!
And while the Soviet Union was no more, Russia is Russia and the old ways die hard. There were lines for everything. Ice cream was a treat and when it showed up, people would line up for a serving. No one asked what falavour it was it…it didn’t matter…you took what they had and enjoyed it. Dairy products taste different from American dairy in Russia – better, at least I though so. It has to do with the pasterizing process.
Being raised on Classical music, I was in heaven. Music and theatre was heavily subsidized in Russia, which made them a lot less expensive to attend. Needless to say, with concert and theatre tickets costing the equivalent of $6 US, I took full advantage and attended numerous productions including “La Traviata”, “Swan Lake”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, and Mozart…. 🙂 just to name a few. Seeing entire families was at a performance was not unusual….and the children were well behaved too!
While there, it was home, the home 4,000 miles away was America or the US.
The funny thing is, that once I got back “home”, that was when the “culture shock” showed up. Suddenly it felt strange to have to pull the cord to tell the bus driver to stop or walk into a grocery store, grab a cart, and start filling it up.
The next year, I went bac; but this time for THREE MONTHS!