Siberian Sabbatical

I am in quite an interesting position right now for writing a final article. I have left Russia, but I still haven’t quite made it home. I am sitting in South Korea, waiting for my flight to the United States. Arriving home is so very imminent. In a little under 24 hours I will be back after 11 months in Russia.

I am delighted in the fact that I have survived these 11 months, but not so in the fact that it is over. In Rotary, I stepped up from being an inbound, a student who is in a foreign county, to a rebound, a student who has completed their exchange. There were times, especially when it was negative 25 degrees Celsius during the winter, that my return home seemed as sure to come as nice weather in a Siberian winter. Being classified as a rebound gives me so much satisfaction – the satisfaction of succeeding and not giving in to the pressure forced upon me.

My departure from my friends and family, though, is quite an interesting one. It was like a scene from an old movie. I left on the train so everyone gathered on the platform. There were so many people, people who I hardly knew but must have had a big impact on, who came to see me off. My host mom was expecting a quiet departure, just my family and her, but when about 15 girls showed up, she gave me quite a sharp jab in the ribs.

Everyone gathered around me telling old stories and making fun of stuff that I did, most with tears streaming downing their faces. Then the conductor called out my train. I climbed on and started to move out. As the train started to leave everyone ran after it. My last memory of Irkutsk was that of me hanging out the window and my friends trying to keep up with the train. With that memory, I feel that a part of me died then and there. I never thought that it would be so hard to say goodbye to a place like Siberia.

Then came the plane ride. I flew in and out of Russia from the same airport. I remember coming in those months ago, straining to get a peek of Russia and being shocked by what I saw. Now I see the same thing and look at it the same way as I see my homeland. It was an incredible way for me to notice the self-growth that had occurred over the past year.

From that first plane ride to the last, I have gained new insights and values that most people, let alone a teenager, will never gain. This year has given me a very different and new view of life. As I wrote in my last article, I cannot wait for the day I am able to analyze and access my “new” home in the United States, it absolutely blows my mind that day is tomorrow!

I feel that it will take a very long time to process what has happened on this side of the world. I may have noticed a huge difference in attitude leaving Russia, but after a few years I am sure I will have noticed a lot more. This year in Russia has given me so many stories and adventures that I am sure I will be telling my grandchildren 50 years down the road. Just explaining to people the variety of life will take many years.

So I would like to end my year with a quote. It is one that I took to heart many months ago, and without it, I am sure my year would have been quite less adventurous and un-trying; it has made all the difference.

“Give the world all that you have and all that is in the world will come back to you.”