We interviewed a final year student on her experience upon getting to Russia and her perception of the country. This interview is sure worth reading.
When did you first know you wanted to leave Nigeria?
I had a cousin that was studying here already. I think she was in her final year that year. My parents thought it was okay for me to come. I applied for the scholarship my cousin was on but I didn’t get it, so my parents decided to sponsor me.
Why Russia?
I have two uncles that are Russian-trained doctors and they encouraged my parents that it was a good place to study medicine especially with the educational system in Nigeria.
How did that make you feel?
I was honestly just excited about the prospects of leaving Nigeria and staying alone, far away from everyone. The fact that I was finally going to be independent was so thrilling for me, but that soon wore off.
How old were you then?
I was 17 when the process started. I had issues at the Russian embassy in Nigeria because apparently I needed to be 18 before I could get my visa. By November 2018 I finally left Nigeria. That was my first time ever leaving the country.
What were you expecting Russia to be like?
I didn’t have many expectations. I just knew I was going somewhere cold. I tried to prepare for the cold, but nothing prepares you for the Russian cold. Sometimes, it gets to -20°C in my city.
My uncles had not been to Russia for a long time and they’d told me things that were applicable only 20 years ago. From my padfak, I just knew, to survive in this country as a foreigner, you really have to work hard and learn enough.
Haha… What was Russia like when you arrived?
My first month in Russia was terrible. I remember the cold. It was indescribable. I was just crying a lot in my first month. I arrived with my flimsy second hand winter jacket so you’ll understand where I am coming from. I felt overwhelmed.
Then from the airport, I took a 22-hour train to my city. Imagine being on a train for 22 hours. I was just surprised that Russia is veryyyy big. There are 11 time zones. The culture shock was immense.
In my padfak I was also worried about the language. It was just too difficult to learn and pronounce. I thought I was never going to grasp it. Right now, even though I can speak and understand Russian to some extent, I’ve come to accept that I am generally not good at languages.
Then there’s money. I was very confused about the conversions and I found myself always punching rates into my calculator each time I’m going out to buy something. Also, it was hard for my family members to send me money and the SVO and the sanctions did not make things any easier. I had to get used to transferring money through people. ESolutions is one of them.
Haha…
Hm I’ve not even talked about sex. They talk about sex so freely in my class and on the street sometimes. I get a lot of people reaching out to me for sex on social media (including on Avito when I put out English teaching ads).
I had one classmate that I was chill with. We were gisting one day, and he randomly asked me if I could have sex with him and his friends. I was so shocked. It was later I learned that people here are very direct about the way they approach sexual relationships.
And honestly, it’s that same directness and seriousness they apply to everyday life. If you didn’t know Russians, and you got here, you would think they were mean people.
How’s school going for you now?
It’s really good. I’ve been able to balance it all out with my other areas of my life, and I’m going to be done with medical school next month. I’ll start my housemanship in St. Petersburg in my school immediately.
Thank you for talking with us.
Thank you for having me!
