Reactions from family and friends.

I spent the next eight months planning for my trip. One thing I found interesting were the mixed messages that I received from family and friends. The messages ranged anywhere from the simple question of “why Russia?” and “you’re crazy,” to “you’re crazy not to go.” My father was supportive, as were my boyfriend who I got back with in May of 2008, and a small number of friends and relatives.
The rest of the bunch? Well, they had a lot of misconceptions about the country, such as that it was still communist, that Russians hate Americans, that the Russian mafia was going to kill me, all they drink is vodka, its cold etc. Russia hasn’t been communist since the 1990’s, and someone with half a brain will know that most of the misconceptions that the world has of our country are mostly painted by politicians and the media.
If you get past all of that, it’s easy to realize that people are just people and that no matter where you live life is the same as it would be anywhere else. And where I was located in southern Russia was about the same temperature that it was here in August, only drier. It did turn colder in October, but ironically I didn’t see a single flake of snow.
Another issue that my family was concerned with at the time was the conflict in Georgia one month before I was scheduled to leave. Since our government is an ally of Georgia, my family was afraid that as an American I would face hostilities. This is a more legitimate concern, but again that didn’t happen. I was asked on my thoughts but that was about it.
Besides the stereotypes, I also experienced friction with family members on my decision to go abroad for a semester. Such things as “It’s not practical,” “It’s a waste of money” to “You won’t graduate/graduate on time.” Au contraire, I am graduating, and I am still graduating in May 2010 as originally scheduled. I didn’t know if that would be the case at the time, but I was still willing to take the risk.
Seek advice from those who are older and wiser, but be sure it is advice that will be useful. Don’t let people tell you that you’re foolish or cannot do something. Most of the time when they tell you this, it’s based on envy or fear of the unknown. I faced a lot of adversity on my decision, but despite the list of reasons and protests, I pursued my plans.