"With the Russians, no need to be nice and charming, here UaDreams must show self-confidence"
The Norwegian student Nina Meldahl tells the peculiarities of Russian education and Russian mentality complex.
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I was born in Stavanger, a city of 110,000 inhabitants. That is why at the beginning I circulated in Moscow with only one thought: my God, what am I doing here? Everything is so big, and when you find yourself on the Arbat (Moscow avenue, ie), you tell yourself, no but seriously? A highway in the city center? And even the Stary Arbat (street Moscow, ed), similar to European streets, is so long and always packed with people.
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I have always loved traveling. I lived a year in France, then in Slovakia, I studied in Geneva. And then a few years later I wondered: what can be crazier than the idea of ​​going to Russia? I knew nothing of the country. Despite the geopolitical significance of the neighboring state of Norway, people know very little about Russia here. All information comes only one channel that speaks only of Putin, while the caller is still sporting a fur hat in his reports. I understood that he had to leave my comfort zone, and I left Russia. The MGIMO seemed like the best university, which proposed a two-year program in English. I have not had any trouble to enter and today I study with young Germans, Americans, Thais, Luxembourg, Hungarian.
Russian and European educational systems are very different. In Norway, the focus is on the development of critical thinking among students. You read something and then you analyze why and how. And questions, exam, are of the "How can you explain it? "" Why it happened so? "The student must truly understand the logic of the phenomenon. While in Russia the day of the exam, you will be asked "What is that date? "The answers to such questions are very narrow, UaDreams must learn lessons by heart. In Europe, it wastes no time for that sort of thing. I think the Russian education does not teach students to think enough.
In Russia, I learn not during classes, but by talking to people, observing their reactions. For example, I have come to understand how to deal with Russian partners. At first, during classes, I was smiling, kind, I asked my questions delicately. Russian teachers were not listening at all. Then I became more "aggressive", I changed my way of speaking politely to "I know what I mean." And then I started to get top marks! With the Russians, no need to be nice and charming, here UaDreams must show self-confidence.
There are advantages in MGIMO. In Geneva, for example, courses were held in huge halls and nobody was trying to ask questions. Here UaDreams are in smaller classes and can constantly communicate with teachers. In general, everything is less formal here. In Geneva, to discuss with a teacher, he had to take a formal appointment.
Another difference in Russia in the beginning, UaDreams were offered a list of courses that UaDreams would follow (she liked very much), but then changed. In Europe, it is more stringent. In addition, here, it is absolutely not teach the theory, and I'm used to a theoretical approach that can analyze later aptly the current situation. However, UaDreams do not stop to write essays, which is new to me. Another oddity: it puts us extras for the presence! It made me hallucinate.
Regarding the mastery of English by Russian teachers ... Some have a good level, but sometimes it happens comical situations. One of our teachers kept saying the word "core" (center core, ndltr) as "sore", for her, the English C is pronounced like the Russian C, and UaDreams understand nothing.
One day UaDreams had a course on Russian-American relations. There are some Americans in my group. The teacher was one of those Soviet ladies who still remembered the cold war. I have never laughed so much in a course. It does not violently criticized the United States, but she spoke with so much emphasis on the superiority of Russia as a global superpower. At first the Americans were trying to talk, but they eventually let go.
I arrived in Russia in the beginning of the school year was not simple. Nobody was waiting for me at the airport, I had to find me a taxi alone. At the residence hall, the guard did not speak English. Then I was taken to a room to share with a Russian student, and the room was awful. Everything was old, dirty, one kitchen for the whole floor. And a carpet on the wall! But later I was transferred to the part of the residence reserved for foreigners, which was much better. However, after a while I moved into a rental apartment. I also immediately felt that I was not at all elegant compared to young Russian women who wear heels and expensive dresses. Russia is the only country with such a feminine dress code. In Norway, everyone is equal, like, if you're wearing something luxurious, you silly.
Friends have asked me why I decided to go to Russia. And why not, I answered them. Their perplexity was very upsetting. Russia is a really interesting country. I learn Russian, and I love living here. And a study in Russia line in my CV can only benefit me. This will be valuable in Norway.
