The Little Things

There's so much to write about.  This weekend I had the opportunity to stay with one of the students and his family.  Many of you saw pictures on facebook.  It was an awesome experience that is probably best told in person.  I went to a hockey match on Friday night, but not all of you are interested in sports and it's one of those things that's probably better to experience than it is to write about.  Literally, there's so much that I could write specifically about but all of the stories that go through my head have little details of hospitality that helped make the day/night/event.  I've spoken about the hospitality that has been shown to me in general terms and now I'd like to give some of the finer details to that which I have received and had the opportunity to give.

First off, in my class I've taught a few of the larger concepts in leadership.  Due to the language barrier we don't cover a whole lot of ground on the number of theories that we discuss but we do talk about big topic items and get a pretty good idea of the perspectives of each one from their different countries and cultures.  Are leaders born or made?  Are people inherently good or bad?  How does this play into how we view and lead others?  What is service leadership all about?  Is it even possible to commit a selfless act?

The students were charged with the idea of a service learning project.  I told them that I wanted to make one happen but that it wasn't part of their original syllabus and it wouldn't be graded.  Everyone was on board.  If I'm afforded the opportunity to return in the future, I'll probably make a service learning project around agriculture part of the class.  This time the students opted to split into two groups.  One group was more interested in visiting an orphanage and spending time with the children, while the other group wanted to spend time with veterans.  They were eager to do this, despite it not having any bearing on their grade.  Unfortunately, these types of tasks are very difficult in Moscow.  They called around to several orphanages and were repeatedly turned down.  I believe they finally got one that would allow it but they are having to arrange some papers through the university.  If it happens, it will be after I leave.  The group that wanted to spend some time with veterans also has had difficulties.  They haven't been able to get in contact with anyone.  I've stood over their shoulders while they found countless numbers and make phone calls to get shut down.  The entire process of the groups trying to help anyone willing to receive it was sad, enlightening, and in a way refreshing.  At first I was completely disappointed that we weren't making any progress and then it was rather eye opening at how difficult it is to help over here.  Likewise, they thought it was crazy that we could just go to a nursing home, fire department, school, etc... and eventually find some way that we could help out with little problems.  It was refreshing to see these students continue to press on.  With every rejection it was as if it was a personal challenge for some of them to find a way to help someone.  It was great to see that.  Plans are still being made to make both projects happen, but I'm sure it will be after I'm back in the U.S.

On a much smaller scale I challenged the students to commit a selfless act for homework one afternoon.  This led to a short discussion about selfless acts and we all took our position on whether or not it was possible.  With that in mind, after the hockey game we all stormed the local McDonalds, which has to be the largest McDonalds I've ever seen.  Chris, one of the Clemson students, and I were standing in line together.  We were both starving.  It was the typical guy food challenge moment.  "I bet you can't eat three big macs".  "Oh, I can definitely eat three big macs".  "I'll eat three if you eat three."  "Deal."  Typical.  Well Chris and I both got three big macs, a fry, and a coke.  I was able to knock out two of them.  Chris was the better man in this challenge.  He finished all three.  Well as we were getting ready to leave I said I didn't want to throw it away but wasn't sure what to do with it because we were leaving that night to go to Sergey's house so I wouldn't eat it this past weekend.  I offered it up to any of the students that wanted an untouched big mac.  One student blurted out, "Commit a selfless act.  You know we'll see a homeless person on the way home."  Awesome idea!  Sure enough, in the metro station was a woman that was at least 80 years old.  It's a completely separate blog topic about how many older women I see begging for change.  I see many more older women in need compared to men.  It's very sad.  I passed her before I realized she was there and immediately turned back to give her the sandwich.  At the same time one of the students turned back and gave her some change he had.  Knowing the student lives off of about $8 a day for food and we had just gone out to eat, I was proud of him.  The rest of the group, unknown to the fact that we had turned around, were barreling through the metro headed for a train.  The other student and I were able to make eye contact with the woman for only moments but it was long enough to see her begin to cry.  As he and I walked away, he looked at me and said that was awesome.  I agreed.  It was a great moment.  I can't say it was selfless because I was thankful that we were able to help.

This weekend was full of hospitality from Sergey's family.  First off, Sergey approached me and asked if I would like to come spend the weekend with his family and go hunting.  Of course I jumped at the opportunity.  While there, his parents made sure that Chris and I were completely dressed appropriately.  Sergey's uncle is about my size so they made the call to get some of his clothes for me.  They fed us until we were plump.  Chris made the comment Saturday night for Sergey's mom to quit putting food on the table.  Sergey's father quickly responded with "When the food stops, everyone goes home.  Keep bringing food!".  We ate cake, cheese, pears, apples, kiwi, shashlik, and grilled fish until sometime after midnight.  To top it off, his uncle and mother tried to give me the coveralls to take back with me.  I couldn't let that happen so I told Sergey of my plan to conveniently forget them.  He thought it was funny but after describing how they would be great for the 2 days out of the year that I may use them in Georgia, they would serve someone else better here, he understood.

We visited the museum and home of Dmitri Mendeleev.  This man is responsible for the periodic table and vodka.  How much cooler can you get?  Oh...  did I mention that he bought the 250 acres that his house and museum sat on to do agricultural experiments?  He just got cooler.  Well it turns out that according to the old ladies that worked at the museum, we were the first Americans that had been there in their recollection.  It is out of the way and off in the country, but it's awesome and sad to think we were the first Americans there.  The director of the museum pulled all of the desks from the office together and cleaned them off.  All of the workers dispersed and he asked us to sit down.  The workers brought back cakes, hot tea, snacks, etc...  We sat and talked for at least 45 minutes.  He then wanted to take us to see another house of Mendeleev's that he left to his maid.  It was another truly great experience.

And finally today one of my students from last year came to visit me in the classroom.  I asked if she would like to give any advice and she revealed to the students how much the class has helped her when she interacts with others in a group.  She spoke about the student's upcoming leadership papers and how when she wrote hers, which consisted of a plan to become better leaders, she acknowledged how she had little patience.  I didn't recall this but she said that I wrote how she was a great student and that I said something to the degree of "If you want to work on your patience to try and make it a daily task".  Whatever it was that I wrote back on her paper, she typed into her phone and she sees it on a daily basis.  She said whenever she has one of those trying moments where she needs more patience, she reaches for her phone.  I had no idea and it was very nice of her to say these things to the class.

I've literally just scratched the surface of all of those little moments that have been awesome in regards to people's generosity towards me here.  I could write a book, much less a blog.  The people have been wonderful.  The students have been wonderful.  It's been a pleasure to teach them this year.

Tomorrow morning, we're heading to a mushroom farm.  I'm really looking forward to that opportunity and hopefully I'll get a blog out on that experience.  

We've Got It Made

The great thing about coming back for another year to teach in this program is that I get to take a look at things in a greater depth.  The Kremlin is awesome, but there's less of a desire to stand behind the walls and see the Tsar Cannon or the Tsar Bell (Both are also awesome.  Look them up on Google).  I enjoy going to some of the smaller museums, exploring the campus a little bit more, visiting nearby parks, different stores, and I think I will always enjoy standing in the middle of Red Square (which has nothing to do with the color red).  But I think the thing that I'm enjoying the most is just getting to know people and expanding on the activities we do in class.

The hospitality here is great.  Whenever we go out to the local canteen (restaurant) or on a field trip, the people are always very helpful.  The International Office here at Moscow State Agro-engineering University cater to our every need and are always concerned with how we're doing.

Part of getting to know more people is the experiences it creates.  I've been working out with one of the students here from Clemson.  He found a gym in the basement of one of the hostels across campus for students.  It's strictly a weight lifting gym.  You won't find any ellipticals, bands or treadmills.  You will find kettlebells, an assortment of different types of round plated weights that often have one other matching partner that are in kilograms, and my favorite of all, a professional arm wrestling table.  I really want to see someone use that arm wrestling table.

One of the experiences was when Dima (spelling?) and Nikita asked us to come visit their room (in the same hostel as the gym) and friends.  They are two guys on the wrestling team here for the University.  They're powerhouses in the weight room.  They are smaller than I am in regards to height, etc... but there's not a single thing in the weight room that I feel as if I could do better at than they.  They're great guys and are a blast to work out with.  They invited us to go to wrestling practice with them this afternoon, which I was excited about, but one of their professors scheduled an exam during practice so they had to cancel.

Yesterday, they took us up to their room.  I've been to rooms of students in my hostel, but never theirs.  There were four guys to one room, which is the norm here.  There is one hostel that houses seven students to a room.  The rooms are the same size as the ones that house four.  The rooms were smaller than pretty much any room I've ever had in college.  Everyone that we visited was excited to see us, even if they thought it was weird that Dima and Nikita randomly showed up to show off their American friends.  They showed us their community bathroom, which is much different in style compared to back home, and their community kitchen.

There's no need to get into details, but it's safe to say that I don't know a single person back home that would find it suitable.  The guys knew it was rough but found humor in it.  They acknowledge that our hostel is very nice.  Seeing the differences, I have to agree.  The room I'm staying in is VERY nice.  Still, I know several people back home that would find reasons to complain.

We take field trips here to local agricultural businesses.  We ride on a bus that has an exhaust leak which fills the inside with fumes.  We lift the air vent in the roof of the bus while we drive down the road at a top speed of about 45 mph with essentially a sun roof lifted open in freezing weather.  I'm not complaining.  It's just how it is.  It gets us where we need to go, and the experiences once we get there have always been great.  Last time we had to stop for gas twice on one field trip.  We calculated the fuel efficiency of the bus to be 6 miles to the gallon.  I haven't ridden on any other buses from the University other than this one so I don't want you to think this is necessarily typical of transportation in Russia.  On the contrary, I would have to think that Moscow's metro station is one of the most, if not the most, efficient metros in the world.

The roads and infrastructure here is certainly lacking when compared to back home.  I don't feel as if I can speak as to how great they could be, etc... because I don't know what it's like to maintain roads in such extreme weather conditions.  Needless to say, I think it's safe to assume that I know some people back home that would complain.

I've been incredibly fortunate to travel recently.  Growing up, I never would have imagined that I would have the opportunity to travel to Canada, Russia, Costa Rica and Antigua.  I have a pretty strong feeling that I'm not done either.  I really enjoy immersing myself in a culture.  While it makes for funny and sometimes uncomfortable moments, I really enjoy the moments where I'm trying to communicate with someone that doesn't speak English and it's just the two of us.  They are often the most memorable.  They certainly were in Costa Rica and have been here in Russia.

Through my experiences, this year and last, here in Russia, I've learned that the weather is incredibly rough and unforgiving during parts of the year, feed prices are higher for farmers, fuel for automobiles is more expensive, the student living conditions are much worse, and people consistently doubt their government (I know what you're thinking.  It's on a much different level than back in the states).  With that being said, I love it here.  The people make the experience.  I've learned a lot.  Mostly, that I don't know much.

Just know, we've got it made.  It has become increasingly disappointing to log in to social media to find people complaining about stuff.  One of the greatest things I appreciate about the Russian students is that I'm constantly asked "What do you think about (insert lightning rod of political discussion here)".  My response is my opinion and is often followed by questions to clarify what I mean and then followed by their opinion and how things are here in Russia.  Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but there is never an argument or push to get each other to convert to the other's beliefs.  I absolutely love that about our conversations.

I'm incredibly thankful for everything.  I'm thankful for my experiences and possessions back home.  I'm thankful for my education.  I'm thankful for the people in my life.  For absolutely everything.  I've got it made.

A Taste of Back Home

Well it's been my first week here and already I've had a few things that remind me of back home that I thought I would share.  

The way the program's schedule is set up is I teach on Mondays and Fridays for about 5-6 hours a day, we have field trips on Tuesdays, the students have a Russian language course on Wednesdays, and Thursday is supposed to be for sport, which means they open up the gym and we get to play basketball, indoor soccer, etc...  (the two sports I'm absolutely horrible at).  

Well this past Tuesday, we visited a farm.  Not just any farm, a dairy farm.  And not just any dairy farm, the top producing dairy farm in Russia.  And not just....  ok, you get it.  It's a really unique farm over here and the reason is, it's owned by a British investor that hired an American farm manager to run it.  The farm manager's name is Lorin and he and his family are from Michigan.  He said he's been over here for about 8 years and just took the opportunity after seeing it on a list-serv and winning over in the interview.  I believe he has at least two children, but we only met one, his 8 year old son.  

He had a lot of interesting things to say.  I believe he said they had nearly 2,000 cows on the farm and that he has to do a lot of things differently here than in the U.S.  He has 38 hired employees on the farm.  Three or four were full time veterinarians and 8 were full time security guards.  He said that it's easy for someone to become a veterinarian here but that, at least in his cases for eight years, that the students came out of school without knowing anything.  He's had to show them how to use an ultrasound machine, give medicine, etc...  I saw a couple of the veterinarians and they were both female and looked to be no older than 22-24.  They live on the farm in apartments that he built for them and a few other permanent workers.  He's made an effort to hire on the students and give them as much on the job training as possible.  I'm not sure where his veterinarians graduated from, but it wasn't Moscow State Agroengineering University (MSAU, where I'm teaching).  

The farm is about a five hour bus ride from Moscow, which is slightly misleading because of the traffic that you often encounter here (one of the busiest cities in the world).  I believe it was only about 90 miles (150 km) from MSAU, here in Moscow.  The security was interesting because you don't see too many farms with full time security, let alone 8 security guards.  He said he has a big problem with theft.  He's had equipment and animals stolen from his farm.  In addition to the guards he has more than 30 cameras in operation for a security system.  While the guards are searching for things to do, they take advantage of a destructive species pretty similar to ones back home.  They shoot Wild Boar.  Unlike our situation, they are native here in Russia, but like our situation they are very detrimental to crops.  Lorin said he eats pork at least once a day.  If I ever get the opportunity to come back for fun, I've got a place to hunt Russian boar.  

His farm puts out the most milk production in Russia.  One of our American students that is familiar with dairy farms asked why he uses Holstein cows (the Chickfila dairy cows that have nothing to do with hamburgers or beef...an Ag teacher's pet peeve...) as opposed to Jersey cows that have a higher fat content (thus better milk) and we discovered something interesting.  Pepsi Cola is one of the top two distributors of milk here in Russia (Coca Cola is not the other...) and they don't care what the quality of milk is.  They only want quantity.  Lorin said that his milk is still a much higher quality than what they care for but that he isn't compensated for that increase in quality at all.  Feed prices here are much higher than back in the states because of such a short growing season.  Feed prices are higher, he has to teach his vets, hire security, and isn't compensated for the quality of his product, yet he strives to be one of the best and the American, French and Russian students in our program were highly impressed both with his farm and his style of management.  

I realize that I may have painted somewhat of a negative picture in regards to education and crime, but it seems that like in the U.S., agriculture is on the upswing again in regards to people wanting to make a career of it.  

Remember the student's having to interview a person that they deem to be a leader for one of their assignments?  One of the Russian students, Anatoly, pulled Lorin off to the side and interviewed him.  I didn't know about it until after we were back on the bus and Anatoly came to sit with me so that he could play the recording of the interview from his phone.  He did a great job!  Anatoly then stated that it was fun and that he could see himself being a journalist for agriculture.  Good stuff going on over here.  

And one last point of interest about being a dairy farmer here in Russia that pretty much all of the students asked about and I've had a few people ask me about in regards to my pictures from last year:  It's ok for cows to be cold.  The cold is never the issue.  Lorin said his very first year here it got down to -45 to -48 and while he was miserable working in the cold, there were actually less issues with the cows.  The problem is that when it's that cold, all of the cow's waste literally freezes when it hits the ground, which causes a huge problem when everything begins to thaw out.  They have a machine that turns the cow waste and separates/dries a mulch that they can then add back to the bedding of the calves and cows.  But, when it's frozen, they can't run that machine because it's like a solid block of ice bouncing around in a cement mixer.  So...  the cows are fine.  They produce about 28 liters each, per day (a little over 7 gallons).  

The other taste of home?  We ate at McDonalds on the way back home.  Considering that I had a limited amount of money on me and I hadn't eaten in 10 hours or so, I went with the traditional big mac as opposed to the sandwich specific to Russia.  Last time I had a big mac?  I was probably 13...  I'm not a fan of McDonalds, but it did the job.  

Enjoy the pictures of the dairy.  Plenty of more stuff to write about in blogs to come.