Letter from Overseas No.8:

By Yukiko Isaka, English Dept. graduate

In the morning I receive a key to the classroom from the key control, and go to the classroom. The awaiting students in the hallway notice me and greet me with wonderful smiles. Their smiles simply make me happy, especially after walking for 20 minutes to the university, when it could easily be colder than 20 below zero in winter.

I am working for the Far Eastern National University in Vladivostok, Russia. I've been teaching Japanese at the department of International Relations Study since last September.

Two years ago I was teaching Japanese in the tropical country of Maldives. The difference in the temperature between the Maldives and Russia could be 50 degrees or more. What made me decide to make such a big change? The story begins when the tsunami occurred at the end of 2004.

The tsunami hit our resort island in the Maldives as well as many other countries in the region. Although, luckily, there were no casualties on our island, most of the facilities of the resort were badly damaged, and it was estimated that it would take more than a year to rebuild them. Since I was teaching Japanese to the staff of the resort, and also working at the front desk as a Guest Relations Officer, I was no longer unable to work there. The company kindly offered me some options that I could take; transfer to a hotel in Singapore, Shanghai, or Tokyo. But all these jobs are a part of training for the front office division, and Iﾕd rather be a full-time Japanese teacher again, so I declined the offers and decided to go back to Japan. But I felt anxious about not knowing what to do next, so I secretly spent some time in the office searching for jobs on the Internet. And there I found my current job.

I applied for one of the programs of the Japan-Russia Youth Exchange Center, where they send Japanese teachers to universities in Russia. After my credentials were reviewed, I got to go to the next step, which were written exams and interviews in Tokyo. I was very lucky to pass all of those, and got the job. And I will probably be here in Vladivostok for two years, if nothing goes wrong.

Everything seemed all right, though I did not speak Russian at all. When I was in the Maldives, I had no language problems, as the only language I needed there was English. I thought once I got to Russia, I could manage somehow, but it turned out that I was wrong. People here don't speak as much English as I thought they could. Now I can go shopping by myself, but when a problem comes up, I have to go to my friends or my students for help. On campus I always speak with my colleagues in English. But as a language instructor I think that it is disrespectful to people that I don't speak the Russian language, even though I live in Russia. So I am studying Russian now.

Here is my daily schedule. I wake up at 7:00 a.m. and leave the house before 9:00 a.m. The class starts at 9:30 a.m., and I have three 90-minute classes straight on Thursday. There is hardly a break, and it is a bit hard, but I am free after these three classes.

I finish classes at 2 o'clock and go home and have a late lunch. Then I start to prepare for the lessons for the next day. Also, I have a private lesson in the evening, so I have to prepare for that, too. The private lesson starts at 6:00 p.m., and finishes at 7:30 p.m. And that's the end of my work. It's been busy, but not too busy since I came here, and I like it so far.

The university system in Russia is different from the one in Japan. Here they have five years to finish a bachelor's degree. In my university, students take the Japanese course as a second foreign language, and they have Japanese classes from the 1st to 4th year. Since Japanese is not their major, I would have to say that their level of Japanese is not very high. They would still be at beginner level and their entire course is finished at this level. Yet most of the students are highly motivated to learn, and I feel honored to be their teacher. I'd like to introduce Japan to them in many different ways through the Japanese language.

If you want to make your dreams come true, you have to make a move by yourself. But taking the very first step could be frightening. When I chose to come to Russia, I wondered so many times if I made the right decision or not. But one of my beliefs is that things would take care of themselves once you start it. Now I am glad that I've come here. I've got some troublesome-but-adorable students, open-minded Russian colleagues, and great friends who I can talk to about anything. I should always remember to appreciate this great opportunity, and would like to absorb many things from Russia and try to do everything I can.

A year ago I never thought that I would be working in Russia, as I was working in the Maldives. Life is so unpredictable, and that's what makes it interesting.