By squeakyrobot
My program managers made it clear from the beginning: "We're here for you, but you're on your own." I think that this a truth that some students may have trouble coming to terms with, that they're expected to suddenly rise to the occasion and keep themselves alive and well as a direct result of their own efforts and abilities (in a place with language barriers and strange customs, no less). In most cases, luckily enough, I think the experience of being a college student does most of the work for us, so it's a matter of tweaking the model and applying that to someplace foreign and undiscovered.
Personally, I don't think living in Russia has had an affect on my abilities to be self-sufficient, self-reliable, or adaptable. It has certainly taught me a lot about St. Petersburg and Russia, and it's given me a glance at a culture and country much richer than any quick trip would be able to offer. But living abroad in general isn't extreme for me. I travel a lot as it is and GW is far enough from home for me to be able to miss it once in a while. As far as I'm concerned, its business as usual here in Russia, except “business as usual” comes with a side of sour cream.
And it’s easy when a touch of cultural relativism is applied – an empathetic look into foreign places and people and recognizing that just because they’re different doesn’t make them better or worse. Because it’s always more difficult to adapt if you go against the grain and try to fight this ginormous entity of people, country, and culture that envelops you whole. Your existence will be miserable, regardless of your location on the map, if you greet everything new with close-mindedness and pessimism. The most successful adaptation stories are those of open-minded people who have tendencies of acknowledging and appreciating the brighter things in life.
If anything, living in Russia has helped my ability to adapt simply by reaffirming that I can do it. Existing in any foreign place for longer periods of time is often a matter of believing in yourself and knowing that adaptation will come eventually, if not smoothly and quickly. So there are no adaptive horror stories to report from gloomy St. Petersburg. Speaking of, as the semester comes to an end and we quickly move to the more ferocious winter months, maybe this point of view will change once I start seeing the real effects of constant rain and no sun (something I have a little less control over as it’s more of a biological response to lack of light). But that’s a story for another day.