Petersburg, which is the second largest city in Russia and the former capital. Even though it is one of the largest cities in Russia, it is one of the youngest. However, St. Petersburg is still older than the United States, since it was founded in 1703! Living in St. Petersburg helped me to fall in love with Russian all over again. It is a really important city geographically, culturally and historically. Traditionally, the city was a window into Europe for Russia. Since St. Petersburg is located on the Baltic Sea, it gave Russia access to the ocean and, therefore, to trade. Culturally, the city was home to many of Russia’s most famous writers and artists, including Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Repin and many others.
During college, I studied education along with Russian language and literature. I also realized that I wanted to somehow connect these two fields with my career. That is when I discovered the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. The Fulbright program is a set of scholarships funded by the United States State Department, which is the department in charge of the U.S.’s relationship with other countries. The English Teaching Assistantship in particular sends people from all over the United States all over the world to help others learn English. I applied for the scholarship and was accepted, which is how I am able to spend this year in Omsk, Russia!
I am spending this year at Omsk State Pedagogical University in Omsk, Russia. My university prepares future teachers, so all of my students are hoping to become English teachers or work in education in some way. Although I have only spent a week in Omsk so far, I already love the city and the people. Omsk is the seventh largest in Russia.
