Group Dynamics

While we were still in Washington I met with two former students from my program, both of whom had lived in Vladimir. It was my last night in the States and I was complaining about the reluctance of the others in my group to go out and get to know each other. One of the two returnees made an observation that has proven true - that students who voluntarily choose to study intensive Russian, particularly in an anonymous city like Vladimir, are of a different sort, a set apart, strange. He may have used the term "weirdos."

There are ten of us, divided into three sections - graduates, undergrads, and a group of beginning ROTC students from Utah on a pilot program.

There are three of us in the graduate group - one is a master's student in Russian Language and Literature with five or six years of language preparation; the other is an Anthropology PhD with an interest in Russian food customs and four years of study. I hope her dissertation will explain why sour cream must be eaten with every meal.

The undergrads: two had only two years of study (like me), one had four. One is a bit older, was previously in the Navy and is now interested in Russian archaeology; the other two I think want to major in Russian lit.

And there's the ROTC group - a wholesome, god-fearing group of three Mormons and one lapsed Catholic with Native American roots. The three don't drink. If we go out to a bar they will order ice cream or juice. I like to imagine that they are actually a highly trained death squad operating undercover.

They are very friendly and therefore - at least in my imagination - very Mormon. The oldest was on a two year mission in Germany; as a result, 1) his German is quite good, and 2) he has a habit of talking to strangers in public places, even though he barely speaks Russian. During our group trip to Moscow he would disappear for long stretches at a time, arriving late to events. Two competing theories arose - either he was proselytizing to the godless communists, or he was debauching himself in the red light district. Either way, if there is a superlative at the end of the program for "Most likely to be stabbed by an angered Mafioso," I know who I would vote for.

Added to this is a recently arrived group of six cadets from the Naval Academy who appear, like the anthropology student, to be very interested in Russian food customs - at least national drinking habits.

I've been pondering the other possible superlatives - "Most likely to become the next Pushkin," or "Most likely to become the next Putin," or "Most likely to get drunk at the dacha and mauled by a bear." I haven't quite figured out where I fit.