A day in the life of Siberian Federal University

I've been taking classes since early June in the international department. The classes have been one to one, which is generally better than group classes. I have been frustrated though as the topics have not been of any interest to me. A couple times I have tried to request a change. Apparently I did not go about this correctly, I should have put my request in writing. My mistake occurred as I had been used to things being more flexible at the private language school in Novosibirsk a few years ago.

I brought up my dilemma of not enjoying my classes with my teacher on Tuesday. She agreed to look at the books that I had brought along to class, and we worked on one of those stories instead. The topics we had been covering were in the vein of clothes, fashion and physical appearance. At times I was bored, at other times offended as I didn't like the idea of judging people's appearances or dress. That's all far too shallow for me.

After the break in my class the teacher who is second in charge in the department came and spoke with me. She explained that I couldn't just change the program as I wanted, that it wasn't just a market, that I had to go with the course they had prepared, but if I wanted a change to the course material I could put in a formal request in writing. The next day the conversation continued. I had already apologised for offence that I may have caused. As we discussed the matter I explained that I already had the certificate for level 1 (the faculty entrance exams). This teacher suddenly changed her tune. It was as if I was a completely different person. Documentation is everything in Russia. Even though I had been a student here before, the international department had forgotten this important detail that I assumed they knew.

Apparently I shouldn't have been in the department I was in. It's the department for students who are preparing to study in a faculty. So today I showed the international department my prized certificate and I have been cleared to take classes in the faculty. I took classes in the faculty of philology and languages a couple years ago. Now I'll be in the same department in September. I'm actually relieved as things are a lot more relaxed in that department.

Earlier in the day the whole family sat in on a lecture by a BBC reporter named Peter Day. He gave a lecture on the role of China in the 21st century. It was held in the University library. There's a review of this on my other blog. Russia continues to transform, the contrast of the new university with the one I studied at a couple years ago is huge.