Study abroad in Russia pays off

Less than two weeks after returning home from nearly a year in Russia, E.C. Glass High School student Ian Bonner was invited to attend a performance last month with First Lady Michelle Obama and her Russian counterpart, Svetlana Medvedeva.

How?

“I got an e-mail from somebody in the State Department,” Bonner said.

Not your everyday high school occurrence, but then again, Bonner is not your typical student.

The National Security Language Initiative for Youth, an organization founded by the U.S. State Department, sponsored Bonner’s trip to Russia. From August 2009 until his arrival back home last month, Bonner was immersed in Russian language and culture, as well as Russian classrooms.

The 19-year-old’s interaction with Medvedeva during the performance at Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Georgetown was limited, primarily by Russian security. But he likely could have held his own in conversation with the Russian First Lady. Bonner is now fluent in Russian and well versed in the culture.

His mother, Julie Bonner, said she hears him speak more Russian than English.

In August 2009, Bonner traveled to Kazan, the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, to meet his host family.

“I did have a big culture shock,” he said. “When I got there, I understood very little of what was said.”

Bonner’s “host grandma” admitted to him that she had never expected to have an American in her home. Bonner quickly learned some of the challenges, and oddities, of his new home.

“I milked a cow for the first time,” he said.

Along with newfound skills and chores, such as making pie from scratch, Bonner took part in native holidays and celebrations.

“Russians love to have fun and celebrate,” he said.

On New Year’s Day, Bonner took part in the traditional celebratory ice swimming in the Volga River, the largest river in Europe. During Bonner’s stay in Kazan, the temperature fell to minus 37 degrees.

Bonner also took the opportunity to teach his host family about some of his own traditional holidays, such as Thanksgiving, but with a few setbacks.

“We couldn’t find a turkey,” said Bonner. “We ended up getting five chickens.”

Despite Bonner’s love for the Russian culture, he did yearn for several aspects of his homeland.

“I missed some American food,” he said, particularly pizza.

Bonner said leaving his host family behind was difficult.

“I felt accepted,” he said. “I felt like I was at home.”

As part of the National Security Language Initiative for Youth program, Bonner took classes at a local university in Kazan. He said he met several obstacles interacting with his Russian professors.

“We had to make compromises,” said Bonner. “We were completely different to what they’re used to.”

Bonner described his professors’ disdain toward students who asked questions, let alone those who wore T-shirts to class.

“On the whole, we loved them,” Bonner said.

Bonner also was given the opportunity to visit the Ukraine and other cities in Russia, including Moscow and Naberezhnye Chelny, the second-largest city in the Republic of Tatarstan.

Now that Bonner has returned home, his Russian tutor for the past four years, Olga Vlasova, is amazed at his progress with the Russian language.

“I know Russian grammar so much better than I know English grammar,” added Bonner.

Despite now being fluent in Russian, Bonner plans to continue his language lessons. Vlasova said that she is interested in seeing Bonner’s skills with reading, particularly one of the Russian classics.

Bonner must earn two more credits before he officially graduates from high school, which he plans to do at Central Virginia Comm-unity College.

Once he’s obtained a high school diploma, Bonner plans to continue on to college with a particular interest in Indiana University, renowned for its department in Slavic languages and literatures.

Bonner certainly expects to return to Russia.

“I really miss my host family,” he said. “I miss everything about it, really.”