The Million Dollar Question

(Vologda State Technical University)

The University will start classes on Monday the 5th and that is the day I will officially be Ms. Stewart the American English Teacher at the very fine establishment. Brighid and I have been testing students for the last couple days, and we have one more day of testing to go to see what students will be in our classes. It would make sense to me that tomorrow would be the last day, but our school administrator said she needs some time off, so Friday is the day. I was a little concerned about this because, how are we supposed to place people into classes for Monday if we aren't testing until Friday? To this my administrator explained patiently to me. "Lindsay this is Russia, and we don't plan until the last minute. And even then, things change". I want to be that flexible, but every ounce of me wants a concerte plan and to understand the whole schedule, and to line up my days and know what to expect. But my Russian admin. Diana said, "It is like when I say I will be there at 2 and I am there at 3:30." And I thought to myself--It is exactly like that, and hopefully I will begin to adapt soo to this cultural difference and grow in flexibility. Here's hoping.

Anyway, back to the test. The test includes a written and an oral section. Brighid has been leading the written part and I have been running the interviews. The whole process has been really exciting for me. For the Russian students however, it has been quite intimidating. They are so nervous when they come into my office and they all look very uncomfortable. I try to be as warm as possible, but for most of them just speaking English to a native speaker is scary, and I really cannot make that any easier for them...being that I cannot change the fact, I am indeed a native English speaker. I have loved hearing their responses and getting to know a little bit about each one of them. One of the questions that I posed aimed at getting at their hobbies. I had a lot in common with many of the girls, and we got to talk about dancing and aerobics and reading. I look forward to building relationships with these girls through some of our common interests. Some of the questions were a benefit to me two fold. For instance, I asked them what were good places in Vologda to visit. I could gauge their English by their answers, and also got to hear about great museums, restuarants, parks, etc. What was most fascinating to me about the interview however, was my last question. I asked it to every student that I interviewed and I can honestly say that 9 out of 10 students had the same response (and we tested around 35). I will give you the question first. You think about how you would answer it, and then read on to see what the Russian students said. (Students ages ~ 16-30).

Question: What would you do if someone gave you a million dollars?

You answer:

Their answers: (I literally started writing this down after I got the same answer three times in a row...) "That's too much," "I have all that I need," "That wouldn't happen," "I wouldn't want it," "I don't need that money," and "I already have what I need."

Others said they would buy a flat, or a house for their parents, a couple said they would travel, and one said he would buy a car. However even these answers were not extravagent.

It just made me think. I know exactly what I would do with a million dollars. Why is that? And I think that is the question that I want to leave you with.