Modesto woman will teach in northern Russia

Modesto High School grad Victoria Pardini will head in September from triple-digit summer heat to a land of Arctic winter, from baseball and football to boxing and hockey, fresh salads to black bread and borscht.

Pardini will head to Ukhta, in northern Russia, to teach English and American culture at the Ukhta State Technical University, courtesy of the U.S. State Department. After a six-month application and interview process, Pardini gained the posting as a Fulbright Scholar for one year.

“I’ll just get used to Valley heat before getting used to the Russian winter,” she said with a wry smile. She spent the past few years getting her degree at the University of California, Berkeley, studying history and political science.

A longtime love of Russian literature led to studying the history, language and cultural heritage of the country. She spent last summer at an intensive language program, getting her Russian up to par to work there. “The interviews were all in Russian, which was super stressful,” she said.

It will be an interesting time to be in Russia, Pardini concedes, with blogs she’s reading suggesting the Russian economy is tight and American-led sanctions are being blamed. Relations seem to be cooler than during the Cold War, she said.

To break the ice, so to speak, Pardini plans to introduce American culture in part through its holidays. Thanksgiving and Halloween are foreign concepts in Russia. Green beer at St. Patrick’s Day, ditto. By the time Cinco de Mayo rolls around, she will be starting to pack up.

“I think that’s what this program’s for,” she said. Her university, in an oil-rich area close to the Arctic Circle, specializes in engineering and geology, and welcomes international students.

She’ll be coming back to what might be post-graduate studies or a job in international relations. After spending a year helping Russians understand Americans, she might be ready to help America understand Russia.

This story was originally published June 28, 2015 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Modesto woman will teach in northern Russia."