Farewell, Rina!
До свидания Rina!
It is sadly time to bid farewell to another one of our great interns. Rina is on her way back to Canada, so I asked her a few questions to find out about her time in Russia, working and studying at Liden & Denz.
So, Rina, tell me a little bit about yourself .
Well, my name is Rina, I am 22 years old and I am an University student from Toronto, Canada. I’m studying forensic science and I’ve been interning at Liden & Denz for the past two months. Before coming to Russia, I’ve been studying Russian for about a year, mostly by myself or with the help of an online teacher.
Why did you come to Russia and what inspired you to study Russian in the first place?
Well, I’ve always been kind of curious about learning Russian. In Toronto, I’d sometimes see these Ukrainian and Russian shops with signs in Cyrillic. It seemed so foreign and I’d always wonder what it could say, what does it mean? I just got more and more invested in it as I kept studying. Also, Russian could wind up being helpful to my work, if things should go that route. I’m studying Forensic Science and was thinking about getting into Criminal Investigations with the Airforce that could lead to Government work with CSIS. In that case, Russian would be an asset.
Are you happy with your experience of learning Russian and working in St. Petersburg? Why?
Yes, certainly! I do love the city and I would say it’s been a significant experience and certainty memorable! I think the classes were very helpful and the way they go about teaching is quite effective. The most effective thing is how you really learn things in class that you can apply in daily life. Concerning the internship, I was a blogging assistant and my job was to produce two to three articles a week about St. Petersburg, Russia or about learning Russian. Everybody here is really friendly and my boss is very nice. The work atmosphere is quite casual, which I enjoyed a lot. I liked it a lot.
Do you have any recommendations for future interns?
The internship is great because it gives you cause to get out and explore more of the city. I’d say that anytime you’re going someplace, bring your phone and take a few pictures – you may or may not use them for an article but it’ll be helpful to have in your back pocket. Everyone at the internship is super friendly. Don’t hesitate to ask questions as everyone is glad to each other out. And some practical advice that I can generally give is to pack for autumn weather. Even if you’re coming during the summer, bring a warm jacket!
What is your favorite experience in St. Petersburg?
My favorite experience happened kind of spontaneously. I came home from work and went into the common in my hostel, as you do, people were sitting and talking all around and everybody was involved in the conversation and then we spontaneously all went out to see the bridges opening and after that we went out. We could all speak Russian to each other, which was cool.
Would you come back?
I would love to come back! I would try another location, maybe Irkutsk, as I heard a lot of the Lake Baikal and how beautiful it is up there. As I was living in a hostel this time, I would also like to try out a something new such as living in a host family.
