What is MSAU?

Education
By Stephen Williams



Administration Building at the Moscow State Agroengineering University.

There are 29 universities in the Moscow region, why should somebody choose MSAU?  The Moscow State Agroengineering University was founded in 1930 and has been preparing graduates for jobs in large agricultural enterprises every since.  Currently there are around 3500 students with over 1400 employees and 40 departments.  Ok, so it’s a bit smaller than PSU or UNL but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in individuality.

MSAU is one of the few universities that have a “Military Chair”, which means that while attending school, you are not required to serve in the armed forces. This is just one appealing benefit that comes with attending MSAU.  Unlike an American high school where students can decide where they want to go to college up until the month of January of their senior year of high school, MSAU students must decide when they are juniors where they intend to go. They also must pass a college entrance exam before August of their first year at MSAU.

A Russian college entrance exam is not easy however, it is a requirement to pass in order to attend one of the over 550 higher education institutions in Russia.  While in high school some students pay out of their own pocket to take night classes, in order to be prepared to take the entrance exam.  Talk about dedication!  Our Russian classmates, who are majoring in Foreign Language for Professional Communications, must take an entrance exam in all the following subjects: physics, math, and both Russian and English languages.

So what is the benefit of taking this exam and going to MSAU?  Taking this exam allows our new friends to attend MSAU and to graduate in 5 years with a Masters degree in their preferred major.  With this degree, the students have the opportunity to obtain a wide variety jobs, such as an English translator. 
   
Lena and Rebecca outside the Automechanics Building

Like our universities, MSAU sends representatives to attract students in high schools in the Moscow region; however instead of sending faculty or students, they actually send their own professors to recruit.  Some students chose MSAU because its affordability, some for the reputation and others for the location.  These trends seem to be world wide, since this is how many students in the US choose a university.  I would consider MSAU, PSU and UNL to be in the same quality category but each being unique in their very own way.  

Culture Clichés

Culture
By Heather Hutcheson

Fashion or function?  That is the question.  People around the world wear clothing for many reasons.  In America, for the most part, younger people choose clothing based on fashion.  Stilettos are a must for the young generation.  Whereas older Americans can be seen wearing more comfortable shoes, warmer coats instead of fashion jackets, and pants without holes in them.  So, why should Russia be any different?  Of course there is a constant layer of ice on the ground and temperatures as low as -30º C, but why should that stop anyone?

When it comes to outerwear, fashion for Russians is critical.  The younger generation (aged 15-30) can commonly be spotted in four inch stilettos and ripped jeans regardless of what the weather is.  As for color, one may ask “what color?” “where?”  The winter collections seem only to be sold in four colors- black, brown, beige and dark blue.  In addition, the occasional muted Lima-been green can be seen.  The colors may be in fashion, but they are most definitely functional when strolling across the black slushy sidewalks and through the highly traveled metro stations.   While sacrificing function for fashion in the younger generation is the norm, the older generations of Russians treat “stepping out” more provincially.

On the metro, older generation Russians will commonly have a shopping bag in their hands with their “work shoes” inside.  Just as in America, for city walking they have comfortable shoes.  The stilettos stay in the bag until forced to make an appearance on the job.  These older working Russians are also sporting a functional fashion- the ever so popular Russian cliché- fur. It would be uncommon to see a Russian woman over the age of 30 without a fur coat, fur rimmed boots, or a jacket with a fur lined hood.  However, no matter what your age, leaving without the “necessary trio”- hat, gloves, and scarf- is frowned upon.

Kate shows off the “typical” Russian winter attire. 

Did someone say “dirt won’t hurt?”  Not in Russia.  Well, if you find yourself halfway to a restaurant for dinner, and some of the filthy slush from the street splatters on your pants, you must go home and change. You will never get into any respected restaurant in this condition.  Oh, and were your pants by chance khakis?  Forget dinner, only jeans are allowed.  The best policy to follow: when in Russia, do like the Russians and always dress your best.

Business? As long as it's in English!

Education
By Samuel Carpenter

With the start of a new month brought the start of a new routine for us, beginning our first class as mixed group of Russian and American students. Up until this time, every weekday morning we have attended an Intensive Russian Language course.  Our teacher, Ludmilla, would meet us down the hall in our classroom at nine every morning, where we would remain until 12:30 each afternoon.  We started from the basics of the Russian language, the Cyrillic alphabet and continued to build from there.  Only after a short time, we realized how challenging learning this language would be during the limited time that we will spend in class.

Needless to say, we were all excited when our intensive Russian language session ceased and we began our first class with an American “professor.”  Dr. B.J. Shannon is neither a teacher nor professor, rather a highly successful businessman.  With his years of experience, he has seen what it takes to start, maintain, and keep a successful business growing.  With his first-hand experience, he plans on teaching us the “Fundamentals of Successful Business.”
 
Olga and Justin work on a group activity during our “Fundamentals of Successful Business” class.

This class will be our first chance, while in Russia, to immerse ourselves in an environment in which we could fully understand the language being spoken.  With as all the difficulties and frustration we experienced learning the basics of Russian language, the Russian students will face an even bigger challenge by taking the business course. It is demanding to take a business course, lasting six hours, in a foreign language.  At the same time, our Russian counterparts joked as if they could have slept for the entire weekend after such strenuous class.  In the end, we all commended them for having the patience and skills to survive the entire day.

Activities
By Justin Robinson

            What can you do when it is -5º F outside and the sun isn’t shining in Moscow? Well, quite a lot we find out. January 28th was our first official “excursion” with our Russian classmates. That morning, outside our hostel, awaited the white MSAU bus that would take us our first tour of some of the major sites around Moscow.

The information about these historical and scenic places was given by our Russian classmates, who served as tour guides for the day. We were quite surprised to find that, they had to read up on the history behind some of these places, as most of them aren’t actually from Moscow. One of the main sites we were to see was a glass “bodge”. We were confused and we thougth that something was lost during the translation.

We walked the streets of Moscow chatting with the Russian students about all aspects of life. We were disscussing about Russian drivers, when Lena pointed out a small shop across the street. My eyes were delighted to see the familiar sign “Harley Davidson Motorcycles”. It really is a small world after all! We were going to one of the newest additions to the Moscow area, so a closer look inside the store will happen another day.


Marina, Anna, Justin and Alexandra enjoy some of the sites while in the MSAU bus.

We finally made it to our main destination, a large, modern looking business building. We soon found out that this building was actually one end of a huge glass enclosed bridge, the “bodge” as previously mentioned.  The Bagrationovskiy Bridge is for pedestrians only and uses several automatic walkways to allow one to relax and gaze at the beautiful Moscow River.  The most interesting view was when we looked out to see two men attempting to ice fish through the frozen river.

The view must be treasured by more than just us; the Muscovites must also be impressed by this structure because we saw three weddings parties taking pictures within the structure in our journey across the bridge. About 4 years ago, the flooring of the bridge was made entirely of glass. It must have been an amazing sight to look down at the river over 100 feet below through the floor. The floor was changed to tiles to hold the extra weight of the new clothing, food and souvenir shops the bridge currently houses.

Our stomachs smiled when we saw a small ice cream shop at the other end of the bridge. The tasty ice cream cones were the perfect ending to an unforgettable excursion into the heart of Moscow. No doubt there will be many more memorable trips in the months ahead.