RF Duncan-Goodwillie - The English Teachers

RFDG: What had you chosen?

LS: It was International Tourist Management. I didn’t even want to try and get a job in this sphere, but I was really interested in working with people. I spent a year working as an HR manager at an HR agency which was absolutely boring. It was so weird because the only thing I had to do was lie. Lie and smile which wasn’t a pleasant thing to do. During that time I was having 1-2-1 classes with a teacher and I’d been studying English for about 15 years. One day I was so disappointed with my profession that I came to my class and told my teacher how awful everything was.

And he offered me a job.

He asked if I wanted to try and if I could deal with teaching. I started with primary school kids mostly. It was quite risky since I didn’t have a degree in psychology or linguistics, or working with kids. So, everything I did at the very beginning was experimenting and being honest with myself. If it was terrible I had to talk to myself about why it was terrible.

After a couple of months I realised it was something I loved doing and I still love it no matter how tough the job is in general. I had my last day at this school quite recently and when I said goodbye to my students and saw their reaction, I realised I was still doing something useful… and that I was a terrible person who was leaving them.

She laughs.

RFDG: Why did you choose to come to Moscow?

LS: It just turned out that I had to. I never wanted to live here. I prefer St Petersburg. In Russia it’s like a saying that we have two kinds of people: people who love Moscow and people who love St Petersburg. I’m more a St Petersburg kind of person.

RFDG: In what sense?

LS: Well, it’s not that crowded and the city itself is beautiful. Moscow is not. I’m sorry to have to say that but it’s not. The atmosphere in Moscow is about money and hard work, and trying to achieve all these goals that people want to have like having a high position, getting promoted all the time and so on. But St Petersburg is more about inspiration and a sense of freedom. I was never money-oriented.

I spent four months working in St Petersburg and I met my boyfriend. He was working in Moscow at the time and we spent a year in a long-distance relationship which was so tough and finally we decided we had to move to Moscow. Even though I’ve spent three years here, I still hate this city!

She laughs at the irony of it all.

But I’ve met a lot of really lovely people and I’ve gained so much experience here. I’d like to come here for a weekend, spend time just walking around and enjoying a beautiful summer day and meet my friends and then go back home to the peace and quiet.

*

Setting the scene: It’s spring in Kurdistan and I’ve taken two planes, crossed four borders and finally an entertaining 120 kilometre per hour ride in a taxi through the surprisingly flat Kurdish countryside to be here. Outside the air-conditioned, modern university building with its polished marble floors and well-stocked dinner hall is an unassuming valley city, flanked on either side by steep, rocky hills and mountains.

Luka and I sit in an office cubicle. We are interrupted several times by students asking him about their exam results. Although this is rather annoying, I appreciate they are paying for the privilege of studying here whereas I’m just paying for the beer later. Luka speaks quickly with a slight Eastern European accent I would find difficult to place if I didn’t know where he is from. To protect his identity, he only speaks of his time in Moscow.

LM: I did a Masters in Journalism, then I worked as a receptionist for several summer sessions before travelling to Japan where I got the idea of becoming an English teacher when I met other teachers. I did my CELTA after that and 10 months later I came to Russia and worked there for a year.

RFDG: Why did you choose teaching?

LM: Initially it was about having the ability to move abroad and travel. Honestly, I didn’t care about teaching that much. It was a means to an end, but since then I’ve grown to quite like it.

RFDG: Why did you choose Moscow?

LM: There were jobs and it was culturally different from the rest of Europe, which was what I was after when I was looking for a place to live. It was an interesting place and the job was alright for an inexperienced teacher like myself.

RFDG: What do you mean when you say Russia is “culturally different”?

LM: It’s hard to describe. Moscow has a different atmosphere. It’s not as Western. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s neither positive nor negative. It’s just particular in its own way. The way people treat other people and society in general. That’s quite useless, isn’t it?

He chuckles a little.

RFDG: What do you mean about the “way people treat other people”?

LM: They have a certain demeanour in Russia which is hard to describe. They are more reserved in a way, but at the same time they are not as reserved as I would say Western Europeans in some cases. And once you break through the ice they are usually really warm and kind people. It’s just that when you don’t know them they can often seem very unkind and rude. I’m generalising, of course, but that’s kind of general vibe I got there.

RFDG: And you still chose to work there despite that?

LM: Yeah.

RFDG: Some people would say that’s unusual.

LM: Why?

RFDG: Because it could be interpreted as a hostile environment.

LM: It wasn’t hostile. It’s weird at first, but as I said it just seems that way until you break the ice.

RFDG: How did you go about doing that?

LM: Trying to speak Russian. Speak a few words of Russian and they just like you 500 times more.

RFDG: If you hadn’t become a teacher what would you have done?

LM: I have no clue.

RFDG: What would you like to have done?

LM: Maybe I would have stayed in the hospitality industry because the high school I went to was a vocational high school for that kind of work.

We hear a knock on the door. Another student has appeared for advice, providing a perfect ending to the first section of our interview.

*

Setting the scene: There’s an old church in the Chekovskaya area surrounded by high walls and sitting just off a leafy boulevard nearby. The school Günter and I sit in is in the shadow of that large complex, much in the same way I sit in the shadow of Günter. While imposing in figure, he speaks in a gentle way I associate with people from Brazil. It seems a part of his calm manner more generally.

GCB: I’m from the south of Brazil. I grew up in a small town in the countryside. When I started university and did Languages and Literature, I had my first experience of going abroad. Since then I’ve been looking for more opportunities.

RFDG: Why did you choose teaching?

GCB: I didn’t choose it. It chose me. I started university, not because I was into languages and linguistics, but because I liked literature. When you’re young you’re full of dreams and just want to read novels and talk about them with your friends. But you can’t make a living out of it unless you have the talent to become a writer yourself.