Privyet from James

Privet,

My name is James Sukharev and I am going to be a junior at New York University next fall. While most of my American peers have come here to Almaty in order to volunteer, explore their Judaism, meet foreigners, etc., it has been my immersion into the Kazakhstani/Russian culture that has defined this trip for me so far. Prior to my arrival I assumed that my Russian heritage would only benefit me culturally through knowing certain customs. Considering that I only had an elementary understanding of the Russian language from my childhood I assumed that I would only have a small advantage in communicating with our Kazakhstani peers.

As the days passed I observed my friends, some more than others, struggle to overcome the language barrier. But my experience has been nothing short of a personal triumph in re-learning the Russian language. After only a few days my Russian has progressed to the point where some people have actually mistaken me for a Kazakhstani. And that’s when it really hit me that the only real difference between us and them is our language and location.

We share common interests in music, movies, books, sports, and fashion. To think it was only recently that Sasha Baron Cohen ridiculed the Kazakhstani people in his movie “Borat”. It just goes to show how naïve we can be. If I, a “jappy” NYU student from suburban New Jersey, could be mistaken for a Kazakhstani, then perhaps we should reconsider all of our stereotypes – not just of the Kazakhstanis. As Dr. Evil of Austin Powers once said: “We’re not so different, you and I.”