The Journal

Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: LifeStyle

Taylor

In her freshman year, Ashley Taylor went to Thailand for the Webster study abroad experience. By her senior year, she felt ready to take on a bigger challenge.


When Taylor, a philosophy major, decided to increase her knowledge of Russian literature and language, books and classes weren't enough. To get a full spectrum of the culture and the area, Taylor chose to create her own overseas learning opportunity.


After filing paperwork with the Study Abroad Office and doing some research, Taylor chose to attend Perm State University in the city and state of Perm, Russia. After spending the summer of 2006 camping in Alaska, she returned to St. Louis for two weeks. In this short time, she celebrated her 21st birthday and spent time with friends and family. At the end of August, she left for Russia - the place she would call home for four months.


According to friends, such ambition is typical of Taylor.


"Ashley actually goes through with things," said friend Jeana Moore, a senior speech communications and English double major. "Thailand was the beginning of everything for her."


With layovers, it took Taylor a day and a half to get to Perm, which boasts a population of more than a million people. The closest city is eight hours away on the Trans-Siberian Railway.


Immediately, Taylor knew her Russian study abroad semester was going to be much different from her Thailand experience.


"A Webster study abroad is nothing like this study abroad," she said. "It was 1,000 times more challenging."


There were only four study-abroad students at Perm: Taylor, her German roommate and two Iranian students. Not only was Taylor the only American on campus that semester - she was the first American student to ever attend the university, which celebrated its 90th anniversary while she was there.


"In a lot of ways, we were on display, especially me," Taylor said of her and the other study-abroad students. "To some people, I was like trash as an American; to others I was like a visiting dignitary."


Taylor, who described her Russian skills going into the trip as "intermediate to upper-intermediate," was immediately overwhelmed by the challenges she faced. Communicating was one of her greatest struggles as the city was "so homogenous" that many people had never heard - much less spoken - English.


"Your head starts to hurt because you're trying to think in this other language," Taylor said. "It takes so much energy."

Continued...

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