Yemeni student embraces cold, learns pancakes in Barnaul

22-year-old Mohammed Al-Hadi is a first-year student at Altai State University. He came to Barnaul from Yemen — a country located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula — to study mathematics and computer science. Why Mohammed chose Altai Krai for his studies and why he already considers himself almost Russian — read in the NGS22.RU article.

“I heard it’s cold where you are”

Mohammed is from Yemen — a hot Arab country that is washed by the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. He managed to learn Russian to a conversational level in just nine months while taking a preparatory course at the university.

“I flew to Russia for the first time then. I listened to everyone speaking Russian and thought I would never be able to do that, but now I finally can,” jokes Mohammed.

According to him, upon arriving in Russia, he immediately realized that his knowledge of English would be useless because he lost his suitcase at Moscow airport and couldn’t get help for a long time. Therefore, the motivation to learn Russian quickly was significant. Moreover, all lectures from the very first days, as Mohammed specifies, were in Russian, and it was in his interest to start understanding theorems and definitions.

“I had an 11-hour layover in Moscow, my friend and I decided to go for a walk. I arrived, but my suitcase was missing. No matter who I asked in English at the airport — no one spoke it. And the main thing — everything everywhere was written in Russian, damn! I saw a sign ‘information’ in English, went there, started explaining everything, but the woman didn’t understand. Then she called somewhere, and later a person came who understood me. Well, it’s not scary, they found it.”

By the way, the journey to Barnaul with several transfers took the guy two days. The tickets cost 80,000 rubles (approximately $1,000 at current rates). Before his move, Mohammed knew only the most basic facts about Russia:

“I was told that everyone loves to drink vodka, but then I realized that not everyone does it. Also heard that it’s cold where you are. They said that people don’t smile at all. But everyone I met quickly started smiling at me.”

Learned to cook pancakes and worked at a camp

Adapting to new living conditions was helped by the fact that Mohammed quickly mastered the Russian language. Thanks to this, he made many friends with whom he spends time and immerses himself in Russian culture — like all students, he occasionally goes to clubs, loves walking around the city, and even finds time for his favorite hobbies and work in his free time from studies.

“I love football, I can edit, I take photos, and back home I even worked as a journalist. While I’ve been in Russia — I’ve come to love pancakes and learned to cook them, and also worked at a children’s camp — taught Arabic to children there,” laughs the guy.

To not miss Yemen so much during Muslim holidays, Mohammed wears national clothing and goes to the university, to the delight of his friends and classmates.

“I observe Ramadan, of course, there’s no problem with that. But I celebrate national holidays here a bit differently. However, it lifts the spirits of my acquaintances.”

“Maybe I’m already Russian?”

Mohammed could have gotten his first higher education in Yemen, but he still decided to study in Russia.

“When they ask me why Russia, I answer: why not Russia?” he smiles. “There, in Yemen, I wouldn’t have had such a colossal experience, an experiment. I wanted to have a quest. In general, I was drawn to Russian life.”

He ended up in Barnaul by chance: when he was filling out the application for a scholarship in Russia, he still didn’t know our language at all. The first university on the Russian list happened to be Altai State University (AltSU), where Mohammed decided to apply, almost at random.

“There was another option to go to Moscow, but thank God, I decided to study here. There’s noise, lots of people, a big city, I didn’t like it. It’s suitable for work, tourists, but clearly not for studying. I think it’s best to study in some small city.”

The only thing he knew about Barnaul was that the climate there is much colder than on the Arabian Peninsula, but even that didn’t faze the foreigner:

“I was told it would be cold. But when I arrived, I felt quite normal. I’ve even walked with friends in -30°C (-22°F), it was great. Maybe I’m already Russian?” laughs the student.

By the way, he liked the local climate so much that the usual +45°C (113°F) back home started to seem too hot to him, so he decided to visit his relatives in winter to avoid the hottest days and feel comfortable in their +30°C (86°F).

“There, in winter, the weather will be just like your summer. I was told it’s a good plan.”

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