Weekly Reflections—Thoughts on Belarus/Minsk So Far

Well, we have now been in the country for a little over a week, and while most of that time has been spent getting settled into our apartment, doing paperwork, meeting with various U.S. Embassy and BSU administration/officials, there has been some time to experience some of Minsk, interact with the people, and see the general society at work.   

One thing that struck me right away is the holidays.  I think we came at the busy holiday season, but there have been several just since we arrived.  This has made things a bit difficult this first week, as we have needed to file paperwork at government offices, sign rent contracts, etc., but it has also been nice to see the people celebrating Russian Orthodox Easter, their version of Memorial Day (but unlike the U.S., they actually go and visit/clean up the graves of their deceased family), and tomorrow is May Day.  

In this first week I have spent a lot of time at the various play areas/parks with the kids and it has been interesting to see the other kids playing, and the adults who are watching them.  While everyone has been very friendly, our general experience to this point is that if we approach someone who does not speak Russian (child or adult), they tend to be shy/scared and just keep walking.  Our kids have been able to overcome this a bit at the park, finding opportunities to play with kids, even when language is a barrier, but Jacque and I have found this to be the case when we are out and about and have questions/need directions or whatever.  

At least so far, it seems that most people don’t speak English, or at least are not comfortable with their English.  Those who are comfortable with English have been very eager to talk to us and help.  Language is always a barrier wherever you go.  

Back to the parks—there is one park near our apartment in particular that seems to attract a lot of people.  Our large family tends to get some stares when we show up, especially when others hear us speaking English.  But it is pretty much like any park you would see in the U.S.—kids are playing, most parents are sitting on benches watching, while some parents are helping their smaller children.  I think it has been very good for the kids to spend so much time at the parks and see that things really aren’t all that different here.  

One thing I have noticed in general is that most people don’t seem to walk around with smiles or much general enthusiasm for daily living.  At this point I will not pretend to understand why this is the case (and a lot of it may just be cultural), though I certainly have my suspicious, but it is a general observation.  I sometimes feel a little self-conscious walking quickly around with a huge smile on my face.  And when I am out with the kids, they are just so energetic and full of life, and to this point I have not seen that as much from the people here.  This makes us stick out a little more.   

Everyone at the university has been extremely friendly and helpful.  I have had some good planning sessions with the MBA director and other good meetings.  Alexander (from BSU) has also spent a lot of time trying to help me with the necessary paperwork for registration, temporary residency, multi-entry visas, etc.  I have to admit that it has been frustrating spending hour after hour dealing with the paperwork (I can’t imagine how any foreigner could ever do this without a native Russian speaker helping them), but it was not unexpected.  I understand that is the system here, though I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised and have things go more smoothly.  Hopefully we will have all of that taken care of in the next week or so.   

We have found Minsk a rather expensive place to live (at least for a family our size wanting to maintain some similarity to the U.S. standard of living we are accustomed to).  Our apartment is great, though expensive, and while we have found some things to be ridiculously cheap (like public transportation and some foods like bread), most of the things we are wanting to purchase are more expensive (sometime by a wide margin) than in the U.S. (and I am not talking about cheddar cheese, peanut butter, and that kind of stuff you can’t find here without paying an arm and a leg, but fairly normal stuff that even the people here use regularly—just not as regularly as we do).  And while the median household income here is relatively low, living expenses are fairly high, coupled with high inflation.  So I think it is a difficult situation for many.  

This week I will start teaching and it will be very interesting to meet the students and start to get a sense of their perspective on life, their work experience, and how it relates to the topics in the class I will be teaching (human resource management).  I am excited for the experience, and I am sure I will learn a lot from it! 

The Last Couple of Days

Friday was a good day, though somewhat frustrating at times.  I was up with David for a couple hours during the night (and then was able to go back to sleep), so I was still asleep when I got a call from Gary John, just checking in on us and seeing how we are all feeling (he knew we were battling colds).  I thanked him for his call and then promptly rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.  But then shortly thereafter I got a call from his wife, who offered to bring us over dinner!  At that, I was awake and I got up and ready for my day.   

I got a few things around the apartment done, and then I had to go and meet Alexander from BSU to work on immigration and country registration paperwork.  This was the frustrating part of the day.  We spent a good 3+ hours going around town to different places, providing documents, and trying to convince them to approve me and my family.  In the end, they registered us, but they told us we would be unable to get temporary residence clearance or multi-entry passports because we did not have an original marriage license, our original birth certificates didn’t have an embossed stamp (Utah birth certificates have these new computer chip sticker things), and we didn’t have sufficient numbers of original copies of letters from UVU and the Fulbright office, confirming my employment/grant status.  Even the international affairs guy from BSU that was helping me was unaware of these requirements.  

In the end, we had no choice but to leave and try to get what they are now requiring and go back next week.  So as soon as I got back to the apartment, I sent out emails to people at UVU, the Fulbright office, and a neighbor, each who could help us get these documents.  I am still not sure what we will do about the birth certificates.  Anyway, the bureaucracy was extremely frustrating, but it is what it is and we just have to find a way to provide them with what they now say they require.   

After sending off those email requests, we all went down to the playground area and the kids played for an hour or so (the weather was gorgeous!), before heading back up to get cleaned up and be ready for when the Johns delivered dinner.  They brought by delicious homemade chicken noodle soup, rolls, and cookies!  It was all very delicious, and I know Jacque enjoyed not cooking!  After dinner, the kids did their normal evening bedtime routine and went to bed around 7.  Jacque and I then had a relaxing evening together. 

Saturday was a nice day.  We had a pretty typical morning and then we packed everyone up and headed over to the Korona for shopping and for the kids to try out a fun zone place we heard about from our realtor.  So while Jacque did the shopping, I was with the kids at a sort of Chuck-E-Cheeses-like place.  Kaylie wouldn’t really do anything (other than just hang out with me and David), but the three older kids had a great time!  They played hard for an hour or so while Jacque shopped, and then when she was finished it was time to head home. 

We grabbed lunched, and then I was off to BSU for an afternoon meeting.  I met with Igor and we talked more in detail about all of the various classes and activities I will be involved with over the summer, but particularly over the next couple of weeks.  We also talked MBA strategic planning and accreditation, some about faculty research, and a lot about teaching in this national context.  Given the nature of some of the topics in my course, I have had concerns about how openly I can discuss different issues, but Igor reassured me that as long as I am not directly challenging the administration, I am free within a higher educational context to openly discuss and even challenge/critique some of the public policy/practices (again, as long as I am not inciting student to anti-government action or directly challenging the current administration).  Of course I don’t want to do or say anything that will negatively impact my family, the university, or the church during my stay.   

 

After the meeting I came back home and I took the 4 girls to the park (which they loved as usual).  Then it was dinner and bedtime routine for the kids.  The older three did not want to go to bed, particularly since they got a peak of Jacque and I eating ice-cream bars as part of our in-house date night.  We actually had yummy ice-cream bars, some delicious cookies, and we watched Hairspray.  It was a fun evening.  And as everyone actually slept through the night, we all slept well too!

Today has been another successful Sunday!  We got everyone up and ready in time to meet the female and senior volunteers at the nearby metro station (they kindly offered to help us find the church again this week!).  After a good 45 minutes of subway and walking, we got to the church building and again were kindly greeted by everyone in the Minsk branch.  Church this week was much more enjoyable for all of us (probably had something to do with the fact that we all are much better rested and more acclimated to everything here)!  The kids had a great time in primary and Jacque and I were together for Sunday School and the combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting.  Things ended a little late and then we made the way back to the apartment.  We watched a conference talk and sang primary songs, had some dinner, and soon we will Skype with family.  Another successful Sunday!

A Week of Getting Acclimated

We are now to Friday (very early AM as it were) and it has been a very good week here in Minsk. 

On Monday was the U.S. Embassy and the move to our new apartment.  After an normal morning, I was picked up by a U.S. Embassy car for my in-country security briefing and orientation.  I had already basically heard everything they told me back at the Fulbright Orientation in Washington D.C. last July, but it was nice to see all of them and to visit the embassy.  

After that, I was dropped back off at our temporary apartment and then had about an hour to finish preparations for the move.  We were then picked up by the U.S. Embassy bus to haul the family and all of our stuff to the new permanent apartment.  A few extra embassy workers came and helped with the bags, and the senior couple and the male young volunteers also met us at our new place to take stuff up to the new apartment.  The entire move took less than an hour!  We then spent the next couple hours trying to get settled in an unpacked.

  

I also took a trip to the Korona (the largest supermarket in Minsk, which is only a 5 minute walk from our new place) to get some of the apartment essentials (including a laundry drying rack!).  I got back right as we were supposed to meet the senior couple downstairs for a dinner appointment.  I had hauled all of the stuff back from Korona and was a few minutes late, but it all worked out fine.  We walked with them back to their place and then had a very nice evening with them there.  We had a yummy dinner and dessert and also enjoyed talking with them and getting to know them better.  Around 8:30 we all walked back home (maybe 10 minutes) and got the kids to bed. 

I normally do all of the laundry back home, so I thought it would be no big deal to do it here too... the washing machine is tiny, and without any dryer this will be much more of a daily ordeal...! I think we may need a second drying rack, as we have a bunch of washed clothes waiting their turn to dry...

Tuesday was a pretty laid back day.  We didn’t have anything on the schedule; the only thing we needed to do was a lot of shopping to get more household essentials and stock up on food.  Monday night was not the best night’s sleep in the world for anyone, so we had a little bit of a lethargic morning.  I was up way too early with David, and then with Lia and Kaylie.  We watched a movie and got a little rest on the couch, and then it was actually time to get up and get some breakfast.  

We hadn’t gone shopping for a few days, so our selection was fairly limited and the girls complained a bit, but soon breakfast was done and cleaned up and kids were dressed and working on projects.  Jacque got up around 9 and got the school stuff ready for the girls, while I went out looking for electric fans for all of the bedrooms (we use them for white noise to help everyone sleep).  Basically I struck out because nothing was open before 10 am.  

I came back and lay down on the couch to rest, and next thing I knew, Jacque was waking me up at 11:30 because it was time for her to go and meet the female young volunteers to go shopping.  I got up and got the girls lunch and down for naps/rest time and Jacque arrived back with tons of food soon thereafter.  I took off again looking for fans and was successful.  Language is a bit of a barrier in transactions like that, but with some hand gestures/pantomiming, I was able to communicate with them and get things taking care of.  

When I got back the girls were finishing up their rest time, so I took them down to check out the play areas around the apartment complex (and there are many).  They had fun going from one to the next and testing them all out.  We also explored the large complex a bit more and discovered a small grocery store that is just a stone’s throw away from our place, which may come in handing if we just need something really quick.  And behind the grocery store is the nicest play area we found; there were lots of fun things to play on, with lots of people there with their kids.  I would imagine that is where we will end up spending most of our playing time. 

After playing, we came back up and did a little unpacking and got dinner ready (Jacque made homemade pizza)!  After dinner/dessert, we cleaned up and got the kids ready for bed, read scriptures and did the nighttime routine.  I think this was the earliest we got them all down since we got here (7:30).  Jacque was not feeling well, so she followed them soon after and was zonked out almost immediately.  I had a student back at UVU who was doing a thesis defense, so I spent the next hour trying to video chat with them so I could be part of the defense (didn’t work too well, mostly because our internet is not the fastest here).  

By the time my student's defense was done, David was awake, so I got him a bottle and we were up for the next couple hours.  I put him down and went in my room to lie down, but Lia and Kaylie were having trouble sleeping, so I was then up helping them for another while.  Finally I decided to just go rest with them in there room, but Kaylie just wouldn’t go to sleep.  At some point (probably around 12:30 or so) I fell asleep on the girls’ bed and then Kaylie made her way to sleep with Jacque.  You can see that sleep has been a challenge for us since arriving, mostly because of the girls having trouble adjusting and our colds.  

Wednesday was my first day at BSU.  I was able to meet all of the key players at the BSU SBMT (who up to that point I had only communicated with via email).  They were all very warm and welcoming and it was a pleasure to meet them and I was excited to hear of all they have planned for me while I am here.  

My load will not be overly burdensome by any means (and they will be very accommodating to my extra-curricular traveling), but there are many ways they see me getting involved beyond the one MBA HR class.  It is good to know I am wanted/needed at the university during my stay.  It even seems like they will have ways for Jacque to get involved too!  So I will also be helping with a series of faculty development retreats and workshops (including team building, teaching pedagogy, and research sessions), I will assist with school strategic planning and accreditation efforts, I will help with some SBMT PR/advertising stuff, I will work on collaborative research projects with my BSU colleagues, and I will do some work with the BSU undergraduate business students (a short block elective course for 4 weeks, a series of other one-time seminars, and some visits to the language institute).  I think it sounds like a great plan!   I also got my MBA teaching schedule ironed out, so I was able to adjust and finalize my syllabus!  Now I feel very prepared!  

After everything was done at BSU, I caught the metro back to our apartment (super easy, so no problems there) and then I met with the realtor and apartment owners to get a few things finished up around here and to sign the contract and get all of the necessary paperwork submitted to the authorities.  It ended up taking way longer than I expected (but I almost expected that!).  Anyway, by dinner time, it was all taken care of and we are now official in our new apartment!  

Jacque made homemade pizza for dinner (quite ambitious, I know!) and of course it was great and well received.  We then went through the evening routine with the girls and got them to bed by 7:30 and we soon followed by around 8:30 or 9:00.  The best part is that everyone slept through the night!  That means that Jacque and I also got a much-needed night of solid sleep (I personally got 9 straight hours, by far the most I have gotten in the last couple of weeks, and it felt great!). 

Thursday was also a good, busy day.  With a great night’s sleep, I got up with the girls and got them breakfast and ready for the day.  I then had to get back over to BSU for more meetings and to get my immigration paperwork filled out and submitted.  I met with several people in the BSU SBMT program again and we even talked about projects and my role at the university in greater detail.  Again, it is very encouraging that they are excited to have me here and that they plan to have me involved!  We had some interesting discussions about the higher education conditions/context in Belarus, along with some of the policies and hurdles that BSU and other universities face here.  It will be interesting to continue to learn more about all of this and see how I can help (if at all).  

After those meetings, we had to get down to paperwork, and there is a lot of it.  Basically, the next couple of hours were dedicated to it, and in the end we weren’t able to get it submitted to the immigration office because it closed early yesterday (not sure why).  So I will be meeting with Alexander at BSU again this morning (Friday) to get that finished.  Hopefully it will not take too long!  After paperwork stuff, Alexander helped me get cheap cell phones for Jacque and me.  That also took much longer than I expected (but I almost expected that!).  

By 4 pm I was home with cell phones in hand and still enough time to take the 4 girls down to the store and to the playground for a while.  We met a nice girl and her mom and I chatted with the mom (great English) while the girls played with her daughter (no English, but that was OK)!   

We came back up and got cleaned up for a delicious spaghetti dinner, after which the girls went through their normal evening routine and got to bed, after which Jacque and I soon followed.  Unfortunately, sleep was not quite as good (as it is 3 am and I am up with David now), but it is still better than a few days ago, so I am not complaining!  Thursday was another good day!

So that is our week to this point.  Probably more detail than you care to know, but it is your fault for reading the blog!  Until next time!  

Getting Settled—Our first Few Days

Well, we are now a few days into our trip here and despite the jet-lag and corresponding exhaustion we are all doing quite well! 

Saturday was a very good day.  After a somewhat rough night of kids waking up and needing attention for most of the night, we finally all got to bed around 5 am and we were all able to get some rest, which helped a lot.  In fact, we all were sound asleep when the realtor showed up at 10 am to show us apartments.  Jacque got dressed really quickly and left with the realtor while I got the kids up, fed breakfast, dressed, etc.  After some craft time and a fun morning together, we had lunch and then, just as I was putting kids down for naps, Jacque returned from her apartment search.  She looked at 3 places and had pictures to show me and plenty to say about each.  In the end, the decision was clear and we notified the realtor. 

After rest time, I took the three oldest girls down to the little playground outside the apartments while Jacque, David, and Kaylie continued to nap.  Within a few minutes of going down there, a little girl named Nichole came out and started playing with our kids!  Her mom is Belarusian, but she was born in the U.S. and speaks both Russian and English well.  The girls all made friends nearly immediately and they spent the next two hours playing hard!  In the meantime, the girl’s mother and soon-to-be step dad (who is a British citizen but lives in Dubai) came out and we all chatted the entire time the kids played.  They are a super nice couple and very eager to help and welcome us to the area. 

 

After we finished playing, we came back up to the apartment and woke up Jacque, David, and Kaylie and then started dinner.  After dinner were baths for all the kids, a few minutes of a movie, and then bedtime.  Jacque and I then were up a while longer catching up on email and such, before headed to bed around 10 pm.  By 1 am, kids were waking up and Jacque was up and down with them for a few hours.  Then it is my turn and I was up with Kaylie and David the rest of the night, while everyone else got some sleep.  

Sunday was a very tiring, yet very good day!  Though Saturday night was probably the worst night’s sleep since we arrived (primarily due to Kaylie having a hard time sleeping and then continuously waking everyone else up), we made it through the day!  Despite the exhaustion, we got up and got ready for church.  Two girls from the Minsk LDS branch came to our apartment and showed us the way to the church building (which involved quite a bit of walking and several stops on the subway).  Taking the subway was actually not too tough, but the walking path from the subway to the church was rather confusing (lots of turns through a lot of apartment complexes that all looked the same).  But with the girls leading our way we arrived at church about 10 minutes early, in time to get settled in and even say hello to many of the local members.  

The branch meets in a rented two-story building that seems to suit their needs well.  The one strange thing about the room for sacrament meeting is that there are basically two sides to the congregation, separated by a half wall (so everyone can see up front, but half of the congregation is obscured from the other half because of the wall).  Anyway, we sang the hymns (in English as they sand in Russian) and Jacque had one of the missionaries translating (loosely speaking) the talks for her.  The girls colored and I just held David and tried to stay alert. 

After sacrament meeting, Jacque took the kids upstairs to primary and nursery.  After several minutes Amber came down crying because she didn’t understand anything, but after I talked to her about how it was OK not to understand (that I didn’t either), she sat with me for a few minutes while she calmed down and then she went back up and seemed to do well the rest of the time.  The primary was broken into two classes; junior and senior.  So Amber and Lia were together in a class and Sara was in a separate class.  And Kaylie was in nursery.  The older girls were able to get some help with English interpretation from their teachers so they could have a general sense of what was going on.  Jacque and I went to Sunday school together and then we split for Relief Society and Priesthood meetings.  When all was said and done, the girls came running up to me, happy as they usually are at the end of church, and it seems as though everyone had a great time and nobody was scarred for life or anything! 

After church was over, we said our goodbyes and then we were on our own to find our way back to our apartment.  We took some wrong turns, but after a while we were able to find it just fine; our first successful extended family outing!  We were quite proud of ourselves!  After getting home, we got the girls some snacks and we watched a general conference talk (I felt like it would be good to do our own church stuff at home too so the girls can be sure to have a chance to understand) and sang some primary songs.  It was fun! 

Then I ran off to meet with the owners of the permanent apartment we will be renting, to sign some papers and make first/last months’ rent payments, etc.  The apartment is beautiful (Jacque did a great job!) and it was fun to see everything and get that taken care of.  Here are just a few pictures:

 

 

We then did a couple Skype calls and had dinner, and then it was time for bed, with the new sleeping arrangements (Kaylie is now sleeping in her own room and David is with Jacque and I).  David went down a bit later, and Jacque and I followed soon after.  It was a very exhausting day, but a great day.  We were able to get things set up for the new permanent apartment and also most importantly make it to church for the first time.  And a good night’s sleep is always good! 

So slowly but surely we are settling in and getting adjusted.  This will be a week full of more first and additional adjustments, so we are excited for the adventures in store!

We Made It!!

Well, we are here!  The Middletons helped us get to the airport on Thursday morning (with our gazzilion bags!) and though it took us an hour to check bags and get through security we were able to get to our gate in plenty of time and be on our way by 9:30 am.  We arrived in Washington D.C. around 3:30 pm local time and then had about an hour and a half layover before catching the flight to Frankfurt.   

On each leg of the trip the airline completely messed up our seat assignments and had the whole family scattered throughout the plane, so that was a bit of a headache to deal with, but in the end we were all able to sit together (of course).  We arrived in Frankfurt about 6:30 am on Friday (local time) and then went through a rather lengthy security check ordeal before getting to our gate for the final leg of the trip to Minsk.  The kids did a fantastic job the entire trip and during the layover in Frankfurt, they made several new international friends and played while we waited.  It was very cute! 
  

As we were approaching the Minsk airport, I could help but be impressed by the beauty of the countryside and vast wide-openness of the space outside of the city! We arrived in Minsk around 1 pm local time and were met by U.S. Embassy officials and some members of the local LDS branch, who helped transport us and our stuff back to our short-term apartment.  It turns out that one of our checked bags was lost at some point during the trip, so we are hoping that we will see that sometime sooner than later. 

Our short-term apartment is a beautiful, large—by Minsk standards—place downtown, but up several floors, which completely wore me out caring all of our gazzilion bags of luggage up (luckily I had some help, as I was running out of steam fast).  Once we were in and settled, I went with Sergei (a local LDS branch leader) to do a little grocery shopping.  When he dropped me off, it was at a red light and Sergei just looked at me and told me to hurry and get out (while he was stopped in traffic).  So I did, with all of my groceries in tow.  The only problem was that I was not entirely sure of where I was and where our apartment was.  After a nervous minute, I figured it out and was able to get home just fine.   

By the time I got back it was time for dinner, so I ran out to a McDonald’s around the corner and picked up some food.  Once the food was devoured, the kids got in jammies, we said our prayers, and they went to bed (probably about 6:30 pm Minsk time).  Jacque joined them a short time later, while I got caught up on some work email and such. 

It has been quite the day and we are just glad to be here and hopefully we can all adjust to the time change quickly!

There are more pictures of the day-o-travel here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150750499638836.423805.671558835&type=1&l=b9272fb0ef

Apartment in Minsk—Kind of

We have an apartment in Minsk (on Lenin Street)!  OK, not really... this is just a short-term apartment and we will still need to find a permanent place after we arrive.  But this sure beats staying in a hotel for the first week (way cheaper, way bigger, way nicer)! 

You can see all the details, including many more pictures, here: http://rent-in-minsk.com/apartment10.php

And here is the synopsis: 4-four-room apartment Vip class in the center of Minsk. Fully furnished, appliances, Wi-Fi, water purification system, satellite TV, air-conditioning system. The price of the apartment includes: shampoo, shower gel, liquid soaps, bath salts, tea, coffee, salt, sugar, mini-bar.

We are excited!

Guest Lecturer in Zagreb and Split, Croatia 

I received another invitation yesterday (part of the Fulbright inter-country outreach/travel program) to travel to Croatia towards the end of May (I will speak at a conference in Split--on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, and then do a little guest lecturing at the University of Zagreb--the oldest and largest university in South-Eastern Europe).  

Split, Croatia

Zagreb, Croatia

Here is a little on the conference: 

"Economic Transition Forum: Global Power Shift and Southeast Europe": The annual conference of the USACC will intend to cover an economic topic of global power shifts and the role of Southeast Europe in these changes with special accent on the global economic crisis. Several American and international speakers will be invited to cover this topic through their presentations, and the rest of the program is envisaged as a forum, fostering open discussion between experts and audience. This sort of discussion will enable participants to gain better understanding of current economic situation in the world and southeast Europe as well as to hear important information from world’s leading experts in this area.

All of the details still need to be worked out, but I am definitely excited to have the opportunity to visit the Mediterranean and experience an entirely different part of Europe, even if it will be for just a few days.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to take all of the family on this short trip, so Jacque will hold down the fort in Minsk with the five kids by herself for a few days.  She sure is the ever-supportive trooper!

Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Last week I received an invitation from the Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (INE PAN) in Warsaw, Poland, which is a Polish research center on economic and business studies. It was founded on December 10, 1980 and its offices are located in the Staszic Palace and the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Organizationally, it is part of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Though all of the details have not yet been ironed out, I will be teaching graduate students in the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, probably on a short few-day trip in early June.  We are hoping that the entire family can come along for the trip and I am still looking into the various potential travel funding options to see if that will be possible without too much out-of-pocket from us.  

These are the types of additional opportunities I was hoping to have come up while in Minsk, so I am pleased that the INE PAN people have contacted me and extended the invitation.  It will surely be a wonderful opportunity to visit Warsaw, teach in a doctorate program, and all of the other experiences that come with such travel. 

Preparing for an Overseas Fulbright Fellowship with a Family of Seven

Preparation for our trip has been a long road.  As I mentioned in the previous post, we first learned of officially receiving the Fulbright back in January of 2011, more than 15 months ago.  Since then, we have talked with many other past Fulbright recipients, university and government officials in Minsk, and many other U.S. citizens that have spent extended periods of time in Belarus.  These many conversations have helped to resolve many of our initial concerns about traveling overseas with so many kids.  Everyone with any experience in Minsk has told us without hesitation that it is a completely safe, incredibly clean, and an extremely friendly place to live.  

Late July 2011, Jacque, David, and I were able to travel back to Washington D.C. for the U.S. State Department Fulbright orientation (a 3 day set of meetings, lectures, and workshops aimed at helping us know what to expect and how to best prepare for our trip).  This was an extremely helpful event to attend (plus we stayed a couple extra days and were able to see many of the sites in D.C.), but particularly for Jacque, who had been less involved up to this point in learning about the Fulbright program, Minsk, and all that this would entail.  Among all of the meetings we attended, the most helpful were the sessions where we were able to learn from and ask questions of a recently returned Fulbright Scholar from Belarus.  We were able to talk about all of the different aspects of her time there, from food, to culture, to academic environment, to just about anything else we could think of to ask!  By the time we left D.C., I think Jacque's angst over the upcoming trip had turned to excitement (which was definitely the case for me)!
 
With such assurances background knowledge regarding the upcoming adventure, Jacque and I were able to shift our preparation focus from the safety of our children to all of the logistical issues related to such a trip.  First up was getting the passports for Jacque and the five kids (I already had mine).  That took quite a while and involved a minor amount of drama, but then we were able to get all of our Belarus visa applications submitted to the Belarusian Embassy in Minsk before we left for our trip back to Missouri for Christmas.  We were prepared for that to be a long, drawn-out process, but to our surprise, all seven passports with Belarusian visas were waiting for us when we returned home in early January.  

The next big thing was getting all of the medical exams/clearances (mine was much more extensive than Jacque's and the kids', but it was all still a huge hassle).  We had a problem with Jacque and my doctor getting the needed forms signed and sent off in a timely manner, which caused some other minor drama, but by mid-March we had all of our U.S. State Department medical clearances in hand.  

Now with medical clearances, the Fulbright office was able to send the first portion of our grant stipend, which included the travel stipend.  As soon as we got that, we purchased our flights (SLC--> Washington D.C.--> Frankfurt, Germany-->Minsk, Belarus) for a whopping grand total of $11.5K.  But that was a huge relief to finally had tickets purchased.  

That left us with all of the final, smaller items, like arranging for 4-months worth of prescription drugs, calling bank and credit card companies to inform them of the travel, purchasing the massive amounts of luggage we would need, planning the home-schooling and purchasing the related electronics equipment, making arrangements for pets (dog and two birds), getting overseas medical insurance for the family, in addition to all of the stuff necessary to button down the house and prepare to be gone for 4 months.  

As it stands now (we leave in 13 days), we are almost done with all of the preparation on this end (except the huge job of packing and a few other small things), but we still have not tied down an apartment in Minsk (we have been told repeatedly that we will have to wait until we arrive to find a place, but we have been giving it our best efforts to get something lined up before we get there...  with nothing to show for the efforts yet!).  Arrangements have been made for us to be picked up at the airport in Minsk and I think most everything is prepared for the course I will be teaching at BSU.  I also have been in touch with LDS church leaders in Minsk and we are looking forward to attending the Minsk branch during our stay.  

So now we are really close to finishing up all of the preparation (nearly a year and a half in the making) and finally getting on with the trip (just 13 days!).  It will be quite the adventure just getting to Minsk with all of the kids, and once we get there and get an apartment we will then have to get fully settled in and acclimated to the new environment.  A huge adventure to be sure!

How We Got Ourselves Into This Mess 

Well, our Fulbright story actually begins in the summer of 2010.  We were visiting Jacque's family in California when I received an email from a colleague at UVU, Dr. Paul Dishman (Paul had completed a Fulbright to Montenegro the previous year and we had discussed his experience on a few occasions).  In the email, Paul mentioned the upcoming deadline for Fulbright applications for the 2011-2012 academic year and encouraged his colleagues in the business school to consider applying and to contact him if we had any questions.  

Previous to this time, I had contemplated possibly trying to do a Fulbright many years down the road, though it had honestly never crossed my mind to even attempt applying so early in my academic career.  But the idea intrigued me, so I emailed him back and we started a long email, phone, and eventually face-to-face dialogue about the Fulbright program, his experiences and what I could hope to experience.  Paul repeatedly said he wished he had done it much earlier in his career, so it started to seem like something that could actually be possible.  Jacque and I also talked about it extensively.  While she was not particularly excited about the idea, she said it would be OK to apply and see what happened. 

Since the application deadline was coming up so quickly, I worked hard while on our vacation to get everything pulled together and submitted before we even returned home (including personal statements, CV/Vita, recommendation letters, proposed teaching/research summer, etc.).  I figured it wouldn't hurt to apply and if things went well we would have plenty of time to decide whether or not we actually wanted to do it.  The deadline was mid-August, at which point the application materials would be reviewed by the Fulbright panel, then the U.S. State Department, then the foreign embassy and host university.  It could take more than 6 months for the application to be approved at all levels, so after I submitted the materials, we just hunkered down to wait and went about our lives.  

I got the first-level acceptance/approval letter for the Fulbright panel by the end of November.   That was a bit of a jolt to Jacque, who I think up to that point had thought there was no chance so she didn't need to worry about it.  But passing that first hurtle all of the sudden meant it was a very real possibility.  We next got a letter from the U.S. State Department around mid-December, and then came approval from the Belarusian embassy in Minsk and the host institution, Belarusian State University.  By mid-January 2011, it was all official and if I was willing to accept it I would become a Fulbright Scholar sometime during the 2011-2012 academic year.  

With the acceptance and all of the approvals came an urgency in deciding what we wanted to do and if this would actually work for our family.  By this point, Jacque was well into her pregnancy with David, so we knew we would have a young baby (in addition to our other 4 young girls), traipsing off to the far part of the globe to a strange new place where neither of us speak the language or have any experience with the culture.  We both had a long list of concerns/worries (though Jacque's list was probably longer), but we took the leap and decided to accept.  However, even though we accepted, we still had to work out the logistics with the host university and my home university before it would all be finalized and official.    

Because the Fulbright was for the 2011-2012 academic year, I had to go sometime from September 2011-August 2012, but with a young baby, we wanted to push back the date as far as possible.  The problem was that BSU typically did not have a summer term, so for a time it seemed we may be out of luck, at least for this academic year.  But after touching base with the BSU MBA coordinator, I learned that they had just implemented a summer semester for their MBA program, meaning the scheduling would actually work out quite perfectly.  The next problem was that the course I had proposed to teach is actually offered fall semester.  So I had to do a little finagling, but I finally got them to agree to switch it to summer term to accommodate my visit.  

UVU was great.  From the time I first told the university administration in January, my chair, dean, and academic VP all voiced their encouragement and support.  In the end, with me leaving for the Fulbright over the summer, it didn't impact my UVU responsibilities at all.  But if necessary, I was assured the school administration would make accommodations for me to be able to go.

With all of the details finally arranged, we decided to make the decision public in late June (though we had already told family and a few friends, in addition to people at UVU).  Jacque first told people at church, and with the cat out of the bag, I also started telling people, including a post to the family blog and a post to Facebook.  Everyone has been very nice and supportive, though we have found that most do not really understand what a Fulbright is or what this will mean for the family.  So Jacque and I have received lots of questions from friends and neighbors and we have had a lot of opportunities to try and explain it (though admittedly not particularly well).  

Now we are 10 months further down the road from the time we made the announcement public and we are only a couple weeks away from the adventure of a lifetime!

Skype, Gmail Video Chat, Google+ Group Video Chat, FaceTime, and Facebook Video Chat

It is now only 19 days until we leave for our trip to Minsk.  As we are busy trying to get all of the last minute stuff arranged and taken care of, one thing I wanted to be sure that we didn't neglect was making arrangements for us/the kids to be able to video chat with family and friends while we are gone.  They will undoubtedly have times of homesickness (probably Jacque and I too), so we would love to be able to set up video chats on a regular basis. 

We will be able to do free video chats through Skype, Gmail, Google+ (which also does free group video chats), and Facebook.  So, if you would be interested in video chatting with us during our trip, please send me a private email and let me know your relevant online info and days/times that would likely work best for you and your family.  You can also search and find me on the following so we can get connected:

Skype Video Chat: jonathan_westover

Gmail Video Chat: jon.westover@gmail.com

Google+ Video Chat: Jonathan Westover

Facebook Video Chat: Jonathan Hinton Westover
FaceTime Video Chat: jon.westover@gmail.com

Minsk is 9 hours ahead of U.S. Mountain Standard Time, so we will have to do a little planning to make it work.  But we, especially the kids, would definitely love to be able to see and talk with family and friends while we are gone.

We look forward to hearing from you!