We Are Tomodachi Japan and Russia Edition 2018

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16Ekaterina EfimovaBorn in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Graduated from Siberian Federal University. Has been working as a CIR in Niigata since August 2016. Loves to travel around Niigata Prefecture, read manga and practice ikebana. Ekaterina enjoying ikebana lessons at a local community center.Niigata CityNiigata Pref.TokyoLanguages fascinate me, and I find Japanese to be the most enchanting of them all. When my English club’s teacher first introduced me to the Chinese characters that are used in written Japanese, the ancient pictographs seemed somehow very romantic to me. That’s probably because we Russians rarely encounter these symbols in daily life, especially in my hometown of Krasnoyarsk. So perhaps it was only natural that I went on to study Japanese at Siberian Federal University. We had an excellent Japanese center on campus where we interacted with native Japanese speakers, attended lectures given by teachers from Japan, and also took part in cultural events. I enjoyed being a part of this activity so much that I worked there for four years after graduation. Part of my job, both then and now, is exploring, explaining, and then bridging the differences between Russia and Japan. I sometimes have to encourage one or both sides to go out of their way to amicably compromise. A perfect example of this is the clash between academic calendars. In Japan, classes start in April, but in Russia classes start in September, which causes problems with teacher availability and the arrangement of student exchange programs. In spite of challenges like this, my colleagues and I racked up some major achievements. These included many activities that helped bring our countries closer, such as founding Japanese literature and movie clubs, starting student exchange programs and holding kendo tournaments. On the business side, we saw the creation of a Toyota engineering center and the launch of the Krasnoyarsk Smart City project, which involves architectural firm Nikken Sekkei working with my alma mater to create a more eco-friendly urban environment. These success stories helped Krasnoyarsk and Siberian Federal University foster huge breakthroughs in Japan-Russia relations. This was immensely satisfying, but it left me dreaming of a life living and working in Japan. So I applied to become a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR), which involves working in Japan as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme. Soon after applying, I was accepted and dispatched to Niigata, a port city on Honshu, Japan’s main island. I quickly became accustomed to my new life here, moving together with my husband, who works here as a translator. We love the nature and the beautiful sunsets, as well as how close we are to the Sea of Japan. As we grew up far from sea and sand in our land-locked hometown, Series: The JET ProgrammeBuilding Bridges, Sharing Cultures: Working for Japanese Local Government