Editor’s Note: This is the first issue of a Prep News series called Immigrants of SLUH.  So far, News Editor Noah Apprill-Sokol and Jacob Sprock have interviewed over ten members of the SLUH community about their immigration experiences. This is the third installment of this series.

The story of Russian teacher Marina Chura’s immigration and adaptation to American life, like many, has been marked by slow, gradual change and a conflict between love of her home country and love for her new home. She currently lives in St. Louis and is part of the Saint Louis U. High community as an administrative assistant, Russian teacher, and SLUH mom, but her soft accent, which has persisted for over 24 years, tells of an early life in a large Russian city, a marriage, and a subsequent migration to America, where she would encounter new ideas and a new culture.

Chura was born in the city of Leningrad, now called St. Petersburg, where she lived in an apartment with her family. She never expected to come to the United States, especially growing up in the Soviet Union, which she was taught to believe was the greatest nation on Earth.

“We were taught that the US leaders were just all about nuclear build up and possibly starting a war and that the people of the US were oppressed,” said Chura. “So we grew up to think of the people of the United States as nice and friendly, the leaders not so much.”

“We were taught that the US leaders were just all about nuclear build up and possibly starting a war and that the people of the US were oppressed. So we grew up to think of the people of the United States as nice and friendly, the leaders not so much.”

Marina Chura

Her first trip to America was to a small town in Iowa called Cedar Falls, where she spent some time as a foreign exchange student. She would not come into contact with America again until she met her husband, Russian teacher Robert Chura, while he was on his own abroad trip to study Russian. After years of dating, they got married and decided that America, which was enjoying a booming economy at the time, would be the best place to raise a family.

Still, Chura was surprised by some of the cultural differences between her hometown and the sprawling metropolitan area of St. Louis. Chura remembers particularly the shock of the heat and the need for transportation during those first couple of months in St. Louis.

“The biggest shock was the St Louis summer weather,” said Chura. “I moved here in the beginning of August, and it was the usual St. Louis summer weather—hot and humid. It was also unusual that you had to have a car in order to move around. You wouldn't see as many people outside here just walking around the city streets to get to places.”

Despite its initial differences, Chura has gradually noticed the many similarities between Russia and the United States.

“I think overall values are really very similar. People care about their families, their kids, their parents. They care about their job. They worry about the same things,” said Chura. “I think that there are some cultural differences—that Russians are more likely to look at things in life as, ‘let's just see what happens’—and I think Americans are more about action and taking charge.”

Despite having lived over half of her life in America, Chura believes that the fundamental ideals and values instilled in her by life in Russia remain in her to this day.

“In a way, growing up with that ideology, I think that it instilled certain values,” said Chura. “Still, many of the values were really similar to what the regular values that the kids grew up with here, such as putting the interests of other people ahead of your own, being cooperative, being helpful.”

However, as time goes by, Chura feels that her connection to her Russian roots is slowly eroding, noting her home country’s changed view on America and its people and even how the very language she grew up speaking is changing.

“I definitely in many ways feel more American than I feel Russian. I probably do get a little bit more distant from my Russian side, so it's kind of challenging even though I do go back frequently,” said Chura. “I don't feel fully as you know 100 percent Russian when I go back there.”

“I definitely in many ways feel more American than I feel Russian. I probably do get a little bit more distant from my Russian side, so it's kind of challenging even though I do go back frequently. I don't feel fully as you know 100 percent Russian when I go back there.”

Chura

When growing up in Russia, she heard people talk about Russian natives who immigrated to new countries and desperately wanted to keep their Russian heritage alive, but they, to their chagrin, were unknowingly holding on to an outdated version of a newly-evolved Russian culture. Chura doesn’t want to be one of those people.

“I'm thinking that now I'm becoming that person that has somewhat of an outdated idea of the culture and the language,” said Chura. “I hope I'm not, but I always have that in the back of my mind.”

Despite having lived in America for so long, Chura believes that, to her friends, she will always be seen as their Russian friend.

“I don't think I'll ever feel fully Russian or fully American,” said Chura. “When my friends talk about me, I know they refer to me as ‘my Russian friend,’ even though I've lived here for more than half of my life.”

For Chura, despite her uncertainties about the evolving Russian culture, one way that she can experience her Russian heritage is by teaching what she knows to her children.

“We have a lot of books—both children's books and just Russian classical literature—that we have at home. We have always tried to speak Russian to the kids at home from the time they were born,” said Chura. “I don't cook that much of the Russian cuisine, but I do have some things that I make, and the kids have gotten used, over the years, to have things like, for example, the Russian blintzes (Russian pancakes) for breakfast on Sundays.”

On the surface, Chura’s story reflects the values of bravery, strength, and resilience. Yet, even deeper, it demonstrates a vision of a united world—one where cultural differences are still present and accepted but where similarities as human beings are cherished.