Beyond the Snow: A Nigerian Student’s First Steps in Nizhny Novgorod
An Interview with Tyosar Tina Ngufan, First-Year Master’s Student in Text Analytics, HSE University Nizhny Novgorod.
The trip to Russia was a long expected one but I can't quite fathom why I still felt nervous through the final preparations. It seemed I had more than enough time to get the things I needed; in fact, I was literally going to the market to get items at intervals - the longest was 4 days. Each day I slept, I woke up with a new thing to buy but surprisingly, I still had a list of "unbought" things. Few days to my departure I started contemplating if my decision to travel was actually ideal. A lot of "what-if-nots" going on in my head but I took the bold step regardless.
Fast forward to the day I was to take off. I didn't sleep the night before but I had to be up. I wondered again what would happen if I missed my flight - my money would be all gone. At once I jumped from the bed and into the bathroom I went. My family joined in the last moment preparation. We quickly got dressed and were soon heading for the airport. I was even more nervous now, knowing I wouldn't be returning home with my family, knowing they'd all turn around and leave me at the airport. I became teary and emotional but I tried to hide these feelings - it was a mixed feeling.
I didn't know that my parents and husband would have to leave the way they did, too soon. We had barely taken a few pictures when the official told me that boarding for my plane would soon start. I hugged and bid my family farewell as I had to hurry in to get checked. All alone in the airport complex felt like a totally different world. It was altogether a new experience for me and I just had to be strong.
I think the check-in was pretty fast - maybe because I was running out of time to board. Wait, nobody talks about how time flies when you're preparing for a new adventure. I weighed my luggages, had to take out a few items so that my bag weighed exactly 23kg. Rushed to seal it and I was sent over for boarding. It was a near seamless process.
Although we kept communicating, I knew I was now alone - on my own. Finally seated in the plane, I reminisced so quickly all the conversations I had with my husband, my parents, a few friends. All the advice and words of counsel came back fresh like it was just happening. I think it was the longest minute in time.
I was still in the pool of my thoughts when a young man approached me - he was my neighbor on the plane and would be sitting next to me throughout the first flight. He greeted me and I smiled back at him, we quickly exchanged pleasantries and got busy with sitting properly - fastening seatbelt etc.
Our plane did not take off at the scheduled time. We were later told that another plane was parked in the way so ours had to wait until it left. When we finally did take off, I just couldn't stop marveling at God's mightiness and the wisdom of man. Fast into the sky we had flown in just a few minutes; it was too interesting to be sleeping. I made sure to capture the moment, noted every difference and wonder in the clouds. I later realized I had fallen asleep after some minutes of watching a movie. I woke up just before we landed in Addis Ababa. Good timing!
We took a break of one hour before we boarded the next plane to Moscow. I noted that the time on my phone had suddenly changed; it was two hours ahead of my home country Nigeria. I could finally connect to a network so I immediately phoned my family to notify them of my current location. They said they thought I had arrived at my destination because it had been long hours in the air.
We checked in again and boarded the next plane to Moscow. Since there was no network on the plane, I decided I'd have a good sleep. Moreover, the people sitting around me could not speak English like those in the first plane. It was pointless trying to start a conversation when we barely would understand each other; we got to know our names and that was enough before my sleep. I was traveling with a few Nigerians so I hadn't fully observed that there would be people who don't understand English.
It was late in the night when we took off but as usual, I noted some things about the take off, the sky, and the speed. After two hours of sleep, food was served. The food didn't look familiar and so was the taste. Unfortunately I couldn't eat the bread and what looked like pasta; I managed to take the snacks and sweets and it was enough before I returned to my sleep. Let me say here that I took the whole time of my second flight to sleep and eat. Smiles!
We finally arrived in Moscow. A big miracle.
Checked out of border control and we were left at the airport reception to find our way—for me, to school. My friends from Nigeria too had to go separate ways. I was lucky I had a friend waiting to pick me up already. The other guys recalled how much an ordeal they went through booking a ticket/bus to their destination with all the luggage they had.
The journey to Nizhny Novgorod was another long one for me and it was by train. Thanks to my dear friend who made the journey ahead lighter. He assisted with booking my train and making reservations for me, including preparing all I'd eat on my way. I took my heavy luggages inside the train by myself for the very first time after handing my bags over at the airport in Nigeria. I felt the weight again; the bags were truly heavy. Well, that was another stressful price I paid on this study journey. Another 10-hours transitioning to Nizhny gave me opportunity to rest and regain strength if that was possible. I ate and slept for a larger part of the ride just like on my flight to Moscow. We arrived in Nizhny Novgorod very early the third day and another friend was already waiting to pick the lucky girl from the train station.
When I told my family in Nigeria that I had finally arrived in the town and would be heading to the school's dormitory, they confessed I'd gone through a lot because the journey from Nigeria to school was a really long one. Well, I was happy and grateful that I had finally arrived at my destination.
One would say finally, and a sigh of relief, but that wasn't the end. I was told to begin my registration as soon as possible. It sounded like going to one place and getting everything done at once, but what that actually meant was another journey of going about, missing buses, getting lost and finding your way back again. I stepped out the next day—it was a Monday morning—and managed to pay for the compulsory insurance. Within the same week, I did the medical tests and hostel registration in order to get the mandatory residence document. Fingerprinting for the green card came after two weeks and finally I got a sim card to ease communication.
Not to forget the beautiful environment that welcomed me, the blank stares and beautiful smiles, the warm welcome even though we couldn't communicate well. I saw the excitement in their faces seeing me—a black lady. I was happy that the skin color didn't say so much negatively; it reminded me of my home country Nigeria—we're a welcoming and hospitable nation.
I quickly immersed myself in my new environment. I wanted to learn as much as possible at a glance but I knew it'd take some time. I began to explore, visiting the majestic Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin overlooking the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers, and strolling along the picturesque Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, mesmerized by the historic buildings and street performers. I tried new foods, like hot, hearty borscht and soft syrniki with sour cream, and of course, I took some beautiful pictures to send to my family back home.
I think my stay here keeps evolving. I've witnessed the weather change as well as the temperature. Experiencing snow and winter for the first time, I think I didn't quite prepare well for the cold. It's a time when wearing multiple layers and kits still feels not enough because the cold penetrates really deep into my bones. I had to shop for more winter-friendly clothes and boots and that was to the rescue. I’ve also embraced winter activities—tentatively stepping onto a frozen river, laughing as I slipped while trying to ice-skate for the first time, and feeling the magical silence of a snow-covered forest during a weekend trip. I've witnessed how fast time flies in a day. Smiles! And until my time expires here, I'm committed to living the best life; I'm happy I'm having this experience.
The academic environment at HSE is itself a first impression that deepens every day. Coming from a different educational background, the approach here is intensely self-driven and collaborative. My program, Text Analytics, is a fascinating challenge—it’s where language meets logic in a way I hadn’t fully grasped before. The lecturers expect you to not just consume information, but to interrogate it, to build upon it with your own projects. It was overwhelming at first, especially navigating academic platforms and Russian-language administrative emails, but my study group, a mix of Russian and international students, has been a lifeline. We decipher assignments together, often over cups of strong tea in the library. In a way, the problem-solving we do in class mirrors the problem-solving I did just to get here: figuring things out step by step, sometimes getting lost, but always finding a path forward.
I would tell that version of me clutching her overstuffed suitcase to breathe. The anxiety, the long journey, the bureaucratic maze—it all feels like an insurmountable series of walls when you’re in the middle of it. But each wall, once you get over it, becomes part of your story, part of your strength. The loneliness of the airport transforms into the independence of navigating a new city. The confusion of not understanding the language pushes you to learn, to connect beyond words, to appreciate a smile or a helping hand even more. My wisdom is this: pack your patience more diligently than your winter clothes. You will need it in greater supply. Trust that the struggle is not a sign you made the wrong choice; it is the necessary process of rooting yourself in foreign soil. And be assured, the joy of standing on the banks of the Volga, of solving a complex coding problem, of making a friend who explains a Russian idiom to you—that joy is made infinitely richer by the length and weight of the journey you took to get there.
Thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure to share.
Shared by
Sughnen Paul Matsa
