Consul General Tim Sandusky Visits Izhevsk, Unmurtia

2009/03/18

Consul General in Izhevsk

On March 18, during his first official visit to Izhevsk, capital of the Udmurt Republic, Consul General Tim Sandusky met with Aleksandr Volkov, President of the Udmurt Republic and Victor Balakin, the Mayor of Izhevsk. The CG was warmly greeted by both officials who commended him for his excellent command of the Russian language.

The CG then conducted a whirlwind tour of the city that began with a visit to the American Studies Center of the Udmurt State University where he met with USG alumni. The CG had dinner later with some of the more influential alumni.

The CG met with the Rector of the Udmurt State University and learned that the university has academic agreements with the University of Central Florida and Johnson County Community College in the U.S. He also met Fulbright graduate student, Hannah Kay, who was pleased with her experience at the Foreign Languages Institute of the university.

An interesting stop was a visit to the Izhevsk secondary school #42. A Fulbright alumnus and professor at the Udmurt State University had launched a successful volunteer project called “A Little Sunshine in Our Hands” inspired during his visit to the US. The project involves high school students visiting a neighboring orphanage and playing with toddlers and young children. The project received an Alumni Small Grants award in 2008.

The day was crowned with the donation of an American book collection presented to the National Library of the Udmurt Republic on the occasion of their 90th anniversary. The collection of 100 books included a variety of topics – from U.S. history and culture to urban planning, landscape design, space exploration and fiction novels. The director of the library and Open World alumna Galina Kalinina expressed deep appreciation of this gift and confirmed their long-standing desire to host a fully-operating American Corner. The event was attended by over 40 USG programs alumni from various spheres and covered by the local TV and print media.