HAGIA SOPHIA UNIVERSITY I had a chance to visit the Hagia Sophia Catholic University more than once, where my friend Galya works. Having arrived in Japan in the mid-70s, she quickly found a job in her specialty, which is not always possible to achieve in Tokyo, especially for a foreigner. She was very lucky. The university is located in a new modern building of light gray color, like most houses in the city. In the courtyard there is a green garden and a fountain. There is also a lot of greenery around the university, and the street leading to it is full of cherry trees and, they say, is extremely beautiful in spring, during flowering. Once we met two young nuns in the courtyard of the university, dressed in white (in Japan, white is the color of sadness, and black is the color of celebration). The young girls politely bowed to us and allowed us to take pictures. The university has beautiful bright classrooms, silent high-speed elevators, and offices with soft dark gray carpet. The university library is very large and rich. Gali's office has a huge number of specialty books, albums, and dictionaries. There is also a large audio and video library, full-length and short films are stored, mainly based on works of Russian literature. The Russian department is mainly attended by girls, with a total of 40 students. They want to get a good education, and few people then work in their specialty. Graduates either get married or work in family and other firms. In addition to practical language classes, Professor Galya-sensei teaches a course on Russian literature. The main content of classes is the theme of the little man in the works of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol and F. M. Dostoevsky, since this issue is very close to the Japanese consciousness and occupies a fairly large place in the national literature. At that time, the department employed eight people. Three Russian women-wives of Japanese men (from Moscow and Leningrad) - are philologists by training. Other teachers inc ... Read more