Unforgettable Summer

Knowing Each Other

It was second day of summer classes. Igor and Hannah were seated in the same chairs they have occupied the other day. While waiting for Prof. Martin Schmidt, Igor inquired what Hannah does in her country. "I am a junior officer in the Philippine government. How about you? replied Hannah. "Well, I am an engineer and I work with Pennzoil in Baku, Azerbaijan. Our country is rich in fuel, they say 10% of the world's fuel resources is found in our territory. We have yet to develop and open the industry to foreign investors." said Igor. Igor and Hannah stopped talking to each other when Prof. Schmidt arrived. After their Statistics class, Igor said to Hannah "Bye for now. See you at Ms. Olsen's class." Hannah just smiled back at Igor.

Prior to arrival of Prof. Olsen in their Linear Algebra class, Igor was sketching about fuel production in his country. He talked about different colors of fuel being produced in his country and the manifestations or indicators of the presence of oil reserves in his country. He inquired of Hannah the things she does as Junior Officer in the Philippine government to which Hannah replied "we deal with foreign lenders and multinational institutions to borrow money and finance development and infrastructure projects of the government. It is always a humbling task to do."

After their class, Igor invited Hannah to have lunch to which Hannah agreed. Igor bought pizza while Hannah ordered Japanese sushi. They talked more about their families and dreams. "The future looks promising especially to residents of former Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) like my country. As you see, there are so many foreign students from former USSR studying in the U.S. We have yet to know how capitalism works. Hopefully, I could finish my Master in Business Administration and work here in the U.S. Afterwards" commented Igor. "That's good" complimented Hannah. "As for me, I have to return to my country immediately after graduation and serve the government for two years. It's part of the Scholarship Agreement I have signed." continued Hannah.