It is a freezing February night of 1985 in a small town at Ural Mountains in Soviet Union. A 9 months pregnant woman is climbing the truck. The driver is 18 years old soldier. He is terrified to start his military services with witnessing a childbirth in his truck. The woman is angry with her husband being at the training ground at this important event of their lives. There is a third person in the truck – a baby in mother’s womb eager to see the new world. You guessed it right. This baby is me. At the end I wasn’t born in the truck. Thank you, young soldier, for driving fast enough.
My name is Rimma and I was born and raised in a military family. 2 countries, 4 towns, and 3 schools in 13 years. It might sound a lot for the most. But I did not feel that way. I felt happy and at home at every new place. Unconsciously I was developing the mindset of a nomad. I was learning how to adapt, be curious, build relationships and be confident that I can handle anything.
When I was 13 years old, my family settled in Khabarovsk. Khabarovsk is the city in the Far East of Russia, just 65 km from Chinese border and 1.5-hour flight away from Tokyo. For the next 9 years life became stable. After graduating the school, I was studying accounting and audit in Uni. I had lots of beautiful friends and many interesting activities. Until one day when my town became too small, too predictable, too limited for my aspirations and goals. My nomad spirit woke up and was calling to concur the world. I packed my life and moved to the other side of the country. This is how Moscow became my next destination.
I got a job in the audit company called KPMG. I worked in the prestigious financial district and lived in the vibrant European city. It all seemed unreal for the provincial girl. I enjoyed my new life, but there was something missing. One day my sister told me about Rotaract. It was a Rotary program for young people to develop leadership skills and serve the community while having fun.
My curiosity brought me to one of the Moscow Rotaract clubs’ meeting. That day changed my life for the next 4 years. I met a bunch of ambitious, open and fun people who felt responsible for their lives and the lives of others. That night I knew I have found my new home. Our club’s focus was helping orphan homes and building international relations with like-minded young people from all around the world to share ideas, aspirations and goals. In 2 years, I became a president of the club. Year later I was representing Russian Rotaract community in Europe. Suddenly, I felt like I have a true purpose in life. When you are passionate about something, there is nothing that can stop you. The culmination of my Rotaract journey was being a member of Organising Committee of European Conference in Moscow. This conference united 600 participants from 45 countries and still is one of the biggest projects of my life.
During these 4 years in Moscow I was fortunate to travel overseas and meet a lot of people from different cultures and backgrounds. I was amazed how easily they move around the world, change jobs and countries. I wanted to understand how it feels to leave your own country and move abroad. This is when I realised that my nomad spirit is awake again asking for adventures. But I had no idea how to feed it. This time I was not ready to just pack my life, pick the country on the globe and move. I wanted some certainty. You may ask “What happened with adventures Rimma”? Well, she was growing up without realising it. When my manager at work told me that KPMG Auckland is hiring people from overseas offices, I just laughed. There was no way they would ever take me without the international chartered accountant certificate which I was still working on. My friend convinced me to try anyway. In 2 weeks, I had a job offer for 2 years in New Zealand. And guess what. They did not even ask about my certificate.
Eventually I have passed all exams and got my CA credentials, but it all happened on the other side of the world in a new country of Long White Cloud.
It was challenging and exiting to build a life from scratch in a new country. Being raised inland I couldn’t believe that you can walk on the beach every day. It seemed that even dogs are smiling here. I met fantastic people, grew professionally and visited amazing places. I never planned to immigrate but life is funny sometimes. It has been 9 years in New Zealand which I proudly call my second home now.
My life journey so far tough me that home is here and now no matter where you live. Does it mean that my nomadic spirit is asleep forever? I like to think of that as a dormant volcano which is calm and quite now but might wake up one day.