Alexei Dudoladov, photographed in the remote Siberian village of Stankevichi, Russia, on Nov. 13, 2020.
Sometimes it seems that American media are too inwardly focused, which is why I like getting ideas for the blog from people on Twitter who link to reliable foreign media — and why I appreciate sources like the Guardian and Public Radio International (PRI).
For today’s post I’m turning to PRI’s the World, where Daniel Ofman has produced a broadcast about a student in remote Siberia who had to scale a tall birch to get access to his online classes.
“During the coronavirus pandemic, working or studying from home requires logging onto Zoom or Skype. … Take Stankevichi, Russia, a 39-inhabitant village deep in the Siberian region. That is where student Alexei Dudoladov has been forced to go to great lengths — or rather, great heights — to attend classes online. He must climb a birch tree in his remote hamlet every time he needs an internet connection.
“The 21-year-old is a popular blogger and a student at the Omsk Institute of Water Transport, located 1,383 miles east of Moscow.
“Dudoladov, who also works on his family’s farm, has been posting videos of his daily routine on social media and keeping up with Russian-language TikTok and Instagram for nearly a year.
“Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and authorities in several Russian regions moved university students to online classes to counter a surge in coronavirus cases. Dudoladov started to take classes online, but internet service at his family farm was patchy or non-existent.
‘Our village has really bad internet, so I found a solution. I climbed a birch tree. Up there I got a pretty good signal. The internet was alright, so I started studying on the tree.’ …
“But the arrival of the Siberian winter presented a new challenge for Dudaladov, who was spending long hours on top of a tree and under the elements. So he posted a video on social media appealing to Alexander Burkov, the regional governor, for a better internet connection — for himself and other students in Russia.
“ ‘I want to ask you on behalf of all students who have bad internet, how are we going to solve this problem?’ Dudoladov asked in the video, which has since then caught national — and international — attention.
“Dudoladov has been offered some help from people in Russia and other countries, but he is still waiting for a satisfactory solution from the governor. … Dudoladov still catches the internet signal from the top of the tree but says he may know a guy who might be able to help.
“ ‘We hope that Elon Musk sends out his internet satellite system here so that we can have high-speed internet everywhere — not just in the US, but also here in Russia,’ he says.” Listen to the broadcast here.
I love learning what’s going on in other parts of the world just like I love knowing people from other parts of the world. Without PRI, how would I know, for example, that you can train for a career at place called Omsk Institute of Water Transport? (Be sure to look at their webpage.)
And speaking of higher education, without a friend from China, how would I know that a perfectly reasonable place to go to college is the province where my friend’s nephew goes — Inner Mongolia.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Wow, it’s amazing seeing how other communities are experiencing virtual learning. I truly hope that Alexei and his fellow students soon get better internet access!
I hope so too, but it does make a wonderful story!
Maybe we should show the article about the tree climbing student to our students. They have it easy.
In that regard they have it easier, but so many of the things that made them come to this country make their lives seem even harder than the Russian’s.
Foreign news sources are dear to me as well. They cover the news in the U.S. but also have a certain level of objectivity that reassures me in ways that our own media fails to do. This is a wonderful story. I’d share it with my 20-year old but he already does more climbing of trees and rooftops than I care to know about. 🙂
LOL. I know what you mean. My own son is now a steady pater familias, but when he was that age, there was a hurricane, and he told me he was going up on the roof to take pictures. Fortunately, I still had a bit of authority in those days!
Maybe he needs a treehouse. With heat!
Oh, I love that idea! Even shelter from the wind would help.
I guess I’m really lucky that I just have to walk into my dining room to get a good signal!
Dorothy, you were in my spam folder, along with Laurie Graves, but now that you are out, expect responses to pop up all of a sudden!
I don’t know what is going on. I’ve found quite a few friends in the trash lately, so now I feel compelled to check it every day!
We can’t have our friends in the trash Just won’t do!
I know! They could take offense!
He’s definitely dedicated! I would just quit school because it looks too cold and too high up in that tree. 😁
Well, he’s also blogging. Bloggers can be pretty motivated, as you know!
Just read this. Fabulous story, and I share your other readers’ hopes that high speed internet will come to Siberia.
I tend to think of Siberia in terms of Raskolnikov stuck in a freezing prison, so it’s always a bit of a surprise that people live normal lives there and even work on a family farm.