A Taste of America : Russian Exchange Students Kick Off 6-Day California Visit With a Warehouse Shopping Spree

‘It’s too huge,” exclaimed Natasha Shirikova, a Russian exchange student, as she took her first look inside a Price Club on Wednesday.

Igor Ivanov strolled the aisles of the discount warehouse store in Northridge looking for calculators, but he was sidetracked by a Sega video game. Ruslan Severan piled cassette tapes into his shopping cart. “They are a little bit cheaper here,” he said.

In many ways, the three 16-year-olds were just like typical American teen-agers: giggly, gangly and easily distracted.

But the visit to Price Club was just one of many firsts for the Russian youths, who began attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., in September as part of a three-month exchange with the Scientific Study Center of Novosibirsk State University in Siberia.

Also on the agenda for the students during their six-day visit to California: a tour of Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Venice Beach, Thanksgiving dinner and--best of all--a chance to meet the Lakers basketball team after Wednesday night’s game at the Forum.

“Everyone knows Magic Johnson in Russia,” Ruslan said.

The three students arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, accompanied by teachers Ludemia Vysotskaya and Andrei Kostousov, and Victor Svec, director of Phillips’ exchange program.

Phillips, the first boarding school incorporated in the United States, is a breeding ground for Ivy League college students.

President Bush is a graduate of the prestigious prep school.

In 1987, it began the first high school student exchange program between the United States and what was then the Soviet Union.

Novosibirsk State University is a highly competitive boarding school that teaches some of Russia’s top high school age science and mathematics students in its Scientific Study Center.

Ruslan, for instance, plans to become an economist, while Igor sees his future in the physics of elemental particles.

While in California, the students are the guests of Bob and Marsha Rosenblum of Thousand Oaks, whose son Josh is a senior at Phillips and was an exchange student at Novosibirsk last year.

“I’m the chauffeur and the planner,” said Bob Rosenblum, a self-employed manufacturing representative. “We hope this acts as a bridge between the U.S. and Russia.”

Marsha Rosenblum, a speech therapist, arranged for the meeting with the Lakers through a relative in the professional sports business.

The students said they were thrilled just to be in California, long a place of dreams for them.

Flying into LAX, they were amazed at the mountains surrounding Los Angeles and the fact that it took 15 minutes to fly the breadth of the city.

“It’s one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in America,” Ruslan said.

Arriving Wednesday morning at Price Club--chosen for its wide variety of merchandise and warehouse size--the Rosenblums had trouble explaining to the teen-agers how to unlock a shopping cart by inserting a quarter deposit in a device on the rack.

Once in the store, the students marveled at the wide variety of products, from food to electronics.

Igor picked out a set of Barbie doll clothes to take home to his 13-year-old sister.

Pointing to a row of portable stereos, Ruslan said, “This will be available to the middle-class people in about 30 years” in Russia.

The Rosenblums were tickled when the students insisted that the whole group pose together for a picture to go on souvenir coffee mugs, rather than having individual photos taken.

Josh explained that the biggest difference he found between Russians and Americans is that Russians are accustomed to doing everything collectively. “In Russia, you’re always with someone,” he said.

The Rosenblums don’t intend for the students’ entire visit to be fun and games.

They also plan to take them to riot-torn areas of Los Angeles in an effort to show them that even a free society has its problems.

But on Wednesday, the teen-agers’ enthusiasm was unquenchable.

Asked what he liked best about this country so far, Igor grinned widely and said, “The U.S.A.”