Our visit to the the Barnaul Linguistic Institute began with Nadia's class discussing the advantages and disadvantages of growing up as an only child. From their discussion, I had determined that 6 of the 11 students were only children. Had Nadia not explained that these students were born in the early 1990s- when times were difficult and food was scarce- Julie and I would have had no context. In fact, this exchange has been rich in experience and knowledge in a way that a trip exclusively for travel wouldn't be.