This paper addresses the Fulbright experience of an American faculty member in Eastern Siberia, Russian Federation. Both course content and teaching method are contrasted with what is traditional and customary in that region. The author regularly kept a journal, enabling thoughtful post-experience reflection. Continued emphasis on the "collective", as well as a Russian colleague's identification of "the gap between what and how" in post-Soviet culture, helped the author to focus both academic and practical challenges facing students and faculty.