Alla Bondareva has her hands full. The newest cultural coordinator for the Flin Flon Arts Council wants to both honour those who came before her while adding new ideas to boost Flin Flon culture.
Bondareva began her new post July 5, taking the spot over from Crystal Kolt, who left the job for a new position as director of culture and community initiatives with the City of Flin Flon earlier this summer.
It’s a lot to take up in a short amount of time. Originally from Russia and the daughter of a former Soviet fighter pilot and a teacher, Bondareva immigrated to Canada in early 2020, days before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in earnest. Originally, she was supposed to come for just three months, then head back to Russia - three years later, she’s still here, having moved to Flin Flon last year.
“At first I was a little scared - I understand it’s something new, but it’s not just this job. I’m a new person in Flin Flon, I’m a new person in Canada. I’m a little nervous,” she said.
“Yesterday, somebody asked me about my first day [doing the new job] and I answered that it’s like a first day at university. You’re really excited, you want to know everything, very quickly, but your brain says ‘no’. I will try to do my best, of course.”
In the past, Bondareva has worked in high-end boutique stores, as a journalist, a pharmacist and in other fields. After the death of her first husband, a journalist, Bondareva went back to school, studying at Moscow State University and landing work as an executive assistant and teaching Russian to non-Russian speakers. In the arts, Bondareva grew up playing the piano, taking seven years of training, and has relatives who have worked in Russian music as bandleaders and players.
That wide-ranging professional experience, she says, will help her tackle the tasks at hand at her new job.
“I have many different skills and this job is really good for me because I can use everything that I have from my life skills, my university, what I’ve got from life experience. I can use that all in one place, one job,” she said.
The move to Canada meant a lot of change and, at first, being unable to come face-to-face with her new country, its culture and, at times, even its language - Bondareva speaks fluent English, but still picks up new words and ideas. Bondareva experienced a culture shock in two ways when moving to Flin Flon - first, the culture shock from moving from her native Russia to Canada, then the shock from moving from one of the world’s largest cities to Flin Flon, population 5,000ish. She said her first impression was not the best, but over time, Flin Flon - and more importantly, Flin Flonners - won her over.
“When we arrived here, it was evening time - not dark, but not bright. When we went down the streets, I was upset a little bit - grey sky, grey, small houses… we spent hours and hours driving up, we were asking ‘Why were we here?’” she said.
“When we met people, I came to understand - everything good about Flin Flon, it’s underneath. You have to live here to understand what’s happening. Every day, something new happened - some music, some dance, a movie, every day. It’s not a boring place.”
“It’s underneath - there’s a charm under the city.”
On arrival in Flin Flon, she worked for a time with the City cutting grass and painting, then worked within local schools as an educational assistant. A mother of two, Bondareva said she learned a lot about Flin Flon and small-town Canada from the kids she met through that work.
“That was a really good experience for me. Sometimes, I listened to the teachers here, learning a new system,” she said.
“Children, in Grade 1, they understood me. They understand everything. On the first day, they asked me, ‘Why do you speak so strangely?’ ‘It’s because I come from another country.’ ‘Oh.’ It’s why I can say if somebody doesn’t understand me, I can say, ‘Go to Grade 1 - everybody there understands me,’” she says with a smile.
“I want to focus part of this job on children. There are things happening, but they aren’t always going on for young people, for teenagers. For this, we need to start engaging everyone as children.”
There are few jobs in Flin Flon that may be more challenging to fill than the cultural coordinator spot - Kolt held that job for many years, becoming a driving force in creating Flin Flon’s cultural juggernaut. Kolt’s shadow looms large over Bondareva, but in a good way - her predecessor said she will be available to help in any way needed.
“I understand that I’m not alone. It’s a new job, but I’m not alone and everybody can help me out. I know if I ask about something, people have always helped me. I met Crystal before, I know her personally - we met a few people when we first came here who were very nice and friendly and I still feel support,” she said.
“I think one thing that I can do is that I’m a new person with fresh eyes. I have a lot of ideas - some I can’t share right now. I lived in a huge city and now, living in a small city, I have many, many ideas. I’ve got a special ideas book where I’ve been writing everything down.”
