Photo/Illutration The book “Rokkakoku Tenkosei Nadya no Hakken” (Discoveries of Nadya, the transfer student in six countries) by Nadya Kirillova (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Nadya Kirillova was born in Leningrad in the 1980s when Russia was still the Soviet Union. Her father was a mathematician and her mother was a physicist.

Because of their careers, Kirillova went to school in Russia, Japan, Britain, France, the United States and Canada.

She likened her childhood to a “roller-coaster ride.” What was “normal” varied from country to country.

In Russia, for example, schoolchildren used fountain pens in class. That required thinking very carefully before writing anything, as mistakes could not be erased.

In contrast, pencils were used in British schools. That encouraged students to write freely and correct their mistakes as many times as necessary.

Physical education classes in some countries emphasized competitiveness, while French schools valued the enjoyment of physical activity.

In Japan, Kirillova was befuddled by her teachers’ obsessions with “form” in everything, from swimming to writing numbers.

And she was stunned when an American teacher candidly admitted to her, “I don’t know the answer, either.”

Kirillova graduated from a Japanese university and currently works at a major advertising agency.

Last year, she published a book titled “Rokkakoku Tenkosei Nadya no Hakken” (Discoveries of Nadya, the transfer student in six countries). It encourages readers to ask themselves, “What is common sense? What is the correct answer?”

Japan celebrated “Seijin no Hi” (Coming-of-Age Day) on Jan. 9.

When I asked Kirillova what advice she would give to today’s troubled youth, she replied, “Your journey as an adult entails uncovering, on your own, what makes you different from other people.

“When you are a child, you want to be ordinary, but as an adult, being told you are ‘ordinary’ is the worst blow.”

How true, but it is not easy to prove your difference from others, is it?

“I agree,” she said, “I can’t say I know how, but in exposing my weakest and most fragile self, I believe I am expressing my uniqueness.”

Kirillova said this with the gentleness of someone who has always struggled with understanding what “being ordinary” means for herself.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 9

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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