Rachael Peroutky was having a really bad day this past August. That all changed once she received an e-mail at 11 p.m. from her father. It contained application details for the Russian Exchange Program, a 10-day trip for 24 Americans to spend in and around Moscow to experience the country's culture and play hockey.
"I was like, 'Why not?'" said Peroutky, a Farmington native. "This was something I needed."
The program was a product of an agreement between the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy. Last year, 24 Russians came to Washington, D.C., to learn and experience hockey and culture in the U.S. The 12 Minnesotans and 12 Californians in the American contingent took their trip Oct. 5-14.
The late notice for Peroutky required a quick response. Application materials were due a couple of days later, but for Peroutky this was a no-brainer.
"It was insane," she said. "The whole trip was pretty unexpected to start with."
Peroutky had traveled the U.S. and in Canada with the Minnesota Thoroughbreds, a Triple-A 19-and-under team based in St. Paul. She also went to Greece and Italy with a school group last year.
Those experiences helped her developed a travel bug, and Russia didn't disappoint, from both a life and hockey perspective.
When Peroutky and the crew arrived, Russian hockey royalty greeted them at the U.S. Embassy. Current and former NHL stars Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Fedorov shook hands, took photos and signed autographs.
