One the positive side, when the Russian faculty member arrives, I’ll finally have somebody refer to me with my name and the patronymic. I left Ukraine before I was old enough for anybody to use the patronymic. And in North America everybody calls me with my full first name (or Professor Last Name). The full first name makes no sense culturally. It’s either the diminutive form of the first name (Masha) or the full name with the patronymic (Maria Petrovna). Maria with nothing to follow it sounds weird.
I want to be addressed correctly at least once in my life, damn it. Let’s make Russians useful at least in this limited way.
The patronymic is based on the first name of one’s father, and it would mean a lot to hear it said aloud.
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