Updated: Feb 9
In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Tuyana, what age she would like to go back to, and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.
You can READ the interview transcript HERE
10 Facts About Tuyana
(at the time of the project)
1. 45 years old.
2. Tuyana was born in Siberia on the Mongolian border so she has Mongolian roots and can speak the Mongolian dialect that her grandfather taught her.
3. Tuyana grew up with her middle sister at her grandparents, while her parents were doing their PhDs. It was a happy childhood, in a remote Siberian village with nearly eight months of winter.
4. Tuyana lives in Australia for about 16 years. She followed her boyfriend at the time and now her husband. They lived in Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, and now Sydney.
5. Tuyana is a mother of two, a 25-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter.
6. She works full-time as an accountant for a company that installs solar panels.
7. Tuyana learn how to swim at 25 years old and now swims with her daughter on Sundays. They won the parent and child race for two years in a row.
8. She also learned German at school and went to linguistic Uni to become a German English teacher but changed it to accounting after her son was born.
9. Tuyana has a very busy social life. She is a member of the Australian Conservation Foundation where she contributes to environmental issues and brings awareness to related problems. She is also a member of a movie club, swim club, a few book clubs and is involved in the Human Library project. Tuyana reads a lot since her childhood, and she continues her learning. She does yoga and rides a bike.
10. Tuyana thinks she managed to build the life she probably wanted to build but says that there is always room for improvement.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
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Hi, you're listening to the My Body, My Story podcast.
I can sing a tune my uncle used to sing all the way down getting away from engaging me.
This is the 45 over 45 chapter where we celebrate Rule Breakers and role models, the women who inspire us to live life our way and to show their sensuality beauty, soul, and true essence. Here we talk about what it's like to be 45 Plus, adjusting to the changes that come with time, and we listened to the stories about participants. If you have an interesting story, we'd love for you to participate. You can email us at info@aleksandrawalker.com That's Aleksandra spelled with a K S. Or visit our website aleksandrawalker.com
Hello, everyone, and welcome to my body My Story project and today with us in the studio Tuyana. And while she's sitting in the makeup chair Chitra is doing makeup for her. I'll be asking her a few questions. Hi Tuyana.
Hi, everyone. Hello, hello.
Welcome to the studio. Welcome to the project and let's start. Tell us 10 facts about yourself
It was hard time to choose yesterday when I was thinking, What shall I give about myself in 10 facts? Maybe first, I'm 44 nearly 45 year old I was born in Russia in Siberia Mongolian border so I have Mongolian roots. But my great great granddad already was Russian by citizen 380 years ago. They say willingly signed a petition to join a Russian and by instead of going on the Chinese so that's how I My mother tongue is Russian. I can speak also Mongolian dialect my grandparents taught me. Yeah, I consider myself very lucky. I grew up with my grandparents. We in my middle sister. So when parents studied in St. Petersburg, they both know that my dad is in physics and mom is in math. So they did they PhDs and they left kids to their parents. But didn't same thing I did when I had my son. So I had this absolute feeling. You know I with this my best luck in my life. I grew up with grandparents who actually had their own, I guess ambitions done with their kids. They turn out good. Therefore kids. So with us, they just let us be. So just recently reading this. Agatha Christie's autobiography. I've heard this thought she says, the best luck in your life you can get if you have a happy childhood. That's what I actually had with grandparents. It was absolute freedom. Like we I learned to read and write. Yeah, I was seven year old. Now when my daughter, for example, was born. I made sure she's you know, all this education and all this. So she learned how to swim before she started walking. She learned how to read she was about three year old or something. But not that. I mean, I did it very much. Intentionally, I guess just we created this environmental thing, all these things, but in our case, we grandparents created playful environment for us. We were roaming streets from dusk till dawn. Yeah, it was very happy childhood in a remote Siberian village with nearly eight months of winter, but then in then three months of summer last summer, is like people rarely believe when I say it's plus 30 degrees, which is somewhere in our places. And then yes, fair enough. It's minus 30 When it's cold winter, but you will have all the reverse frozen, so you can skate. You can do all the skiing and yes, very happy time in my life. What
was your favourite activity during the winter?
Winter? Yeah, we we skied, we had a skating activities playing just snowballing I guess. Also, it gave me an opportunity to read a lot because when it's too cold when it's blizzard or something you just looked at I'm reading you have hearty fire, you know. So yeah, all these memories romantic. And so I think, what we look for when we grown up and try to recreate for my kids for example, that's well I had just given
and here you are with a nine month summer. So like, opposite direction. So how you When did you move to Australia?
I live in Australia for about 16 years, I followed my husband boyfriend at the time. He's from Russia as well, but caucus mountains, so sounds fresher. We met in Moscow studying. In a year of his PhD research, he said he's not doing what he wanted. So he needs to find a sort of nice alternative. Maybe getting Australian passport is a sort of thing of future as well because parents expected a lot. And he could only offer sort of an alternative. Equal. Yeah, so he went to lift for a year without me in Melbourne. And for the whole year he was trying to be get me interested thing. It's awesome place. If you've never come, you'd be regretting it. Live. So yeah, follow it. And here I am. 16 years.
Are you enjoying it here?
Absolutely. Well, we travelled we lived in Melbourne, Brisbane and Gold Coast, Canberra, our daughter, you'll learn how to walk shore of Lake Burley. But we move to Sydney and I think as my husband said we could have travelled anywhere else because Sydney has it all. I love it. And I live in one of the best parts Sydney Northern Beaches. So yeah, we've travelled northern beaches as well so lifting Collaroy now when the veil But for a person who learn how to swim at 25 year old me who we are members of call risk swim club with my daughter so we once a week we or twice a week actually she does Wednesday swims long distances. I'm not that proficient yet. Maybe I will never be but Sunday's we swim competitively. It's, you know, something, I guess we won parent and child race for two years in a row. We had the perpetual trophy. Got our names engraved in golden letters on the back of the trophy. So yeah, I was thinking it's probably the I could say these achievement for me personally, because it's like, yeah, Swimming was.
And you said also, you mentioned earlier that you have son as well.
Yes, my son's a nine day sister and 25 year old. That's another big I guess. Part of me who is a mother of 25 year old boy, it's like I can't believe it. When he was born. I was 19 and a half. He's same thing like at some point. I was studying in wishek Uni. So I've learned German at school and went to linguistic uni to become a German English teacher. And in second year, I thought, tweak what I actually liked to do. So I couldn't quit as well with the sole academics expectations for my family. I could only offer something like equally important so I had a gap year having a boy and creating my own family. It was a great experience. A 22 year old I think I had it all happening. I was graduating from uni with an accounting degree. I had son three year old to childcare pretty independent family to build and yeah the rest of the world to be concrete and guess
Wow. So you started your journey early and like from the high start. So what do you think is your I know it's it was the question from the previous seasons, but I'd like to ask you so what do you think is your greatest achievement or achievements
that's a hard one as well because you I hope they are ahead the big achievements. But for now say when you think pro Probably what my parents wanted for me grandparents as well, when they put so much love into bring me up with some I'm outside become a good person helpful to others. And hopefully they can say it's actually happened. I am a mother of two, my wife I work full time accountant for a company that instals solar panels. So I kind of nurture this with the purpose yes thing that I'm part of something bigger. And you just, I was really thinking, what's once life achievements. What counts is this little things like you know, really a battle you get up, get your family ready, get yourself ready, you start work, you do things you like, you make time for yourself, and also maybe contribute a little bit to the society. Yeah, so I guess what the answer to this question is, I hope it's the bigger tunes I had. But at the moment, I managed to build the life I probably wanted to build. And yeah, maybe another thing is, I'd really like to get more involved into bigger world sort of happenings not on politics or say things but but I'm say for example, I'm a member of a few book clubs, just because I'm into people's psychology, right. So you read the same book as some other doesn't do was you but then you make not conclusions, but you notice something, and the other 70 Something else different. So you think you see how it works. We do have different upbringing, the ground, so the brain trade to pick things different. Not necessarily good or better, but just different. So you learn from others as well. Say for example, being a member of Australian Conservation Foundation is another thing you contribute to environmental issues, bring awareness to problems, or like say my involvement in the Human Library, it's an online project for me now, because with the COVID started, they expanded so you can participate online basic ideas, Human Library publishes human books. So like you borrow a book from the library, you can invite someone who will tell you his story. And obviously the your story needs to be interesting to others. For example, books titles you pick you can be you can have different a few titles at the same time. Say mine, one of them immigrant immigration, right so I've sort of lift is the immigration process, I've managed to adjust maybe if I tell my story, how it went, others will get some sort of ideas, little tips how to build it better for themselves. And other ones for example, young mother because my story is as well like I was very privileged I had all the help from parents. It went very smoothly. I never had to sacrifice anything. I benefited from it because becoming a mother at a young age teaches you a lot of things like you know mother first of all sacrifices her time maybe even interests bigger purpose Exactly. For the sake of dedicating your time to child needy child who's first you know, just learning physically how to adjust in the world and then grows up growing as a person human being but then it's in the very Buddhistic way I guess same big thank you to my grandparents who brought me in that way. So some things just come naturally to me. I can't say I learned to do it. Just you know, I got it. Very like with mother's milk for pretty much I know. You accumulate say good deeds you contribute to the society. So same thing like you, you don't do bad things not because you say want to be reborn next life but to have a chance to live better, but just because you want to help others. So maybe this. Wow,
what a great story. So, let's move to the subject of our project and the podcast and let's talk about body and ageing. And my next question is, what does ageing means to you?
What ageing means to me, I guess inside. We laughed recently with my husband, I asked him, How old is your inner child? Because, you know, inside of each of us, there isn't child, but then I guess it depends if your child is five year old, you want one thing or you know certain thing things. And when your child is, say 10 year old, it's a bit of a different story. So I think
this is for those who are listening to us and don't know what you're talking about this psychological? I don't know. Like, idea. Yeah, like, everyone has the inner child inside, which is the basis of our personality, and you have to grow your inner child to become whole adult is like, meaning like healing your trauma as this is just like a side note. Yes. And so what did your husband answered?