... i am saying that after you made yourself you can't remade yourself in something else. It's a matter of adjustment: if you were well-adjusted in one place it makes you pretty much impossible readjust in another place without major personality change. And you don't do a major personality change after 30 if you don't have a nice solid case of amnesia.
While I agree that it’s impossible to change your personality after a certain age, I disagree that a grown up person who used to be well adjusted in one country can’t readjust himself or herself in other countries. You do not have to change your personality to become a more or less “normal” member of your new society; you just have to follow new rules of this new “game” (written and unwritten rules) and learn a few new tricks… But if you knew what you had to do to be successful in your profession back in Russia, it is not that difficult to figure out what you have to add to your skills here in America to be more or less equally successful.
I used to be a teacher of physics in SPb (college level), and I’ve been working for three years as a full-time teacher of physics in CT. I’ve just got my new full-time contract for the next year, while my colleague (an American, who has worked five years with the same school) was forced to become a part-time teacher. I think that I’ve adjusted pretty well to my new surroundings…
Also, I think that it’s possible to find your “niche” in case when your profession back in Russia was solely “language based”. Of course, it will take time, money, and your efforts, but it’s possible… My daughter wanted to be a journalist in Russia (I didn’t like her choice…) and worked as a part-time correspondent with our local newspaper while being a full-time student at the SPb university. Here, she graduated from NYU (Department of Journalism) and works with a PR company in Manhattan. There were about 250 candidates for her position… I think that it’s a lousy job anyway, but she likes what she does…