Friday, December 31, 2010

12/28/2010



229. The Smiths. Our last annual Christmas party at Gma's & Gpa's, as though being 86 & 87 is an excuse. I will always remember dressing in vintage jewelry, jackets, hats and wigs and putting on shows with my cousins for our parents' amusement. Now watching the 4th generation running around chaotically, makes me miss our insouciant days where there were no boundaries, worries or stressors. One of my most favorite surprises was seeing Lindy, my closest cousin in age. It had been at least three years and now she has little Seth who's twice her size.

12/27/2010



228. Russian Fiesta. Andy, Mel n' Marlee, Jess n' Sam, Jill, Jamie & Corbin, Marci & Will, Lindsey, Callie, Amy, & Erin- thank you for coming over! The vibrant red-stained borsche didn't entice too many,  except for my Taiwan co-teachers (their tolerance is high). Luckily, the blinis (crepes) and apple pie was food they were willing to handle and devour.

12/26/2010


227. Sunday game night. Trying to play "the new original Classic Clue" (LDS) with Luke was proving to be quite difficult. The game is suited for ages 8+ and my sisters and I hardly recalled how to play the game. We then progressed to more kid friendly games by doing balancing acts with Luke. Justin, on face time from California, eventually joined us in the fun and we played Candy Land all together.

12/25/2010


226. Merry Christmas! One of our family favorites: Christmas brunch. This year we had Belgian waffles, fruit, eggs & potatoes, juice and eggnog. As for the gifts, Luke had the difficulty of taking turns but he didn't really need to since he had enough to open consecutively for two hours. We spent most of the day laughing hysterically as everyone tried to dance like the King of Pop with our new video game. And as usual, Jordan Common's got us for the evening while we watched True Grit.

12/24/2010


225. A new Christmas Eve tradition: Mexican dinner. Alysha and I, both working at BR late last Christmas Eve and missing our usual tradition, begged a Mexican restaurant to keep its kitchen open for our hungry appetites last year. This year we planned and dined without having to plead. We hope this bean n'rice tradition sticks!

12/23/2010


224. Nobody knows shopping more than Lady Di Smith. We went all over, well mostly back and forth between Urban, Banana, ON, & Anthropologie. When you travel or live abroad, you realize how much you really don't need in order to survive. Unfortunately, it is difficult to maintain that mentality especially when you have family that finds a need for every fashionable item.

12/22/2010


223. Home! But not much time spent there. Wanting to get started on things, I headed down to Provo early to fill out paper work for my Uganda position with Help, background check for my AmeriCorps internship, check-out at and interview at ILP, and a visit with Ashley and her family. I didn't want to decline the invite to dine in SLC nor the holiday party, but my body had about had it. I spent the night going to the Instacare instead to find out I had Bronchitis.

12/21/2010



222. The shortest day of the year has officially become my longest. Dropped off at midnight, flight out at 6AM, 9 hour layover in Munich, 9 hour flight to Chicago, delayed 3 hour flight to SLC. In aggregate, the trip took 36 hours. The 1:00AM arrival in SLC, was extravagant for all of my co-teachers...except me. There were banners, parents, siblings, balloons, friends, co-workers, screams of joy, tears, you name it! As for me, I had to call from Steph's mom's phone to get a hold of a family member. My sister was there after all, but she was just in her car circling around the airport because my parents didn't give her my flight information. I guess the novelty of traveling and coming home has worn off with my peeps!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

12/20/2010


221.  It must really be the end because my belongings have had enough. Both pairs of my boots lost their soles. I lost my camera and the ILP cell phone. And one of my pieces of luggage was torn and had to be left behind. I took pictures of all of these but I look terrible in them, so it's best they weren't posted, plus Alla is beautiful and she should be posted. It was around midnight that she dropped me and Steph off four hours early for our 6AM flight to Munich. Wow, I am definitely going to miss her and Russia.

12/19/2010


220.  To all the members: the Lunas, McCarthers, Hazelwoods, Browns, sister and elder missionaries, Natasha and the many others we couldn't communicate with, we are very grateful for your inspiring testimonies and stories of helping the church grow in Russia. We were excited for Masha to attend her first, but hopefully not her last, three hours of our church. She definitely brought too many tears when I talked about her during one of our lessons and when I had to say goodbye. You will be missed Masha!

12/18/2010

219. Christmas/birthday/good-bye party. We planned to have a get-together with everyone including our coordinators, local and church friends. But as usual, events don't always go as anticipated. We'll just say we at least had each other, Masha and the Browns. The Browns overdid themselves again by hosting our party and surprised us with lots of Papa John's Pizza; We definitely weren't disappointed by this time. I had hopes to give Lisa a great birthday cake but used potato flour instead of powder sugar for the frosting. Most everyone humored me by chomping down on it while watching the dvd I made of our St. Pete. memories. 

12/17/2010


218. Must we? Say goodbye already? These Russian kiddies have been too cute. We all seriously have contemplated sneaking some of them in our luggage. Bogdon, one of our students standing about one-foot tall, would have worked just fine. Thank goodness children worldwide are fun to be with or else leaving these guys would be much harder than it already is.

12/16/2010


217. Final show! Hours of practice and preparation for Spectacular (Spectacle) and it went well and was over before we knew it. We have Ludmilla to thank for much of the success at Kindergarten #5. The two of us worked together a lot and we grew a strong love for each other despite our abilities to communicate well. Alla did have to intercede on my behalf quite often to help clear the language confusion, but by the end we almost had it figured out. We respected Ludmilla for her patience, kindness and love but her ability to moderate the fine balance between loving the children without doting was unlike any other administrator.   We will miss her!

12/15/2010


216. The beginning of an end. It became more of a realization as the private kindergarten did their final performance for the students' parents, that our time is nearly up. When you are experiencing another way of life, you definitely come to understand the truth of those proverbs. It is about the journey and not just the destination. These teachers exceeded our expectations for this new school. I think they have set a precedence that will allow the program to grow and expand in this area of the city, just as we had hoped.

12/14/2010


215. Banana Cream, by far one of the best pies ever. Unsure of how to thank Alla, Sveta and Ludmilla (our Russian coordinators and administrator) for all of the many things they did for us during our time in St. Pete, I wanted to give them something they could enjoy that involved some work on my behalf. So, what is better than homemade pie? Actually, those pies couldn't even get close to expressing the gratitude I have for all of their help. I am planning on doing lots of service projects in the future or in heaven for all those that have done so much for me while I've been living abroad.

12/13/2010


214. I knew eventually I would forget to take a picture one day and would resort to taking a photo of the view from my apartment building. Luckily when I realized I needed a photo on this ordinary day, the sun was shining at the optimal time to perfectly light the soviet apartment buildings. Who am I kidding? I can't lie when this blog is mostly for my own records. Sarah needs the credit for taking this photo with her own camera on some special day, some time during the last few weeks.

12/12/2010


213. Meet the Browns. This American family, who works for the US embassy, just joined our branch. They generously welcomed all ten of us to dine with them and their three children at their beautiful apartment. It has been some time since we've 'hung out' with English speaking children. We've forgotten how much five-year-olds really can understand and explain when communication is in their native tongue. We couldn't have been more excited when they pulled out the fajitas; It must have been our lucky week.

12/11/2010


212. The most perfect lazy Saturday. There is something to be said about the following: sleeping in, staying in your pjs, listening to music, making brunch of apple and banana pancakes, sliding down ice-covered pavement ramps behind concrete buildings, throwing snowballs at each other and 13-year old Russians, and finishing the night off with Sushi and walking and shopping around the illuminated streets of downtown St. Pete. I love simple days like this!

12/10/2010


211. Mmmm... Americanized Mexican food in Russia. We've all had some nostalgia for places like Cafe Rio, Betos, Red and Blue Iguana just to name a few. We effusively welcomed Natalie's package from her mother when it included a lunchables-like taco kit with all sorts of goodies. Audra and I ate a bit much and thought we would dance it off that night listening to Anton DJ another gig, but instead we found ourselves exhausted with the language barrier as we tried to communicate with his friends. Luckily, we opted to take the last metro home at 12:30 instead of waiting until 5 in the morning for the next train.

Friday, December 24, 2010

12/9/2010


210. I love visiting the highest ILP level classes. Our oldest class in the program is Ray and Kailin’s EL 5 class composed of six 12-year-old boys. We also have an alumni class that meets once a week, which is composed of a group of 14 to 17-year-olds. They are fun to chat with if you can get on their good side. And sometimes, they say some of the funniest things. Sometimes they speak incorrectly and have a good explanation or reasoning for why it would spoken the way they thought, but unfortunately, English is inconsistent and has many rule breakers. I am always impressed at their ability to form sentences even when they could stand some corrections.

12/8/2010



209. At the end of every ILP semester, the English classes are expected to do a performance. The Russia ILP group, calls this a Spectackle. I didn’t like that word, so we called it the Spectacular. The teachers have been working hard to prepare so the parents and administrators will enjoy the show. The primary group at the main kindergarten is acting out “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The students need lots of extra help with their parts (naturally since native English speakers don’t speak that way) but the songs and little bits of acting during the half-hour show are darling to watch.
 

12/7/2010


208. The market near Nevtsky Street has the perfect backdrop with the frozen canal and the Church on Spilled Blood sprinkled with white snow. These vendors are used to the many tourists and they know some of the best English in the downtown district. Of course, they convinced me to buy more than I expected. This means I am finished souvenir shopping with plenty of gifts to go around.
 

12/6/2010


207. Everyone is starting to spread Christmas cheer, even our kindergarten! Christmas is celebrated a bit different in Russia compared to America. Most families have their big celebration on the New Year and their real Christmas comes December 7th. The trees are called “New Years trees”. Their Christmas cards tend to wish friends and families a “Happy New Year!” and not Merry Christmas. The biggest reason for this was due to the change of government during the Soviet Union in which the Bolsheviks stripped the motherland of religion. Families had to mask their Christmas celebrations with the New Year celebrations and that tradition has stayed the same for almost a century.

12/5/2010


206. Masha and the Americans. She took a small group of us to her Russian Orthodox Church where we stood for two hours listening to the beautiful acoustics of prayer and scripture. The priest, dressed lavishly in blue silk robes, moved skillfully as he conducted the ceremony around the gold iconostasis. After, Masha welcomed us into her apartment where we attempted to make blinis. It was a rough start with many burnt pancakes and a towel on fire, but eventually we had way too many delectable cream cheese blinis that couldn't all be eaten.
 

12/4/2010


205.  Needing mostly a trim but also wanting to experience a salon in Russia, I accompanied Sveta early in the morning to get a haircut.  There was no lengthy scalp massage or a hot menthol towel for my neck like in Taiwan, but my hairdresser met my needs in a timely matter. For the rest of the day, the cold weather and lack of money deterred our group from heading out. Instead, Sveta not being privy to her Russian recipes, showed us how to make one of our favorite foods: Palmeni. Similar to Ravioli but like many of their dishes, it is commonly served with mayonnaise or cmetana (sour cream). That night a few of us rocked out at the belated Thanksgiving themed LDS single ward’s dance. Let’s just say it was interesting.
 

Friday, December 3, 2010

12/3/2010


204. Ohh, family time (you know, Sarah and I have been mistaken for each other before). Mom & Dad Tyler treated Sarah and I to a viewing of the inside of the Church on Spilt Blood and dinner at a Russian restaurant, followed up with Teremok dessert balinis. These nice folks aren't foreign to adventures, they traveled through Salzburg and Munich before reaching St. Pete. Back home they hike, ski and have cycled the entire state of UT. Always interesting to meet the family and understand one's background. Easy to tell Sarah inherited a lot of her greatness from her parents.

12/2/2010


203. Finally a birthday! With Sarah's parent's arrival on her actual birthday, we decided to celebrate a day early. I do enjoy making people feel special on their day, who doesn't? But really, I am almost unrestrained when it comes to making posters, cards, cakes, throwing parties etc. I didn't get to do as much as I would have hoped because my interview with Americorps had my mind almost completely occupied, but I was able to build this chocolate cake with buttercream filling for the little princess.

12/1/2010


202. Fur in Russia is not an accessory, it's a necessity. Some fur ensembles may seem immoderate (some very well could be and hopefully I can sneakily snap some photos of them to show), but it is by far the best way to stay warm in this frigid weather. I can attest to this: When I wear my trapper fox hat, my entire body feels 10° warmer. The weather today was -4°F, this was not conducive for teaching English outside (as it never should be or will be). Our teachers at the state kindergarten had students crying in pain because of the cold weather. If these children are forced to be outside by the Russian government, they should be running around, not sitting down being forced to speak English. I need to put my foot down and insist we have our classes back inside on Wednesdays, wish me luck.

11/30/2010


201. It's not all play time; I do work, sometimes. As head teacher, I have three primary responsibilities: teacher advisor, teacher specialist and program administrator. As a teacher administrator, I am over nine teachers and try to make their stay comfortable and an enjoyable experience. I arrange culture excursions, organize activities, and work with coordinators to ensure the teachers' needs are being met. As a teaching specialist, I coach and evaluate the teachers and co-teach with them in their classrooms. And as program administrator, I act as the liaison for the ILP headquarters by submitting reports and updates about our schools and teachers. Here I interrupted my weekly meeting with Alla, the native school coordinator, to snap a photo as we were working out some logistical issues. I could continue doing this because I love my coordinators, my teachers and my job!