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 7^th. 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.

 

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!