December 11, 2009
Hello and goodbye from Russian dear ones,
My from Russian with love ramblings will cease to exist after I sign off this e-mail. Someone asked me what I would remember most about this adventure and there really is so much. I think if I had to choose only one fond memory it would be of all the people I have met here both Russian, non-Russian, young and old. Everyone has their own story, their own lives, their own joys and sorrows but their friendliness, open hearts, and laughter made my stay here such a lasting blessing in my life. They will remain in my heart forever.
I learned that I can live simply with few things, have meaningful work and be appreciative of each new moment. I have found being present in the here and now brings true happiness. I learned that I need to walk more in my daily life. I found that my walks to and from school most days, plus my journeys around town were reflective, prayerful times for me. I learned that I can be silent and not have NPR on constantly (sorry KTOO!). I learned that I love writing and reading even more and filled my evenings with good books before I nodded off to sleep. I learned to value much more all the blessings in my life that I often take for granted. I brought along to Russia my gratitude stone that a friend gave me and tucked it in the pocket of my coat. On my walks I often rubbed the smoothness of the stone and reflected on each day's gifts. So, my Russian exile has been very contemplative, almost retreat like, for me. My everyday distractions were few which
allowed me to BREATHE. My students of course were the highlight and I could write at length about each one but I'll spare you that for now. And YES, I learned that I can still teach and really do love this profession!
Lindsey and Kat surprised me Saturday night by taking me for a walk and then into a beautiful hotel that was all decorated for Christmas, though they call it New Year's here. As we entered the candlelit lobby we were seated at a table and offered mulled wine and Christmas cookies while a children's choir performed. It was magical. There was a young boy of about 7 who sang several solos who had such an angelic voice and had such composure. He looked like a young Andrea Bocelli. After the concert we went up to the top floor of the hotel which overlooks the whole city and sipped champagne. A lovely evening!
I attended one last ballet on Sunday afternoon which was lovely. Who knows if I'll ever grace the Mariinsky Theater again. It was wonderful to seep in all the culture while I was here. As Peggy said, "It's back to the Grumsickle for you!" (A little Juneau humor!) The stop by a nearby bakery for quiche and hot chocolate on my way home as a light snow fell capped off a lovely Sunday afternoon.
I endured one last metro ride on my way to the porcelain factory to look for a tea cup for my Mom. You have to look at a map and count the stops until your exit since the signs and announcements are in Russian. The problem is that the speed and jostling of the metro lulls you off to sleep. As I was nodding off I glanced up and the man standing in front of me was sketching this sleeping babushka (me!) I only had a glimpse of my portrait as I exited the car at the right stop. Thank God! It's so sweet to see men and women give up their seats and stand for older people. Hmmm! That must be why I got a seat!
A few funnies from this week:
Isabella my six your old grand daughter told Amy Jo that I am not allowed to go on anymore trips. It will be so wonderful to spend lots of time with those three urchins to make up for all my time away. I'm looking forward to that.
One of my students shared that he would miss me "like a bucket of beans!' I think it was a compliment but it somehow got lost in translation.
Another student, that little red-haired American girl, told me ,"Mrs. Hanna, you are the best grandma I NEVER had!" Such treasures these children!!!
My last three days of teaching this week went by in a blur. The staff presented me with a beautiful plate and a bouquet of flowers at the staff meeting. I read Miss Rumphius to my class on my last day and when I got to the part that says, "You will always remain in my heart", I teared up as did the kids. We promised to be e-mail pals and write and I told them we will meet again and they know where to find me. Eventually, everyone makes it to Alaska don't they? One boy was worried I might be dead by the time he made it up there. There are no guarantees. As one little girl said, "But, you'll be in the sky so you'll still be with us!" You betcha!!! The last day with the kids was on Wednesday and was bitter sweet. They were so sweet making me goodbye cards, giving me hugs etc. The REAL teacher will return tomorrow so we made her a welcome back sign. At the end of the day they surprised me with a farewell party. I couldn't hold back my emotions. The families presented me with a book of letters and drawings and photos from my class and a photo book of St. Petersburg. My last walk home from school was refreshing and now it's time to do some laundry and begin to pack for home.
I spent the past three days talking long walks around the city absorbing the cityscape and canals that have etched their mark upon me these past 2 1/2 months. The streets are always bustling with people walking, work men going about their construction work on the old buildings, cars honking as the traffic stalls and the church bells ringing every hour. It's such a stark contrast to where I call home where I can take a walk and not see another soul, or car, and may only hear geese honking, eagles screeching etc. The air quality here is very different as well. I look forward to taking a breath of fresh Alaskan air. I managed to find a lovely Russian porcelain tea set that I'll be carrying on the plane. I'd ship it back but the shipping costs more than all the tea in China!
Snow is now falling and I just returned from another long walk. As I sipped my latte at Garcon, my favorite French Bakery, they were playing in French, "These boots were made for walking" and "I Want to go Home." How timely! I lit a candle for my Mom at the Kazan Cathedral. She's in the hospital with flu like symptoms. Fortunately, my sister Theresa is there to take care of her and handle this crisis. Tom is now back in Juneau and happy to be home. Soon, it will be my turn! Tonight I'm going to the British Consulate for a Christmas Program with friends from school and then to bed for my last sleep here.
I'm wondering if there's a 12 step support group called Substitutes Anonymous since disconnecting with those 15 children is going to take time. Such a wonderful experience for me. Thanks to all of you who encouraged me and said ," Yes you can!" Especially a heartfelt thanks to you Laurie who let me know they were looking for someone to do this. The last lesson learned: Never pass up an opportunity to broaden your world. It can be life changing!
Until I ramble again from who knows where...
Love and thanks for reading all these missives!
Kathy (Katya!)
Friday, December 11, 2009
Russian Ramblings
December 7, 2009
Tis the season isn't it?
I'm REALLY looking forward to coming HOME and celebrating the holidays with family and friends. We just found out our daughter Suzanne will be joining us for Christmas so it will be double the pleasure and double the fun. I'll leave St. Petersburg on December 12 ,ovenighting in Amsterdam, and will be in Juneau the night of December 13. Yahoo!!! Meanwhile, the long winter days are settling in here. By the time the children go out to recess at 10 it's getting light but when I walk home at 3:30 it's getting dark...so much like Juneau in December. I need my SAD lamp!
Tom's now in Gilroy traveling between his Dad in the rehab. facility and his Mom in the hospital. He doesn't have access to a computer so I try to Skype him every other day or so to stay abreast of their progress. Right now they may be doing surgery on his Mom since she appears to be having heart problems. They may end up going up to Stanford to do this. His Dad seems to be improving with his kidney infection but is still running a fever. Tom and his brother Roy are talking to the doctors and dealing with all of this. It's so important to have advocates for elderly parents in these situations. I'm glad he is able to be there.
Some wisdom from the week:
I was out on yard duty before school one morning and always have a brief chat with Nina one of the guards. She speaks a little English so we can visit. We were commenting on the rain while standing under our umbrellas when she said, "Nature makes no bad weather. It's all a gift from God." Lovely! I'll need to remember her wisdom and positive attitude when I return home to Juneau!
For teachers only (or maybe not):
I have been taking the students through the writing process and have been writing a short story myself in front of the class focusing on all the elements of a good story: characters, setting, problem, solution, beginning, middle, and ending. I worked through the beginning and middle of the story and put it aside for a couple of weeks helping them in turn with their stories. Yesterday one of the boys said, "What about your story Mrs. Hanna? You know you only have a few days left with us. You'd better finish." So I did. Talk about pressure! It was a fun process since I gathered their input along the way and wove their ideas into the story. I did finish it and typed it up and now they are each going to get their own copy and illustrate it themselves. I dedicated the story to the class and they were thrilled. One girl said, "I can't believe we have a story dedicated to us!!!" They were and are my muses for sure!
Our class went to a Children's Puppet Theatre this week which we all enjoyed. Fortunately, Marina, the Kindergarten teacher, is Russian so she came into my class to tell the story so that when we went to the puppet show we would have some idea as to what was happening. It was a version of "The Magic Fish" but was called "Emeylia and the Pike." I had never seen a dog puppet humping a donkey puppet before in a children's puppet show ,or anywhere else for that matter, but hey this is Russia!!! I had to take my glasses off to make sure I wasn't seeing things but the kids didn't seem to notice. It didn't last long!
On the way back on the bus I happened to be sitting next to one of my American students who said when she came to Russia she had her smile and now she's lost it. She seems very homesick for her life back in Michigan. It was interesting to hear her ideas as our bus traveled through the city back to school. She pointed out packs of wild dogs on the streets dodging traffic and eating garbage, people wearing only dark colors, graffiti on the buildings. I tried to point out all the happy things I noticed like a few people wearing bright colors, Christmas decorations going up, beautiful architecture. It's hard to believe someone so young could be so negative about her life already. A real lesson on looking on the bright side for me!
We had parent conferences this week. I arrived the morning of parent conferences to find a bouquet of yellow tulips by my computer with no note. Do I have a parent conference fairy? Anyway, I thought of what I used to do to get ready for conferences and set a conference table (thanks Karen Allen!) with the tulips and a table cloth of pink construction paper with a lacy pink scarf over it. Ambience! It was so delightful to talk to the parents and they all showed up! A couple had interpretors with them. It was a very lovely way to finalize my teaching here and the parents were most appreciative.
I have made some very special friends here. Kat is the 4th Grade teacher and is so much fun and makes me laugh. Her name is also Kathleen AND she's Italian! She's fiesty and full of energy and her curls remind me of my daughter Suzanne.She took me under her wing and showed me the ropes immediately: walking to school with me the first day, showing me where to use a safe ATM machine , where the nearby markets are, where to eat, how to ride a bus and the metro etc. etc. She's been an angel and will be returning to New Jersey when school ends. She's been here for four years and is more than ready to fly home. She's single and wants to start a life back home with the goal of meeting an American man.
Lindsey teaches 5th grade and this is her first year here at the school though she's lived in St. Petersburg and studied Russian here. She can read and speak the language. She's a tall beautiful blonde who is also single. She taught me how to buy do-nuts in a Russian Bakery, shared her bread recipe and cumin from the states with me. She and Kat are both wonderful teachers. She'll be here at least another year since they sign two year contracts. She's from Minnesota. They're both young enough to be my daughters and have been so wonderful including me in their after school lives here. Such a blessing! I don't know what I would have done without them. Tonight we're going out for dinner and then making chocolate chip cookies and watching movies at Kat's apartment. Girl time!
Of course there's Ron my principal who has become a dear friend. He opened up his spare room in his apartment for me to use and shared his dog Marlo with me as well. Nothing like a warm,furry white friend (Marlo, not Ron!) He was more than welcoming in so many ways : teaching me to grocery shop here, driving me places, helping me get Tom here, letting me take over his refrigerator and kitchen, sharing his bathroom with me etc. We've had some great educational talks as well as many laughs. He loves Juneau and wants to return. He'll be a friend for life.I don't think I've ever met a more generous, giving, dedicated administrator and person. He stands outside the school building and greets every child by name with a handshake. Once I heard him singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning." He makes everyday beautiful for the students here in his care.
I have one week left here and only three teaching days to go. I'll probably write one more "Russian Ramblings" before I leave. Seems like they get lengthier and lengthier.
Have a great week! With much love,
Katya (that's what the Russian people call me!)
Tis the season isn't it?
I'm REALLY looking forward to coming HOME and celebrating the holidays with family and friends. We just found out our daughter Suzanne will be joining us for Christmas so it will be double the pleasure and double the fun. I'll leave St. Petersburg on December 12 ,ovenighting in Amsterdam, and will be in Juneau the night of December 13. Yahoo!!! Meanwhile, the long winter days are settling in here. By the time the children go out to recess at 10 it's getting light but when I walk home at 3:30 it's getting dark...so much like Juneau in December. I need my SAD lamp!
Tom's now in Gilroy traveling between his Dad in the rehab. facility and his Mom in the hospital. He doesn't have access to a computer so I try to Skype him every other day or so to stay abreast of their progress. Right now they may be doing surgery on his Mom since she appears to be having heart problems. They may end up going up to Stanford to do this. His Dad seems to be improving with his kidney infection but is still running a fever. Tom and his brother Roy are talking to the doctors and dealing with all of this. It's so important to have advocates for elderly parents in these situations. I'm glad he is able to be there.
Some wisdom from the week:
I was out on yard duty before school one morning and always have a brief chat with Nina one of the guards. She speaks a little English so we can visit. We were commenting on the rain while standing under our umbrellas when she said, "Nature makes no bad weather. It's all a gift from God." Lovely! I'll need to remember her wisdom and positive attitude when I return home to Juneau!
For teachers only (or maybe not):
I have been taking the students through the writing process and have been writing a short story myself in front of the class focusing on all the elements of a good story: characters, setting, problem, solution, beginning, middle, and ending. I worked through the beginning and middle of the story and put it aside for a couple of weeks helping them in turn with their stories. Yesterday one of the boys said, "What about your story Mrs. Hanna? You know you only have a few days left with us. You'd better finish." So I did. Talk about pressure! It was a fun process since I gathered their input along the way and wove their ideas into the story. I did finish it and typed it up and now they are each going to get their own copy and illustrate it themselves. I dedicated the story to the class and they were thrilled. One girl said, "I can't believe we have a story dedicated to us!!!" They were and are my muses for sure!
Our class went to a Children's Puppet Theatre this week which we all enjoyed. Fortunately, Marina, the Kindergarten teacher, is Russian so she came into my class to tell the story so that when we went to the puppet show we would have some idea as to what was happening. It was a version of "The Magic Fish" but was called "Emeylia and the Pike." I had never seen a dog puppet humping a donkey puppet before in a children's puppet show ,or anywhere else for that matter, but hey this is Russia!!! I had to take my glasses off to make sure I wasn't seeing things but the kids didn't seem to notice. It didn't last long!
On the way back on the bus I happened to be sitting next to one of my American students who said when she came to Russia she had her smile and now she's lost it. She seems very homesick for her life back in Michigan. It was interesting to hear her ideas as our bus traveled through the city back to school. She pointed out packs of wild dogs on the streets dodging traffic and eating garbage, people wearing only dark colors, graffiti on the buildings. I tried to point out all the happy things I noticed like a few people wearing bright colors, Christmas decorations going up, beautiful architecture. It's hard to believe someone so young could be so negative about her life already. A real lesson on looking on the bright side for me!
We had parent conferences this week. I arrived the morning of parent conferences to find a bouquet of yellow tulips by my computer with no note. Do I have a parent conference fairy? Anyway, I thought of what I used to do to get ready for conferences and set a conference table (thanks Karen Allen!) with the tulips and a table cloth of pink construction paper with a lacy pink scarf over it. Ambience! It was so delightful to talk to the parents and they all showed up! A couple had interpretors with them. It was a very lovely way to finalize my teaching here and the parents were most appreciative.
I have made some very special friends here. Kat is the 4th Grade teacher and is so much fun and makes me laugh. Her name is also Kathleen AND she's Italian! She's fiesty and full of energy and her curls remind me of my daughter Suzanne.She took me under her wing and showed me the ropes immediately: walking to school with me the first day, showing me where to use a safe ATM machine , where the nearby markets are, where to eat, how to ride a bus and the metro etc. etc. She's been an angel and will be returning to New Jersey when school ends. She's been here for four years and is more than ready to fly home. She's single and wants to start a life back home with the goal of meeting an American man.
Lindsey teaches 5th grade and this is her first year here at the school though she's lived in St. Petersburg and studied Russian here. She can read and speak the language. She's a tall beautiful blonde who is also single. She taught me how to buy do-nuts in a Russian Bakery, shared her bread recipe and cumin from the states with me. She and Kat are both wonderful teachers. She'll be here at least another year since they sign two year contracts. She's from Minnesota. They're both young enough to be my daughters and have been so wonderful including me in their after school lives here. Such a blessing! I don't know what I would have done without them. Tonight we're going out for dinner and then making chocolate chip cookies and watching movies at Kat's apartment. Girl time!
Of course there's Ron my principal who has become a dear friend. He opened up his spare room in his apartment for me to use and shared his dog Marlo with me as well. Nothing like a warm,furry white friend (Marlo, not Ron!) He was more than welcoming in so many ways : teaching me to grocery shop here, driving me places, helping me get Tom here, letting me take over his refrigerator and kitchen, sharing his bathroom with me etc. We've had some great educational talks as well as many laughs. He loves Juneau and wants to return. He'll be a friend for life.I don't think I've ever met a more generous, giving, dedicated administrator and person. He stands outside the school building and greets every child by name with a handshake. Once I heard him singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning." He makes everyday beautiful for the students here in his care.
I have one week left here and only three teaching days to go. I'll probably write one more "Russian Ramblings" before I leave. Seems like they get lengthier and lengthier.
Have a great week! With much love,
Katya (that's what the Russian people call me!)
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