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!)