Spring 2012 (a bit late..)

(I accidentally saved this post instead of publishing it a few months ago, so I decided to post it now)

Wow, more than half a year has passed since my last post.  I am horrible at remembering to write anything here.  Well, in the last six months, a lot has happened in my Russian Adventure.  I recently finished my first year of teaching English.  I worked mainly with teenagers, and by the end of the year, I realized that I seem to be quite good with this age groups.  I had about ten groups of kids each week, and at the beginging things were quite a challenge.  Classroom control was difficult and kids were crazy.  In the end, the kids were still crazy, but controlable.  We developed such great relationships by the end of the year.  They made such great improvement.  It was so fun to read their final writing tests and see how much they had improved in the year. During the last week of lessons, some of my groups decided to have goodbye parties. The groups organized themselves and all brought cakes, cookies, chocolates and pies along with tea, juice and water to share with one another.  I can say that I taught them something new this year in the aspect of language, but they also taught me something.  Perhaps this is a bit cliche, but they taught me how to be a teacher.  They taught me patience.  They taught me that it is ok to make mistakes and that a good sense of humor can make most situations better.

This is where at taught English in Kupchino Region St. Petersburg

I remember my first few weeks of teaching.  Every time I walked into the classroom, I was nervous.  I didn't want to do anything wrong in my lesson.  I wanted everything to be perfect.  BUT, there was too much worrying going on, and all for not.  My kids were excited to come to my lessons.  They did not care if I made little mistakes.  They cared that I was there.  They wanted to tell me about their lives, and wanted to learn about mine.  We had lots of great conversations.  We decided to start every lesson with a great question to put a smile on every person's face: Why are you happy today? and If you aren't happy, what is something that makes you happy? By the time we were done with this, everyone was smiling, either about a nice walk in the park they had with their friends, or because they have a loving family, or because they had a birthday over the weekend.  Kids want to be happy.  They want to share happiness with others.  Sometimes it doesnt seem like it.  Sometimes you think they want to make your life miserable by not listening and being crazy teenagers, but they all just want to be happy.  When teaching a unit on personalities, we had to chose three words from the list that describe ourselves. I chose shy, friendly and maybe clever.  My students informed me that I was wrong, that I was not shy at all.  It is interesting how differently they see me than I see myself.  I always felt a bit shy, and not always so confident, but they saw me as a great, outgoing, friendly woman.

One of my 10 groups of Russian teenagers

At the moment, I am sitting in the Russian National Library, in a room filled with beautiful old books from the 1800's that I am not allowed to touch or photograph.  I came here with my great friend Lucinda.  She is writing her thesis on Dostevsky and needed to do some research here.  I thought this would be a good time to tell you about how excitingly beurotic Russia is.  This is the third day we've been here this week, and its Wednesday.  This is the first time there has been success.  Lu needed some very old books and journals for her research, so of course first day we come to the library.  I fill out all the intensive paperwork necessary to recieve a library card, only to find out we are not allowed to see any of the materials we need because you need a letter of explanation from the directory of your department at your university in able to read these materials.  So, we left the library and went to the office at the Uni where the director wrote the "explanation letter" Everything was in order after much waiting.  We headed back to the library, only to find that it happened to be closed because it just so happened to be the last tuesday of the month.  How lucky were we? So finally, Day three, we get into the library, have the proper document, and Ludcinda can order her materials, but then we have to wait a few hours while they search for them.  After a few hours, we return to the library where they say she can see some of the materials, but she must go to a special room, and I am not allowed in.
So, here I am, sitting in a beautiful old library room, with windows opening into Ekaterinskii Garden.  On all sides of me are old, warn, books and journals of faded browns and reds and blues.  The smell of dust and years of use, and the wind is jently blowing in through the beautifuly gated windows.   There is even a second level to this room with more books and beautiful railings.  If I could choose any place to sit and write or study, this would most definatley be the place.  

 Just outside the window are beautiful tall trees and a statue of Katherine the Great. Saint Petersburg is such a beautiful place.  Especially in the Summer.  Winter on the other hand is a different story.