International Day!

Happy Halloween everybody!  To be honest, I've never liked Halloween at all, and it seems Russia's the same way.  This year, however, a couple of stores are beginning to get into the whole Jack-O lantern and candy thing.  Today I saw evidence of this: a large orange sign with the English words "Treat or Trick!!" written on it.  Clearly Halloween still isn't as big in Russia as in the States.

Last Wednesday was a special day in the International Academy of St. Petersburg.  Appointed by the school as International Day, it was a great celebration of culture, diversity, and God.  The festivities began at 10 o'clock in the morning with a flag celebration.  The Christian flag led the way, and was followed by 13 national flags, carried by children from the respective countries.  Then, to begin the concert part of the day the high school choir opened with a welcome song from New Zealand.  Each grade, from kindergarten to middle school, sang songs that they had practiced during their music classes.  I was very fortunate to be the accompanist for each choral selection, and even though written music wasn't available for several pieces, all went well.  The advanced band also did spectacularly, as they  performed selections from several movie scores, including the Star Wars theme.  As the grand finale, the 3rd grade danced!  It was a traditional Russian dance and they nailed it.  They brought the roof down with their Russian leg kicks and fancy twirls.
    After the concert, we ate lunch.  Tacos, lasagna, and Chinese noodles were the global choices for the mid-day meal.  Immediately after eating, the students transformed their classrooms into cultural learning centers.  For example, one room was filled with Korean art and games, another had an island feel, and still another was a square dancing tutorial!  As you can imagine, this was a fun day that all of you would have enjoyed immensely.

As you may know, the 2014 Winter Olympics are being held in Sochi, Russia.  This week the torch was in St. Petersburg!  In fact, it was just a few blocks away on our island!  Unfortunately, I was not able to lay eyes upon it, but I've seen enough pictures from friends to know for a fact it was very, very close.  So I guess that will have to do.
Here's a fun story.  Two female teachers from the school are going to work at the olympics as translators for a security company!  They will get to go to events, work with CBS coverage teams, and even skate on the ice floors!  They will be gone for a full month, so my elementary teaching days may be back!

I hope you all are having a splendid fall.


GO HEAT!!

Live from Leningrad

It's been over three weeks since I last posted, and there have been quite a few changes in my every day life.  Due to the return of a teacher at IA, I no longer sub in the K-1 class.  I miss the kids, but as of this week I get to work with them again!  I am accompanying their fall programs with piano and sound effects, so I am having a lot of fun with that.  Every time I stick my head in their classroom to say hi, I can honestly say I know how Justin Bieber feels when he steps onto a stage!  The kids get all riled up and start yelling and running at me, clinging to my limbs…  it's quite a disruption, so I don't do it too often :)

I don't help with PE anymore either, so my time with the young ones has decreased significantly.  My after-school basketball games have also stopped, since official varsity practice has started.  Fortunately, I am able to use the school's weight room, so I'm keeping in shape that way.  This Saturday, I will play soccer with some guys from the school in a friendly match against the other private Christian school in the city.  Apparently, the son of Zenit's head coach plays on their team, so we are preparing ourselves for a solid defeat :) But it'll feel good to play soccer again!
 
I am continuing to lead chapel music every week, and my time with the choirs is now involving accompanying, sectional work, and maybe a little directing!  So just to reassure you who are worried, I still get to play quite a bit of piano every day!  I have also started tutoring high-schoolers after school Monday's through Thursday's, teaching Latin roots and English vocabulary to a class of up to 6 Koreans and Japanese.  That has been a very enjoyably challenging learning experience thus far.

The weather has actually been very glorious for a larger part of the last few weeks.  But this week I bought myself some gloves and a Zenit scarf, to prepare for the cold and rainy days which are now upon us.  It gets dark pretty early already, but I can't imagine what it will be like in the middle of winter.  The wind of the bay can be frigid in the morning, and when I walk through the 'dvor' (the tunnel-like entrance to an apartment complex), it's like walking through a tornado!  But it will get much worse in a month or two, so that'll be exciting.

This weekend I went to the movies with Kurt, Lewis, and some other friends.  We saw Stalingrad in a 3D IMAX theatre in the Galleria (a huge mall downtown).  Friday night was the opening night for the appraised film, which was the first IMAX movie ever produced outside of the U.S.A..  The entire production was filmed in St. Petersburg, so it's a pretty big deal in the city.  The war movie had potential to be just a huge epic fight scene, filled with gore, death, and pain.  And that's what I was expecting (it did have some of this, of course).  However, a truly inspiring plot involving intense action, endearing companionship, and sweet romance treated me with a pleasant surprise.  There was even some humor sprinkled in as well!
Of course, I didn't fully appreciate the film until it was over, when my kind Russian-speaking friends told me what had happened.  Oh yes, it was all in Russian (and a bit of German)!  Unfortunately for the folks in America, the movie will most likely not be shown in the U.S., otherwise I would strongly recommend Stalingrad to every one I care about.

My life continues to be one giant blessing from God.  I was listening to the French movie Amelie's soundtrack today as I walked through the misty streets of Europe.  It was an impeccable realization of the dream I've dreamt so often when I was young, after my first visit to Europe.  I thank God every day for my opportunities, and for all my friends at home who daily lift me up in prayer.

All praise to YAHWEH 

Update from Camp Babochka

Dear Friends and Partners,

We are just coming off a wonderful Saturday (the 21st) with so many positive emotions its hard to know where to start. The Soccer Match was a huge success on all levels.

To start with, God answered each and everyone of the prayer requests we made to you:

1)  safety - our ref Lewis, who has been our ref for almost seven years, said that he had never refereed a game with so much energy but without so much as even one dangerous moment with the wheelchairs;

2) the MiniPeople Club and the City Administration were both shocked by what they saw Saturday, they had never really seen the spirit of love that pervades our time with our kids, and they both could not help but comment on its beauty and power;

3) planning and details also went down without a hitch, with the MiniPeople even getting all the kids to the field early;

4) male volunteers - God found us five more volunteers the night before the match, right when we were just giving up hope, it was incredible!

But God went beyond these requests and provided us with some treats we had not expected. The soccer match was also the most team-oriented we have ever played. Often times in the past the kids in wheelchairs end up with much more "ball-time" than those who walk with assistance but not this time. Team members valued each other and at several points the match almost came to a standstill as players waited for those who were slower to kick the ball. It was truly beautiful to see the kids and counselors respect and love each other through giving each other this kind of time even in the middle of a competitive soccer game (the final score was 1-0).

Saturday morning it rained. But by the time we were gathered together to play the sun was out and shining, something very rare here in St. Petersburg. And the weather continued to be great for the rest of the day. This too was surely from God.

To list all the blessings of Saturday would take recounting the entire day, blow-by-blow, because God surely was with us through it all. I would just like to once again thank you for your payers.

You can view some photos of the event on the photos page of this blog.  The kids' expressions are priceless!

- "With God" (as we say here in Russia) -

Club Babochka Staff