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!!