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