Today was an awesome day!
Started off by waking up and eating breakfast in what I would describe as a crepe restaurant. People definitely stared at us when we walked in, and Anatoli had to help us order our food, but it was delicious! I had a ham, cheese, and mushroom crepe. There were some hockey players sitting across from us that looked kind of intimidating, so I didn't risk glancing their way too often, haha.
After breakfast, we walked to the school that Anatoli used to work in. There was a guard at the front. Because of a fairly recent bombing of a Russian school by Chechnyan rebels in southern Russia, there is heightened security around all Russian schools, and this guard didn't look like someone we wanted to tango with. He was friendly, though, and we went in to wait in the lobby where there was a group of 5 or so students aged 14-16ish.
I just have to say that I LOVED the Russian students. They were so alike and different from their American peers. The ones in the lobby stared obviously at us and giggled, and when I smiled at them, they giggled more. When we looked away, one of the goofier ones yelled, "Hello, America!" We laughed and smiled, not yet knowing the Russian for even "Hello" (I know it now, by the way, pronounced "Dob-rah-deen"). We took a tour of the building and saw several more students. There were fourth graders in the hallway (they turned the corner and then one came back, looked at us, and ran to tell his friends "Americans!") and some hockey players near the cafeteria (go figure, haha). They were less-reserved than American students, but equally as squirrelly. One group kept peaking into our classroom while Anatoli was speaking, and he went to the door and started in English, "Excuse me, we're having class..Oh!" and then finished his admonition in Russian. They were adorably curious, as American students would be about weird-looking strangers from other countries!
In Russia, Anatoli said, sports aren't really part of the school system. The athletes train with city-wide programs and then sometimes go to special schools for their classes/sports. At this school, they had a special class of students for athletes of all kinds who took classes together. In general, in Russia, students stay with one class per year, even in secondary schools, where they do have separate classes per subject (Chemistry, English, History). There are also only 11 grades, all the time in the same building. Students graduate at 17, and THEN they may apply for colleges, not before graduation, like we do.
The library was really small compared to U.S. school "media centers." They usually only have a few hundred books, plus encyclopedias. They also still use religion in schools, always Orthodox, even though there is not an official state-sponsored religion.
Also, this school used to be very large, 1200 students in one building. But now, it has only 350. Anatoli said that when he taught, the surrounding area had a lot of multiple families sharing apartments with separate sleeping areas, but common kitchens and bathrooms. Now that Russia is on the rise economically, a lot of families moved out of the shared apartments and got their own places in different areas, so that neighborhood is much less populous, thereby making the school smaller too. It was all really interesting.
Also in the school, students (especially young ones) were dressed up. Like, I saw a second grader in a three-piece suit. The 10th and 11th graders were wearing jeans, but they still looked pretty spiffy! They teach English in the schools, but a lot of the students and even non-English teachers were not fluent. All the classrooms had smart boards (advanced even in America!) and were relatively small. Anatoli told us that this was a comparatively nice school for St. Petersburg.
We went into a second grade classroom to say hello. The teacher told the students in Russian who we were, and asked if any of them knew any English. The sweetest girl raised her hand, and said perfectly, "My name is Sasha." I just wanted to hug her, but I'm pretty sure that would be frowned upon, haha. I could not even attempt to say the same phrase in Russian, so she was one up on me for sure.
After the tour, we had class for an hour. We were all pretty tired still and so was Anatoli, so it was extra-short. From now on, we'll go for 2 hours every week day.
Since it was raining pretty hard, we walked to the bank to exchange currency. In Russia, you have to have extra-crispy American bills to exchange, or they won't accept them. Luckily, I had sufficiently crispy bills.
Then we went to the grocery store. It was so fun! I got some yogurt, apples, cheese, bread, Pear-flavored soda, pomegranate juice, cherries, and some kind of chocolate cookie. Oh, and chicken soup mix. We'll be cooking a lot of our own meals to save money while we're here. The boys on the trip got spaghetti and marinara sauce and had it for lunch. It was good, but definitely not Ragu or Prego, it had a decidedly Russian taste, haha. By the way, Pear soda is like my new favorite thing.
Then we went back to the hotel to relax. Anatoli left us, and I took a nap for 2 hours. It stopped raining! So, Julie and I decided to go out and walk around (Not far, Mom and Grandma. :) We just went on our street and one block over and only during the day time, which incidently is until 10:30pm here, haha). We went to change more money for Julie, on a search for a 3-pronged converter for my computer charger, and to grab some dinner. I took a ton of pictures on the street, but I put them on facebook because it takes a lot longer to upload them on to my blog page.
We walked about 2-3 miles, over one of the bridges (we're staying on an island in St. Petersburg that is actually closed off from the rest of the city at night because they draw all the bridges from 1:30am-5:00am), and back to our hotel by 9:00pm.
So far, all the people I've met have been extremely nice. In the computer store, none of the employees spoke English well at all, but we mimed to one of the guys, and he found us exactly what we needed! Also, the waitress at our dinner restaurant knew no English, so we pointed at what we wanted, and she was really nice! We tipped her when we left, and she said "Thank you". By the way, the word I've used most in Russian is "Thank you" which is pronounced "Pass-ee-bah". I feel like I'm saying it right, because they nod and say something that sounds like gibberish but feels like they mean "you're welcome" haha.
Tomorrow, we start our sight-seeing with a trip to Peter and Paul Fortress and the neighboring military museum. Pumped for that! Ask questions if you want to know more about anything and see the pictures on facebook! Starting to miss everyone; have nice days wherever you may be! :)
P.S. My mind is State-side tonight because in a few hours, Pat will be graduating from Purdue! He's too humble to say so, but he's graduating with a double-major honors diploma and a 3.96 GPA. I'm so proud of him, and everyone should pat him on the back (physically or virtually)
for such an outstanding achievement!
Started off by waking up and eating breakfast in what I would describe as a crepe restaurant. People definitely stared at us when we walked in, and Anatoli had to help us order our food, but it was delicious! I had a ham, cheese, and mushroom crepe. There were some hockey players sitting across from us that looked kind of intimidating, so I didn't risk glancing their way too often, haha.
After breakfast, we walked to the school that Anatoli used to work in. There was a guard at the front. Because of a fairly recent bombing of a Russian school by Chechnyan rebels in southern Russia, there is heightened security around all Russian schools, and this guard didn't look like someone we wanted to tango with. He was friendly, though, and we went in to wait in the lobby where there was a group of 5 or so students aged 14-16ish.
I just have to say that I LOVED the Russian students. They were so alike and different from their American peers. The ones in the lobby stared obviously at us and giggled, and when I smiled at them, they giggled more. When we looked away, one of the goofier ones yelled, "Hello, America!" We laughed and smiled, not yet knowing the Russian for even "Hello" (I know it now, by the way, pronounced "Dob-rah-deen"). We took a tour of the building and saw several more students. There were fourth graders in the hallway (they turned the corner and then one came back, looked at us, and ran to tell his friends "Americans!") and some hockey players near the cafeteria (go figure, haha). They were less-reserved than American students, but equally as squirrelly. One group kept peaking into our classroom while Anatoli was speaking, and he went to the door and started in English, "Excuse me, we're having class..Oh!" and then finished his admonition in Russian. They were adorably curious, as American students would be about weird-looking strangers from other countries!
In Russia, Anatoli said, sports aren't really part of the school system. The athletes train with city-wide programs and then sometimes go to special schools for their classes/sports. At this school, they had a special class of students for athletes of all kinds who took classes together. In general, in Russia, students stay with one class per year, even in secondary schools, where they do have separate classes per subject (Chemistry, English, History). There are also only 11 grades, all the time in the same building. Students graduate at 17, and THEN they may apply for colleges, not before graduation, like we do.
The library was really small compared to U.S. school "media centers." They usually only have a few hundred books, plus encyclopedias. They also still use religion in schools, always Orthodox, even though there is not an official state-sponsored religion.
Also, this school used to be very large, 1200 students in one building. But now, it has only 350. Anatoli said that when he taught, the surrounding area had a lot of multiple families sharing apartments with separate sleeping areas, but common kitchens and bathrooms. Now that Russia is on the rise economically, a lot of families moved out of the shared apartments and got their own places in different areas, so that neighborhood is much less populous, thereby making the school smaller too. It was all really interesting.
Also in the school, students (especially young ones) were dressed up. Like, I saw a second grader in a three-piece suit. The 10th and 11th graders were wearing jeans, but they still looked pretty spiffy! They teach English in the schools, but a lot of the students and even non-English teachers were not fluent. All the classrooms had smart boards (advanced even in America!) and were relatively small. Anatoli told us that this was a comparatively nice school for St. Petersburg.
We went into a second grade classroom to say hello. The teacher told the students in Russian who we were, and asked if any of them knew any English. The sweetest girl raised her hand, and said perfectly, "My name is Sasha." I just wanted to hug her, but I'm pretty sure that would be frowned upon, haha. I could not even attempt to say the same phrase in Russian, so she was one up on me for sure.
After the tour, we had class for an hour. We were all pretty tired still and so was Anatoli, so it was extra-short. From now on, we'll go for 2 hours every week day.
Since it was raining pretty hard, we walked to the bank to exchange currency. In Russia, you have to have extra-crispy American bills to exchange, or they won't accept them. Luckily, I had sufficiently crispy bills.
Then we went to the grocery store. It was so fun! I got some yogurt, apples, cheese, bread, Pear-flavored soda, pomegranate juice, cherries, and some kind of chocolate cookie. Oh, and chicken soup mix. We'll be cooking a lot of our own meals to save money while we're here. The boys on the trip got spaghetti and marinara sauce and had it for lunch. It was good, but definitely not Ragu or Prego, it had a decidedly Russian taste, haha. By the way, Pear soda is like my new favorite thing.
Then we went back to the hotel to relax. Anatoli left us, and I took a nap for 2 hours. It stopped raining! So, Julie and I decided to go out and walk around (Not far, Mom and Grandma. :) We just went on our street and one block over and only during the day time, which incidently is until 10:30pm here, haha). We went to change more money for Julie, on a search for a 3-pronged converter for my computer charger, and to grab some dinner. I took a ton of pictures on the street, but I put them on facebook because it takes a lot longer to upload them on to my blog page.
We walked about 2-3 miles, over one of the bridges (we're staying on an island in St. Petersburg that is actually closed off from the rest of the city at night because they draw all the bridges from 1:30am-5:00am), and back to our hotel by 9:00pm.
So far, all the people I've met have been extremely nice. In the computer store, none of the employees spoke English well at all, but we mimed to one of the guys, and he found us exactly what we needed! Also, the waitress at our dinner restaurant knew no English, so we pointed at what we wanted, and she was really nice! We tipped her when we left, and she said "Thank you". By the way, the word I've used most in Russian is "Thank you" which is pronounced "Pass-ee-bah". I feel like I'm saying it right, because they nod and say something that sounds like gibberish but feels like they mean "you're welcome" haha.
Tomorrow, we start our sight-seeing with a trip to Peter and Paul Fortress and the neighboring military museum. Pumped for that! Ask questions if you want to know more about anything and see the pictures on facebook! Starting to miss everyone; have nice days wherever you may be! :)
P.S. My mind is State-side tonight because in a few hours, Pat will be graduating from Purdue! He's too humble to say so, but he's graduating with a double-major honors diploma and a 3.96 GPA. I'm so proud of him, and everyone should pat him on the back (physically or virtually)
for such an outstanding achievement!
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