I woke up very early, about 5:30 in the morning, without the help of an alarm. I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be, and since I could not go back to sleep, I decided to write the previous blog entry. After typing that up, Nina M. was awake, and she made me bliny. (Bliny are very similar to pancakes. I ate mine wrapped around a type of jam. Yummy.) At that point, I was feeling very much like a nap, and I fell back into bed and slept until it was time to go to work.
The American Home (so far, at least) seems wonderful. All of us had been instructed to meet at the school at noon. Nina M. escorted me to the school, so that I would be able to find it. The school is about 15 minutes from the apartment by trolleybus, and half an hour or so to walk. If you have not visited the website of the school, click here! The school building is modeled on a traditional American “ranch-style” home. The living room, kitchen and laundry room are to be used as such (you know, for cooking lunch and doing laundry and whatnot). The rooms that would normally be bedrooms are offices, and the classrooms are in the basement and attic. The school is packed with teaching materials, and we will be spending the next two weeks learning to teach (we have a very hectic schedule of teaching workshops awaiting us before classes begin). Additionally, there are people who will cover for you if you’re sick, and people to assist you in disciplining students when necessary. All of the school staff (Russian) and my fellow teachers (American) seem like fantastic people, which should make this a great working experience, even if I will be really, really busy.
After touring the American Home and meeting all of its employees, we had lunch (no McDonald’s today; instead we ate at a traditional Russian restaurant, and had a fantastic meal of chicken Kiev), and then went on a short guided tour of the historic part of the city. Unfortunately, the internet connection here is way too slow for me to be constantly uploading photographs. I promise all will be online when I return to the US. You’ll simply have to take my word for it that today was beautiful – warm (but not hot) weather, bright blue skies, cool breezes… the perfect day. We visited the Dmitrievsky Sobor (the Dmitri Cathedral), the Uspensky Sobor (Assumption Cathedral) and the Golden Gates. All three of these buildings were constructed of limestone in the twelfth century, and all are utterly stunning. I took many, many pictures, and undoubtedly will take many more of these three landmarks before the year is out.
Mmmm. Honestly, I had meant to write a lot more about my day last night, but I was exhausted. Today we went to the nearby town of Suzdal, which was fantastic... I will try to write about that tonight and post it tomorrow or Monday.
The American Home (so far, at least) seems wonderful. All of us had been instructed to meet at the school at noon. Nina M. escorted me to the school, so that I would be able to find it. The school is about 15 minutes from the apartment by trolleybus, and half an hour or so to walk. If you have not visited the website of the school, click here! The school building is modeled on a traditional American “ranch-style” home. The living room, kitchen and laundry room are to be used as such (you know, for cooking lunch and doing laundry and whatnot). The rooms that would normally be bedrooms are offices, and the classrooms are in the basement and attic. The school is packed with teaching materials, and we will be spending the next two weeks learning to teach (we have a very hectic schedule of teaching workshops awaiting us before classes begin). Additionally, there are people who will cover for you if you’re sick, and people to assist you in disciplining students when necessary. All of the school staff (Russian) and my fellow teachers (American) seem like fantastic people, which should make this a great working experience, even if I will be really, really busy.
After touring the American Home and meeting all of its employees, we had lunch (no McDonald’s today; instead we ate at a traditional Russian restaurant, and had a fantastic meal of chicken Kiev), and then went on a short guided tour of the historic part of the city. Unfortunately, the internet connection here is way too slow for me to be constantly uploading photographs. I promise all will be online when I return to the US. You’ll simply have to take my word for it that today was beautiful – warm (but not hot) weather, bright blue skies, cool breezes… the perfect day. We visited the Dmitrievsky Sobor (the Dmitri Cathedral), the Uspensky Sobor (Assumption Cathedral) and the Golden Gates. All three of these buildings were constructed of limestone in the twelfth century, and all are utterly stunning. I took many, many pictures, and undoubtedly will take many more of these three landmarks before the year is out.
Mmmm. Honestly, I had meant to write a lot more about my day last night, but I was exhausted. Today we went to the nearby town of Suzdal, which was fantastic... I will try to write about that tonight and post it tomorrow or Monday.
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