Winter got off to an unusually early start for St. Pete's this week as cold winds and snow greeted us. St. Petersburg, while certainly subject to cold temperatures and snowfall, is not all that different in terms of its weather from Northern Indiana where we lived before, so even the locals here were surprised by the several inch deep snow that has covered the ground for the past half week. With temperatures in the upper teens and twenties (Fahrenheit) and a nice stiff breeze from the Gulf of Finland, we've been getting a taste of what will no doubt be the norm for all of January and February:-)
However, an early start to winter weather did not dampen our spirits of gratitude as we celebrated Thanksgiving this past week. While Thanksgiving day was spent working at school, we had the day off on Friday and spent it with Masha's family on Kronstadt. A good time was had by all and Amanda and I got to stretch our Russian language abilities a bit. Saturday was the World Partners Thanksgiving celebration with the rest of our team members. We enjoyed a meal of typical American foods like turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie:-)
We certainly have much to be thankful for this year, as these past 11 months have been extremely eventful for Amanda and I:
- graduation in May
- wedding May 22
- a summer filled with planning for departure, visiting friends and family, and
adjusting to married life
- moving to Russia and settling in to a new country
- beginning work as first year teachers at IA
Through all of this, we have been so blessed by God and what He has done through other people. The support we have from our friends and family both here and in America, the prayers and gifts of our wonderful donors, and the constant encouragement from everyone at IA has sustained us and helped us thrive through our first four months here in Russia.
So a heart-felt thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, given financially, sent us words of encouragement, told others about our work, or done anything else known or unknown to help us here!
As is often the case, here are a few photographs that cover the past week or so of our activities:
Tuesday night we watched CKA, St. Petersburg's hockey team, take on Spartak Moscow in a great game. Unfortunately, Spartak won 5-4 in a shootout. We sat right behind the fan section and took this picture of their colorful flags.
A picture of the action at the other end. Watching world class hockey from the 18th row for less than $7 a ticket is easy to get used to:-P
The goalie for Spartak was none other than NHL legend Dominic Hasek! He's still playing at age 45 and looked pretty good in the game.
A snow-covered bridge on Kronstadt from the night we had dinner with Masha's family.
A picture of our snowy courtyard taken from out of our window.
Our playground is even more fun with the added snow!
World Partners Thanskgiving in Russia! I couldn't get everyone in the picture, but a good time was had by all!
-Matt
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