Journey to the Colder Side of the Earth: End of Summer, Beginning of the Year

Hello again!

Our summer break has come to an end and our school year has already begun. This past Wednesday was our annual first bell ceremony to kick off the new school year, and Thursday and Friday were our first normal days of school. The year has gotten off to a good start so far, and we are looking forward to spending more time with the great group of students we have.

Last weekend we had the chance to take in one more bit of summer fun before the start of school. A friend of ours told us that she knew some people who were going to be participating in international restaurant day, which is apparently an event in which people open up their own "restaurants" for a day to serve food and have fun with people. There were lots of make-shift restaurants setting up in various locations around the city. The one we went to was located in a hostel downtown and was serving a mixture of Russian and American food. It was called "American Pie" (phonetically transliterated into Russian), and we had a great time enjoying the handful of dishes available. To make it even better, it was all free!

We have record enrollment at IA this year with 116 students currently enrolled, so first bell day was even more packed than usual with all of the students and their families. It is shaping up to be a challenge to just find the space to fit everyone, and we are already having to make some changes regarding lunches, classrooms, etc. Still, it is a huge blessing to have so many students to be able to minister to, and we have already enjoyed having students who were gone last year return and meeting the students who are new to IA this year.

We also have a number of new and returning staff members this year. It has been great to see people coming back who were gone last year, and it has also been fun to meet the new teachers. Things are looking different on the secondary level with two teachers from last year back in the States for the year and three new teachers (including a new English teacher!) to handle those courses. It is a funny feeling for Amanda and I because at this point we are the veteran teachers, and of the foreign teachers at the school, we are the only ones on the secondary level who have been here every year for the past three years. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were brand new at IA and immersed in the newness of teaching and living in Russia. Time certainly flies!

This year Amanda is teaching 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English and directing the school play. I am teaching 7/8th (Ancient History), 9th (World Geography), and 10/11th (Modern History). Because of how we have done the schedule this year, I actually have two sections of World Geography and Modern History, so my challenge for the year will be to try to keep both sections at roughly the same point. One nice thing for both of us is that for the first time, we are only teaching courses that we have done before. It will be nice to be able to go back and make changes and try new things with these courses instead of just working to pull together material for the first time!

With all of our work preparing for the new school year, we haven't had the chance to take too many pictures, but here a few from this past week:-)

The counter of the "restaurant" we went to last Sunday night.

The walls of the hostel where the restaurant was are covered with chalkboards in the kitchen so that people who stay there can write on it. It makes for a fascinating record of the travels of people from all over the world.

Looking out over the seating area.

Me enjoying some basil lemonade and a "Russian hamburger"

Amanda enjoying her dryaniki (a kind of potato pancake)

The door to the hostel advertising the restaurant. It says "American Pie" in phonetic Cyrillic letters.

Families and students filling in the third floor on First Bell Day.

The oldest and youngest student always join together to ring the ceremonial bell to start the new year. This a tradition from Russian public schools that IA always enacts.