Novgorod Again!

We're reaching a point in the year that for us is always wrapped up in traditions as well as completely new experiences. 

As in the past two years we again did our Odyssey soap  sculptures. The two below were our best. The one on top is of Odysseus as an old man and was done with an amazing amount of skill (look at the hands and arms!). The one below was cleverly made in pieces that fitted together and is of Odysseus as a warrior. 

Time arrived for our every-other-year field trip to Novgorod. It was a two and half hour van ride but we finally arrived to cold rainy weather. The students were happily busy buying mittens and socks to combat the cold. Matthew had underdressed and looked about ready to freeze to death which was very sad. 

But at long last we started our tour which started at this square that had once been a market and where several different churches had been built by different merchants and traders. 

Whereas last time the guys were encouraged to run around the church three times in hopes of quickly finding a wife, this time the girls were encouraged to do so. More than usual participated, partially due to hopes of warming up. :-)

We then toured the museum and since Novgorod is credited as being the birth place of Russia it was interesting to see the early artifacts and how people would have lived and traded then. 

Of course we saw the monument, but we got a more in depth explanation of figures on it which I enjoyed. 

The top ring consists of important figures like Peter the Great facing in the direction they took the most interest in (in Peter's case, the West). Below them are other figures from their time. In the picture below you can see Pushkin (the fellow with the rockin' sideburns) and Gogol to the right of him. 

We also saw St Sophia Church which is the oldest stone church in Russia. Matthew had lost the cross he wears the week before and so he was able to buy a new one here.

Something new for all of us was walking along the walls of the fortress. Below we have most of our lovely group. 

The walls facing back toward the city 

At this point we finally had some nice warmer weather and the sun even came out for us. 

Our complete group!

As far as other school related events, the play is drawing steadily closer (3 weeks!) and both Natalie and I have been pleased with how well things are coming together. Today we had a rather amusing practice since three of our leads were sick but even then things went well which is very encouraging. 

Matthew is done in spirit with his applications for grad school. He has finished everything he has needed to do and is now just looking everything over before submitting them. This strikes me as being a bit like our coming to Russia four years ago in that I'm hardly able to believe that it is actually happening. 

I recently read a quote by C.S. Lewis that I felt really spoke to where I am in this entire process right now: "We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." I don't doubt that this is what we should be doing but the pain of leaving our students and friends here and starting somewhere completely new all over again is often overwhelming. It is always something to be praying for as we move toward saying goodbye this year. 

But it is also important to be present now while we are here and we definitely thank God for the time we have been given here. Thanks for all of your prayers and support. 

Fall Break!

I am now writing this from the tail end of fall break. The weather has declined into mostly rainy since our last post of pretty fall colors, but break was good nonetheless. 

To catch everyone up on what has happened between now and then...

We've rented our space for the play. It's a lovely dance hall with a lot more space than last year though we will actually be in the exact same building as last year. The convenience is too good to pass up! Things are creeping closer but it looks like we should all be ready!

We recently had our first youth group as well and that was a lot of fun for Matt and me. Games included Human Sculptures with the categories being movies. (Above: High school musical; Below: Harry Potter!) We talked about fear and were able to have some really good discussions with our students. 

Matt's room has been collecting student artwork this year. He told his classes early in the year that he likes Angry Birds (which he does not play; he just likes looking at them) and so one particular student has been drawing a new Angry Bird for him every week. Other artwork presented refers to different comments he's made in class. :-)

International Day was quite the event this year! It all started off with a concert of songs from different countries and the band performing pieces from different movies. 

The costumes were also more elaborate this year and Matt and I always enjoy looking at the variety!

There were also themed rooms with different activities going on in them for different countries. 

The American room had square dancing (my favorite room).

And the Russian room had a game with wooden blocks and a stick you roll at them. 

There was also a photobooth upstairs.

(We're so cute!)

One of the best costumes we saw was the Royal Family (above)! There's Prince William, Kate, and baby George! 

We hadn't been to a hockey game in ages so we took the opportunity this break. We had amazing seats just two rows from the goal again.

In the picture below is one of my favorite parts of the games. If you look right above the camera there's a little girl who comes to every game and knows every single cheer. It's very cute to watch her doing the routines perfectly with the cheerleaders. 

Other fall break activities included a lot of baking (me), working on grad school apps and letters (Matt), and just being able to relax. 

Current prayer requests:

• Matt is finally getting to the point of sending in applications to different schools. There's about a dozen he's submitting applications to and we will not know anything until the spring. Pray that things come together and that it's clear what we should be doing next. 
• The play is a lot earlier this year and so there is the same amount that needs to be done but less time to do it in. Pray that everything comes together quickly and well! 

Bright and Beautiful

Fall is here in the city! 

We've had a few weeks of wetness and then intermittent sunshine, so we've been trying to get out and enjoy it while it is here. 

One attempt to go enjoy the weather ended up being rained out so we ended up at Galleria where there was an awesome display of yarn bombing. 

We recently realized that there was an important member of our life in St Petersburg that we had no pictures of: Doma Kitty! (Doma just means "at home." We don't actually know her name.) She is a lovely long hair kitty that lives in our building and is generally friendly and loving. I say generally because apparently taking her picture makes her angry since she clawed my hand shortly before I got this photo. 

Matthew recently had his class do travel posters for different cities in Russia. One of our Japanese students drew this gorgeous poster with Cheburashka and the Kremlin and a hilarious shifty eyed Putin. 

This past weekend we went to Pavlovsk, which is largely a park outside of the city. There is a palace there but the grounds are the most impressive part and it is very popular in the fall when all of the leaves change color.  One of my favorite parts of going there in the fall is when all of the skinny white birch trees change to bright yellow.

Matt and David, a former student teaching here for a year, on the lovely little bridge. 

Leaf crowns are very popular with Russians in the fall and we were all very impressed with the sheer size of this little girl's wreath. 

A highlight for us was feeding/trying to feed squirrels! The squirrels tend to be well fed since they are novel for everyone and the park sells seeds and nuts. We found this little guy and both Matt and I were able to feed him. It was terribly cute because he put his little paws on our hands while he ate!

Our group! Matt, David, Natalie (my fellow English and theater teacher), Renee (junior high teacher), and me!

Continue to pray for the play as now we are into planning stage and sets and costumes and getting everyone memorized!

Spiritual Retreat

Greetings once more!

We are back from an eventful week!  It is still hard for us to think that our fourth and last spiritual retreat at IA has come to an end.  Spiritual Retreat has been a special part of each year that we have been part of IA, and this year proved to be no different in that respect.  Due to a last minute change of plans, I ended up going on the high school retreat instead of the junior high retreat as had been originally planned.  Once again, we were blessed to be part of this time of seeing our students grow spiritually and in friendship with one another.

In yet another sign that Amanda and I are now veterans and no longer the new people, we were the only teachers on the high school retreat who had been to more than one retreat at IA.  I was also in the unusual (for me) position of being the teacher who spoke the best Russian and therefore got to handle the logistical details with the staff at the seminary facility where we went. Its strange that we are now often the go-to people for things like this, and is a reminder of just how much turnover and lack of continuity there is in schools like ours.  Teachers who stay who for four years are relatively rare, and it is even rarer for teachers to be able to stay for four consecutive school years, but that is probably a topic for a different blog post.

Our theme for retreat this year was Not a Victim - Victorious, and our speaker was actually the person who served as our interim headmaster two years ago.  While most of the students knew him as a stand-in administrator and teacher, his greatest gifting is his heart for Third Culture Kids and the issues that they face, and this retreat bore it out.  

Our sessions focused on the Book of Daniel and the ways in which Daniel represents someone in the Bible who was torn away from his homeland and was forced into situations were he lost friends and family and suffered persecution, all the while refusing to feel and act like a victim and glorifying God.  This is something that resonates deeply with our students as they have all been moved to Russia due to their parents work and ministries, and many have mixed and confused feelings about being in Russia and their own identity. 

The temptation to feel sorry for yourself or to feel powerless and marginalized is a big one for our students, and this retreat spoke to those very issues. Our students were challenged to live victoriously by looking to God for stability and identity.  We left feeling that the messages given at retreat were exactly what our students needed to hear, and were excited to see the way they responded in our group sessions and small group times.

As always, getting away from the busyness of life in St. Petersburg and out into the countryside was a wonderful time to refocus ourselves, and our students all seemed refreshed by it.  Please keep praying that the decisions and convictions that took place during our time would continue in the lives of our students.  Its easy to focus on God and hear from Him during times like retreat, but much harder once the normal pressures of life come rushing back in.

The retreat was also filled with lots of fun games, team-building exercises, and even some spontaneous musical theater (more about that below).  Here are some photos that documented our time!

The first night we played Castles and Cats, a game that Amanda found for her literature circles last year that has rapidly become a favorite for our students.  They even play it on their own sometimes:-)

This game was a variation of musical chairs that involved people having to fight over possession of a football to continue on in the game.  Much action ensued.

Amanda getting ready to toss the football into the melee. 

In the courtyard area next to our dormitory and near the dining hall.

One of our sessions on Daniel.

An intense game of Red Rover was also a part of the festivities.

Steal the Bacon, another favorite game, led to some epic grass stains and a few minor injuries.  What can we say, we have some tough and competitive students:-)

One of our team-building games involved trying to complete an obstacle course while blindfolded.  The point was that the obstacle course was unsolvable and the only way to find what you were looking for was to ask for help.  The idea was to teach the students that asking for help is not a sign of weakness and in some situations is the only solution.  It took quite a while for many of the students to catch on, and it was over an hour before everyone had figured out what to do.

One student even scrawled a message on the blackboard while blindfolded:-)

Trying to balance people on wooden pallets stacked on top of tires was another team-building exercise.  After successfully completing it with two pallets, they were forced to fit the entire group onto a single one.  It took some doing, but they achieved (very briefly!) the goal.

After team-building it was time for some good, old-fashioned every man for himself games.  The object of this game was to force other people to touch the tires or to let go of their partners hands.  People kept getting eliminated until only two remained.

The first game ended with no winners, but in the second game I participated since more people were needed and was actually the winner!

Things got quite acrobatic.

Amanda was a great sandcastle cheerleader.

Our last night always ends with a bonfire where we sing, roast marshmallows, and share what we heard from God during our time.  It's always a fun, emotional, and bittersweet moment.

Our students loaded up onto the bus on the way back to St. Petersburg.

One of the special highlights from retreat was when our students secretly organized a flash-mob to perform a song from the musical Les Miserables during lunch in the dining hall.  The incident was captured on video and was a hilarious and unexpected moment:-)

As you can tell, retreat was a great time and we pray that the things that took place will be used by God as a foundation for even more growth in our school.  Next week marks a normal school week, but its the normal routines where we are often challenged the most to live out our faith and we pray that as a school we will rise to this challenge.

Thanks for reading and for your prayers!

-Matt