What a great surprise. Inability, the Egyptian guy we met when we traveled to Nozhny Novgorod in March, is in town on business and Sonia, Fouad and I were able to meet up with him for dinner last night. He works for John Deere and is stationed in Nizhy but has to do lots of traveling for his job. He’s not really enjoying it that much because his family is back in Alexandria, he speaks little Russian, and have very few personal contacts at work. So he’s grateful when he can hang out with us a little bit. We’re going to see him again tonight after Sonia and I meet up with Emma, our sales lady friend from the public market. And here’s where I’m called upon to use as much Russian as possible because Emma speaks NO English. But we always manage to get by.
We’re talking about household appliances this week and today we”washed” a bunch of my t-shirts in the wash machine we made out of a cardboard box. I took in my drying rack and it was interesting to see them Struggling with the clothes pins while holding the shirts up to the line. It was a great motor skills practice. Next week I think I’ll transition over to the theme of shapes. We did it last year, but repetition and review are so necessary.Plus, I have to introduce the shapes to the new kids.
We ended up with onLy 8 kids today because of illness and vacations. Oh, how pleasant.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Jake got a puppy and I had a bike conference
Jake, all of 25, has been talking about getting a dog since shortly after he arrived in Kazan a couple of weeks ago. So Saturday, He finally went out and did it. He’s named it Teya and it is a mongrel. It’s really a cute little thing and he’s dedicating every free minute to it. He got some flack about it from the head of the department, but why should the department head care? He’s got a cat! If Jake’s willing to take care of her, leave him alone about it. He really thought it through very carefully and was able to picture all possible scenarios. I think it will be difficult, but he wants to make it work and he will.
Meanwhile, I took the afternoon off yesterday to attend the bike conference downtown. There were presentations In Russian ,Chinese (with English sub-titles), German and English so I understood a large portion of what was going on. I learned a couple of new things and also ran into some cycling friends from Kazan. These are the movers and shakers who are getting a lot of changes made concerning the infrastructure in the city. It was supposed to go from 2-5, but by 5:30 it was still only half over because everybody dragged out his/her speech. So I just got up and left. I had had to go all the way to the back of the building to chain up my bike and when I turned the corner, the wind was blowing so hard, it almost knocked me off my feet. Riding back to the subway station was actually a little scary. I was always glad when I was past the intersections because the buildings kept the wind off me. I’ve never experienced wind this bad in Kazan.
But I made it home all right and this morning I did a bike lesson with the first graders again. It was sunny and the leaves were beautiful. So we decided to take them on a bike excursion in the woods since their behavior has improved so much. They had a good time and it was nice for them to be able to ride somewhere besides around the school.
Tomorrow I’ll be doing my private English lesson with the little girl whose dad lives in the States. Thursday, Sonia and I are going to meet up with the lady who used to sell the cottage cheese at the public market place. She got a new job and hasn’t been there for months. But we were able to get In Touch with her and we’ll meet for a cup of coffee. She was such a nice lady. I’m glad we’ll get to see her again.
Meanwhile, I took the afternoon off yesterday to attend the bike conference downtown. There were presentations In Russian ,Chinese (with English sub-titles), German and English so I understood a large portion of what was going on. I learned a couple of new things and also ran into some cycling friends from Kazan. These are the movers and shakers who are getting a lot of changes made concerning the infrastructure in the city. It was supposed to go from 2-5, but by 5:30 it was still only half over because everybody dragged out his/her speech. So I just got up and left. I had had to go all the way to the back of the building to chain up my bike and when I turned the corner, the wind was blowing so hard, it almost knocked me off my feet. Riding back to the subway station was actually a little scary. I was always glad when I was past the intersections because the buildings kept the wind off me. I’ve never experienced wind this bad in Kazan.
But I made it home all right and this morning I did a bike lesson with the first graders again. It was sunny and the leaves were beautiful. So we decided to take them on a bike excursion in the woods since their behavior has improved so much. They had a good time and it was nice for them to be able to ride somewhere besides around the school.
Tomorrow I’ll be doing my private English lesson with the little girl whose dad lives in the States. Thursday, Sonia and I are going to meet up with the lady who used to sell the cottage cheese at the public market place. She got a new job and hasn’t been there for months. But we were able to get In Touch with her and we’ll meet for a cup of coffee. She was such a nice lady. I’m glad we’ll get to see her again.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Bicycle news
I forgot. Not only will I be attending the bicycle conference on Monday, they are going to have a big rally for the guy who rode around the world Sunday at midnight. I’m seriously thinking about going. And then next Saturday, there will be the last night ride of the year. Kazan is really getting organized in terms of “bikes as transportation”. You go, guys!
Sonia’s birthday
Thursday Sonia and I went to the couch surfing gathering. They had 20 or so people around one big table and you really couldn’t converse with anyone, it was just too noisy. Then Mahmoud, the leader of the whole thing, decides everyone should introduce him/herself. Mahmoud decides that the person on my right should start and then it goes around to the person to her right. It gets to be 10 pm and they’re still only halfway around the table. Screw this. I’m not waiting for another 45 minutes to say, “Hi, my name is Karen. I’m from America and I teach English in Kazan.” I had school the next day!
So, I am sort or bummed out on the couch surfing group now.
Friday after school I went downtown to meet a mom who wants me to give her 4-year-old daughter
English lessons. The kid was born in the States but lives back in Kazan now and mom is afraid she will lose all her English . I said I would give it a try, but gave no guarantees. The kid seems to be a little wild. If I have to spend my time making her mind, it’s not worth it.
Today is Sonia’s birthday. I went and picked up her present last night before I met the mom and the little girl. This morning I made pizza dough and I will take a homemade pizza over to the party tonight. I went out shopping for a few things this morning. I rode the bike down to the big Ashan grocery store about a half hour away. I just wanted a nice, long ride. I got everything and was headed back home when I heard someone call me. It was Sonia, who had also been out shopping. So I pushed the bike the rest of the way home with her and waited for her while she got a few more things. Now it’s just study time until the party. And tomorrow is going to be another stay at home, lazy day.
So, I am sort or bummed out on the couch surfing group now.
Friday after school I went downtown to meet a mom who wants me to give her 4-year-old daughter
English lessons. The kid was born in the States but lives back in Kazan now and mom is afraid she will lose all her English . I said I would give it a try, but gave no guarantees. The kid seems to be a little wild. If I have to spend my time making her mind, it’s not worth it.
Today is Sonia’s birthday. I went and picked up her present last night before I met the mom and the little girl. This morning I made pizza dough and I will take a homemade pizza over to the party tonight. I went out shopping for a few things this morning. I rode the bike down to the big Ashan grocery store about a half hour away. I just wanted a nice, long ride. I got everything and was headed back home when I heard someone call me. It was Sonia, who had also been out shopping. So I pushed the bike the rest of the way home with her and waited for her while she got a few more things. Now it’s just study time until the party. And tomorrow is going to be another stay at home, lazy day.
Thursday, October 4, 2018
City club
Sonia and I got the whole gang to go to City Club last night, which was held this month on a Wednesday. Jake, Paul , Jennifer, Sonia and I all took the 30 bus to the opera house (I used my new transportation card.) and walked about 5 minutes from there. It was a really small little bar and we were all jammed in. I met lots of new people and had fun catching up with the people I had met before.
Jake is a dyed-in-the-wool Liverpool fan and I had told him I would watch the game with him last night, so we cut out at about 9:30 with Paul to go to Jake’s favorite sports bar. Paul went straight home and we walked over to the Home Bar. There were two people in the bar when we got there and 4 TVs turned to the Barcelona-Tottenham game. Jake asked the barkeeper if we could turn on the Liverpool game. The barkeeper refused because the other two customers had requested the Barcelona game. So we’re telling the guy, “But you have 4 TVs in this tiny little bar. You mean you can’t change the channel on just one of them? Those two guys can have the other 3 TVs, for all we care.” “Nope. The TVs are all coordinated to one system and what you watch on one, you have to watch on all.” Hmmmmm. Ok. So the Barcelona game wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what Jake wanted to see. He’s checking out new bars close to the apartment building. He’s got to see Liverpool. It’s an addiction for him. We finally got home at about 12:30.
Jake, Paul and Jen all seem to be doing a good job and fitting in very well. In fact, Jake will start giving English lessons to the Russian staff this week. And Russian lessons are going to be offered to the English speakers twice a week. I’m going to pass on those because I’m at a slightly higher level than the newbies so I really don’t have to sit and relearn the alphabet.
Tonight is couch surfing club, the club where there’s as much Russian spoken as English. I think it will be Sonia, Jake ,Jenn and me who are going. Paul opted out.
We’re talking about professions now with the kids. Today lesson was about entomologists so we got to look at a bunch of neat bugs. In fact, I didn’t even get to finish the lesson, so we’ll continue it tomorrow. We’ll read about and make The Very Hungry Caterpillar and use a magnifying glass. I’m still trying to come up with a theme for next week. I still have the weekend to think about it.
Oh, and did I mention already that they are installing a new hot water meter in my apartment? The first Sunday morning I stayed home and the electrician and the landlady were here for 5 minutes when the decided they needed new parts and left. The next Sunday they came again, decided they n ended more new parts, stayed for 5 minutes and left. Today I came home from school while the children were sleeping. The landlady and the electrician came and worked for 45 minutes and then told me to be in the apartment tomorrow at 1, because he still had to work on it more. Really? I’m glad the kids take long enough naps and I have two assistants so I can sneak out for an hour. This is getting ridiculous.
Jake is a dyed-in-the-wool Liverpool fan and I had told him I would watch the game with him last night, so we cut out at about 9:30 with Paul to go to Jake’s favorite sports bar. Paul went straight home and we walked over to the Home Bar. There were two people in the bar when we got there and 4 TVs turned to the Barcelona-Tottenham game. Jake asked the barkeeper if we could turn on the Liverpool game. The barkeeper refused because the other two customers had requested the Barcelona game. So we’re telling the guy, “But you have 4 TVs in this tiny little bar. You mean you can’t change the channel on just one of them? Those two guys can have the other 3 TVs, for all we care.” “Nope. The TVs are all coordinated to one system and what you watch on one, you have to watch on all.” Hmmmmm. Ok. So the Barcelona game wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what Jake wanted to see. He’s checking out new bars close to the apartment building. He’s got to see Liverpool. It’s an addiction for him. We finally got home at about 12:30.
Jake, Paul and Jen all seem to be doing a good job and fitting in very well. In fact, Jake will start giving English lessons to the Russian staff this week. And Russian lessons are going to be offered to the English speakers twice a week. I’m going to pass on those because I’m at a slightly higher level than the newbies so I really don’t have to sit and relearn the alphabet.
Tonight is couch surfing club, the club where there’s as much Russian spoken as English. I think it will be Sonia, Jake ,Jenn and me who are going. Paul opted out.
We’re talking about professions now with the kids. Today lesson was about entomologists so we got to look at a bunch of neat bugs. In fact, I didn’t even get to finish the lesson, so we’ll continue it tomorrow. We’ll read about and make The Very Hungry Caterpillar and use a magnifying glass. I’m still trying to come up with a theme for next week. I still have the weekend to think about it.
Oh, and did I mention already that they are installing a new hot water meter in my apartment? The first Sunday morning I stayed home and the electrician and the landlady were here for 5 minutes when the decided they needed new parts and left. The next Sunday they came again, decided they n ended more new parts, stayed for 5 minutes and left. Today I came home from school while the children were sleeping. The landlady and the electrician came and worked for 45 minutes and then told me to be in the apartment tomorrow at 1, because he still had to work on it more. Really? I’m glad the kids take long enough naps and I have two assistants so I can sneak out for an hour. This is getting ridiculous.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
The trip to the mosque
Hooray! I finally got my visit to the mosque in. The dad picked me up after school and drove me there. First he gave me a tour. They are doing a lot of renovations and building out the basement for classrooms and a rec area. It’s simply and beautifully decorated. Very attractive. And the people were super friendly and hospitable. I was offered tea and everyone spoke to me and thanked me for visiting their mosque. Then I got to sit in on the dad’s Arabic lesson. He had prepared a sheet for me with English translations so I was at least able to follow along. Afterwards he drove me back home and he took the time to answer all my questions I had about Islam. It was a really pleasant experience. Ya gotta love the tolerance in Kazan.
And I’ve got bicycle news! The president of the Kazan Rotary is just completing an around the world bike trip and they’re building an entire conference around the event. I’ve been invited to attend the seminars next Monday afternoon. There will be international speakers so I’m assuming they will have English translations. If not, I will just muddle through with my Russian. It’s going to be mainly about how bikes can improve cities and personal lifestyles, and how we can get cities to improve their bike/ped infrastructure and how people can enjoy healthier lifestyles. I’m even taking the afternoon off to attend.
And I’ve got bicycle news! The president of the Kazan Rotary is just completing an around the world bike trip and they’re building an entire conference around the event. I’ve been invited to attend the seminars next Monday afternoon. There will be international speakers so I’m assuming they will have English translations. If not, I will just muddle through with my Russian. It’s going to be mainly about how bikes can improve cities and personal lifestyles, and how we can get cities to improve their bike/ped infrastructure and how people can enjoy healthier lifestyles. I’m even taking the afternoon off to attend.
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