so for the first time in 16 years, Im not in the US on one of my favorite holidays... thanksgiving.. none the less.. heres what happened in the last few weeks.
my host mother lena took me out to go see a Checkhov play at the checkhov center. it was interesting as the group came all the way from moscow to perform. the play was called "чайка" about a bird or something. after the play i gave flowers to my favorite actors.. a comedian who made everyone laugh.
the next day, our school was visited by 2 college scouters. one from Oregon state university and one from london. they were trying to convince Russian kids to come to their schools. of course only 4 people in the audiance understood them "roxane from France, 2 kids who visited america for a year, and me" they were shocked to see me however. "so how many of you want to study in america" "I do!!!" "well just to study right?" "no to live" "really?" "well im from america actually" "wow, then come down here and help me out". it was really neat. as the london man did have an accent :D. after the presentations roxane and I stopped to talk to them. "so where are you from?" "the other OSU" "ahh, yea you probably find more results for that OSU when you google OSU" "yea, well my brother just got accepted to OSU (congrate Ryan)" "oh really, i wish him luck". meeting these 2 english speakers instantly made out day worth while and enjoyable. as it was cool so meet another foreign national 6,000 miles away from home. also in school, in my english class. the teacher said she had a new desktop background for her computer. so i decided to look at it, and wat do i see? "Altair about to assassinate a person". "you know Assassin's Creed!!!?" "no, it was one of my students who made a presentation about it" and for part of the class, we watched assassin creed trailers. i was happy :)
now this next part will be scary, but mom, your worst fears have been realized, I am an english teacher now. and to make it worse, a one on one tutor. i walked into the library one day and the receptionist asked me if i was interested in teaching. and as Exchange students always say yes, I said "yes". it is my job afterall. so now twice a week I tutor a russian girl in english language at the library. i am excited because it also gives me some insight into Russian, as people who arent familar with a language tend to try to make it sound like their own for comfort.
so in other news. Lena and Sasha had their 10th anniversary this last week. and they both liked the presents i got them and had a giant party at a hotelю before the party we all did go bowling, where I lost twice on botched calls. only to get 2nd place. it was fun though. and everyone enjoyed themselves.
speaking of parties, Karsakov rotary club had their 10 year anniversary of foundation. for it, the 3 exchange students on the island (lilian roxane and I) all recited peoms or speeches. my speech was long but it was recorded. so when i feel like emberrassing myself, I will post it on facebook. along with the speech. we all did a song "we are the world" by Michael Jackson. roxane CAN SING.. Lilian who doesnt know english.. CAN SING.. me, however CANT SING. just watch the video on facebook. you will see! well the party was good and big. and everyone was happy.
also in other news, i have been looking into restarting the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Interact and Rotaract club. a long process that I hope goes somewhere in the near future. (not to try to match Greg Miller of course)
so, anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE FOOTBALL. so I couldnt help but celebrate when the New England Patriots beat the Steelers and Colts. but probably the thing i miss most is football. ive gone into relapse. im noticing im starting to play all my sports football style.
during basketball in gym class. one of my team mates throws the ball to me. only he throws it high over my head. well i catch the ball (one handed over my head) (everyone says "woah"), I come down with it, secure the ball, trot to the goal and plop the ball in the endzone- i mean basket. for my 10th point of the game. so I guess you could say, I am improving greatly and football helps everything.
also, my host mother just walked in and said that she wants me to say that she is proud of me. and that I miss my mother and love her. thanks for the presents mommy :) they look good in my stomach.
happy thanksgiving everyone :) now watch the Patriots beat the lions. GO PATS!
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You as an English teacher is a scary thought, however they say you really learn a subject best when you have to teach it to someone else, so perhaps this will benefit you as well. We loved the "We are the world" video. We played it at Thanksgiving. We look forward to the video of your speech, even if it ends up being in Russian. Keep busy and stay safe!
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