I just finished my second session of conversational English
classes. I have four teenagers, two 14 year olds and two 15 year olds that come
to my apartment once a week to practice their English. Most of them have been
taking extra English courses outside of school for years but have never heard a
native speaker so my moms really good friend (she teaches them English grammar
in her home) thought it would be a good idea to send her students to me for some
practice. Today the topic was travel so we talked about different trips we have
taken and what happened while we were there. I am still trying to get the hang
of planning ideas but this week was better than last week. Next week will be
the last week before Clint and I head to the states therefore the topic will be
Christmas vs. New Year; the traditions, similarities and differences. I am
hoping to do some Christmas cooking baking this next week to give the teens a
taste of American Christmas tradition. The class will be a fun opportunity to
share traditions and most importantly the true meaning of Christmas and why it
is important.
In Russia New Year is the big holiday that is celebrated
like our Christmas is celebrated in the states. They have Christmas trees,
presents, and food like we do in America but instead of Santa and his reindeer
bringing gifts to the children, Uncle Frost and his niece Snegurichka bring the
gifts. There is always a program planned with tricks and games under the town Christmas
tree to make the children laugh and that is where they get their gifts. Russian Christmas is celebrated on January 7th
but it is a much smaller event. Because of the closeness of those two holidays everything
is put on hold for almost two weeks in Russia. Everything for the farms has to
be ordered early and all tickets have to be bought early because nothing is
open for that entire period of time.
These are my four students with my mom. They are highly
energetic and a lot of fun. I am really enjoying getting to know them. One boy has a four-wheeler and Clint suggests that we move our class from 4PM to 6PM when he gets home from work so he can keep an eye on the four-wheeler so it doesn't get stolen.
