Minnesota, right??!!!

Oh how I wish it were true....

Cute story from today: I was helping a little boy in my class dressed after coming inside. He's become my little buddy and somewhat listens to me and tries to talk to me. His name is Sasha, which, by the way, is the nickname for Alexander. (hehe) Well, he was talking away and I kept saying, "Oh really, that's amazing." Then I told him that it was time to change his pants. I told him to hurry and then I started counting in Russian. He started to count with me and then looked at me really excited. He shouts to the other teacher, "Katerina Michealevna! Katerina Michealevna!!" And then he points to me and says my name and says some other Russian stuff. Katerina starts laughing and says, "He said, 'Kristin knows Russian! Kristin has learned Russian!" Hahaha. Like i just all of the sudden learned to speak Russian and all our problems were solved!!! oh how i wish it were true.... : )

Hello all my loyal followers...the 2 of you..including my mom. :) I also would like to stop and say hi to the Grand Rapids Evangelical Free Church!! Word has reached me here in Russia that my blogs are being read by some of you in the church. I'll have you all know that I really miss going to GREFC. Thanks for all you prayers and encouragement! I know that your prayers are helping me survive here! Well, I'm not just "surviving." I am really starting to love Moscow. My weeks are full of things to do and places to go.

On Tuesdays I go to bible study here in Moscow. I have posted a picture of the group at a recent retreat. I love going to Bible study. I have really missed being involved in a challenging study of God's word. (It's also nice to be speaking English!) I started playing guitar for it too. One song that I have kind of taken on as our "theme song" is God of this City. It's a very beautiful song and really applies here in Moscow. I even found the Russian lyrics for it! So we sing it in English and then in Russian for the Russian speakers in the group. The past weekend, about 40 of us from the "YA-YAs" (Young Adults) took a train out to a small town called Snegiri. It was gorgeous!! We were walking into the town and I was amazed to see a house. I haven't seen a house in so long. Haha! We spent time getting to know each other and relaxing. We also had a missionary couple from Alaska spend the weekend with us and they led the Bible studies each day. Oh AND, I was talking to a "young adult" at the retreat. She is Russian and speaks very good English. She asked me where I was from and I said Grand Rapids, MN. She said, "Really??! I go there every summer! Do you know the Durochers?" What a small,small world....Her name is Galina. Someone else might know her too. She comes here during the summer. She's involved with a Bible Camp that is trying to build on Deer Lake. We talked for a while about Grand Rapids. It was so crazy. Of all the places and of all the people to meet in Moscow!

We stayed in a "dacha" which is a country house that most Moscovites have. They work in Moscow during the week and leave for their dacha on the weekends. So it was a great weekend! On Sunday I went for a walk with my friend Julia. We walked to a small lake and in some woods. It was beautiful and looked JUST like Minnesota. Everyone keeps telling me that Moscow region is just like Minnesota. SO anyways, Julia and I stopped in the woods and it was amazing!! We could actually HEAR the leaves falling. I have never heard that before. It sounded like rain but it was different. All around us were yellow leaves falling to the ground. I couldn't believe it and I will never forget it.

The church that I go to on Sundays is called International Christian Fellowship. We meet in a theater school inside the city. There are people from all over the world. There is currently no senior pastor (which is a prayer request). There are elders that take turns preaching every Sunday. It has been a little hard getting used to a new church. I always find myself comparing it to my church in Oklahoma or in Minnesota. But it's a great church full of people from around the world.

But now I'm back in Moscow. Today I had my "open" lesson at school. Anyone in the school can come and watch. I was really nervous and I wasn't feeling good. I just knew that I was going to be eaten alive by these little children. We got into the classroom and there to watch me was the principal, the head of the foreign language department, the head of the early childhood program, the head of the kindergarten, and two of my fellow kindergarten teachers. "Ok, Kristin...calm down. Think happy thoughts. Think of...think of...." and no happy thoughts came to mind when I sat down in front of my class. But prayers were answered and it was the best lesson that I have ever taught here. The children were un-believably well-behaved. They sat and listened and participated and spoke English!! It was such a relief. I was able to show that I actually can teach. I may look like an idiot chasing around children all day..but I'm not! : )

P.S. GO VIKINGS!

Oi! It's been a long while again. The weeks are really going by fast. I can't believe that it is already October and the first term ends on a few weeks. Life in Moscow is still going great. I find something new to like about it all the time. I went for a walk this past week and it was SO nice. I love just walking around and seeing the city at night. Here are a couple pictures from that walk. I am still in love with Stalin's Seven Sisters. This one is now a Ukranian Hotel and is just a couple blocks from my apartment.

Lately, school has not really gotten better. I almost feel like it might be getting worse! Most of the kids do not listen to me during the lessons. It is so frustrating. That's something that I can improve. I just need to get into Super Teacher mode and come up with new ways to keep their attention. It's hard enough keep the attention of a 4 year old but think about teaching one that doesn't know what you're saying. They also do not respect my authority. They run from me and laugh. (Some of them, not all.) I just don't know what to do about it. I can't even talk to them and tell them why it's wrong. I can't sit down with them and talk about their behavior. I can't even scold them properly! And there's no discipline system to start with here. I just need to remain calm and pray all day. I know the Lord brought me here and I just need to stop complaining. I'm sure He doesn't want to hear me complain about it all the time. I get tired of hearing it too. Now that I think about it...i'm sure you're sick of it too. So...on a lighter note...This past Thursday was Teacher's Day in Russia. That means that the school day ended early and all the teachers got together for a party. It was so....um....different. You would never see something like that at a school in America. There were tons fruit and finger foods and a huge cake. There was also SO much alcohol. I don't even know how many bottles of vodka and champange and whiskey. SO much. It was all so weird. After a little while, the show started. Teacher's got up on the stage and sang. Some performed little skits which were so weird. There was one with some teachers dressed up in skimpy little genie-like outfits doing belly dances. It was supposed to be funny. Then the American teachers had to perform! We through it together the day before. We read a poem and thanked the school and Moscow. It was partly funny. I don't know. I think they liked it. At least we didn't have to sing....

Another new development this week: One of the American teachers that I went to OBU with got appendicitis and had to have surgery Wed. night. Her first surgery and it had to be in Russia. She was very brave and is doing good. She has to stay at the hospital for a week which none of us like. In the states, they just boot you out the same day. But we are praying for quick healing and no complications.

Speaking of complications...I have mold growing in my room. Gross, i know. I felt sick today and decided to stay home instead of going shopping. :( I moved my bed and part of my wall is all moldy. That's never good. So hopefully that will be taken care of soon. I will be sleeping on the couch until it does. What else can go wrong with our apartment? Broken washer...check. Horribly clogged sink...check. Explosive faucet...check. Moldy wall...check! Now i think all we need is like a fire or something...knock on wood. Oh wait...everything around me is fur or marble. dangit....................................