Culture and Values

At discussion club on Mondays, we spent 5 weeks talking about values. It has been such interesting and enlightening conversation. I wanted to share with you some of the information I found online, so here's a link to the top 10 differences between Russian and American culture as written by a group of students at Moscow State University. I really enjoyed this and for the most part all the Russians at D-club agreed.

Today marks the start of my birthday week. Although it is contrary to Russian tradition to celebrate your birthday early (it might not come) I started two days early to celebrate with them. Here's a picture of us having our discussion and a picture of me in the center of the circle while they danced around me and sang the Russian children's birthday song!

Truant boy

I'm a delinquent man. I really have a LOT to share from the last week or so, but I'm having trouble coming up with the energy to write it all out. I'll get around to it soon. I'm having an emotional low right now I think. That's the best I can explain it right now. Just sorting out my emotions and struggling already with the transition of heading back to the States, everything going great in Russia and not wanting to leave, but being excited about getting married and it's like a high pressure and low pressure system meeting in my heart causing a tornado.

Sunday is a working day

It's sorta strange that Sunday is now a working day for me. I'm adjusting to having my Sabbath on another day (ironically the Russian word for Sabbath and Saturday are the same word!)

We had a baptism today at church, our very first sprinkle baptism! It was so wonderful. One of the women from our AA program joined the church today, and I captured this really beautiful picture from the ceremony.

Another young person also joined the church today, Maksim. It was great, because he and I really connected today - and I'm hoping to be able to spend some more time talking with him and helping his faith to deepen! It's crazy how many opportunities are coming out of the woodwork and I've got 2 more months until I head back to the states! Whoa. I'm excited about all that's going on.

I also helped out Ehud today. He was here last May and stayed with some young ladies famously known in xian circles in Tyumen as the Xaxatushkis (laughing girls). It was so fun to see him so happy talking with them!

Philosophy and the Meaning of Life (student style)

Today I joined with a group of students to just hang out and talk about life. It was really a great opportunity and a fun time. I baked monkey bread and made pierogies to share.

Our conversation spent quite a bit of time on the area of philosophy (Russian students are very intelligent in the sense of their knowledge of life, philosophy, etc.) It's great because it's a natural lead in to talking about the meaning of life and topics near and dear to my heart. We also talked about self-improvement and 4 of these students are joining us as interpreters for our summer camp program! I met them through English Discussion Club!

Seeking something hotter...

Super Diavola… yessir, that's the name of the pizza I just ate along with Ehud and Dennis. Dennis' birthday was yesterday and he invited Ehud and I to share it with him. It was great! Dennis has dined with us several times and we are always seeking a hotter, spicier meal. Well, we found it in this pizza. It actually comes with a sauce to calm it down if your mouth is too on fire! I highly recommend eating at 'Pizza Express' if you have the opportunity. A very thin, tasty crust with PEPPERS! Wow.

It was a really fun celebration, but sad as well. Aren't mixtures of emotions always the best? Dennis is the guy I hang out with a couple times a week, and he is moving north to start working. So I'll get a chance to see him again in May, but he's gone. And Ehud leaves in two weeks! I hope that Sasha and Zhanna are ready for a really needy me, they're about to get one…

As a side note, I learned a very interesting method for celebrating one's birthday with Dennis. He celebrates each month as he gets older. So the 14th of every month, he goes to a café, or buys a book, or a special something for himself to celebrate… Sounds good, huh?

And today the part of x will be played by…

me. Being an M sure has many interesting facets. Some days, I really get to focus on one thing and I spend the day planning a seminar or a lesson and that evening for two hours I share what I've learned, answer questions, and go home with even more questions. Other days, I run around all day trying to find a bolt that will fix the shelves in the library and because it's Russia - you have to visit 13.7 different stores, shops, open air markets, or kiosks to find what you need. (Or if you're smart you just ask a Russian first and they'll tell you exactly where you should go!

Anyway - today was a very full day and incredibly interesting besides. I started off interpreting for Ehud this morning. Just helping him get a few things taken care of… then I was a student, studying some Russian and trying to grasp a new concept… sometimes I have to think so differently in order to understand. Following my moments as a student, I was a professional driver and drove Larissa around to pick up some supplies for our summer camping program. Then I got to be a muscle man and carry things for her. We even got our cultural center video player for children's programs fixed… we only had to drive over half the city to find the proper location for that work!

I made it back to the cultural center just in time to lead our second session of leadership lessons. We talked about how good leaders need to know themselves and others' impressions of them as well. I shared the Johari window concept with them and we did a really great feedback exercise together (they really loved it, were very interested, and I think it's a great start to our training together)

Then I dashed off to teach English for 3 hours at the University. We're discussing the conversational aspects of art (literature, poetry, film, painting, sculpture, architecture, etc). I'm actually having to study some of the topics myself, just because I don't know much about the topics that we've been assigned.

After teaching, Ehud and I met with a young man (Dennis) for dinner to talk to him and celebrate his birthday… whew - more details to come, but what a day!

Driving in Russia… and stopping.

Today was another first in my life! As Larissa and I were driving all over the city today, she was talking with me about my experiences driving. Most of the signs are the same or similar, stoplights work the same way, drivers are more aggressive here, police stand on the street instead of pulling you over in a car, etc.

She asks me about how well I understand the laws and if I've ever been stopped. Nope. Never been stopped. And then the ГАИ (guy-ee) spun his baton at me. I'm not kidding. So I pulled over to see what the problem was. Turns out I changed lanes in a crosswalk without signaling as a woman stepped into the crosswalk from the other side of the street. Larissa and I decided it was a lame reason to stop me, but we think he was bored and hoping for a bribe.

So I got out of the car, and crossed the street to his car… and got in his car with him… yep, in HIS car. We talked (PTL that I can get along in Russian now) for quite a while. He wanted to see my apartment contract, my return plane ticket, my passport (of course, none of which were with me). Well, the fine ended up being 100 Rubles! (like $4) He wanted me to pay him right in the car, but I suggested that I'd pay at the bank.

Paying at the bank was another adventure in and of itself. Zhanna came with me to help me fill out the paperwork. We got advice from 2 or 3 different people at the bank to find the right form, fill it out, find the right line to stand in and get it taken care of.

The bureaucracy is amazing, but I really am getting used to it, and in fact the slower pace of life is kinda nice in some way…

Running on low fumes, but still exploring a new culture's cuisine!

Today I ventured forth once more into the exciting culinary world of the Russian kitchen. I made cabbage pirogues! I've got a hot spot on my finger to prove it. It wants to be a blister (from the oil) but I caught it in time with 4 ice cubes!

For additional proof you can see the photos of my cooking exploits. It was fun and they were really tasty! I've got leftovers that I'll share with my work friends tomorrow!

I'm really exhausted. Tomorrow is a long day too. So please pr@y for some extra energy for this boy. I'm going to bed without doing my Russian homework. I know it's not due for another day, but I need to do it today if it's gonna get done well. I'm not being lazy, I just don't have any more brain waves…

Peace all.

Attention to Details

Well, I just made a cup of tea with salt instead of sugar. Perhaps it's going to be one of those days? I really think it was quite funny, but I didn't bother tasting it to see if it would be tasty… I'm pretty sure bitter tea with bitter salt wouldn't do much to crave my sweet tooth.

I'm often surprised or even amazed at how much I'm acculturating to some of the habits of the Russian people. For example, tea - I LOVE the stuff now. I think maybe mostly because it's a new form of sugar intake and an excuse to eat cookies and pastries more often, but perhaps it's also about slowing down a bit and sharing fellowship with others. Tea is a part of most everyone's day, several times!

In other news about details and bureaucracy, I wanted to share an interesting moment from this morning with you. Victoria and I headed out early this morning with breath puffing from our mouths this sunny Siberian morning, to buy a new photocopier for the center. So we went to the office (up the scary back stairway to the sales office) and shared what we wanted in a copier. They tried to upsell us with some advanced features that we didn't need, but we stood firm! Then they gave us our order form which we need to fax or email to a bank here in Tyumen. Well, we don't have a fax or a scanner at the center. So Victoria had to convince the woman that it would really be faster to take the form to the bank and wait for them to process it, instead of finding a fax or scanner and then going to the bank to pay. So Victoria's off to the bank to pay for our copier which should arrive in 2 to 3 weeks. I think they'll be constructing it for us in Japan sometime later this afternoon!

Quest for Fire

Ehud is Brazilian. This means that his palette is finely tuned to hot food. Well, Russian food isn't known for it's crazy burninating flavor. So Ehud and I have been on a quest to find really really spicy food. Yesterday I discovered some very small round spicy peppers that had been pickled… well, today I was graced with a stroke of VERY good luck. I found red chili peppers. Mmmmm.

So we made a pizza for dinner… and I chopped up a red chili pepper to top it off. Oh my! It was like an inferno in the mouth, but oh so wonderful and tasty! We have finally achieved HOT food (and with only two weeks to spare before Ehud's return to America…).

It was a really great ending to a day filled with much frustration. I'm almost out of internet, and until just a few minutes ago it hasn't been working very well today; I can't add money to my Skype account (therefore I can't call Amy), all my cards are being denied for some reason; I've been trying to fix a website for a friend and there's an administrative error; so… my mood is still good - it's just obvious that I'm supposed to be doing something else today…

International Women's Day

Today is a really important holiday in Russia. I think it's pretty ironic that we've never heard of it in the States (at least I hadn't). It is written in on some U.S. calendars, but I've never celebrated it before. Everything is closed today and the streets are empty except of men who are out shopping for flowers! Nothing like that last minute attitude of the man… (who forgot to buy flowers for his sweetheart!)

It's sorta like a combination of every hallmark holiday in the U.S. - it's mother's day, sweetest day, administrative assistant day, etc. It's not valentine's day, they have that too. I even found a website about it.

Guesting, student style

I spent the afternoon today as the guest of several students from English discussion club. It was really wonderful. A mix of English and Russian with idioms flying all around the table. I couldn't really keep up, but most of the meanings I did catch… with my trusty notebook, I was furiously writing.

Our topics ranged all over the place from the 7 sacraments of Russian Orthodoxy to HIV/AIDS (a long conversation about Amy's work in Africa and how it would be so wonderful to have someone here educating people -- especially drug users about the dangers), and a really interesting conversation on the memory of water. Apparently it's a famous book/movie by a Japanese guy (Masaru Emoto). One of the students is bringing me a copy in Russian to watch. Let's pr@y I understand something in it!

A mix of honor and fear

Today was a really interesting day. It started off as any other Sunday. Got up, got dressed and was about to head out the door when the phone rang. "Can you pick up grape juice on the way to ch^rch?" I figure, no big deal, sure.

So after visiting three stores, before 10:30 in the morning, I finally find some. Then I hit the pavement to make it to the ch^rch on time.

I get there and find out that I'm participating in Communion. I mean, really. Like serving the elements. I've NEVER done that before! What a HUGE honor, and at the same time I'm scared to death, because this means pr@ying in public and in RUSSIAN.

Probably the world's shortest Communion pr@yer, and only one word choice error (I can't believe I messed up something so simple). But, it was an embarrassment (I thought) to turn around and have the ENTIRE congregation smiling at me. Really big smiles. I thought it was because I made a bigger mistake than I realized. Turns out it was happiness. I'm the first American in all the years who's pr@yed in Russian at our ch^rch. So now I'm even more humbled and resolved to learn a bit more of the required language to do a better job if the opportunity comes again.

Darkness Falls…

(this is rated PG - I promise)

… and I find myself the lead character in a horror movie. I'm in the bathroom, in the shower… shaving. And the power goes out. It's pitch black. I start with freaking out… for a moment. And then I take mental control of myself. So I had a pretend experience as a blind man. I figured I could shave by Braille okay, and I mostly did - I'll admit that my sideburns needed some leveling out though.

So about 5 minutes later the power came back on… good thing too, because my tub isn't really the normal tub that we're used to in the us and I'm sure I'd've fallen getting out… it's I'm guessing a two and a half foot step down…In the long run, a funny experience. Just imagine it... my bathroom is about twice the footprint of a refridgerator box... So if I'd fallen, I'd've hit my head on a wall! I'm glad to have survived such a common experience as a shower.

Russia is a great adventure. Remember Helen Keller once again, "Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

Walkin' Talkin'

Today I had another awesome conversation in a series of conversations with my friend Dennis. Today we had a conversation about the differences between the following three words: destiny, fate, and calling. In Russian the words destiny and fate are the same. So it's difficult to describe the differences. I did my best. I think that destiny is usually looked upon as a positive thing and that maybe fate has a bit more of a something bad might happen flavor. Calling and destiny might have a lot of similarities in that they're both on the positive side of things. I think calling usually has some flavor of the profession or purpose you are called to: calling to be a doctor, an educator, pastor.

We also talked about life. What is its purpose, its goal. How do we seek little goals and establish them (for example right now I'm very focused on the getting married excitement). It was a great talk - I think we'll pick back up on it.

The evening's highlight came in the form of chinese food and talking with Ehud (I made the chinese as we can't buy it here).

Bursting pipes and exploding minds

So there's boiling water seething near the dumpsters in our parking lot. This means that there is only a small trickle of boiling hot water in our apartment right now. No one is hurt, unless you put your hand in the gurgling pool of water…

The boiler burst in Sasha and Zhanna's apartment, so they have NO hot water (although the city heating is still flowing through the radiators). No one was hurt there either, but it's difficult to repair when there's scalding water spraying all over.

We're now in that COLD part of the winter where most days are colder than not (hanging out around 0 degrees most days) and pipes are starting to burst from the temperature extremes. It's a pretty big problem to not have heat or water, and really helps me to realize how good we have it in America, that most of us absolutely take that for granted.

So the exploding mind part of the story. Basically, I've been overloaded with too many new words and new concepts to learn in Russian. And I think like most folks on the field, I've taken up too many responsibilities and I don't have time for my Russian homework appropriately. I can't believe how many mistakes I'm still making (although in basic communication I'm doing fine). So I'm just trying to remember that the resting mind can also process information and learn. Phew.

Pedagogue?

Who knew that I would ever learn the Russian word for pedagogue? It's really the exact same word in Russian, but strange to learn it. I'll tell the tale.

You'll remember that on Monday I taught a mini English lesson to a group of perspective college students at the University. So I taught my little lesson on the pronunciation of the sound /th/ and how it's very important. The typical error of the Russian speaker would be do say either /s/ or /f/ because they have no /th/ sound in Russian. So with the world think, we suddenly get sink or fink. The rector of the university, my Russian teacher, and several university officials were also there. So a couple days later when I show up for my Russian lesson, Tatiana tells me that I'm a pedagogue, a naturally gifted teacher. What a compliment!! She's such an excellent teacher. It really made me feel great, especially coming out of a Russian lesson where she threw like 50 new verb idioms at me and gave me an 'easy' assignment of 20 grammar exercises (I got 19 or 20 WRONG). So anyway, it was nice to hear.

A Ch^rch visit

One of the members from discussion club has decided to come to our Sunday service. Please pr@y that it would be a wonderful opportunity to share and that the message would fall on an open heart.

System without a System

This was the joke that we discussed today at the University. 3 other teachers and I were having a good laugh at the system collapse. Turns out that my Thursday evening class and that of 2 other teachers all overlap with the SAME students. That's why last week and this week I had no students for one of my lessons.

We also had a good laugh (after a bit of frustration from me) when I couldn't figure out what room my lessons were in. See on odd weeks and even weeks the classroom locations may change. They don't always, but they can. Or maybe there's another teacher who just decided to stay in the room where you're supposed to be teaching. I don't even know what to do in these situations. I just do my best to communicate that I need the room and that it's assigned to me. I do my best to NOT play the American card… but I'm afraid that my accent might give that away for me.

I'm really trying to let go of my expectations and the things that I know are 'right' and 'wrong' and learn to view them as 'different,' because really that's what a LOT of this is. I still think that cheating is wrong, not different. But the way rooms are scheduled and controlled, isn't wrong, maybe inefficient, but certainly different.

Even more language blunders

So the cookies I made a week ago were a really big hit. Everyone wants the recipe. So I worked to write it out, had Zhanna proofread it for me and at the last minute decided to title the recipe: Jeff's cookies. Well, turns out I wrote Jeff's Liver. Печени instead of печенье. Sounds almost identical.

This morning at ch^rch, like on most Sundays, I carry the offering plate during the service. Well, I don't know the word for offering plate, so I thought - tray. Well, did you know that the Russian word for tray and diarrhea are different by only one letter? Поднос and понос. I'm such a lucky man.

So I think nearly purposefully today during B!ble study Zhanna through an English version of this into the mix to make me feel better… Ehud is from Brazil and has a slight accent. Mostly it comes through on vowels and a few consonants. Well, when he said cloak today, Zhanna heard clock. Isn't it amazing what just a tiny vowel sound can do to meaning?

The powerful poison of Coke

You'll remember that several weeks ago, I mentioned that we have a new tenant in our cultural center. A rat. Well, the lovely lady decided to die this morning in the women's toilet. We know that the rat is a she for two reasons. One, the Russian word for rat is a feminine word. And two, she decided to die in a place where she felt at home, the ladies. We now know that we have two rats though. Because on Wednesday, Vicki saw them BOTH - and one of them is pregnant, so…. 1+1=35 (well, you know how rats breed…)

Anyway, on to the power of Coke. So Ehud says to me last week that we should try and feed our rats some Coca-Cola. So on Wednesday last week, I left some cups out for our rats… and - well, we don't know if it was the coke or the poison that's been out for weeks, or a combo, but the first one died. Apparently, like birds, rats are unable to expel gas from their systems (e.g. no belching or tooting) so the bubbles in our beloved nectar, kills them.

Maybe I should stop drinking the stuff altogether, but I love it so… (well, pepsi better than coke, but it's all the same in the gut.

Faithfulness

Ps 13 and 1 John 5 Wow. It was exactly what I needed today. If you've been reading along with me this last week, you'll have obviously noted that I've been having a rough week. Well, before the foundation of time, G0d planned a Russian national holiday for this Friday. It was SO what I needed. I had the whole day yesterday to clean, to relax, to read, to organize, to think, to cook, to just be. I've been experiencing the overwhelming desire to control everything (which is a sure fire symptom of culture stress). I think it's also just there's a LOT going on and Jim and Sally are back in the States and it's falling to me for the time being.

Back to the reading. It was really just the exact encouragement that I needed to read this morning. It's Saturday now and I'm about to delve into the wonderful world of Russian grammar again, but these words are really uplifting:

"But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the L0rd for he has been good to me."

So - I guess I won't sing as no one needs their ears to bleed today, but nonetheless, the bad streak is broken and I'm baa-aack!

Random note: today I baked pistachio bread… mmm-mmmm delicious.

More silly language humor

Did you know that the Russian word for clipboard doesn't exist? Instead you say - a desk board for viewing with a clamp. There is also no simple way to say jet lag or challenge. Language learning is fun! But they also have more than one way to say to try. And I'll be honest - I like having the distinction of try and TRY (like really try).

Encouraging news!

Today at my Russian lesson, Tatiana, informed me that she was sad. Vicki, an Englishwoman who has been studying here since November is leaving this Friday. Tatiana started thinking about my leaving in May and she said to me, "Jeff, you absolutely have to keep your Russian skills sharp. Find a way to use your Russian to return to us, because students don't easily achieve such language skills. You must not let this year of your life become a waste by letting your skills become rusty." And then she attacked my essay with her red pen. I was sad that there was so much red and said as much to her.

She then retorted that I had best not talk down about how many mistakes I'm making, because my writing style is completely different now. Now I get marked down for advanced errors instead of simple child-like errors.

Well, I'm encouraged and still frustrated. I have pulled myself up from my bootstraps and decided that I need to continue to approach Russian as a lifelong quest to know the culture, language, and people of this great country. So today I redouble (and retriple) my efforts to learn Russian verbal participles! Yes!

Bad Day(s)

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller

It's been a couple of those days. Certainly G0d must be teaching me something… I'm just going to have to be patient to figure out what it is that He's teaching me. Let me recount for you a few of the things that have happened in the past couple of days:

• I broke my laptop computer keyboard (really broke the 'x' key)
• I couldn't get my printer to work (it was turned off).
• I made cookies and as I was preparing the dough, I realized that the brown sugar had been open and had hardened. (I went to the store in -25 degree weather and bought more)
• Then I didn't have eggs for the cookies. (I went to the store and broken the eggs I bought, and bought new eggs. The first store I went to, you'll remember, was closed).
• The internet stopped working when I really needed it to prepare for teaching literature.
• So I took a shower… cold… hot… cold… hot
• I couldn't find the keys to Jim's garage or to the car (they were in my coat pocket).
• I walked in the apartment, just after pr@ying that God would help me find the keys for the garage and the car and I found them! And then I couldn't find my apartment keys. I ALWAYS hang them on this little hook when I get home… they were INSIDE my hat!

Ugh! They are all these little tiny things that don't really matter by themselves… I feel like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill… (I think Russians say, make an elephant out of an ant). Anyway - please send some pr@yers up that I'll stay alive as I drive Jim's car for the first time alone today in Russia. It's snowing quite a bit and it's fairly cold - so let's hope it even starts… that I don't have to shovel for an hour just to get to the car!

Here's to adventure!

Jeff and his meeting with Mr. Murphy

When I did my Russian homework today and the topic was, "If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do," I should have started wondering about my day. But I didn't.

When I left the apartment and there was SMOKE coming from a crack in the earth near the apartment in the middle of a -15 degree Fahrenheit day, I should have starting thinking that it could be that kind of day. But I didn't.

I went to my Russian lesson and it went pretty well, although most of the time I leave with my brain feeling fried. Today we covered present participles and two kinds of past participles and also talked about something that I don't know the English words for! Tatiana has decided that I can handle 15 minutes more each lesson, so I'm studying 45 minutes more each week (which is great on one hand), but my brain fries pretty much every lesson now.

Tonight at English Discussion club we're discussing values for WEEK 4! And we decided to have a potluck, so I promised banana bread and a special cookie concoction (Amy Russell cookies for those that know them, but I had to modify them a bit because of lack of ingredients. They are still delicious!)

Turns out my brown sugar was dried up since Thursday. So I had to outfit myself once again against the cold and head to the store. I got the brown sugar and headed home. Ehud and I were in the kitchen laughing that I was having "one of those days" when I was making the dough. Butter, peanut butter, vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, eggs… eggs? We're out of eggs!

So I figure this just is supposed to be that kind of day. So I ran to the closest store (literally less than a block). And I couldn't get the door to open. That's when I saw the sign. Closed until 3:30. Well it was 2:15! So I trekked up the street to the next closest store maybe 10 minutes further on. I was SO thankful that they had eggs. The woman presented them to me in their little bag and I declined her offer to buy a carton.

And the bag ripped open on the steps.

I bought more eggs. I bought the carton too.

I baked cookies. I only burned one batch.

I'm afraid to leave the apartment later to go to English lessons and Discussion club. Here's to the scissor kick that comes with slipping on the ice and making it there and back in one piece! (I'm trying to keep good humor!)

The PICTURE blog

Prepare yourselves...

Minstrels from our train ride

Zoya, English teacher

Daniel's army dance

How cute are they?

Little girls with big girls!

More dancing

Traditional costumes

Me sharing at the 'press conference'

Igor learning how to make tortillas

Igor and Daniel helping me cook Mexican.

What's that smell?

Oh, yeah, that's me! I haven't had a shower in 3 days. Nor have I had (sorry for the level of detail) a sit down bathroom experience either. I really like going to visit the villages, because it reminds me to not take for granted what I have, and to remember that we're all the same. In so many ways, the simple life is incredible. I'm starting to fear reverse culture shock already and desiring to prepare myself for the return to the states at the end of May. I think I'm going to start researching on the internet.

Oh, and here's the REALLY interesting thing about what's that smell. I smell like a Russian now. I don't really know how to describe the difference, it's not a particularly 'bad' thing, just different than American sweat. I think it's because the bulk of the food that I eat now is Russian, so my body has changed. It's probably the HUGE quantity of garlic and onions that I consume here… along with the beets and cabbage. I'm telling you - if I get the chance to cook you dinner, you're in for a treat - because it's better than you imagine!

Knowing G0d's Will or the One Where Jeff Speaks in Russian with almost 30 People.

So I looked up the word circumstances this morning so I'd be ready to share a message at the local ch^rch in Troitsky (Talitsa). Turns out that was a good thing, because I did need to use it. I based my message on Henry Blackaby's book Experiencing G0d. The main theme of this book is, how can we know the will of G0d for our lives? He mentions 5 methods we should use to seek His will.
1. The B!ble
2. Pr@yer
3. H0ly Sp!rit
4. The Ch^rch (people)
5. Circumstances in our lives

I really loved going through this book and workbook with the youthgroup guys several years ago and I've recently been revisiting this topic (Knowing His Will) as Amy and I continue to discuss our future together.

So it was wonderful to have the opportunity to speak there and I was a bit nervous with Zoya there because she's an INTERPRETER at our camp program, but I really felt like I need to take the risks and chances, but get used to speaking Russian as much as possible. I made some mistakes, but the main message was clear and understood! AND the crazy cool thing is that they just finished a series about knowing His will and my message absolutely PERFECTLY fit in with what they've been talking about. AND - get this - I mentioned 1 Timothy 3:1 "Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer he desires a noble task." All about leadership. That is their NEXT topic. Isn't that cool?!

The Press Conference

The press conference was really the highlight. It's always tough because the basic questions always start off with: 1) Do you like the politics of George W.? 2) What do you think of Russian girls? 3) What American music do you like? 4) And w hat do you like about Russia?

Here are my basic responses. I do like being able to share who I am in this format, because I tend to TANGENT and talk all over the place.

1) Honestly, I don't like politics at all and I know very little about it. It seems to me that discussing politics always ends up dividing people and it's just plain something that's never been my interest. It's kind of a lame answer, but I really don't like politics (this all started in high school). So I usually share something like this. And I also ask them what they think of their own president? They usually don't want to answer.

2) I don't need to think about Russian girls, because I have a really smart, beautiful, and incredible American girl I'm going to marry in July! I really don't look, don't desire to look and am dedicated to her. And almost always, they say… you're not married yet. So you can look or do whatever you want now! To that, I answer that the B!ble teaches about being faithful even before you're married. I've been faithful to her for 34 years already and we've only got 3.5 more months… I'm (L0rd willing) not going to mess it up now!) They want me to say that they're prettier than American girls. They really do.

This time around it ended up a twenty minute talk about purity and dressing in ways that are appropriate to how you want to portray yourself. I like to ask them if they've seen the Julia Roberts film "Pretty Woman." It's so funny to me that she plays a hooker in that movie and she's wearing more clothes than half the kids in high school now-a-days. I really don't think of myself as a prude, but I just don't think that mean trying to live their lives in purity need to see all that flesh! Okay, stepping off the soapbox. - yike.

3) Well, the music I listen to mostly, you probably have never heard, because I don't listen to much American pop music (which is almost the entire radio here in Russia). So I name a few popular bands that I know something about and they get excited. Then I tell them that I listen to mostly Chr!stian music, old music from my childhood or showtunes. They don't know what any of these are… So I promised to get them some so they could here what I listen to.

4) What I like about Russia is so hard to cover. There's so much. I like the people (hospitality, traditions, history, once you're in as a friend - don't mess around). I like the language, even though it boggles the mind. I like the food (it's useful for health, you know? (a really common Russian phrase)). I also enjoy learning about their culture because it helps me to better understand my own. And I especially like their thirst for knowledge. But the flipside to this is that I've really learned about some things that are VERY VERY hard for me to deal with. Like cheating. It's very common here.

So that launched me into another HUGE conversation about what does cheating mean and where does it end. Because it starts on your second grade spelling test, but it ends when you give someone the wrong shot in the hospital and their muscle control starts deteriorating! (I know someone this happened too.)

Does cheating stop when you leave the school? Or do you cheat on your friends, and in the market and on your wife. You should have seen the looks. They were shocked and almost all agreed with me that such a simple thing has really become a cultural problem. Man.

On Being Famous for a Day

Pretty much anyone who knows me, is not surprised to learn that I'm an extrovert. However, somehow I've managed to pick up some shyness or something about being the sole focus of attention for large amounts of time. Especially when it's just because I'm American and I've done nothing to particularly draw attention to myself.

So Zoya, the English teacher in the Troitsky village (it's near Talitsa) invited me to come and speak to her English students. Turns out, it was a little bit more than the English competition I was expecting. Students had been invited from 6 different schools to gather together for an entire afternoon's field trip to "Meet the American." This was our schedule:

• School Tour with the Director (Principal)
• Dance concert of school students
• What do you know about the USA competition
• Award presentation for the game winners
• Press Conference with yours truly
• Autograph session with special guest

And I'm not kidding or exaggerating. It was so fun and tiring. The students were really great. The dancing was surprisingly awesome. Everyone from little 8 year olds up to 16! I'll post some pictures. Igor's youngest brother Daniel's dance group was a HIT! They were little soldier acrobats! Really cool.

To Talitsa on the Electric Train

So there was LOTS and lots of talk before Igor and I boarded the electrichka (electric train) about how it could be dirty, cold, smelly, and really packed with people. Turns out it was clean, new, nicely warmed and full of friendly people (even though over half the men were drinking beer). Really the only annoying thing was about 30 minutes of bad Russian dance music played on someone's cell phone.

The ride to Talitsa was 2.25 hours and went much quicker than I thought it would. Igor and I struck up a great conversation with topics ranging from movies he's seen recently, to super powers we would choose for ourselves (I had just seen the newest Superman movie), to electronics, computers and our mentorship relationship together. I am SO thankful that I can even have these conversations with him. Just a year ago, I can't imagine that we'd have talked about technology and the speed of a computer or the amount of Gigabytes on an iPod. Oh, incidentally, he chose never dying and no experience of physical pain as his super power. I chose the ability to close my eyes and change my physical location (and the location of anyone touching me) to any place I can think of). That way - I can go and visit Amy or America or Russia any time!)

We arrived safely and were immediate met with a delicious Russian meal (Igor's mom, Galina, is a trained chef!)

Busy weekends ahead

Get ready for the whirlwind tour of Teaching! I'm teaching a high school English class tomorrow, followed by an electric train ride to neighboring Talitsa where I'll be the head judge of an English competition (working with the local ch^rch) and then I'll be sharing a message on Sunday with the local congregation. I'll take photos and post an update as soon as I'm back. Probably Sunday or Monday!

Chilly days bring cravings for Chili

Yesterday I made some chili. I found chili powder at a store… and I just gotta be honest. It is the best tasting chili! I think mostly because it tastes like home. For my 'american' meal I had, chili (2 cans of red beans, 1 can of corn, 1/2 kilo beef, ketchup, garlic, a little sugar, and water) Mmmmmmmm-mmmmm good. I added a bit of cheese and sour cream too. I also made homemade cheese muffins and had some pepsi…

Sometimes you just have to have a meal that tastes like home. Yes!

My name is...

Mayonnaise Alexander. I was greeted with this phrase today. I was meeting a new person who was at the cultural center today. I had just introduced myself to him in Russian (but obviously I'm not a Russian by my name. It's just not Russian at all.

So the guy responds to me and says, "Mayonnaise Alexander". So I think. Okay - is he making fun of me? Maybe I said something wrong? Um.... "Colby Jack" or maybe "Pepper Jack" or "Mustard Mike". But no....

Follow the parallel syllables with me:
May - on - naise - Alexander
My - - name is - Alexander

Laughter is such good medicine. I'm almost at 100% after the cold of 40+ hours of sleep...It's like a full week of work that was sapped by this cold.

открыть Америку (discover America)

I've been learning Russian idioms the past couple of Russian lessons. It's the highest form of a language when you can understand and correctly use idioms. I'm excited to be learning some, but I'm really intimidated and it's VERY difficult to remember and understand them.

This one is particularly great! Discover America. Here's the situation: I live in Siberia now. It's February. So it's winter. Someone says, "gosh, it's really cold out today." You respond, "discover America." (tell me something I didn't know already). Hahahha. I think it's so funny.

I hope you're laughing too. Are you laughing? I think I just proved beyond a shadow of a doubt (an English idiom) that I'm a big language dork. Dorks of the world unite. Jen & Kevin, am I a dork or a nerd? or a geek? I can't remember what this makes me...

On Being a Student

from left to right: a teacher, Vicki (from England), Kunle (from Nigeria), me, Tatiana Yemelyanovna (our professor).

We all have individual lessons with Tatiana who is really an incredible teacher. It's so interesting when we have moments when our time together overlaps. Vicki is incredible at Russian grammar and has a wonderful flowing writing style. Kunle is a complete beginner and has been here since December. I'm supposedly the most verbal of the group with a bit too much slang in my vocabulary (which is good considering the population I work with).

Tatiana tries to use competition as a means of helping both Vicki and I improve our Russian, but it doesn't really work that way for either of us. We just have different skill sets!

Roommates

Time to meet the roomies.

This is Ehud Garcia. He's a Brazilian / American Citizen. He's a p@stor by training and he's here for 10 weeks to help out H0ly Tr!nity Ch^rch. He's been doing an incredible job training elders here and leading us on Sunday mornings and at B!ble studies.

Here's Vadim. He's my other roommate and just part time. He's usually here Monday - Thursday. He speaks very little English, but enough to converse and he's incredibly adept at conveying meaning even without language. It's been great having him around because I'm learning so many interesting words and concepts from him in Russian! He's from the Crimea region of the Ukraine (although he's Russian) He's been in this region for about 8 years, is married and has 3 sons. He is the p@stor of a group about 2 hours from us and is here starting up some B!ble study groups.

Cooking in Russia

So today I spent THREE hours making Russian salads. Whoa. I made two salads... they are really tasty and I wanted to make sure that I knew how to make them back in the US. I can't believe how long it takes. I have a MUCH better appreciation for the work that goes into cooking. Every day I learn more and more about the details!

This salad is called Vinegred. It's made of beets, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, pickles, salt and a little bit of oil. SO TASTY... But it was many many steps to make!

Christmas in February

Christmas packages are arriving! Woo-hoo. Here's a picture of me full of joy!

Snowsuits

I'm not sure what I think is better... the pudgy little boys and girls stuffed into their snowsuits or the dogs. Seriously... I saw a dog in a full body snowsuit... just a small little opening in the back for the business end of things. It was AWESOME. I wanted to take a picture - but wasn't sure if his owner would think it was okay or not.

New roles for Jeff...

So Jim and Sally are back in the US for the next several months and suddenly I'm here learning even more how to be a "person of all hands," (jack of all trades). Last week I learned how to open up another one of our garages... really interesting. A double threaded bolt that opens one part of the lock and a combination lock with interlocking inner and outer circles. Whoa. I've also been changing lightbulbs and building bookshelves.




Dad, aren't you proud? Ironically - I'm not really much of a handyman, I mean if you've got a computer problem or the photocopier is causing issues... I might be your man.

Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup

I want Chicken Noodle Soup. Out of a can. I don't want to MAKE chicken noodle soup. And I don't want just anything... I'm looking for CAMPBELLS chicken noodle. Not just any soup mind you. The soup of my childhood.

I just slept 13 hours. Almost non-stop. I made the agonizing decision this morning to cancel my Russian lesson. And went back to bed. I slept for 3 more hours. Yuck.

The bug is going around and I'm intent of fighting it off.

I had a really weird fever dream too. My stove was on fire. I had my two cats back. There was a fox and 2 other wild animals in my house and I was talking on the telephone to America - friends at Knox. Weird.

Culture Break

I had my first real culture snap today. Someone was asking me about money (it's a pretty normal question in Russian culture). And I didn't want to answer. I got upset. I had a minor outburst… not a big one. I apologized to everyone. Ugh! I guess that's all. It's all okay now.

Movie Night

The last 3 Friday nights, Vicki has been hosting folks in her dormintory room for English practice and B!ble study. Here's the group from a week or so ago. We really had some amazing discussions from the parable of the types of soil. We also watched a really interesting new Russian movie called, "the Island (остров)"

Ice Sculptures

I've been asked to post the photos of the ice sculptures that I promised nearly a month ago! Sorry!!!! Here the are.

armchairs, kittens and rats, oh my!

So today we had a surprise guest at the cultural center. Don't mistake the Russian world kreslo (armchair) for the Russian word krisa (rat). We did not have an armchair visit us today, but a RAT! And not just any rat as the SQUEALS of the girls notified the entire building. A BIG RAT! Easily the size of a normal cat. In fact, after a lengthy discussion about the topic, we decided a rat trap would most likely be BROKEN by this rat, we would instead have to poison her (it's so fun that pronouns have gender in Russian. Rats are girls).

So Victoria is going to be our special little assassin and buy some tasty poison for our little lady and then we'll just find her body later when we clean out the closet where she's made her home. Let's all just pray that she's not made a NEST!

It really is creepy if I'm honest, because the center is already a basement...

What do you mean I'm preaching?!

This morning I got up really early to head to Vinzeeli to meet the family of a guy I know from camp. Turns out his father is a past0r of a small (40 people or so) ch^rch. And he had fully planned on me PREACHING the sermon. So pulling one out of my hat, I spoke for 40 minutes in front of an entire Russian audience without an interpreter. There were two aspects of this that were REALLY REALLY hard for me. The first, I don't read the Word in Russian. It's old Russian and I really really don't want to mess up something as important as the word of G0d. The second is I'm quite uncomfortable pr@ying in Russian - really for the same reason. I make a LOT less mistakes now, but I still make lots of mistakes and I don't want someone to misunderstand something as important as taking to G0d or hearing from Him, you know?

So anyway - out of no where I'm preaching. Glad that Tom always taught me to be at least a bit prepared to be in front of a group and share something significant from the Word.

So - I took a stab and shared for about 40 minutes about my life and the really incredible roll that G0d has played in it. It was such a pleasure to encourage people and let them know that not only does G0d have a plan for all of us, but He has given each of us Gifts and abilities to help us along the way. It was really a cool blessing for me to be able to share and to do it in Russian really blows my mind.

Men kissing?

A bit of a serious shocker for me today, and certainly unexpected. I was in another little village today and prior to the ch^rch service I was at their men's B!ble study group. At first it was the p@stor, myself and one other guy. And then four more guys arrived. And lo! they kissed in greeting. No big deal right? The French do it...

... on the LIPS!

Whoa. That's not a cultural norm for me at all. I was trying desperately to figure out what to do, are they gonna kiss me too? Big, hairy mouths with gold teeth and stinky breath! UGH!

But apparently, my scrunched up face or the fact that I'm a foreigner or the outsider was enough to escape the full greeting treatment.

I really do want to acculturate and be as Russian as I can be, but I don't want to kiss men. The things we do for Jes^s.

Another adventure

I'm headed to Vinzili tomorrow. It's a small village near the mental hospital for the Tyumen region. I'm going to visit a family of a camp kid. I'm looking forward to it, but a bit nervous to be in unknown territory with only my own tongue to sustain me! I'll post you about the trip and put up some pictures when I return.

The White Pine Stampede

Today is a tough day for me. In eighth grade I volunteered for the first time in my life. I shoveled snow with Susie Redfern and Kara Johnson to cover a road crossing for the white pine stampede. It's a cross country ski race in my hometown. There are typcially 3 races (10K, 20K, and 50K). And I've volunteered every year since, until this year. 21 years. Whoa. This would have been my 22nd year. But I'm in Russia. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be, because this is where G-d wants me to be, but there are often moments when I'd like to be with Amy in Africa (or have her here!)... but today, I want to be in Michigan, standing out in the freezing cold, drinking hot cocoa, and calling out the numbers of the racers crossing the finish line with Eliot and Jason. Bert, Rick, Charles, Shan - miss you all, especially today! It's white here in Siberia and I'm thinking of you all.

Antifreeze

This is a hysterical story. This morning, Jim taught me how to open the garage door. I know this seems strange, but the locks are really foreign. There are two on the garage. The first is a combination lock that requires four numbers and no less than 10-15 turns of the tumbler to unlock it. It has an inner and outer ring and only 9 digits. He actually gave me written instructions and a diagram. Now that's complicated. The other part of the lock consists of a really cool "key" contraption that is made up of two interlocked counter threaded screws. It's hard to explain except to say it's like a cork screw that works in both directions, but has a bolt that comes out of the door when it's properly screwed in. I know that it doesn't make sense, but it's ingenious.

Now, antifreeze. Then we went to an auto parts store to buy antifreeze for Jim's car. I don't know the word for antifreeze. Neither does Jim. So when we got in the store, I prepared myself for the 5-10 minute conversation that would follow about what is antifreeze and could we please buy some. So I walked up to the counter with Jim and told them that we were Americans looking to buy something for the car. I said that I needed the liquid that you add to the water in the engine of the car so that the water in the motor doesn't freeze. They looked at me kinda blankly. So I tried again with another variant of the same sentence. A second man came over to the counter to help his colleague in understanding these crazy Americans. I tried a third time, we need the colored liquid that makes water NOT freeze in the car. The first man looks to the second and then back at us. He says, "Ahn-tee-freez" Jim and I laugh in embarrassment and good humor. Why didn't I just try the English word in the first place?

Sometimes it's so simple and we make life too complicated.

not for the weak of stomach

if you have any weirdness about eyes... stop reading.

So my friends told me tonight to wear my glasses tomorrow. Good call. I removed my contacts this evening and just now (I know I know - 3:17am I should be sleeping already, but I've been busy with financial reports and catching up with Amy!) noticed that my eye was really red.

So I looked closer in the mirror. There's like this pussing goo and it hurts. (napolean dynamite) hurts real bad. So I washed it out with saline solution and I think I'll take it easy on the contacts for a few days... or a week or whatever.

So if you're the pr@ying type - please do so, 'cause I take eyes very seriously. I've only got two of them for my whole life. So I'm going to go close them right now, but wanted to make sure you were informed!

The Power of Peanut Butter

Really for a number of years, I've been saying that on the 8th day G0d created peanut butter and chocolate and put them together. It's the next best thing after salv@tion and men/women. Well, I've got peanut butter and chocolate in my life again. Packages from the States have come for the Christmas holiday and the power and life giving force of chocolate combined with the creamy dreaminess of peanut butter has infused my taste buds with job inexpressible. I know that heaven will include this tantalizing taste treat.

Okay - so I'm waxing philosophical about candy. We have amazing chocolate here in Russia and I can buy peanut butter, but there's just something special about this combination. I have an opened Reese's peanut butter tree sitting on the desk next to me and the aroma of it's sheer awesomeness is just drifting around the room like a narcotic. I'm not eating it yet, because a HUGE part of the delight for me is the anticipation.

So In a little bit… I'll break down and devour it. Hopefully, I'll manage to eat it a little bit at a time and not shove the entire thing into my gaping maw.

The word 'for'

In Russian there are 8 rules to learn about using the English word "for". I'm not exaggerating. I spent about an hour getting myself prepped and ready to DO my homework assignment. I think I did okay, but it sure was confusing. I'm glad to be learning this stuff though, because I know I sound a bit ignorant when I don't use the right words. It would be like saying, "I'm going to the store behind some ice". Instead of saying, "I'm going to the store for some ice". So I'm glad to finally be working through this little snafu!

Winter Storms

Wow! Last night at 3am the door to the balcony of my bedroom slammed shut. I jerked out of bed hard enough to levitate off the mattress. I've never seen a snow storm with lightning before! It was incredible. I funny expected to get up this morning to a foot of snow or more and to huddle up with a blanket and some tea to start studying my Russian and for my exam on Friday. But the sky is blue this morning (something I haven't seen for a few days) and the sun is shining this morning too.

Today looks to be uneventful as far as scheduling is concerned. Lots of studying and planning on the agenda.

Monday and a Photo a Day

this is a new idea I read about on Saturday night. I'm going to try it. Take at least one photo every day. Isn't that a great idea? Anyway, I'm sure I won't post the photo every day, but here's the first one from Sunday.
It's Monday morning and it's VERY quiet in my apartment now that Don and Diedre are gone. Vadim isn't here yet for the work week and Ehud is working in his room. It's still a bit like a reality TV show, only now is the sad part where the master of the house is sitting in his little quiet room all alone working.

I was pretty sad to say good-bye to Don and Diedre, they were really great to have here and the conversation was incredible (much of it centered around getting married, thanks for the advice guys!) Diedre added the additional awesome qualities of a woman being around AND she cleaned the apartment twice as a special ministry to me! Oh wow was that nice!

Today is somehow a CRAZY day. I'm going to Lingvo to talk about teaching for this next semester, I have Russian lessons, a meeting at the Center, I'm teaching an English lesson as Pre-ev@ngelism and we have discussion club. So basically I'm 9 hours straight starting at about 12! Wow, huh?

Loving others in foreign countries

First I just want to give our a HUGE shout out to whoever had the initial idea for the internet. (Wasn't that Gore?) Anyway, I love the fact that I can communicate back home and it makes living so far away that much easier. There is SO much technology that we truly can stay connected. Certainly extra effort is required, but even heroic efforts are sometimes not enough.

For example. I've spent the last 34 minutes on repeat speed dial to Kenya. I can't get through. Amy and I planned a phone date and there's almost never a technical connection problem as much as there is a scheduling issue. So now that we've got a time booked, I can't get through! UGH!

Is this some crazy test? If so, I think I'm failing (I'm a bit sleep deprived and thus a bit crankier than usual). I had an hour for this conversation and now 40 minutes is gone and I have a meeting ... sad.

Thanks for letting me vent. Pr@y for a connection from Russian via internet to Kenyan cellular.

I'm baaaaa-aaaack.

Sorry for being absent for so long. Phew. The B!ble college is nearly over (exams on Friday this week and next), but we've all got our heads above water now. Our professors leave Sunday (today) at 5 am... I know - I should be sleeping already!

Here's a quick update. First off, I've blogged back to 1/13 or 1/17 - so make sure to review. There are some great pictures from the chinese circus, ice sculptures, and my cooking.

I start Russian lessons again on Monday. I'm really excited to be back in the formal environment, but I know that I'm continuing to improve.

I co-lead a B!ble study on Friday on Mark 4's parable of the sower. It went great. We had an excellent conversation afterwards and it was REALLY an international group. American, England, Nigeria, Russia and Ukraine were all represented. Next week we're going to watch a film that's been sweeping Russia by storm called остров (the Island) I'll fill you in more after I see it, but it apparently got high marks at Cannes.

Discussion club is going GREAT and I'm really excited about this week. I'm going to lead us in an exploration of personal and family values this week. Let's hope all goes well.

Holy Smokes is Right!

Check out Amy's blog from 1/1/2007. I've been waiting to fill everyone in on this as I wanted to give Amy adequate time to talk with all of her family and friends about it, but Amy's house burned down in Kenya!

There are many silver linings in this awful cloud. #1 No one was hurt. Amy was not at home, but was actually in Nairobi dropping me at the airport the day before. #2 This was not the house that was being built for Amy, but the one that she had been living in. #3 Amy had a whole week's worth of belongings including her computer with her. #4 People have rallied to her side and sent care packages and financial donations to get her back on her feet. Thank you all for your help and care for her.

We're both doing well now, but it was REALLY hard for me the first 1.5 - 2 weeks afterward, because I literally wasn't even home in Tyumen yet from my trip to Africa when it happened. I felt so powerless to help and could do nothing, but pr@y and talk to her via the phone! Ugh. I can't wait until we're married and we're not separated on different continents.

Chinese Circus - these are not my photos....

I linked to these photos on flickr that were just like the circus we saw today!

The Chinese Circus

must say that the most impressive thing about the whole circus was the fact that 8-10 people did the entire circus. I really REALLY like the Chinese circus because it doesn't have animals. I kinda missed the clowns a bit, but no animals was a serious plus for me. (there was a dog act, but it was obviously inserted by the Russians to entertain the kids). I just have problems with caged animals.

By the way - there were two live tigers with trainers out in the open for you to pose and have your picture taken. Just think of the risk management fit the administration would have in America…

Phenomenal though really, how people can do such incredible things with their bodies astounds me. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to go and see this touring troupe… oh, yeah, for $12.

I

The proof is in the pudding

Have you ever thought about this phrase and where could it have possibly come from? Just crazy how the strange notions of language come to be. I mean, seriously, "kick the can?" "wear pine pajamas?" Death really should be something so much more serious, yet we find ways to lighten any mood with a bit of witticism. Well, Russians say "throw away the skates" so I guess we're in good company at least.

I'm not dead!

Hey all - sorry I've been absent from the online world for the last week. B!ble college is in session again for us. And I'm REALLY enjoying the classes, but I'm swamped. Here's a quick update on my life.

#1 I am working on about 3 or 4 blog posts about things going on here. Especially the visit from an orthodox pr!est who is really taking a reformed stance on the G0spel. Interesting.

#2 The B!ble college is fully underway already in our second week. We're studying leadership and new ch^rch development. The leadership class is PHENOMINAL and I'm really enjoying all that I'm learning

#3 Went to the symphony here in town last night (Sun) and it was wonderful. And for less than $4 how can you pass up the symphony? I just don't know. So we went. It was incredible because it was a celebration of religious music that had previously been forbidden here in Russia. I especially enjoyed Handel's Allelujiah chorus (even the second time for the encore). Amazing voices too!

#4 I've got a regular reality tv show happening at my place right now. A Brazillian national, who is now an American citizen as my roommate (the food!), an American past0r and his talented wife, a Russian, and myself. It's seriously been really fun, but with only one bathroom, we're enjoying a shower schedule. I've been baking and cooking and hosting and being a student and preparing to teach classes.... and and and....

going to sleep now! Thanks for your patience

Look out it's … slippery

The whole town has landed on it's bum. Get out the charmin kids, because 120 people landed in the hospital today. It got warm, and then it got cold… which here in Tyumen translates to "all the world's an ice-rink" I've been incredibly thankful to mom and dad for all those years of gymnastics lessons. Honed balance is a requirement in Tyumen right now. Otherwise, it's a scissor kick above you head and you perform air ballet without a partner to catch you. (I'm laughing in my head at the vision of me doing the upside down scissor kick which very little grace. Can you see it too?)

Old New Year 1/14

Today we didn't get as much sleep as we'd hoped for. We're celebrating New Year once again. Only this time, instead of looking forward to the 2007 year, we're reflecting on the 2006 year. Russians celebrate New Year's day 12/31-1/1 on the 'new' Gregorian Calendar and the 1/13-1/14 on the 'old' Julian Calendar. I know that the transition was made back in 1582. Russians seem to think that January is an excellent month for celebrating, so we have holidays all month here.

Looking back at 2006 is really a highlight for me. It might be hands down the best year of my life so far, so much has happened. Here's just a few highlights:

• Met, fell in love with, and got engaged to Amy! Really encompasses a HUGE amount of the joy from my year! (we met Jan 3)
• Left my UM job of 12 years to serve on the m!ssion field
• Counting the USA, touched soil in 9 different countries (very liberal use of the 'touched soil' phrase
• Really started speaking a foreign language
• Lost 34 pounds, it feels great to be healthy!

Saturday the 13th - the sun! ugh!

It's so warm here, we're all terrified that the world is going to melt. It's hardly below 0 F anymore and we're aching to have the cold back (I must be Siberian now). We've gone out for another look at the incredible ice sculptures of Tyumen to capture their beauty before they all melt. Alas.

When it's warm the snow turns to mush and becomes dirty. Let it be cold!

I am Dead but I forgot to Fall.

This is a Brazilian phrase that Ehud used last night. He was so tired, we were all so tired. I just don't have the excuse of being jet lagged. My only excuse is that I'm just tired.

Ehud is my roommate for the next 3 months. He's a Brazilian Native, but is also a US citizen (he's lived in the US for 20+ years). He's here working with us at H0ly Trinity Ch^rch to help establish several of the leaders here, so that we can start a search for a new past0r. He's really amazing, insightful, incredibly intelligent and FUNNY! I'm really looking forward to the next three months… although the past 5 weeks have been INUNDATED with entirely too much English. I really need to get re-immersed into Russian.

I think I'll do some jump start work on that RIGHT NOW. I'm desperately trying to read a short story by Pushkin. Something like: The Lady Peasant, maybe? I look up about 40 words per paragraph (they are LONG paragraphs at least!) My vocabulary is expanding.

Russian Cuisine

I made Blini! There's a Russian proverb that you always ruin the first blin and well… I did. See the first and the last Russian pancake that I made today. My Swedish grandfather would be proud. Arne, this one's for you!

Master of the House

I got up this morning at 5:45 am to start off the day and greet the B!ble professor and his wife who will be teaching a course on leadership. Don and Deidre arrived promptly at my doorstep at 6:04am and were ready to hit the hay and get some sleep. So I started baking.

I'm a bit worried about being a good host and providing adequate food, while studying Russian AND being a student in the B!ble college. So, I got a jump start today and baked banana bread, oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies. I'm freezing the bread and one batch of cookies. I figure, it'll be great later on in the week to pull out cookies!

Tonight: Mexican. I'm making homemade flour tortillas - SO good! I don't have access to lard though, so butter will have to do!

It's getting colder in Siberia - snow flurries yesterday.

On being a wise man

My life in Russia really takes on interesting twists and turns. I'm a student, a teacher, a friend, an advisor, a shoulder, a builder, and even a wise man.

Yep, this week I spent 30 hours with Jim building a construction that is truly a marvel. The story actually begins on 12/25 this year:

The folks at our ch^rch decided to put on a really elaborate production of the Nativity Story. Not the recent movie, but the same plotlines. It was so well received that another ch^rch asked for a repeat performance.

Only one hitch. We couldn't attach the scenes to the walls of their building. And you see, we have some VERY talented artists. The scenes (5 of them) are huge. 3 meters by 5 meters to be exact. And they're gorgeous. So we needed to bring them with us. Vladimir (our interim pastor for November - December) had this great idea to build a free standing structure to hang the scenes on. So, we built it. And they did come. There were probably 150-200 people in the audience on January 7 when we put on our spektakl (play).

Oh, did you notice the we part of that? Yeah, when we put on our play. That's right, I was cast as wise man #2. Vladimir originally held this role, but he had already left for the states and I got to take over. The energy was really electric and (that's kind of a redundant statement isn't it?) and we had such a great time rehearsing and performing. I even wore a turban!

We had no lines to memorize as all of the voices and sounds were recorded onto a computer and mixed ahead of time. The music was perfect, the voices were characterized well AND Zhanna stole the show. There was a small scene with a gossipy woman and her husband when the wise men first arrive in Jerusalem. She was a hoot! Sergei did a marvelous job, both with the voicing and acting of Herod. A special highlight was Natasha singing Mary's song to the baby Jes^s.

I'm officially a Siberian

It's around 15 degrees or so today and I'm sweating outside in my coat and hat and gloves. Um, and I'm not wearing my 'winter coat,' but my fleece and shell. Zhanna tells me that I'm officially a Siberian, not just a Russian, because I'm actually sweating outside in winter. Since when does 15 degrees seem not so cold?

It was really nice to hear someone say that I'm a Siberian now!

Collectivism vs. Individualism

Doing some grammar exercises, I'm just continually struck by how much language and it's sayings reflect the culture of its people. Check out these phrases -- no promises on the perfection of the translation… I made it pretty literal.

Семья - это семь я. (Family - it is seven of me.)

Вся семья вместе - так и душа на месте (The whole family together - the soul is in its place)

Time Boxing or the One Where Jeff continues to be a super geek about time management

So I know that I'm already an organized person. You might not feel that way seeing my desk, but my planner and the planning that I do, keep my life flowing steadily forward. So I was reading one of my favorite online sources to further my geekiness and I came across a new way to think about planning your day. I like it and thought I'd share it. Welcome to time boxing.

Time boxing is about fixing the time we have available to work on a given task and then doing the best we can within that time frame. So instead working on something until it is “done” in one sitting, we only work on it for say 30 mins. It is either marked as done at the end of this period or we commit to another 30 mins at a later time or another day.

Adventures of a Russian M or Plumber anyone?

Sometimes living in another country is SO cool. Sometimes not. Today my water was shut off, and the heat. Now we have heat and water again. In fact, it's SCALDING. And the kitchen faucet is broken. Literally, the threads to the faucet ripped off! There was water spraying everywhere. Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get it fixed too. It's still the New Year Holiday here - so I'm rationing water for the tea kettle! LOL. I love my tea now… by the way - after Kenya, I'm really fond of milk in my tea in the British style. Quite tasty.

Now it's off to market for some supplies. We're having a going away dinner for Vladimir today and I'm in charge or making the Russian salad. (carrot and garlic… mmm mmm good.)

Stuck without Heat (again)

Well, two interesting points of interest on this 2nd of January day. One, I woke up without heat again. It's quite cold outside - below zero again and I'm closed up all the curtains to hold in some extra heat. Friends to the rescue once again, Sasha and Zhanna's space heater is my best pal.

And I just got this interesting article emailed to me from Google about tourists stuck in the Maasai Mara. Looks like we were there at the right time, because there are 300 people stuck in the muck.

Today should be interesting. I've landed Vladimir's role as one of the wise men in our ch^rch's producation of the nativity, because we've been asked to do it a second time for another ch^rch. Vladimir leaves on Thursday and the performance is on Sunday, so I'm going to be filling in. Let's see how quickly I can pick up on my queues! PTL that I don't have to learn any lines! They're all recorded. Oh, the reason today is interesting is that we're building a stage... and if I'm understanding correctly, it's pvc pipe or something like that...

What I did on my Christmas Vacation by me

The Kenyan photo album is ready for you

Enjoy!

Happy New Year! С Новым Годом!

Ring in the new year! Russian's sure know how to greet the new year. Almost 2 hours of straight fireworks! It was incredible! I was at Jim and Sally's 8th floor apartment with fireworks on both sides. We just stood there squeeling like young children at the opulant display. Individuals as well as the city had fireworks. It was breathtaking. I was a bit sad that this level of joy isn't directed at Christmas, but maybe in the future.

The city is completely decked out for the holiday including several small ice villages. The craftsmanship and detail of the carvings is incredible. You can even slide off of some of them!

As a typical American, the New Year has me thinking about the Rose Bowl (go blue!) and resolutions. Who do I want to be and how can I be better? What should I cut out of my life and what should I try to add to it?

I haven't finalized a list yet, I've got some ideas... but it's always so hard. I want to make a resolution that I can keep, but I don't want it to be usual: lose weight, less tv, communicate with more people, exercise more, read more B!ble, eat out less, be more fiscally responsible. All of these things are great, but living in Russia has made them all a part of my normal life! Time for the thinking cap!