We all went out for a final dinner together. It was in a very fancy part of town. This restaurant was fancy! The beautiful snow capped mountains were in the background. The pictures can't explained how gorgeous those mountains were. Look at all that bread! Yum, Yum! I had chicken and rice. It was the first time I had chicken since I have been here. It was garnished with cucumbers which are extremely popular here. April's dinner came on these knifes that reminded me of Freddy Kruger fingers. The restaurant had some great dancers! I especially liked the guy. He did some what I call typical Russian dancing. He was very good and exciting to watch. He was so fast that it was hard to catch him in action on the camera. It was nice to be all back together. I loved listening to everyone else's experiences.
I am back in Almaty after our 19 hour train ride. The train ride was much better this time. They gave us food to take on the train which was very thoughtful. We got in about 11:00 am and will get on the plane to start our journey back at 1:30 in the morning Sat. I should arrive home in Richmond, Sat at 6:00 pm. I have tons of updating to do on the blog. It was hard keeping up because of no Internet. We all went out for a final dinner together. It was in a very fancy part of town. This restaurant was fancy! The beautiful snow capped mountains were in the background. The pictures can't explained how gorgeous those mountains were. Look at all that bread! Yum, Yum! I had chicken and rice. It was the first time I had chicken since I have been here. It was garnished with cucumbers which are extremely popular here. April's dinner came on these knifes that reminded me of Freddy Kruger fingers. The restaurant had some great dancers! I especially liked the guy. He did some what I call typical Russian dancing. He was very good and exciting to watch. He was so fast that it was hard to catch him in action on the camera. It was nice to be all back together. I loved listening to everyone else's experiences.
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Today, I am leaving to go back to Almaty. I will be leaving at 3:00 to go to the train. We had some final pictures with the staff. Then the guys drove us back to the hotel to help us with our luggage. Actually, they probably just want to make sure we get back on the train, so they can get their life back. Oljhesh was our driver in the morning/afternoon and Nikolai was the computer guy at school. We caused a lot of computer problems! =) Then we were met at the train by our hosts! Everyone helped us get the luggage on the train and communicate with the train staff.
While we were waiting for the train to take off, some of the students stopped by to say goodbye! How sweet!! They wrote we miss you and love you on the window! We will miss them terribly! Today was my last full day at school. I taught a review lesson about American pets and how teenager spend their free time. I shared pictures that my TCMS students gave me about how they spend their free time!
The most fun part of today was experiencing CULTURE DAY!! The students taught us about Kazakh, Russian, Ukraine, and Tatar's culture. We walked around to different rooms where students had prepared information, dances, games, and food! It was very impressive and well put together! The students really worked hard. We then presented information about the US culture and answered questions. Most of the questions revolved around American Universities. Many students want to travel abroad! After school, the teachers prepared dinner for us. Again, I can't say engough how everyone has gone out of their way to help us feel right at home! Today, I taught all my lessons: mass communications, strange hotels, and computer addiction! Very different topics. Barb and I presented a workshop to the teachers in this school and other city schools. We talked about teaching English interactively and teaching vocabulary. It went well. The teachers were very excited to talk with us. They get very little opportunity to talk with a native speaker. We exchanged emails, and I am hoping to hear from them soon, so my students at TCMS will have the opportunity to email with their students.
We discussed lesson plans for tomorrow. I actually got back to the hotel early this afternoon--around 6:00 to work on some lessons. Of course, NO INTERNET! ARRGGHH! Oh well. While driving back to the hotel, I saw many people in the streets sweeping. The city is very dirty after the winter months. Since the snow has melted, it is everyone's job to come out and CLEAN! They feel if the community cleans, then they will keep it clean. This is a requirement. Tomorrow is our last full day at school. The Internet connection has been very weak lately and it is hard to blog. I will probably upload pictures with I get back to Almaty. Monday was very long! It started at 7:00 in the morning and I got home about 10:00 at night. I taught many lessons to the students, and we visited a new experimental school. It was very large and beautiful. It is experimental because of some of the classes. They are teaching subjects in multiple languages. I attended a math class where students were solving math problems--explaining them in Kazakh and then explaining them in English. This was a 7th grade classroom. I believe this is how they are so much better at languages. They practice all three languages all the time in ALL classes! This school had a beautiful pool and had all grade levels of talented students. They performed dances and sang for us. All the schools we entered had museums in the schools. They honored their culture: famous people, leaders, athletes, and their independence. Also, plants are EVERYWHERE. They are also labeled so students will learn the names.
When we returned to school in the afternoon, we waited for a student and his father. Sultan's father owned a beautiful cafe "The Black Cat" and had invited us to dinner, It was very nice and relaxing. It is so amazing how the Kazazh people open their homes and businesses to us. The table was filled with tons of food of course. They served their specialty dessert--cheesecake. Sultan's father is an official in the community and wears a pin to signal that status. They were excited that he got the chance to meet Americans and talk with them. His dad had been to the US before for his restaurant business. Tomorrow, he had a team that was going to Astana for a cooking competition. Good Luck! The restaurant reminded me of something we would visit in the US. After a few hours, his family dropped us off a the hotel. We went on a walking tour with one of the teachers. People are so gracious here. Everyone is showing us around on their own time. We went to a museum with a teacher and some of her students and a library-American Corner. American Corners in Kazakhstan was really interesting. We had a question answer session with about 40 peole who came to meet us. This part of the library had books and movies from the United States. The first book on display that caught my eye was one on the Outer Banks! There was another on the Civil War battlefields. They have workshops there and hold meetings. ACK is located all around Europe. Check them out oneline at www.amcorners.kz or on facebook www.facebook.com/ACkazakhstan
We met a local family that had prepared lunch for us. It was more like a feast, not just lunch! WOW! The main dish was horse meat and noodles. The father cut the meat up for everyone, and we ate it with our hands-all five fingers. It was so humbling how much time went into fixing this meal for us. We had such a great time there. What an experience! We made toasts and wished each other well. Sabina, their daughter, goes to the school where I am teaching. Her parents are so proud of her and would love to send her to Harvard! If lunch wasn't enough, they sent us home with a bag of extra food. After lunch, we went to a local art museum. They had art that was really old and very modern. It was all about their history and local famous artists. The Kazakh people are all about celebrating their people and history. It is Saturday and all schools are open. When we arrived at school, we observed some classroom lessons. Then we moved to an assembly where the students sang danced, and put on a play for us. They worked very hard to prepared and I was impressed. I, then, presented information about my school, Tomahawk Creek Middle School. We ended to day eating dinner at a Russian restaurant with the principal and assistant principal (my host teacher). We had several vegetable and smoked fish appetizers, then we had smoked lamb and french fries. The last few pictures are from my hotel room. It is roomy and nice. The main light in the room can be white, green, or red. It can also blink all the colors like Christmas lights. I spent time on the laptop on the bathroom floor, because it is the only room that has white lights. I asked why do they use those colored lights because they are so dark. They said because they can!
I arrived in Petropavlovsk. I thought the train ride was going to be 6 hours, however, I discovered it was 18-19 hours. The car we stayed in was the size of a faculty bathroom and we had 4 piece of luggage with us. The first two hours of the trip there was no AC. Need I say anymore? But we got there and we saw a lot of beautiful landscape. The pictures below are of the Steppe.
We were warmly greeted at the school. The kids performed dances and sang for us! It was really sweet. Tomorrow, I will be observing and then presenting a lesson. We went walking around with an interpreter from the school. I noticed that most people were looking at us. I was told not many Americans have been to the city. People were taking pictures like we were celebrities. We attracted a lot of attention, especially when we would speak. I discovered a few things when I got back to the hotel--the Internet is hit or miss, so I will update as often as I can and my room is over top of the hotel club with live music! It is like having a vibrating bed from the bass of the music. Today is a bit of a free day for me. Right now, it is 5:30 in the morning on Thursday. I have been up since 3:00 or so working on this blog, because I think I am still on United States time! I can't sleep! This is the day that the group splits up and travels to the host school where we will be teaching. So, it is travel day. I leave at 5:30 in the afternoon. I will be traveling by train into the night for 6 hours. Supposedly, Barb, the other US teacher I will be traveling with, and I, have a train car all to ourselves. I will take pictures and post them later. Right now, I am in Almaty (Southeast) and I am going to Petropavlovsk (north). Hopefully, the Internet is as good as it is here. So be patient if it isn't. While we wait, we will be exploring the city. The weather is great--sunny and 80. I knew I should have brought shorts and my flip flop, but I didn't!
We were on our way to the schools! School Visits Today! 8:30-11:00 A.M.--We are first visiting Capital City School (School # 159) Kazakh School Agenda-School Tour, classroom observations in a variety of disciplines, meeting with administrators, teachers, and students. This school was very much like TCMS: 1,200 students (all grades though), 109 teachers, talented students and teachers, high test scores. We started our visit walking the red carpets, literally. I felt very welcomed and honored to be there from the first minute. We first met in the principal's office and learned a little bit about her accomplishments. Then, we started to walk around the school. You could tell that they have great pride in their school and their students. Images of nature were everywhere. Also, there were TONS of plants everywhere as well. Our first stop was the library. There were very proud of the amount of books and the variety that they had to offer the students. They also pointed out how new everything looked. They said they the students and teachers have such pride in their school, you would never see any marks of the walls or the desks. All around the halls, there are images of the country and you can feel the pride they have for their culture and history. We watched a PowerPoint of all the many accomplishments of the school and their students. It was impressive. We then met some of the most talented students in the school: singers, dancers, and musicians. I have a few videos I will post later. We were introduced to their best teachers in all subjects. These students and teachers were know for their international accomplishments. Many students travel abroad and study for semesters in other countries. If a student was talented in the arts, they had also preformed internationally as well. I was taken to a 7th grade English classroom where a 45 minute lessons was about to get started. Notice the uniforms on the students, Promethean board, and the computers on the desks. The lesson of the day was about books: fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, romance, drama, poetry. They had a workbook they were working from as a class and with a partner. I was impressed that they read classics in many different languages. Some of their favorite classic authors that we would recognize were books from Shakespeare, Jack London, Mark Twain, James Joyce etc. They were very well behaved and excited about the lesson. When they speak, they stand up by their desk. The lesson consisted of many opportunities to use their language skills. For example, the teacher might ask a question, and the student would answer in English. Then she would say, "How do you say that in Russian or Kazakh?" So, the students were always practicing language skills: speaking, writing, listening, and reading. Also, look at the way they raise their hands. Their hands are held in a different position. We were told that it is from the Russian era, but they continue to to it. We also had a question/answer session with them, and they had read most of the popular books my students have read: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, Eragon,etc. One part of the lesson, she handed out mini posters of authors from countries. They had about four minutes to read it and prepare an oral presentation about the author. At the end of the lesson, she would "score" each students' English speaking skills outloud with a number 1-5. Honestly, she took off points many times or she apologized to us for their mistakes, and I didn't even notice any mistakes. After the lesson, we had a question answer session with the students. They wanted to know mostly where we were from and if students in the US had to wear uniforms. We then had a FEAST! They were so happy to have us and to provide lunch for us. It was extremely humbling to see how much preparation had gone into our visit. All the food was handmade. It was honestly an honor for them to provide this for us. Kazakh people are very giving. I tried fermented mare's milk and camel milk. There is a first and a last time for everything! Both milks had a very different and strong taste! After lunch, we went to the canteen (lunchroom). Everything seems homemade and great care has been made to make the meal nutritious. They didn't have lockers, but they had coat corners where students could NEATLY leave their stuff. It was monitored by adults. Then, we went to the swimming pool! Yes, the pool! They swim every day. My favorite thing was that they had hairdryers set up for the students, so that they could dry their hair before they went back to class. On our way out, we randomly stopped at different classrooms. One of the classrooms we visited was a first grade classroom. The principal was very proud of what they could do--recite lessons, and singing. They were asked to recite random items--songs and chants- and they did them on the spot. As we were leaving, we were given huge bouquets of flowers. 1:00-3:00 We are visiting Capital City School (School 90) Russian School
Agenda-School Tour, classroom observations in a variety of disciplines, meeting with administrators, teachers, and students. I could tell that the first school had a very prepared program for us. This school had prepared for our visit, but wanted us to see a normal day at their school. So in generally, nothing was staged just for our visit. As we walked into the building, there were students and staff lining the walkway clapping as we entered the building. We walked into the auditorium, for a presentation. Students danced and sang. One song they preformed for us was the "Chattanooga Choo Choo." We walked in and out of different classrooms. Notice the Smart boards, computers, uniforms, etc. I spotted a Harry Potter book on one of the student's desks. The library was not only a place to check out books, but to study for up and coming tests. Then, we moved to the canteen (lunchroom). Food was served on the tables, before the students came in. The meals were nutrition and homemade. Today's lunch was meat and potatoes, soup, fruit, and bread. I found a Chemistry class to be very interesting. The teacher was telling us how important science is in their country. The teacher works with the government to work on real world problems and projects. She was showing us a poster which was the end result of one of the projects done with the government which was recognized internationally. They were very proud of all the resources that they had for the students in science, especially chemicals. She commented, "How can you do Chemistry without all the necessary chemicals?" We continued walking through the building. A computer drawing class was working on a project designing a city for the future. An English class was working on grammar. Notice the notebooks in the back cabinet, all English grammar. One teacher asked me, how many hours a day do I spend on English grammar? Hours a day on grammar---oh my! They also had a museum in their school about their history and culture. We also met with some high school students in a question/answer session. Mostly students wanted to know helpful hints about how to get into American universities! At the end of the day, we were treated to more food and given a present--a ceramic apple. Kazakhstan is know for their apples! |
My Travel Blog-April 2013Cindy WoodwardOver the next few months, I'll use this blog to share my experiences as part of Archives
April 2013
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