Lyceum 1537 and School 1099 (public schools don't have names like Lakeside or Chamblee but numbers) rolled out the red carpet for our visit: tasty snacks and lunch, interesting presentations, eager students and staff, and a wonderful performance that included ballet, folk dancing, traditional singing, and the recent Olympics song. don't speak Russian and I remember little of physics, so I was lucky to have a translator- Maya, a year 10 student (similar to junior in the USA).
I still believe that Russian students and teachers are not that much different from American students and teachers, but I have noticed that the students I've encountered seem to entertain a genuine respect and admiration for learning. They talk of loving their school and teachers as well as understanding why they need to learn physics concepts or the English language. Maya and I talked a great deal about literature, and we share a fondness for Hemingway. However, she expressed a love for her language that I haven't come across on the USA.
Julie, Jared, and I will be flying to Barnaul tonight. So by tomorrow I'll be posting from the middle of Siberia! I'm anxious to see what it's really like. We finally met one person who's visited Barnaul (most people have looked at us and smiled when we named the city to which we'd be travelling). However, Tatiana began with a 'but.' In the end, she did say the people are nice, which is probably what's most important.
I still believe that Russian students and teachers are not that much different from American students and teachers, but I have noticed that the students I've encountered seem to entertain a genuine respect and admiration for learning. They talk of loving their school and teachers as well as understanding why they need to learn physics concepts or the English language. Maya and I talked a great deal about literature, and we share a fondness for Hemingway. However, she expressed a love for her language that I haven't come across on the USA.
Julie, Jared, and I will be flying to Barnaul tonight. So by tomorrow I'll be posting from the middle of Siberia! I'm anxious to see what it's really like. We finally met one person who's visited Barnaul (most people have looked at us and smiled when we named the city to which we'd be travelling). However, Tatiana began with a 'but.' In the end, she did say the people are nice, which is probably what's most important.