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The last three weeks have really flown by, and I cannot believe that I have finished my first semester as an English teacher. It really has been so much fun so far. I am so happy that I have had this opportunity, and I am looking forward to next semester.

I mostly focused on Christmas for my last lessons. So many of my students are really facinated by the holiday. New Years is a more important holiday here in Russia. That is when they give presents and visit with family. Teaching about Christmas has been a great opportunity to share my faith. Even though there are non-Christian aspects of the holiday, many traditions come back to the basic Christmas story. In some of my classes we read the Christmas story from Luke. After we finished, one of the students, a vehement atheist, let me know that he was not impressed and told me that the same story existed in Russia. It was a great opportunity to focus on what the angels say to the shepherds, "Great News that will be for ALL people."

Carolina and I also had the opportunity to go bowling with a few of our students last weekend. It was lots of fun to hang out with students that we had not really socialized with outside of class before.

We have a very long vacation, almost 6 weeks, coming up. Carolina will be gone for about a month of that time, and I wil be staying here in Vologda. Please pray that I am able to keep my spirits up, and that I won't be lonely. Please pray that I will take this opportunity to develop deeper relationships with my students and friends here. I also am still very much in need of financial assistance. If you can help, even a little bit, I would be blessed.

Thank you for your prayers and support
Because of Christ

A Tallinn Thanksgiving

I am back from a wonderful trip to Tallinn, Estonia. It was great to get together with the boys of St. Pete, and just go relax. Tallinn is one of the most beautiful places I have been to, and it was nice to go somewhere that is so different from anywhere I had been before. I must admit I went through a mini-culture shock when I arrived. Things are so different from Russia, even though I was only a few hours away. For one thing, everything seemed so inexpensive to us. Carolina and I stoked up on things like shampoo and razor blades that are so expensive here in Russia. On our first day we went to a grocery store to shop for our Thanksgiving meal. I was expecting a small market like we have here. Instead I got a full fledged grocery store. It was very Wal-Martesq. We were overwhelmed by how inexpensive things like fruit and meat were. There were also such rare delicacies as tortilla chips and salsa (Carolina stocked up). I bought a jar of pesto to liven up the pasta here! The people were also very friendly. It was also nice to be able to speak English with everybody. The boys in St. Pete do not stick out as much, because St. Pete is a more international city. Here in Vologda though, Carolina and I are the circus freak show. I had really stoped noticing it until I went away.

None of that should make you think that I am enjoying my time here any less. It was just nice to have a break, and to do something a little different. In fact, I am very excited about the lessons I have planned for the rest of the semester (about 2 1/2 weeks). It was great to see all my students when I got back. I was encouraged that they seemed to be excited to see Carolina and me as well. I am loving this job more and more as the days pass. I am also encouraged by the progress my students really seem to be making. I am glad that there seems to be no permenate damage to them as a result of my teaching.

Thank you so much to all of you who are supporting my prayerfully and with monetary donatins. I still am raising funds. If you would like to contribute financially please go to TeachOverseas.org. There are more details in earlier posts.

Thanks again
Because of Christ