St. Petersburg 2009

End of Another Year

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:45:46 +0800

This year the 17th English Language Institute was held from June 30th to July 17th in St. Petersburg. Once again its purpose was to provide English Language study for St. Petersburg teachers of English and a business program for students interested in developing business skills. This summer a separate program was added for university students.

Jack Archibald, Paul and Libby McKechnie, Dan Seekings, and Judy and Gordon Richardson from Ottawa volunteered in this program with five other teachers from western Canada: Tim and Emily Stewart from BC, Sharon Funk from Saskatchewan and Nancy and Robert Hepting from BC.

We had record attendance, with about 26 in the business class taught by Gordon, Dan and Paul, 24 in the youth class taught by Tim and Emily, and 80 in the teachers classes. As per usual, the students were enthusiastic about what they were learning and appreciative of our efforts.

The noon hour “Sing and Share” times were very well attended. Usually 105 out of 130 students were there. They enjoyed the singing, the daily draws for prizes and listened intently to Jack’s interesting talks.

This year, we initiated a weekly walk at a nearby park, Nancy held a singing group, and Jack led a Bible Study group some afternoons after classes. The students organized a boat trip open to everyone. These activities were appreciated and well attended. In addition, the Canadians had many invitations to cultural events, to homes, or on outings where we had time to talk and get to know these kind and hospitable hosts.
We were very glad of this opportunity to renew friendships and make new friends.

Classes

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:25:10 +0800

This year, the English Summer Institute has eight full classes -- six for English teachers, one for Business students and one for young adults. All classes were very well attended. Class pictures are in the Photo Gallery.

Canada Day in St. Petersburg

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 21:35:29 +0800

Today, we celebrated Canada Day in St. Petersburg! We had a wonderful lunch with students replete with a Canadian theme! Check out the photo album for more pictures!

Day 2 - Settling In

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:31:48 +0800

There is another conference going on here this week: a US group working with Russian Christian teachers. We look forward to learning more about their program. They are using the chapel all day, but we have agreed to a plan that allows us to use the chapel area while they are having their lunch. We are all having to adapt our programs somewhat, but it has gone quite well on days 1 and 2. The attendance at our Sing and Share time has been excellent.

Eight of the Russian students from the other program arrived last night and are sharing our dormitory and bathrooms, so it is quite noisy and busy and we are all having to be flexible to live together successfully. The other group will only be here for the first week, so things should quieten down next week.

Tanya Philpott has done a wonderful job in making many preparations, registering and notifying all the students in the various courses and now helping to manage them, all while attending to her own regular workload. We are truly thankful for all she has both in preparation and now in actively helping with the Summer Institute.

We are all starting to spend time with the students outside of classes and the usual plans of going to concerts and parks and museums are rapidly forming. We feel very privileged to be enjoying so many interesting experiences with our students outside of the teaching environment.

We are grateful for your prayers. There is great enthusiasm here by both the students and the teachers and we look forward to great days ahead.

Getting Underway

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:26:58 +0800

Everyone had good flights here and everything we brought arrived. What a wonderful way to start! Over the weekend we have worked through all the administrative details (shopping, classroom preparation, team organization, etc.) so that we are ready to begin in earnest this morning. The weather is lovely, sunny but not humid.

We have record numbers of students. The youth and business classes are full and there are 14 in each of the teachers' classes, and still there are new students calling to register. Approximately 40% of the students are attending for the first time, and there are many more men than last year registered in all of the classes.

The returning students are so pleased to see us again and so appreciative of our coming and of our teaching. We are all thoroughly enjoying renewing our friendships with them and making many new connections.