Shmadorablies and GNOMUS

I almost kidnapped a small child dressed as a gnome. After much restraint, I was satisfied to just steal its soul via photography.

"But why oh why, Jenny, were you around children-GNOMUS?" Well sit down, my flock, and I'll spin you a tale of fairytales, artistic expressioin, and eerily prophetic PE classes. Our excursion this week was to go to a Russian school (K-11, I think) and to see differences, similarities, yadda yadda. I left home at the crack of dawn (7:15. maybe not the crack...) to go see some commie kiddies running around like hooligans. When we arrived, we chose classes to sit in on and to participate. I have discovered that my language ability makes me a semi-competent 3rd grader. Frankly, I was pretty proud I could keep up with the littluns.

First Period: 3rd grade Art class!
I totally got an A for the day. We made cute felt flower drawings, and the teacher told me "Молодец!", meaning "Great job, you child-genius!". Proud. The main difference that I noticed throughout the day, was that children aren't completely encouraged free expression. The art class was very structured: each step of the project was regulated, and color choice was limited to 2 of 3. Much different from my artsy-fartsy everyoneisageniusandtshejustneedstoletitcomeflowingoutofherdarlinglittlegeniusfingers education. I have to say I noticed increased productivity the Russian way. At the end of the class I was swarmed by all the kiddies asking me questions about myself...in English. They wanted us to eat breakfast with them, but alas we were off to our next class. The life of a student is so difficult.

2nd Period: PE
Because our Math class was canceled, two of us decided to sit in on the 1st grade PE class. Main difference between American and Russian PE: Russian PE is physical education. They learned stretches, ran, raced, and practiced hand-eye coordination by throwing a tennis ball and catching it. Again, it was a collective effort rather than a class of individual expression; namely, there was no game-playing. The teacher looked exactly like a stereotypical Russian gymnast coach. At any moment I was expecting her to make us swear we would never reveal the secrets of olympic success she had taught the children. I suspect she was secretly a recruiter there to find the next student who will raise Russia to her previous competitive prowess. After Plushenko disgraced the country, it was time for a new generation to wear the mantel of glory. That's what I got from the 1st grade PE class. And "DOH LOOK AT THE WIDDLE TUBSTER RUN!"

Between 2nd and 3rd period, we went to the library for a presentation. The librarian was quite sweet and told us all about how the kiddies love to read and about their extensive collection. Then she introduced her magical library gnome helpers (ps....that phrase is now in my active Russian vocabulary). They recited a library-rhyme and my brain almost exploded from cuteness overload. That library kicked Gelman's ass. And it was less oppressive.

3rd period: 3rd grade Literature--fairytales!
I reunited with my friends from 1st period, and when I entered the class room I was greeted by a chorus of "Zhenya! It's Zhenya!". I was totally the popular girl at the school that day. Unfortunately, literature fell on Jenny-nap time, so I had to concentrate all my effort on my eyelids. Therefore I didn't learn a lot about Russian fairytales. However, at the end of class, all the kids ran up to us and gave us their candy and a picture they had drawn for us, and random toys. Like I said, popular. Again, it took every ounce of self-control not to TACKLE them all.

Cuteness aside, I noticed the Russian kiddies were always excited about class. Maybe it was because there were foreigners watching and they wanted to show off their brilliance, but there was never an awkward "c'mon kids, start paying attention and answer some questions". It was rare to see a class without at least 4 hands in the air at all times. Also, it was funny to see what happened when a kid did something wrong. In art class, for instance, if a boy made a bad flower, the teacher would tell him "That's awful. That's a pretty bad flower." It's part of the Russian mentality in general; nothing is sugar coated and everyone says what they think. As said in earlier posts, I make a terrible Russian. Though I have to say, something must be working. Russian universities is where I start having serious problems with the education system. But that's a subject for a different post.