Gymnasium #9
We took the jitney into Novosibirsk this morning. We followed Olga’s instructions and found our way to meet her without any problem. The beginning of our metro ride was at the Ploshchad Lenina station. 
There are two metro lines and our stop was the last one on the red line so our task was not too difficult. Her school, Gymnasium #9, is a short walk from the Zaelcovskaya Metro station (my own transliteration; we have no English maps!) Olga had asked us to talk with two of her classes of 9th graders who are studying English.
We told them a little about ourselves and our kids and talked about the twin cities, the Mississippi, and Minnesota. We particularly pointed out how many similarities we see between our two cities.
We talked about their families; many of them have no siblings. They talked about the sports they enjoy—swimming, skating, skiing, wrestling, soccer, dancing and some of the other activities they enjoy—painting, music, email, TV, video games. Sometimes school closes because of the weather. Last year it was particularly cold so they missed about 10 days of school. They assured us that they did not study the whole time the school was closed.
The students dressed much more nicely than students in MN. The boys wore coats and some wore ties. They did not wear sneakers. Bob was wearing jeans that they are not allowed to wear! We enjoyed our time with them very much.
This is the 2nd group of students and us.
This class was assembling as we were leaving. That's Olga in the middle.
Thank you, Olga, for taking the pictures of us with your classes!
Olga asked two of her students to walk us to the front door. We snapped this photo of them in front of the school sign. The school security officer jumped in the photo too. Does he remind you of Blake's Bob?
On our way home, we stopped at the Traveler’s Coffee shop near Ploshchad Lenina for lunch. After our first trip into Novosibirsk, we learned that the most reliable way to get a jitney seat is to get on the bus at the beginning of the line. We hopped back on the Metro to go to the main train station (via the green line) where the jitneys start their routes.
From a distance, the main train station's profile resembles a locomotive engine.
This morning, we noticed the fare was 30 rubles instead of 25. We wondered if the increase was because we were in the front seats (the prime location for jitneys) or, if it was because we were traveling during rush hour. A sign posted in the bus this afternoon explained that on Sep 25 the fare increased! This is a good reminder to keep one’s mind open to ALL the possibilities, not just the obvious. Traveling reinforces this lesson constantly!
There are two metro lines and our stop was the last one on the red line so our task was not too difficult. Her school, Gymnasium #9, is a short walk from the Zaelcovskaya Metro station (my own transliteration; we have no English maps!) Olga had asked us to talk with two of her classes of 9th graders who are studying English. We told them a little about ourselves and our kids and talked about the twin cities, the Mississippi, and Minnesota. We particularly pointed out how many similarities we see between our two cities.
We talked about their families; many of them have no siblings. They talked about the sports they enjoy—swimming, skating, skiing, wrestling, soccer, dancing and some of the other activities they enjoy—painting, music, email, TV, video games. Sometimes school closes because of the weather. Last year it was particularly cold so they missed about 10 days of school. They assured us that they did not study the whole time the school was closed.
The students dressed much more nicely than students in MN. The boys wore coats and some wore ties. They did not wear sneakers. Bob was wearing jeans that they are not allowed to wear! We enjoyed our time with them very much.
This is the 2nd group of students and us.
This class was assembling as we were leaving. That's Olga in the middle.
Thank you, Olga, for taking the pictures of us with your classes!
Olga asked two of her students to walk us to the front door. We snapped this photo of them in front of the school sign. The school security officer jumped in the photo too. Does he remind you of Blake's Bob?On our way home, we stopped at the Traveler’s Coffee shop near Ploshchad Lenina for lunch. After our first trip into Novosibirsk, we learned that the most reliable way to get a jitney seat is to get on the bus at the beginning of the line. We hopped back on the Metro to go to the main train station (via the green line) where the jitneys start their routes.
From a distance, the main train station's profile resembles a locomotive engine.
This morning, we noticed the fare was 30 rubles instead of 25. We wondered if the increase was because we were in the front seats (the prime location for jitneys) or, if it was because we were traveling during rush hour. A sign posted in the bus this afternoon explained that on Sep 25 the fare increased! This is a good reminder to keep one’s mind open to ALL the possibilities, not just the obvious. Traveling reinforces this lesson constantly!
posted by Peggy W at Wednesday, September 27, 2006
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