'Hvarf-Heim'

Well, kids, November fast approaches, as does the release of Sigur Ros' latest album - a double-CD of previously unreleased studio recordings (on 'Hvarf') and acoustic studio versions of previously released material (on 'Heim'). All of this will be available to fans in North America, such as myself, on November 6. Strangely enough, as with Sigur Ros' previous album, 'Takk', I will be in Ukraine when it becomes available in stores.
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Мой Репетитор - Оксана

Две недели назад я стал заниматься опять русским языком с репетитором. Её зовут Оксана и она жена одного бывшего волонтёра, который тоже служил в Украине как я. Мужа Оксаны зовут Кэн. В Украине он жил в Одесе, и там он познакомился с Оксаной. Как настоящая украинка, на второй встрече нашей Оксана спросила меня, почему я не женился с украинской девушкой. А тут я замолчал от стыда :-)

Кэн и Оксана на прошлые выходные на Фестивале славянской културы

Друзья из далека...

Я говорил сегодня с друзьями из Украины. Было так хорошо общаться с ними и слышать их голосы! И было прекрасно прощаться с ними, зная, что мы увидимся через только один месяц.

А вот две фотографии, которие мне послали. Первая - это с дневника Лизы. Смотрите на то, что она написала. Вторая фотография - это моя сестра Оля в Яготыне на первый звонок. Видите...какая она красивая и взрослая. Я ей это сказал по телефону, и она так ответила -- Я знаю, Браян. Но она шутила. Я в ответе сделал ей замечание -- Оля, не так говори. Ты должна быть скромной. :-) Я очень жду этой поездки в Украину!

после почти что 20 лет совместной жизни..мои родители повенчались))) я их подтолкнула..потому что так жить нельзя))))) воот) так что сегодня у нас была так сказать свадьба дома))))

Ольга Александровна Литвиненко

из одинадцетого класса

1 сентабря 2007

The voice hesitant,
and her hand trembling
in the dark for yours.

She touches your face
and says your name
in the same instant.

The one you refuse to say
over and over again.
The one you refuse to say.

--David Whyte,
"The Soul Lives Contented"

The Lives of Others - Das Leben der Anderen

This weekend I met up with a co-worker of mine, Shabnam, and a friend of hers and saw The Lives of Others. I'd been wanting to see this film ever since Benjamin was talking it up one day at work. It's a German film that takes place during the early 80's in East Germany and centers around the Stasi - short for Staatssicherheit, as in the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit or Ministry of State Security - the secret police of the GDR. Stasi agent, Gerd Wiesler, is part of an operation that has playwright, Georg Dreyman, under surveillance. As Wiesler observes the lives of Dreyman and his lover, actress Christa-Maria Sieland, he becomes disenchanted with the Stasi system, its abuse of power, as its members destroy the lives of several Berlin artists. I'm not sure if you noticed this, but was there anyone this weekend not reading You-Know-Which-Book?

Cherry blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial

So tell me...what is this "American Councils?"

Out of sheer laziness, I've cut and pasted the following from American Councils' website - http://www.americancouncils.org/. If you are so inclined, you may also read about them in Russian by visiting the website for their St. Petersburg office - http://www.americancouncils.spb.ru/main.php


Mission & History

American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, an international not-for-profit organization, believes in the fundamental role of education in fostering positive change for individuals, institutions and societies. Building upon over three decades of regional expertise and development experience, American Councils advances education and research worldwide through international programs that provide the global perspective essential for academic and professional excellence. In collaboration with partners around the world, our dedicated team of professionals designs and implements innovative and effective programs responsive to the cultures and needs of the international communities in which we work.

Founded in 1974 as an association for area and language professionals, American Councils has focused its expertise on academic exchange, professional training, distance learning, curriculum and test development, delivery of technical assistance, research, evaluation, and institution building.

Originally incorporated as the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR), American Councils has worked to advance research, training, and materials development in the fields of Russian and English, as well as strengthen communication within and among the communities of scholars and educators in language, literature, and area studies of the United States and the former Soviet Union. In 1987, the ACTR Board of Directors created the American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study (ACCELS), which quickly became a leader in the design and administration of exchange and training programs funded by the U.S. government.

In its four decades, American Councils has developed into one of the premier American education and international training organizations, administering more than thirty exchange and training programs, including U.S. government programs and non-U.S. national fellowship programs. The organization develops collaborative and partnership programs between individuals and institutions in the United States and the countries of Eurasia and Eastern Europe, consults on project design and education innovation programs, and actively contributes to the development of Eurasian language and area studies in the United States. And the organization maintains its commitment to the teaching of the Russian language, with over 100,000 textbooks and educational materials sold and 6,500 Russian-language learners registered online.

To reflect the organization’s development and expanded activities, in 1998, the ACTR Board created a new organizational structure with a new name, American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. ACTR and ACCELS are divisions of the American Councils. American Councils employs a full-time professional staff of over 370, located in forty-seven offices in forty cities in 15 countries of Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Funding comes from public and private sources, including the U.S. Agency for International Development; the U.S. Department of State; the U.S. Department of Education; the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the governments of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan; the World Bank; the Carnegie Corporation; the Open Society Institute/Soros Foundations, and other public and private donors.

A New City: Washington, D.C.

Something very different and not Chicago. Here's the story of how I ended up in our nation's capital...

Sometime near the end of 2006, maybe in November or so, my mom forwarded me an e-mail announcing a job opening at American Councils in DC. At this time, my parents were hosting Sasha, our exchange student from Melitopol, Ukraine, a scholarship student in the U.S. as part of the FLEX program (Future Leaders Exchange). American Councils administers this program and places about 40 of the total 1200 high schoolers who come over every year from former Soviet countries. I had first learned of American Councils (aka ACTR) while I was in Ukraine. I'd applied for a position there when I first came back home (at the beginning of 2006) but to no avail. So, my interest was piqued when I learned of this new opening.

After submitting my resume, I was asked to have an interview over the phone which then led to an invitation to Washington for a meeting in person. I originally planned to fly in and out of DC on the same day, Tuesday, February 13. My interview was scheduled for 2pm and I had made plans to meet my friend John for lunch beforehand. As things often go, I was running late, had to forego lunch with John and head straight to American Councils for my meeting. At this point, it had already started to snow. American Councils operates on the same schedule as the federal government which was shut down at 2pm. This meant, that when I arrived at the office, much of the staff was leaving or had left. Luckily, the people I was supposed to speak with had not.

I ended up being stuck in the DC area for three days and flying home Thursday evening. All this time, my good friend John, his wife, Susan, and their family, were kind enough to put me up for those nights. School was cancelled for two days and the kids were very grateful to me for bringing such splended weather and freeing them of their educational responsibilities. (I should note here that DC, for some reason, has no idea what to do with itself when faced with snow. Although the governement had been shut down Tuesday, within several hours that same day there was not a trace of snow on the ground, though it snowed again that night and stuck for the next several days.)

On Thursday morning, I got a call with a job offer. They wanted me to start work on March 1, a mere two weeks away! I jumped for joy and then packed to fly home to Chicago that night, periodically calling the airline to make sure my flight hadn't again been cancelled. It wasn't and I made it home.

At the end of February, having said many goodbyes, I drove out to DC in my car with whatever stuff would fit, leaving the rest of it in storage in Chicago. Again, my friends John and Susan, being very generous souls, offered to have me stay with them for a few weeks until I could find a place of my own somewhere in DC, Virginia or Maryland. My aunt and uncle on my dad's side live near DC, as does my cousin David. While out at a dive bar one night doing karoake with Dave, I met a number of his friends, including the girl who would soon become my roommate, Gina (not to be confused with my Chicago roomie, also Gina). I moved into her place, where her former roommate was moving out. I took her old room, she took the basement room, and someone new, Michelle, took the old roommates spot.

Come the middle of April, I flew back to Chicago where I met my dad, who had flown up from Orlando. The two of us rented a truck and drove all of my stuff back to DC, where I am today.

So that's how it happened, minus about 250 details. As I've been heard to say, I really think it would be difficult for me to imagine a more perfect position for me right now. One of my former students in Krasnograd asked, "Мистер Петерсон, вам нравится новая работа?" My answer - "Да. Очень."

Umm, Yes...