Dear friends and seaside resorts,
My last blog was Nov. 19th? That was indeed quite a long time ago, and I will have to apologize for my delinquency but the internet monster came to Russia and told me that one month was much too quick and efficient for me to receive internet access, and thus I would have to wait yet another week, though he was kind enough to give me the cord I needed, which I admit added some nice ornamentation to our living room.
Since my last post, I have given ten to fifteen presentations about Thanksgiving and Mary W. Shelley's Frankenstein and they're relationship to Christian tradition and philosophy in Europe and the United States. The classes responded quite well, especially the older students of the 10a and 11a English tracks, though I am a bit puzzled as to why none of them have stopped by the Christian Center as yet, since I have implored them to do so many times. Please pray that some of these students, the ones with whom I can best converse, will come to the Christian Center and become involved in our activities.
As for other events, on December 17th Eric and I will be doing a Christmas concert composed of Christmas Carols and old Gospel carols on two acoustic guitars and harmonica. We've really managed to blues/bluegrass-up the music to beautifully, annoyingly, American sensibilities such that our language will not be the only thing American about us. We hope that doing the music in such a non-Russian way will draw more interest into the words we are actually saying, at which point we have the opportunity to explain the true reason for Christmas (which I might add, is the first week of January, not December 25 like in the U.S. It's a Russian Orthodox thing that I sort of like - it's nice to have new years day before Christmas rather than after.)
My Russian steadily improves while, as the judicious reader may have noticed, my English has begun a slow descent into the prose of the early American literature I am currently reading. I think I may return to the U.S. sounding like Captain Ahab.
I feel very blessed to have so many people back home praying for me and I thank every one of you for your letters and notes of encouragement, as being so far away for even two months is arduous, especially in a place like Russia where even the sun won't cheer you up. And, I should add, the sun's lack of cheer here has little to do with the people, government, or otherwise (I am rather happy with these aspects thusfar) but rather it's truancy from the sky. At last count, the sun rises at 10am and sets a little before 3pm, though those estimates may now be entirely inaccurate since I haven't met the sun's acquaintance in nearly a week, for it keeps hiding behind such a thick layer of clouds I haven't the slightest clue where it might be. I will say, however, that it is never quite day here, for dawn skips morning and afternoon altogether and goes on right into evening, dusk, and then a very long night. I do not really understand what all the hurry is, but if Joshua were around, I would have him get that big ball of burning gas to remain in the sky a few hours, and then maybe get him to move it a little higher so that everyone in Petrozavodsk can go swimming and get a tan, two things only bears and wolves dare to do these days.
There, enough of my rambling on about the sun as a personable object, and more blog posts, and more prayers, both from me for you, and from you for me. I pray that God will bless you all in your work.
Sincerely,
Peter.
As for other events, on December 17th Eric and I will be doing a Christmas concert composed of Christmas Carols and old Gospel carols on two acoustic guitars and harmonica. We've really managed to blues/bluegrass-up the music to beautifully, annoyingly, American sensibilities such that our language will not be the only thing American about us. We hope that doing the music in such a non-Russian way will draw more interest into the words we are actually saying, at which point we have the opportunity to explain the true reason for Christmas (which I might add, is the first week of January, not December 25 like in the U.S. It's a Russian Orthodox thing that I sort of like - it's nice to have new years day before Christmas rather than after.)
My Russian steadily improves while, as the judicious reader may have noticed, my English has begun a slow descent into the prose of the early American literature I am currently reading. I think I may return to the U.S. sounding like Captain Ahab.
I feel very blessed to have so many people back home praying for me and I thank every one of you for your letters and notes of encouragement, as being so far away for even two months is arduous, especially in a place like Russia where even the sun won't cheer you up. And, I should add, the sun's lack of cheer here has little to do with the people, government, or otherwise (I am rather happy with these aspects thusfar) but rather it's truancy from the sky. At last count, the sun rises at 10am and sets a little before 3pm, though those estimates may now be entirely inaccurate since I haven't met the sun's acquaintance in nearly a week, for it keeps hiding behind such a thick layer of clouds I haven't the slightest clue where it might be. I will say, however, that it is never quite day here, for dawn skips morning and afternoon altogether and goes on right into evening, dusk, and then a very long night. I do not really understand what all the hurry is, but if Joshua were around, I would have him get that big ball of burning gas to remain in the sky a few hours, and then maybe get him to move it a little higher so that everyone in Petrozavodsk can go swimming and get a tan, two things only bears and wolves dare to do these days.
There, enough of my rambling on about the sun as a personable object, and more blog posts, and more prayers, both from me for you, and from you for me. I pray that God will bless you all in your work.
Sincerely,
Peter.
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