Yes, street sweeping would be a good idea for my students.

 Interesting ride to school this morning.  As we were rolling along with Yelena we started to pass groups of teenagers in the streets with brooms.  They were sweeping up dirt from the sides of the road, and collecting old brush from the long winter.  Every spring and fall local students are mandated to perform community service in this way.  When I was in Japan I saw a similar situation in schools as students twice a day (once in the morning, and once again in the afternoon) were the ones to clean the schools.  No janitors, no Ray. 

 I was told that students do a lot of complaining during this process.  And I met a young woman who already graduated and was discussing this at dinnertime and she said those community service days were the ones she happened to be sick on . . . . . hmmmmm.

 This is an average house in this area.  Homes all have fences around them unless in the process of building sometimes.  Our host said that when she traveled to the United States she found it odd that we do not have any fences between homes.  I told her when I first arrived and saw the fences it lead me to question crime rates in the area.  I was told that crime on the contrary, is quite low.

 Apartment building.

 This is Yelena's classroom.  All classrooms in the 5 schools I have visited are extremely clean and very well organized.  Most come equip with projector technology and many have Smartboards.

 Since public schools include all grades and ages, this room is found downstairs where kids in the pre-school take naps during the day.  Looked pretty comfy. 

 These are the announcements for school & teachers.  There is no intercom system.  The teachers room is where the exchange of information takes place.  Administration has  what looked like walkie  talkies.  It may have been a cell phone with intercom. 

 This is the back yard of the school. 

 This is my host Yelena and my pal Kristi. 

 School calendar is along the bottom which covers a month.  It is sent the school from the Obelisk. 

 Next we were lucky enough to tour the art department of the school.  The creations were incredible and so was the display.  Not one stitch of dust was on any of these creations.  Like the rest of the school, conditions were impeccable.   

 Art desks.

 Rugs hand made by students.

 This is a re-creation of a yurt, a traditional Kazakh home.

 Inside the yurt it may look something like this.

 Boys do a lot of woodworking in the class.

 Wreath made of newspapers.

 Around the holiday, students make gifts that teachers buy.  After the purchase is made, the money is used to buy more materials for the art classes. 

 This was the group of teachers we presented to today.  They are all teachers of English and came for a workshop that we gave about teaching in the United States.

 We took tea with this teacher who is expecting a baby.  We discussed traditions surrounding this major life event.  She is Kazakh and after the baby is born, no one outside she and her husband and their parents will see the child for 40 days.  After that a huge party is held.  The baby is washed in front of the family, presents are given, and traditional Kazakh food is served to celebrate the arrival of a new member of the family.

 School lunch today.  Carrots with white beans, noodles with chicken carrots, potatoes, and pineapples with a side of bread.  All home made.   After lunch Kristi and I split up and taught 3 hours worth of classes today.  We split the 45 minutes teaching about American teenage life with a viewing of the movie my American classes made and Kristi's student's projects about teen life.  Half way through the lesson kids were asked to switch classes and so they heard both of our lessons.  The students were excited to practice English.  We had help from cooperating English teachers to assist with some translation, however, students were encouraged to speak English instead of Russian during these lessons.  The kids participated very well.  It is nerve wracking to try to speak another language and they were brave and ambitious in their efforts.  It was good to see.  We look forward to teaching them again next week.

 These are the English teachers.  These teachers face the same struggles we do in the USA.  All want to find ways of motivating students, provide meaningful feedback & be successful in preparing their students for their futures.  A lot of questions were asked about things like pay for teachers in US, behavior management strategies we use, structure of schools and school days, community support, parental involvement.  Basically anything you would probably ask yourselves if you were studying another culture.  

 Driving through I saw this Russian Orthodox church.  They are beautiful.  More pics to follow on this when we tour some of these amazing structures. 

 We stopped at Yelena's favorite fruit and vegetable store.  Above are sunflower seeds in the bag.

 These are all juices.  Any juice you can imagine, they have.

 Their fruit is really fresh and delicious.

 Bread mixes.

 Nuts, dates, and other dried fruits.  We brought 4 apples, Turkish sweets, bananas, and oranges for about 6.00. 

 City bus.

 Money exchange.  Note the sign.  151.4 Tenge=1.00 American Dollar.

 This is a card catalog at one of the local libraries.  It has been a bit since I saw one.  It felt good to see it for some reason.  I think sometimes with the age of technology and all the bustle we miss out on the quietness that comes without all of it.

 We next stopped at the American Corner in Kostonay to hear a presentation about women leaders in business and to have a discussion with the public that were interested in hearing about American culture, teaching, politics, religion & tons more.  We had a STELLAR discussion with this group.  It was exciting to hear what they had to say and they had many questions for us about life and teaching in The United States. 

 The American Corner reaches out to local community members who are looking for ways to expand their minds and connect to the rest of the world.   It can be a group of fifty students combining fun and learning the language in the English Club or a group of two quietly reading a book or doing homework.  The program is aimed at assisting students in the area although it welcomes anyone who walks through the doors. 

 Books by and about Americans, American life, or American topics line the shelves.  I took pics as best I could to give you a look at what people are reading about the USA in Kazakhstan.  

 This office also highlighted notable American women.

Students here play games.   For other information about The American Corner, please visit the following website:  http://www.amcorners.kz/cities/kostanai/welcome.php

That is all for tonight.  By the way, we are living at a truck stop, hence the smell of petrol & dirty men.  But we are having fun as usual.  We spoke to Jenny and she is very worried.  I hope she will be ok.  At least she has her Amish hat to make  her feel better.  Goodnight all!