THE “YOU’RE SUPER!” CONCERT And then we went to the concert. Background: Three children from the Children’s Center, Zoya (12) and Anna (16) Chizhkova and Vitaly Tolochkin (10), auditioned into this new national TV...
THE DECEMBRIST MUSEUM The following day, Sunday, we drove into town for a tour of the Decembrist Museum of Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky. After the Decembrist Uprising of 1825–an attempt by a group of aristocrats to depose...
PART 1 of 4: AT THE CAMP We drove the 6+ hours in two cars. The highway was noticeably better than 2 years ago, though still full of construction. I was with Vitaly and...
The day after teaching ended, Tanya took me to the Music College, the place I taught in 1992-93 and 1995, to see if I could get a practice room to prepare for the concert...
English Explorers summer school ended Wednesday, June 21st. On that day we had a field trip to a nature area west of Chita and along the Ingoda River called Sukhotino. We were accompanied by...
Time is flying! We are already in the last week of the three week session at City of Children’s summer English school. I found my niche as Loud Repetition Master. As a group and...
Yesterday we had a fantastic day at the Rope Park 20-25 km outside of Chita in the mountains. The day was brisk and we were outside from 10:30 until 4pm. I’m blaming that for...
This note was received June 6th from Irina Shipley. For many years now, Irina and Michael having been assisting older [mostly] boys at the Children’s Center in Chernovsky, a town 30 minutes from Chita....
Hello from Chita, or more accurately, the KSK district about 12 km from the city center. I’ve taught several days now in the 3-week summer English program of the “City of Children” Child Development...
Tom here. Just arrived in Chita and learned that Vitaly Tolochkin and Zoya Chizhkova both living at the Children’s Center in Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky (see previous posts here) shined at the “You’re Super!” (?? ?????!) nationally...
Here is the “online” version of our semi-annual newsletter. SPRING 2017 Siberian Bridges email newsletter It is similar to the print version, but containing color photos (and a few more of them) as well...
Zoya Chizhkova and Vitaly Tolochkin, residents at the “Unity” Children’s Center in Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky both appeared again this month in the “You’re Super!” national Russian TV talent show for children. Their first appearances were in...
We just got a nice set of photos from the Petrovsk Zabaikalsky Children’s Home into a gallery here. Photos by Home staff, nature photos by some of the children, some by SB visitors, Judy...
I’m having a little trouble with our new website, and could not get the photo of Vitaly to appear in the previous post where it belongs! This young singer competed in the “You’re Super”...
Sisters, Zoya (12) and Anna (16) Chizhkova and Vitaly Tolochkin (12), all residents of the “Unity” Children’s Center in the town of Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky (pop. 12,000) joined the singing competition on Russian station NTV. Zoya...
I had never been a counselor at a summer camp, and I often felt I missed out on something special. When an opportunity came up to work at a camp, an inner voice told...
Children’s Center in Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky All of last spring’s graduates are continuing their education. This wonderful news fulfills a major goal of the director and staff. New project with another Children’s Center In addition to our...
This trip is mostly about me being in the children’s classroom. Native English speakers are rare, especially in Siberia and just having me work with the children (and teachers) is extremely helpful for their...
After a few hiccups, and a lengthy visa process I have finally made it to Chita! It is gorgeous here, like Minnesota in the spring. I could see the dense evergreen forests as I...
Two more from the Midwest will go to Chita to teach English this summer. Joining Marie Nicholas in Chita this summer, JOHN CRUST of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canadian and US citizen) and JANET STEWART of...