Tanya

Saturday October 9, 2010
Florence, South Carolina

On the road again, this time to pick up two friends from Ukraine, Valeriy and Olga. We are picking them up in NYC and driving them back to our home in Florida. We will have two days in New York, two days in Washington and two in Orlando. (Have you REALLY been to America if you haven't seen Disney?)

Tanya in 7th grade, first girl sitting on left

On the way, we have stopped in Florence, South Carolina to visit Tanya, a former student of mine from Sevastopol who is here for the year on the FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Program. FLEX is a student exchange program sponsored by the State Department targeting kids from the former countries of the Soviet Union. Tanya will spend her 11th grade year (the senior year in the Ukrainian system) in Florence.

I was happy to see Tanya again. I always liked her in school. When I first began teaching, I tried discussion groups, where I gave the kids a topic and then let them talk about it in English. The idea was to have everyone ask questions about, for example, their favorite video game. The conversations were invariably one on one between me and the targeted student. Except Tanya. She was the girl who won my heart by actually asking questions of the other students. Here is my journal entry from April 23, 2007:

One of the 7^th grade girls, Tanya, has started asking questions of the other students during our discussions. I want to give her a big hug because she is the only one in all of my classes who finally gets it, even though I have clearly emphasized that part of a discussion is asking and answering questions of each other. It just doesn’t seem to be in the Ukrainian nature to be inquisitive in this manner. So most of our discussions are between me and the one student who has the floor. Except for Tanya, bless her little heart. Tanya asks the same questions I would. I very like Tanya, to quote an incorrect phrasing often used by Russian speakers of English.

I have a second journal entry about Tanya, written on October 18, 2008. I had just accompanied a group of students to the first round of FLEX testing.

Watching High School Musical 2

So the kids were done way early. Rather than stick around to help, I went with them to McDonalds to hang out. It was a cold, wet, miserable day but we were able to find a table inside and I got to know some of my 9^th graders a little better. Tanya was especially friendly and talkative. I’m surprised she was even there. I mean, I know there will be no second round for her. It was fun to talk to her; I just wish she were more attentive and interested in class.

This entry reveals two things: firstly,Tanya was only one of about 8 students at McDonald's but the only one who warranted a mention, due to her out-going and sweet personality, which it turns out is a perfect fit for a FLEX candidate. The second is that she worked hard during the next year to improve her English and be able to qualify for the exchange program. Tanya is the only student from School 43 to be accepted into the program. I showed Tanya this journal entry during our visit and asked how she improved her English. She worked with a private tutor, Vladimir from the Linguist Center, the same man who tutored Carol in Russian when we lived in Sevastopol.

Tanya as one of the stars of the 2008 Fall Ball

We spent the night in the home of Tanya's host parents, Linda and Darryl. I can't remember when we had such a delightful evening of conversation. We got to their home at 8:00 in the evening and sat up talking until after midnight. Most of the conversation centered around Ukrainian customs and affairs - Linda especially was interested in  hearing more about Ukrainian customs to better understand Tanya - but the subjects verged into varied and interesting sub-topics. I think we have a lot in common with Darryl and Linda and are looking forward to seeing them and Tanya again in January when they go to Orlando on a FLEX sponsored excursion. We hope that Tanya can visit our home but the FLEX program in that area is so active that it may be impossible to find an activity-free weekend.

Tanya with her family - Darryl, host sister Dana, and Linda

After Darryl fixed us a fantastic breakfast of flaky, buttery biscuits, grits with bacon, and fluffy cheese omelets (Another thing we have in common - the men cook the breakfasts.) we hit the road to continue our trip to New York.) Tonight we are at the LaQuinta Inn in Edgewood, Maryland. The hotel is new with all the amenities. The best part though was the delivery pizza Carol ordered form Season's Pizza - one of the best pizzas we ever tasted. For those of you who roam the I-95 corridor, give it a shot.