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Students encounter people, sights of Russia
(by Sue Hoffman - May 25, 2011)
Students encounter people, sights of Russia
By SUE HOFFMAN
Kenston High School students said they weren't certain what to expect during their spring break trip to Russia. They knew they would be seeing famous sights in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but they could not foresee the human interaction and cultural exchange that would take place.
Trip highlights included visits to the Kremlin, Red Square and a metro tour in Moscow; an all-day Easter visit to the 14th-century Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery, the center of the Russian Orthodox Church, near Moscow; and excursions to Catherine's Palace, Peter Paul Fortress and Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Students said they enjoyed the new sights, especially the bright-colored architecture in St. Petersburg and the bustling Red Square in Moscow.
Meeting new people, however, turned out to be "the best part of the trip," said junior Emily Rees, one of 14 students studying Russian who participated in the whirlwind tour.
One night in St. Petersburg, she and classmate Lili Fikter went out of their hotel room to meet a large group of art students from Yekaterinburg, in central Russia. "They were speaking to us in Russian."
"I loved trying to talk to the people," junior Jared Goodman said. He still talks to one of the student travelers on Facebook.
When Kenston students first saw the Russian group, they barely glanced at one another, he said. Once they started talking, they laughed about it, he said. "They said, 'We thought you hated us.'" Kenston students had similar concerns, he said.
"The two groups met in the lobby and were together about five hours," teacher Ted Krejsa said. One of the Russian girls started playing guitar and the students sang. Another student drew a portrait of Jared while they talked.
"They were up until 1:30 in the morning and met for breakfast the next day," said Mr. Krejsa, who helped with translating. "The kids from Yekaterinburg brought cakes for a little goodbye party on our last night in St. Petersburg."
"It was really a strong, positive thing," he said. The Russians, who were just a couple of years older than the Kenston group, were art students on a trip to study at various museums, he said. "They hadn't met Americans before. This was their first exposure. The personal connections these groups got made the experience for them."
Mr. Krejsa said the recent tour was the first since 2007 for Kenston High School students. He co-led the group with William O'Neil, who started Russian studies at Kenston in 1965. Mr. O'Neil, who retired from the district, teaches a Russian program at St. Vincent-St. Mary School in Akron.
Now in his 17th year of teaching, Mr. Krejsa studied with Mr. O'Neil when he was a Kenston student, as did Jennifer Subbotin, who teaches Russian and geometry in the district. Mr. Krejsa and Mrs. Subbotin traveled with Mr. O'Neil to the former Soviet Union twice in high school.
The recent trip was Mr. Krejsa's eighth trip to Russia with students, in addition to several individual trips to the country.
Besides meeting their Russian counterparts, students met Kenston 2008 graduate Tim Model, a Miami University student who is studying abroad. "He came to the hotel to talk to students about study abroad," Mr. Krejsa said. The group also enjoyed visiting a family in an apartment in Moscow, and toured St. Petersburg with a friend of Mr. Krejsa's who spoke only Russian.
Another highlight for him was the food, said Lili's brother Nathan. He said he really enjoyed the pirozhki, a small Russian pastry with a variety of fillings.
"It was one of the greatest weeks of my life," Jared said about the trip.
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