...Continued

Hello again!

After the excitement of Samara I didn't get around to mentioning some other bits and bobs from the last few weeks. I've now found myself with a spare few minutes (I'm currently sitting on the sofa in Nadia and Evgeny's flat - the couple who Dave and I stayed with when he visited - drinking coffee and eating biscuits. They've officially adopted me for my last week in Russia and so far it's working out just great) so I thought I'd write another cheeky blog.

The main thing I wanted to talk about was our visit to a local high school. Our wonderful teacher Tatiana Ivanovna pulled one of her many strings so that we could sit in on a few classes to get a feel for the education system. We were met at the tram station by two of the students, Katya and Dasha. They were both so polite, so professional and so darned happy to meet us. Katya in particular was bounding around like an excited puppy and immediately showered us with questions about us and about England and about our time in Russia, greeting every answer with impossibly wide eyes, a dramatic gasp and the Russian equivalent of "HOW COOL!" Once inside the school their enthusiasm didn't waver. They marched us straight to the first stop of the day - maths. The class was equivalent to a year 8 or year 9 lesson in an English secondary school but I'll be darned if such a disciplined and engaged year 8 or 9 class exists in England. There was no talking, no laughing, no silliness. Their hands shot rigidly into the air to answer each and every question and they were all desperate, not reluctant or embarrassed, to go up to the front to write their calculations on the board. My most prominent memory of pre-GCSE maths was locking a mobile phone in a locker at the back of the class and taking turns to ring it whilst claiming collective ignorance as to where the ringing was coming from, resulting in our teacher breaking down in tears. Not quite the same.

At the end of the class the teacher asked us some questions - Did you understand everything? (No) Are classes like this in England? (No) Do you enjoy maths? (Hahahaha!) Then she invited questions from us so we asked the kids if they speak any English, to which one young man replied "Yes! I speak English. I love Russia. I respect Russia." which just about sums it up. We then took a tour of the school and went to meet the student council. Again, I was so struck by their professionalism, their seriousness and how much pride they seemed to take in their education and their country. They asked us poignant, pointed questions about our culture and our impressions of Russia and were keen to share their opinions in return. Russian schools don't have a set uniform but there is a dress code - something along the lines of office wear. My sixth form had a similar dress code, which resulted in girls turning up in strappy tops, mini skirts, jeans or leggings. Clearly they envisaged a very liberal office. The Russian children, however, take the dress code seriously which results in them all looking very smart and clearly part of an institution but with each child able to express an element of their personality through their clothes. It was very cool. So this year I've seen both ends of the educational spectrum; Spain, where the kids run and scream and PDA in the corridors and swear at the teachers and chew gum and play on their phones and generally treat school as a social hub to hang out with their mates and Russia, where the kids are more like mini adults and stand to welcome the teacher into the room and take pride in their learning and wouldn't dare take a step out of line. I reckon England sits somewhere in the middle.

To me, the Russian education system is like a chicken and egg analogy - does their schooling instil in the children a seriousness and a boldness which develops into what we see as the Russian mentality, or is the mentality innate and that's what makes them take their schooling so seriously?

The other thing I'd wanted to give a proper mention to: my wonderful hosts. I said before that Russian hospitality is overwhelmingly generous. It turns out it also doesn't take no for an answer. After many insistences that I simply must pack up and live with them for my last week in Russia, I caved. Look at them looking all 1970's and awesome...

And Nadia and Evgeny are proving to be more and more wonderful by the day. Vodka for breakfast, green tea and biscuits before bed, trips to the forest to pick mushrooms, late nights learning to cook dumplings and translating Deep Purple lyrics. They take Russian hospitality to another level. I reckon this last week is gonna be a good'un.

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