Integration

Last Tuesday, high school students came from all over Komi Republic (and from Labytnangi, as well) to present research projects at a conference called Integration. The conference was held at the local Technical Lyceum. Every Wednesday, I lead some classes and an English Club for high school students at this lyceum. Being a familiar face at the school, I was asked to judge the student presentations in the International Language section of this conference.

We listened to 14 presentations, only three which were not in English but Russian. Topics included: ghosts-believers in England, the history of the American dollar bill and how video games can help Russian youth learn English. I was fairly impressed by the students' language skills and the extent of some of their research. One girl, knowing she wanted to participate in this conference last summer, interviewed people during a trip to England in August.

I was also impressed by the awards ceremony at the end of the event. Everything--the MCs, dances, songs, short films--was very well choreographed and in a beautiful hall that I had never seen before in the university. (I'm always surprised by what the university holds). As the one native English speaker around, I almost had to act as Queen Elizabeth during the ceremony (right after the actor Karl Marx), but was let off the hook when another teacher wore an ornate dress. I presented the International Language awards, instead.