Week in Review
Monday was a very casual day. We had our normal morning routine and I
worked most of the morning and afternoon from home. Around 4 pm we got picked up by Sergei and
went to his family’s home for dinner and family home evening. They are such a friendly, happy family. Dinner was delicious and we really enjoyed
our time with them (and the kids loved playing with all of the toys!). We arrived back home around 9:30 and got the
kids to bed and Jacque and I enjoyed the rest of the evening together before
crashing.
On Tuesday morning, I
was with the kids until about 11 am. We all just did the normal morning stuff and
I worked some. At noon I got picked up
by a HTP car and arrived early for my 1 pm presentation. There was a pretty good turnout, and despite
some technical difficulties with their equipment, I think it all went very
well. I then came home and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together before dinner and Jacque’s English.
The weather was bad again on Wednesday but we
were all getting a little stir crazy so we decided to just go out anyway. We ended up at the mall (the underground one
beneath Independence Square). We had a
lot of fun walking around and looking at the kiosks mostly. They have some fun souvenirs (we didn’t buy
any at the mall because everything is expensive there, but we got some ideas). We grabbed some lunch and then ate an
ice-cream outside before trekking home for rest time. While everyone else napped, I got some work
done, we had a nice evening, and then I held down the fort while Jacque went to
English class in the evening. It was a
good day.
We had a typical morning on Thursday (me
helping the kids/working, the girls playing/reading/etc.). I went in to work after lunch and had a busy
afternoon of whatever it is I do! Later
in the afternoon I did a presentation/workshop with the BSU business school
faculty on preparing students for their future careers. It was a lot about teaching methods, but also
what we teach and a discussion of the skills/competencies the students need to
be prepared with. It was a rather
interesting discussion/exchange. After
that, I came home, we did dinner and got the kids to bed, and then I went off
to English class in the evening. At
English class we discussed everything from politics, to the economy, to the
business environment, the education system, families, etc. It was an extremely interesting discussion
(almost like a focus group for me!).
We had a casual morning around apartment on
Friday, followed by a picnic at the park (the weather was gorgeous and sunny
for the first time in a long while!).
After rest time, I took the kids back to the park to play, to get them
nice and warn out, and then we had the male young volunteers (the elders) over
for dinner. That was a lot of fun. The girls just love them and I think the
volunteers enjoyed having an evening of English interaction!
Saturday was a full day of work for me. I taught my MBA class in the morning and then
sat in on a bunch of MBA thesis defenses in the afternoon. The program is looking to change the way it
works the thesis defense process and they asked me to sit in, provide feedback
to the students, and provide my thoughts to the program. Following the defenses, we had a rather long
discussion regarding everything and I hope they found my input useful. While I was gone, Jacque took care of the
kids back home. They played at the
apartment, went to the park, and also walked over to a nearby Holocaust
Memorial, where 5000 Belarusian Jews were killed and thrown into a giant
pit. Those remains have long since been
moved and the spot is now a memorial to them.
I have just seen pictures and heard Jacque’s description, so I will have
to go and visit myself one of these days.
After I got home around 5 pm, we took a walk and ended up eating dinner
at McDonald's (our weekly American fix while we are here!). We got back and the kids to bed a bit late
and then Jacque and I had a nice evening.
Today is a beautiful, sunny Sunday and we are
looking forward to church in a little while.
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