Trip Into Town, Part 4

Mrs. Beaver:

During our first full day in the city that will be Lissie's home until the end of the coming school year, we went with Scott and Wendy and their four kiddos into the center of town. I mentioned in Parts 1-3 of this "Trip into Town" series that the primary goal for the outing was to get Lissie registered for language study at the university.

 

Once this was accomplished, Scott immediately called Lissie's teacher, who has also been one of his instructors, to alert her to her new student. The woman mentioned that she was on her way to the institute. We all saw this as a providential arrangement for all three of us to meet this educator who would play a key role in Lissie's life during her stay in this country.

 

Again, we were thankful for the campus' park-like setting in which to wait.

 

 

We took some photos as we waited...

 

 

 

...and waited.

 

  

Anna and Katie help keep 11-month-old Will content.

 

 

Scott began to wonder if the teacher had meant "on her way" in a western sense or in the less-time-focused Central Asian sense.

 

 

We told Scott not to be concerned we were fine with waiting a bit longer. I continued my people watching, amazed at the overall beauty of the local population.

 

 

 

Then before much more time had elapsed, Lissie's teacher was suddenly amongst us. We immediately sensed her warmth and kindness. Since people on the other side of the globe don't inherently smile when a camera is pulled out, the picture below doesn't do justice to the graciousness she exuded.

 

 

Mr. Beaver and I immediately felt comfortable with her becoming part of Lissie's adventure on the far side of the globe. We were grateful to the Lord that he'd arranged for us to be able to meet her while in the town's center!

 

Lissie had her first language session last week. When we asked her on a Skype call how the two hours had gone, our daughter said she thought pretty well. She went on to say, however, that her brain was very tired after the experience. It seems that this woman who is a linguistic PhD, doesn't speak English. The common language between Lissie and her teacher is Russian--sort of.

 

Lissie has worked hard at her study of the Russian language over the past few years since so many of her siblings were born in Russia. She doesn't, however, consider herself fluent. In that first language lesson, the teacher would her instruct her about the local language in Russian. Then Lissie had to translate the Russian in her mind the best she could in order to begin the process of learning the third language. The mental triangle of languages that it took her to get through the two hours exhausted her!