Babyshkas and Samovars in Northern Minnesota

 Привет из Миннисоти!
     Hello from Minnesota! Bemidji, MN to be exact. Currently, I am sitting on the porch of a log cabin overlooking trees, other cabins, and a lake. Northern Minnesota (north of St. Cloud and Minneapolis/St. Paul) is so beautiful! If you ever get a chance to come up here, do it. But this isn't a tourism commercial.

    Что ты делаеш на севере Миннисоти Ося? What are you doing in northern Minnesota Joey? Well, besides enjoying the beautiful scenery, I'm working at Лесное Озеро (Lesnoe Ozero "Wooded Lake"), the Russian language camp at Concordia Language Villages (CLV). CLV was started in 1961 as a German immersion program for 9-12 year olds. Since then, it has grown to 15 camps where kids can learn Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, English, and of course Russian! The camps are each run a bit differently, but the basic premise of each is to 9provide a quiet, secluded place where campers and staff can immerse themselves in the target language (CLV History). Its a great place to start learning a language for kids from age 7-18 and for students of the language to continue learning and practice their language skills as counselors. At the Russian camp, we have several native speakers, heritage speakers, and students like me who love speaking Russian!

    The Russian camp is about a half hour outside of Bemidji leaving us very secluded from the outside world (well sorta secluded. As you can tell, we have internet). In addition to the absence of distractions, our location could not be more Russian. The site of our camp was once a log cabin resort. After CLV purchased the facilities, the Russian camp moved here giving us log cabins with a very Russian atmosphere. The site is wooded and cozy, making me feel like I'm living at a дача (dacha, country cabin) for the summer. When we arrive at camp last week, I thought we had landed in a Tolstoy novel (minus the deep, spiritual themes). We unpacked our belongings and prepared for the arrival of our campers. We're taking a break from our regular lives and spending time in the country. It's so idyllic. It's wonderful!

      My specific duties for the summer put me in the kitchen (кухня "khuxnya") as an assistant cook. I'll also be working part-time as a counselor in a cabin and help out in language classes and camp programs when I'm not in the kitchen.

     To supplement my words, I'll throw in some pictures to put meaning to the words. Enjoy!

We begin, making our way through the woods....

Stepping into a differing world.

 

First things first. "All visitors must register at the office (Building 13)"

Our first stop will be Moscow, the dining hall.

"The Golden Ring Restaurant"
The Golden Ring refers to a group of cities outside of Moscow that are referred to as "open air museums"  because of their historical importance.

Here are a couple shots of the kitchen, my workplace.

Dishwasher!

The озеро of Lesnoe Ozero. The lake, topped with a beautiful sunset.

I think the lake adds to the learning atmosphere. Water is such an a strange element because it can both destroy and calm. In this case though, it calms the mind and allows for learning to become one's mantra.

We can't be a Russian camp without a баня (sauna).

All of our buildings are named after cities of Russian-speaking countries.

The Медпункт (Nurse's hut) "Владивосток"

Yes, this is a big chess board. шахматы (chess)

This is our central cabin, Санкт-Петербург (St. Petersburg). 

Inside Питер (Petersburg)

Some Russian records.

And of course, many балалайки (balalaikas).

In the basement of Piter, we have our Эрмитаже (Hermitage) for arts and crafts.

Learn the Russian alphabet!

This is the rear of Piter. I'm currently on the deck.

And here's my cabin!

Murmansk!

Ahhh! Прекрасная жизнь!!! The summer is shaping up to be a good one. The campers arrive on Monday and we'll dive into our work. Stay tuned for more updates on Russian life in northern Minnesota!

Пока!