Russian English teacher Elena Agafónova and her 12-year-old daughter, Irina, are enjoying a one-month stay in Sweet Home with Donna and Juan Ulep.
The Uleps visited Agafónova and her family in Novgorod last year. While there with the Friendship Force, an international exchange program and club, they taught English to Russian students.
Agafónova teaches in a small, rural school in the suburbs of Novgorod. The school has about 280 students in the fifth through the 11th grades. She teaches them all in classes of 22 to 24 students.
“We like the idea to host American friends to help us teach English,” Agafónova said. The Uleps visited as a part of that special program, called Bridge Builders, through the Friendship Force last year. Along with the language, her school also teaches American history and “lots of information about your culture, traditions and holidays.”
In fact, they celebrate some American holidays at the school.
The relationship between the United States and Russia has improved over the years, Agafónova said, and she attributes the Russian side of that improvement to the younger generation, which has had more exposure to American culture, especially through American films.
English is “very popular” in Novgorod because the area has many joint ventures with foreigners, including German and Finnish partners. A second language is usually required to find employment in the area.
Many of the students try to find jobs in Europe and America during the summer to help improve their language skills, Agafónova said. They also want to establish correspondence with American teens, an Agafónova brought 10 written messages from students in her school.
“I think kids are the same the world round,” Agafónova said.
At home, members of the younger generations are taking on English words in place of Russian words, she said. For example, to welcome someone in Russia requires to long words. Youths there have adopted the English word “welcome” instead. They use “friend” instead of their own word and will spell it out in writing with the Russian alphabet.
The Russians love music and are familiar with American recording artists.
“We hope that future generations will be close friends,” Agafónova said. “We have much to share. You have many things we need, and you need many things we have.”
Novgorod celebrated its 1,143rd birthday on June 12.
That age and history colors the way Russian students see the United States. Her students were asked to compare their country with the United States.
“They view their country as an old man,” Agafónova said. He is wise, with a gray beard and long, white beard and “so sick.” The United States is a teenager, healthy and strong, wearing shorts. Russia is old, with deep traditions. America, almost 225 years old, is modern, young, fashionable and easy going.
Americans are mobile, moving easily from one city to another. In Russia, the people prefer to stay in the area where they were born.
Novgorod is a Slavic city that emerged many years ago as a trade center along the Volkhov River.
“They used this river to travel north to south to the Black Sea and Greece,” Agafónova said. Novgorod has a fortress, called a “kremlin” along with nearly 100 churches. “My people call our city the church city.”
Novgorod is considered to be the father of Russian cities, Agafónova said, while Kiev is considered the mother. Novgorod has a population of about 250,000.
St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, was built in 1703, Agafónova said. “When this town emerged, our city lost its position unfortunately.”
Novgorod was a famous republic. A legislative organization, called the veche, chose a “prince” to command the army during war. The veche, or “meeting of people,” decided when to start a war or end it. The prince carried out the veche’s decisions and conducted the war. He could be replaced by the veche. The veche also made decisions on different issues.
Novgorodians are “very independent people and didn’t like when people came to oppress them,” Agafónova said. They had a republic until the 15th century when they were brought under the rule of the Russian czar in Moscow.
Now, Novgorod is a “provincial city,” with farms, cathedrals, churches and scenery. It has a “wonderful” lake near the kremlin, and fishing, hunting, skiing and other outdoor activities are popular there.
The city also boasts the Russian Olympic center for rowing and many famous gymnasts and acrobats.
The university there has a basketball team, but “unfortunately, we don’t play baseball,” Agafónova said. Visitors have explained the game, and some informal games have been played. Agafónova is hoping to get more information about the game and maybe get a chance to play.
Agafónova is visiting the United States with the Friendship Force, which started in Novgorod in 1996. Three adults and two children are visiting the area right now.
All of the adults are English teachers, Agafónova said. They are hoping to improve their English, “get acquainted with your history and your traditions, to meet new friends.”
Every day, they make notes in a journal and making a video about the trip. At home, Agafónova is expected to make a report on her trip to the Friendship Force there and to the local newspaper.
“It’s a very good experience,” Agafónova said. She and her daughter have visited a variety of places, ranging from the Tillamook Cheese Factory, state parks, schools and museums to the circus on Thursday for Irina. “In school, your children have everything,” computers and fully equipped gyms.
Agafónova has visited many European countries, but this is her first time in the United States.
“I like that everything is so well planned, so well organized,” Agafónova said. “We had a picnic at the bank of a small river, and we could leave the tent with all the things there, and nothing would happen with them. Nobody stole them.”
There was no trash, and people care about nature, Agafónova said. They like to watch the birds. They like to take care of animals.
“In this case, maybe, we are beginning in recycling,” Agafónova said. She noticed how recycling — reduce, reuse, recycle — was stressed in schools. It was useful to see how U.S. schools teach this to students.
“We have lots of environmental problems,” Agafónova said. Oregon is famous for recycling. “As for us, we don’t. We collect all trash together.”
The United States is so young, its success in this and other areas is surprising, Agafónova said, but she recognizes that the nation is rich in resources. The number of different types of people, religiously and ethnically, all of them getting along, also fascinates Agafónova.
Novgorod is homogeneously Slavic, not nearly as mixed as the U.S. population. Like the United States, it has many different cuisines available in some areas, McDonald’s and pizza in Moscow. In Novgorod, “we try to preserve our traditions,” Agafónova said, so those types of restaurants are not as common. Even other Russians travel to Novgorod to get a sense of Russian history and tradition, the opportunity to feel “you are in the heart of Russia.”
Novgorodians are famous for their carpentry and houses built without nails. The Museum of Wooden Architecture itself was constructed without nails.
Smoking is another big difference, Agafónova said. Here, hardly anyone smokes. Though teachers try to convince students that smoking is not healthy in Russia, more than half the population smokes. In America, most people use their own vehicles to get around, but public transit is used more often in Russia, especially by women. Young people cannot afford to have their own car.
“We like that you like lots of vegetables,” Agafónova said, but she and her fellow travelers miss their Russian breads. U.S. food is fatty, and there are more obese people than at home, but the “food is very delicious.”
Strangers are friendlier here, Agafónova said. At U.S. shops and restaurants, clerks greet customers. At home, they never greet each other except maybe in the local shop where people know each other.
“We like our stay here,” Agafónova said. “We enjoy it.”