ESL Blogs

On the 7^th of February the XXII Winter Olympic Games have started in Russia! Without any doubt  this international event means a lot for all Russian people. I think it’s a great opportunity to show Russian culture, Russian character and Russian hospitality to the whole world!  Besides it’s a great chance for all Russian people to unite and to be proud of their unique country.

As a teacher I could see some lack of patriotism a few years ago among young people because they were brought up in a new Russia unlike their parents. Besides we practically didn’t teach our students to be patriots. I always didn’t like it as I’m very much Russian and tried to inspire students to be proud of their country in spite of some negative aspects.

But now the situation has changed. On Saturday (February,8) I asked my students to share their  opinion about the Opening Ceremony which took place on Friday, 7. I was so pleased by their excitement, by their feeling of being proud of  Russia!!! At first we started to discuss everything concerning the Olympic Games in English but they were so excited that began to talk in Russian interrupting each other! They were so enthusiastic talking about it that I enjoyed greatly listening to them!

Now I’d like to share some photos to tell you and show you our attitude (simple Russian people) to this huge international event. Since the beginning of the school year we had been preparing for this grand event. My 12-year old students  prepared a project “ Sochi XXII Winter Olympic Games” in the form of electronic brochure (all 22 students were involved) where we tried to describe everything concerning the Games beginning with the ancient Olympic Games in Greece (776 BC). We presented our project to many other students of our school. After the presentation we asked the questions (a sort of quiz) and then we sang the anthem of our XXII Winter Olympic Games!

Also we were so eager to see and welcome the Olympic Torch Relay here in Saratov. You know that it was the most impressive relay in the history of Olympic Games! It will be remembered not only as the longest, but also as one of the most unusual events: during its trip through Russia ( 65.000 km), the Olympic torch rode a Russian troika, a reindeer sleigh and a camel, visited the North Pole, the international space station (even outer space), and dove to the bottom of Lake Baikal (the deepest in the world). Russian mountaineers lit the torch atop Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 meters  the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. The relay lasted for 123 days, 14.000 torchbearers were involved  including a 101-year-old man.

It was a very exciting and meaningful event that really united all Russian people who live far away from Moscow, from Sochi and from each other. On the 97^th day January, 11 the torch arrived in Saratov! We were so happy! We were allowed not to go to school and most of my students and their parents came to school and after some preparation we went to watch this fabulous event! Fortunately our school is situated 5 min walk from the main square where the final part of the ceremony was held. We had a chance to feel the spirit of the Olympic Games!

Here we’re at school blowing up the balloons and doing some other preparations:

Then on the 22^nd of January one of the torchbearers (my  student’s mother) came to our school to tell our students about the relay, its atmosphere, its uniqueness.

We had a great chance to see and touch the torch! Everybody was so excited!

The Olympic torch is red, the traditional color of Russian sport. Its form reminds of the feather of the magic bird, which is said to bring good fortune and happiness. Everyone in Russia knows this fairy-tale about the Firebird, or the Phoenix which rose from the ashes. The body of the torch is made of aluminum. The color is light-silver "chrome".  The torch weighs nearly 1.8 kg, is 0.95 m tall and 54 mm wide. Its weight and center of gravity were carefully calculated so as to make the torch as comfortable as possible to carry whilst running.

We also admired the Olympic clothes of the torchbearer. It’s so bright, so colourful! The ideas of the Russian patchwork quilt were used while designing the olympic clothes. We can see the patterns from 28 different traditional arts across the country on them symbolizing that Russia is a multinational and multicultural country.

The brightly coloured diamond design is seen everywhere at the Sochi Games, on banners, clothing, cars, trains and even the athletes’ medals, which feature a monochrome quilt segment.

The torchbearer kindly allowed me to try on these magic clothes and to hold the torch! It’s an unforgettable experience! I was so happy!

The slogan of the XXII Winter Olympic Games is “Hot. Cool. Yours!” I think everyone in the world will enjoy watching this superb international event!

Dear Josef Essberger and Tara Benwell, thank you very much for the excellent material on the Sochi Winter Olympic Games , given here on EC. I downloaded it, printed and gave my students to discuss the topic. Tara, I also used your voice recording "Figure Skaters Do Get Dizzy". We listened to it at the lessons and discussed. Thanks a lot for your creativity and enthusiasm!