A couple of years later, I was living with my best friend, Barbara Ingram, in a new subdivision in Norcross. One of our neighbors happened to be Russian and she had a cousin back home who was a teacher as well. Our neighbor mentioned to us that her cousin’s school was hosting an annual international conference in February 1995. Her cousin expressed that there had never been a teacher attend the conference from the US. The cousin had asked her to see if we were interested in attending.

Barbara and I did not need to think about it at all. We said that we would love to go and that we will have to check with our schools and our district to see if we would be allowed to miss school for a week or so in February. My principal was very excited for me to have the opportunity to travel to Dubna, Russia for this opportunity. Unfortunately, Barbara’s principal was not willing to let her go.

I reached out to a former colleague of mine, Virginia Crider. Her principal agreed to allow her the time off. It was set. Virginia and I would travel to Dubna, Russia for this international conference of educators. We were asked to prepare a presentation on individualized instruction for the conference.

My neighbor’s cousin worked on all the paperwork that Virginia and I would need to get into Russia. We tried several ways to find support to help us with the costs of the trip, but we were unable to find financial support. Nonetheless, we were determined to get there.

As it was nearing the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, we gathered as many Olympic themed trifles as our bags would hold to give away to the students at the school in Dubna. We both packed two bags and headed for the airport.

Dubna

Virginia and I were met at the Moscow airport by our hosts – Svetlana and Svetlana. Both ladies taught at the school and were very welcoming to their US visitors. They were taken a little aback by the amount of luggage we brought as they had a small sedan. We got most of the luggage into the trunk and Virginia and the Svetlanas loaded into the back seat. I sat in the front seat with a suitcase in my lap for the two-hour drive to Dubna.

Once we arrived in Dubna, we were dropped off at our respective host’s home to prepare for dinner. My Svetlana’s husband was an entrepreneur who owned a restaurant in Dubna. They had invited a few teachers from the school and a couple of parents of their students as well. I can honestly say that I have never been treated so lavishly as this dinner.

The dinner table was covered in food. I had no idea what much of it was, but I was willing to try. There on the table sitting in front of me was this stunning rose. I am not sure what I thought it was made of, but I put the whole thing in my mouth and quite quickly decided it was going to suit my taste. Obviously, it was raw fish and I have never been good with raw fish. I had to spit it out without drawing attention to myself.

In addition to all the food was, of course, the shot glass. It was always full to the brim with vodka. Virginia tried to delicately sip the vodka every time a toast was made, but I could not see getting away with that. So, I had a lot of vodka that evening.

The teachers, parents, and hosts were incredibly gracious, friendly, and welcoming. I felt so at home with these people.

The Community

Over the next few days, Virginia and I spent time with the students in the school, the faculty, and more parents. We talked to the teachers about individualized instruction and then observed classrooms.

One day, I went into a math classroom. One of the students covered the whiteboard with his solution to one of the homework problems from the night before. As class began and he opened his mouth to explain his solution, the teacher suddenly said, “Nyet. English.” The young man then began to explain his solution to the class in perfect English.

The school had planned a fieldtrip for the senior students one day to visit Moscow. We were going to visit Red Square and see the ballet. We set off in the early morning to make the two-hour drive to Moscow. Along the way, a huge chunk of ice flew up from a car ahead of us and smashed the right-side front window of the bus. Glass shattered and flew everywhere in the direction of the students and Virginia who were seated in the front of the bus.

Suddenly everyone looked at me as the only adult male on the bus for help. I did not know what to do. In the states we would call for another bus. As that was not an option, the bus driver carried on until we came to a checkpoint. The Svetlanas got stepped off the bus and found a huge triangular road sign that was big enough to put in the window to cover the opening. The bus driver did what he could to secure the sign, and we continued again.

Once we reached Moscow, we disembarked to visit Red Square. Once we had our photos taken and had toured all there was to see, we had to take the subway to get to the theater for the ballet.

I was nervous about the subway as it was very crowded. One of the girls grabbed Virginia by the hand and told her to stay with her. I looked around and had to hope for the best! The train was nerve-racking for me as I do not like crowds; however, once we arrived and were seated for the ballet, all was well.

When we got back to Red Sqaure to catch the bus back, the poor bus looked so pitiful. The driver had found a heavy blanket and had duct taped the blanket over the road sign over the window. Lord only knows how many violations that would have been to carry students in that manner in the US.

Decision Made

After the visit to this local school in Dubna and meeting the staff, students, and parents of the community, I realized that teaching internationally sounded appealing to me. In fact, I was determined to find a school in Russia.