Huun Huur Tu

The best present in my stocking this year was tickets to go see Huun Huur Tu. They are one of the best throatsinging bands and I've never been able to see them- they aren't performing in their own town much anymore- seems it would be easier to go see them in California or New York:) They really are good. Especially the drummer. I LOVED the concert. smiled the whole time. Thanks so much for taking me David!

And the concert counts as language study time! Woo hoo! (because the whole concert- not just the songs was all done in Tuvan- and we actually understood some of it too:)

We had a great Christmas...how was your's? We roasted a goose...mmmmm.

English Students

Lately we seem to be using our teaching English training quite a bit! We have been guests in a few different classes- some speak quite well and others hardly can introduce themselves in English. It is always fun though to be a guest- fun watching their reactions when we talk- most of the time they have no idea what we are saying even if technically it is all words that they know. The schools teach them British English and the tapes they hear usually come with British accents so it is hard for them to understand our canadian or Bobbie's southern accent when she has been there. The few teachers/students that do speak English well sound kind of strange to us because they sound so British! But it does make sense for them to have learned it the British way and they are much more likely to travel to England than to Canada or the US.

We had fun listening to their projects/presentations and they liked hearing about the differences in the cultures that we have found...

Christmas is coming up fast!!! Always does here for us because it never seems like Christmas yet. They don't celebrate till New Year's Eve here so we are the only ones in the stores getting last minute gifts and we are the only ones with our tree up and decorations up. So we feel like we have weeks yet but really there is only 3 days!!!

language learning...

Did you know that the cookies spell Hudson in Russian? I'm so glad that Tuvan uses the same script (except for a few letters:) so that we don't have to learn a whole new alphabet again...

The bottom two pictures are from one of my language sessions. Snegilya (pictured with me) took Bobbie and I to the market to practice using our phrases. Snegliya is a GREAT language helper...she is so good at getting us using the language before we forget it- and she is always making sure others talk to us in Tuvan and ask us lots of questions. She would tell us before we go in a little store our assignment- like "Erin..go in and ask how much a particular dress costs and if they have it in your size..". Yikes. but it went well. Everyone is shocked that we can even say one word in Tuvan and they are so patient with us as we slowly try to recite our dialogues/phrases. We get lots of practice saying where we are from and what in the world we are doing here!!!!

I didn't buy the hunk of meat.

English Club

Tonight at English Club I'm sure we may have done more talking in Russian and Tuvan which suits us just fine:) There were only Tuvan girls so my language helper, Snegilya (the one waving) suggested that we just speak in Tuvan for a bit. Good practice...we can't talk much yet but it is so good to listen to them all talking naturally in their first language...and some of it we even understand:) Thanks again for the Uno cards Mom/Auntie Judy... very good game to play with various languages. We'd say the number and colour in Tuvan, Russian and then English. good fun. Nogaan Chedi, Ziloni Syem, Green Seven etc.

Next week we will have a bit of a Christmas Party with them. Tonight, we explained a bit about our Christmas traditions. Dec. 25th is just a normal day to them! They will be at school as we celebrate...

Sometimes I forget how long it's been since I've blogged cause i'm posting on facebook so much...oops:)
The guys did return from hunting- they didn't get anything- didn't even see anything but still it was a success as far as learning language- well culture anyway... They slept in the snow one night- brrrrr and the other nights weren't much warmer:) They were gone 5 days so they got to know the tuvan guys they went with pretty well- sharing a small cabin, sharing utensils and cups, no bathing, well you get the picture...
David really really enjoyed it- if you want to see some more pictures from their hunting adventure click HERE. I've got quite a few on there, sorry I haven't really explained them yet but if you are wondering something comment on it and then I'll explain what you want me to.
We have been busy with language study and getting the house a bit more Christmassy. We are real tree people but since you can't find real trees till around Dec.20th we decided to just go ahead and use David and Christy's tree again this year. Have you looked at their blog to see the twins? SO SO CUTE! and amazing...Can't wait to see them for real!
Anyway, it's late and i'm off to bed... but ya- thought you might like to hear from us first...

While David and Jesse were taking off their skirts...

Bobbie (co-worker) and I have had a fun couple of days. We just got back from being the honoured judges at an English competition and the college. We really enjoyed hearing their presentations and songs and reading their letters that they had to make very quickly. Their english level is really not so high but we understand how hard it is to learn languages so ya- we were really impressed with their efforts and wow- i'm not even sure how they learn it at all sometimes...we get to hear Tuvan and Russian- they really don't get to hear English (not in real life) at all. That is why things like our English Club (tomorrow night) really really help- they can listen to us and pick up the right intonation and bobbie's southern accent:)

We had a bit of a break to wander to the center of asia... it was fun being a little dressed up and ya- the kids were with a babysitter so it was really fun.

And we even had a sleepover at Bobbie's house again- Christmas music, pasta, chitchatting for hours. good fun.

David and Jesse should be back today? We don't really know. They must be well frozen by now! I'm really looking forward to their return..I want to decorate for Christmas here but I wouldn't want to without David. and i'm hoping he brings back some meat! bunny? bird? tiger?

Off on another adventure! For the next 3? days, David will be gone hunting (for what we don't know...never seen any wildlife in Russia:) with our co-worker Jesse and a few tuvan guys. So glad he gets this chance to get out in the wilderness/country and "take his skirt off". That is the expression here for doing something manly like hunting:) I don't think they'll catch much- maybe if they are lucky they will find a bunny:) but it will be excellent to be with the guys especially for language/culture study.

A bunch of Emma's friends came over today to play with her- their school is open again so they can't come by often. Emma was so glad when they came and so sad when they left. We've decided to try Russian school next year if it works out. She will always do our English/North American homeschooling curriculum but we think she can handle doing Russian school too. She needs more...she so much wants to be with her friends (though she will be in a much lower grade- they are so much older than her which is strange isn't it- you'd think she'd have younger friends here because of the language/culture:). She does really well in school/social settings and she is kinda bright too... She makes friends SO easily. Our plan is to get someone to come teach her how to read and write in Russian next semester and then she will be all set to join in a class in the fall. She will be in Grade 4 of homeschooling but maybe she will go in 2nd grade? at the russian school. We'll see. David went to see about the boys going to russian kindergarten too. We know it will make the kids feel more at home here- hard to feel like you are at home when all you do is stay home...hmmm. well it's true...