Fun vs. Excellence

     The more we live here, the more we realize that different cultures place higher values on different things.  I'm seeing more and more that Americans place a high value on "fun" and Russians place a high value on "excellence".  This doesn't mean, of course, that Americans don't value excellence or that Russians don't value fun (although they don't have a direct word translation for "fun").    We enrolled our girls in swimming lessons for a way to get exercise, connect with people (I'm going to Anneka's lesson with a mom and her son that I met a couple of years ago on the playground), become comfortable with the water and learn to swim, and to have fun!  But what I didn't know was that swimming here is serious business!

     First of all, to even be allowed to go to the pool, they require blood, urine, and stool samples from the kids and checks from the pediatrician and dermatologist.  They also require chest x-rays from parents, the same lab tests as the kids (plus one more), a dermatologist, and a gynecologist for the moms.

     Anneka has had very little experience in pools, and yet in her first lesson the teacher was shouting, "One, two, one, two, one, two!"  as she kicked and had the kids jump into the pool with their heads submerged.  Maybe they do this in the States, too, and I'm just not aware, but it seemed like that would be something kids would do a few lessons into it in America.  It was all very professional and very skill-focused.  Thankfully, Anneka took it in stride and moved through her fear.  Now jumping in is her favorite thing to do!

     Ella's class is on another day of the week, and her sister had told her all of the things she would do.  Frankly, I think it freaked her out!  I had a Russian class, so Leif took her, but she cried so hard that I walked them over to the pool (she would have cried just as hard with either parent... I was just there for moral support).  We weren't sure what to do because we'd already paid for the first four lessons.  And we were pretty sure the instructor would go easier on the little ones!

     I left a bawling Ella with Leif on the steps of the pool.  Leif said that when he tried to coax Ella into the water she wouldn't budge, but when the instructor gave her commands, Ella obeyed right away.  And she ended up loving it!  She even slept with her swimming sandals this week because she's so excited for her next lesson.  We are very happy that this has been positive so far for both girls!

     Leif had an operation on his shoulder this week, so I'll be going with both girls now to their lessons for awhile.  It turns out that some of the stitches in Leif's muscle didn't dissolve, so the surgeon had to re-open his wound and take them out.  Yesterday he had to put another stitch in and it's draining a lot, but so far so good!  We appreciate your prayers for a full healing in his arm!