Reports
By Tyron Woolfe
Dear Reader, you will find this report somewhat between funny and interesting. You will read what our group have learned from the trip, what they found to be of paramount interest. You will also be able to see their evaluations, both qualitatively and quantitatively at the end of the report.
I would take this opportunity to thank everyone for their participation on what I call, a grand youth exchange to Moscow, October 20th to 27th 1999. I really enjoyed myself, and I feel that the trip brought out positive changes in each and everyone of the group.
I look forward to mentoring two new people who will take over the project and arrange the next exchange with a different country.
Have a good read!
Tyron - coordinator of the London Deaf Youth Exchange
By Angela Spielsinger
Feeling apprehensive, walking around terminal 2 at Heathrow airport, the atmosphere is always fun when going somewhere abroad. While our bags had gone on to the place, it gave us time to walk around the duty free shops. As we were already prepared to bring warm clothes for the Russian weather at that time of the year, we all brought suitcases loaded with warm clothes. We, however, noticed that Lee only brought a small ruck-sack, we were wondering what he had packed in this small bag. he discovered he had forgotten a lot of stuff. He spent his time looking around for a towel as he had forgotten to bring one along, no luck though! Some people spent this time to buy last minute gifts for our new Russian friends.
We had our last British food in McDonald's!! We were told that we were going on one of the worst airlines in the world! It was Martin's first time flying and he was so excited!! Went in the plane, the first impression of the plane was that it was good, not what we had originally expected!!
We waited for a while for the plane to take off, suddenly the plane started to move off and join on the run away. We saw queues of planes taking off. While we were waiting in the queue, some people kept telling Martin bad things about flying to scare him. When the plane was airborne, we cheered and waved our hands in the air!!! On the journey, we (the deafies) sat around in the middle part, making quite a lot of noise and throwing nuts at each other, and mucking about! The seats are not fitted like in British Airways, they were collapsible and we sat around in a kind of big circle and laughing. The other passengers were mostly Russian and looked a bit fed up with our fun!
We had our lunch served, which was horrible. A couple of us dropped our coleslaw on the floor, creating a mess, oops!!
The journey took us 4 hours which was pretty quick. When the plane was about to land, it was evening in Russia and we could see lots of lights around in Moscow. When the plane landed, we cheered again like cheerleaders!! The time had finally arrived and we were more excited.
We got off and waited for ages for our visas to be processed. The first view of the airport was so dull. The Russian women were supervising the airport, looking really strict and hard, like in a Second World War army.
We got our bags safely, and we had to stay together in our group. The young Russian friends were delighted to see Tyron again, they jumped up in the air, over-excited to see him. On our way out to the minibus it was so cold outside that it was like entering a freezer!! We had a lift to the school in their minibus which was overcrowded with us and our luggage everywhere!
THE INTERNATIONAL THEATRE OF MIME OF THE DEAF
By Alison Leach
When Tyron first asked me to write a report on a trip to the theatre in Moscow, I was aghast because I knew nothing about performing arts but decided to rise to the challenge (I had no choice!)
On Thursday, our first full day in Russia, in the afternoon we went to the Arts Institute to see a performance by 10 Deaf dancers with some Deaf Russians. The dancers came from all over Russia to Moscow to study performing arts including dance, mime, gymnastics, juggling and acting to name a few. This five-year diploma requires a person to be aged between 18 and 27. The selection process is rigid as the student must be virile, fit and have good body movements. At the end of the training, the students will go back home, hopefully to gain a job in the Arts world. This is not a University standard of education but lots of hard work is involved!
The first half of the play we saw, was mainly dance, and the students had excellent facial expressions which centred on the visual concept and this helped us to stay awake as we were exhausted from the previous night!
The second half was more of a story line but it was difficult to comprehend despite Stuart's promoting (he was the only person to vaguely understand the story!) and it was when our eyelids were dropping! A few boys were in awe because all the dancers wore tight fitting leopards, which revealed their shape of their bodied, Sean was especially attentive!!
At the end of the play, we had a workshop where we talked with the dancers and the hearing director. Communication was done via a partially hearing assistant who signed in International. A black kitten joined in! Afterwards, we were shown basic steps of the dance. Warren (who was leading), Tyron, Sam C, Pauline and Lee demonstrated it for us. However, Lee, in a typical fashion, exaggerated the moves!
The event was soon over and we returned to the school! End of report! Thank God!
OUR VISIT TO THE BREAD FACTORY
By Janet Young
Serebryany Bor is the name of the factory. By the way ........ s the Russian word for bread (sorry there is no Russian keys on this board!). So we did learn some Russian after all !!! But naturally we learnt more Russian signs than Russian words!!
The factory is one of the largest and up to date plants in Moscow and Russia. It is also very successful as they received a lot of awards and certificates. It has been running for 7 years. They baked 1000 tons of bread and 20 tons of cakes so far! There are 800 workers and breads are made from 6am till 12am in the morning. Before we entered the rooms were the process took place, we were given white coats to wear, we looked like a bunch of doctors!!
There were a lot of strange looking machines. Some mentioned it reminds them of Charlie and the Chocolate factory!!! We observed various steps in how the bread was made, from ingredients to when they were ready to be sold/exported. Their idea of hygiene is very different from ours!! They don't wear gloves while making contact with the products. There were flies swarming around and Shana spotted a spider on top of a mixture!! Ugh!! But British people are no better!! As Alison squeezed Warren's spot in there, the yellow pus flew onto a bread batch! Disgusting eh?!!
We were given lots of samples of freshly baked bread. They were absolutely delicious, our tums almost burst after eating too much of them. Lee is like a goat! he ate everything he saw, including dough when not even cooked!! Typical of him! We also ate some chocolate biscuits which were quite nice. They are sold world-wide, including to countries such as America and Germany.
We had two interpreters translating for us during the tour. A teacher was saying what the guide was saying in followable Russian, then the Russian Deaf girl, Sasha, signed to us in international sign language which was wonderful! It wouldn't be possible for hearing people (unless they know and understand the language)
After the tour was finished, the tour guide took us to a room where we could ask questions. We discovered an interesting but unfair fact:
The workers at the factory work approximately 12 hours per week each, and they earn $100 (£62.50) a month. We might think that is not a lot, but the teachers who worked at the Moscow School for the Deaf (where we stayed) only earn $60 (£37.50) per month, yet even more hours!! The teachers work a total of 30 hours per week, they all also had to study at University to gain a teaching job. This system is totally unfair. We asked one of the teachers why she works at the school when she would earn more in another job. She said she has her heart set on teaching deaf children. This really touched and inspired most of us. We know that the teachers are genuine unlike some of the teachers in Britain who only work for the money. Triple cheers to the Russian teachers of the deaf!!!
By Lee Robertson
Traveling to the deaf and blind school took about an hour in the school mini bus, with four deaf young people from the Russian school and 2 teachers with us.
When we went into the deaf-blind school we went straight into a kind of theatre. We hadn't seen any children yet, and wanted to see them to see what they were like. Staff from the deaf and blind school gave a talk about this school, and told us how they communicate with and teach the children. There are 131 children and 200 staff, school employees are paid by the state, the school is for children and young adults from 0-26 years old, because there is no place of employment for deaf and blind adults so they work in the school, making pins, garments and other things.
We visited some 6 to 7 year old classrooms, children with sight problems etc, they were not all completely blind. Tyron had some conversation with one boy, they seemed to be communicating well. In his puzzled mind, Tyron asked one of the teachers, what was wrong with him, why wasn't the boy at a normal deaf school. The teachers seemed rather defensive and wouldn't reveal what was wrong with him, but later said that he is dying. It shook me, but I still think it is not justified to stop him from going to a normal school, and I just think it might that he got HIV positive and needs more special care.
We went to another room, which was where children made garments, created patterns, made crafts etc. There was one blind and deaf girl who was wearing a hearing aid and was making a garment through feeling the materials only. She was a twin to another deaf-blind girl right next to her, it was interesting to see how they communicated, which was minimal indeed. Anyway, while she was weaving the garment, Tyron asked the staff as to why she was wearing a hearing aid, seeing that her communication skills were way beyond the lowest level of all. The staff replied that the girl could hear a little bit. Tyron clapped his hands near the girl's hearing aid, and yet she continued working with garment, giving no response!
After a couple of other classrooms, we saw some very young deaf blind children who were displaying all types of psychological withdrawal, retarded behaviour. They seemed to be very miserable, and we were touched by seeing them. We were most alarmed in seeing the baby of 11 months old, who had been abandoned just because she was deaf and blind. Many of us were emotional.
We then had some nice dinner at the school, but I think it is was where the staff ate, I still wonder as to where the deaf and blind children eat. We thanked the teachers from the school for hosting us, and then proceeded to visit a cathedral in the afternoon.
By Paul Neal
We were shown around the school's museum which commemorates the school's deaf history and development. Many rooms were set up with a lovely variety of historical items and books. One room demonstrated how the school was established by a professor who studied in a German school for the deaf in order to become qualified as a teacher of the deaf in Russia. He then came back to Moscow, having originated from there, to establish the school with the sole policy of teaching in sign language. It was very refreshing to witness beliefs of a different approach to teaching methods for deaf children than the common policy we have in England!
One room had items from all over the world - items actually given by other deaf organisations and groups, showing the many partnerships and exchanges the school had undertaken. Whilst viewing this room, it gave us the perfect opportunity to present the school's museum with the BDA's first three volumes of the British Deaf News, all in hardbacks. They were really in appreciation for this.
Another room displayed books on sports and festivals the school either hosted or took part in. Many Olympic-style medals and cups were achieved through many competitions and tournaments. One of the alarming pictures found in the archives was a photograph of the school's current principal, dated back to about 30 years ago! This was the highlight of the tour for some of the exchange participants! The museum, on the whole, was lovely, but it was a shame most information was in Russian, as many of us wanted to read the articles and autographs!
EVENINGS IN THE SCHOOL (9PM TO 2PM)
By Stuart Wilson
First night, we expected the worst of bedroom, toilet and showers but luckily they looked comfortable and nice. We were so tired and we played games with Russian students. We taught Russians how to play some games, some of them had difficulty in picking up what the rules of the games were, but using ISL (International Sign Language) made it easier. Tyron and Jane went to bed at about midnight. We had a good time but I had a bad deadly headache like heavy throbbing going on and on so I went to bed a bit early. Oliver gave me some powerful tablets and thankfully those powerful tablets did the trick so quick! So I recovered quick and I felt really much better! Everyone still chatted until they were tired and went off to bed. Oliver jumped into his bed and broke a wood beam under the mattress. How silly of him but he repaired it okay! Lights out. Finally we went to sleep and enjoyed our dreams! I discovered that not everyone went to bed until 2.30am or so. They were chatting and exchanging gossip.
Second night, after the welcome party, everyone went to our floor where we were sleeping. We started our meeting and workshop, talked about what we found positive and negative on our second day. After our workshop we invited the Russians to join us and played some more games. It was good fun. Games were like deer, canoe and elephant. After the games, everyone started chatting about anything. Lee kept Martin laughing almost all night. Warren talked to Samantha D. most of the night! I was with Katherine, Alison, Shana and Janet but Warren and Colette joined a bit later. We were talking about our worst habits and many things about ourselves such as our dark sides, what things make us feel safe etc. I can't tell you any more or depth about it because I respect their private information! We chatted until 2.30am again. The next morning we were knackered! We slept everywhere!
Third night, we went to a restaurant and we had five courses like French's culture. We enjoyed ourselves very much. However, I think someone else (Sean) will be doing this report. I better keep out of this report! After the restaurant, I think we arrived at the school and did a couple of workshops but nothing serious and played some games with some Russian as usually. Afterwards, we chatted for a while then went straight to our beds.
Fourth and Fifth nights - we stayed at a Russian family's home for two nights.
Sixth night, we realised we had missed each other very much! We chatted lots about the different ways of Russian family life. We learned a lot from this visit - politics, exchanging jokes, wages, jobs, played games, watched TV, compared lifestyles in the UK and many more. It really hit me a lot about being a Russian. I can't believe how much they earn - $100 per month! I enjoyed staying with them and felt comfortable. Some of us were lucky because some families were also deaf so communication was easier. Poor Samantha D. sat on a chair and it didn't have any strength left to hold Sam up. It collapsed and left Sam so hugely embarrassed! We teased her being overweight! Workshop and games as usual. As normal, we stayed up until 2am. We were getting more and more tired. The atmosphere being in the group was really thumbs up!
Seventh night and last, We tried to spice up our last night in the school in Moscow but no beers or wines were allowed. We respected their rules. So we went to farewell party. We played some games there and enjoyed ourselves. But it finished at 9pm! What should we do from 9pm onwards?! Tyron told us to do some evaluations in order to get them over and done with, looking at positive and negative aspects of the trip. We finished it and passed the notes to Tyron. Tyron will read it and use the information to improve the next trip. Martin tripped himself and his mouth hit the floor. It looked painful. Luckily he was okay. He went to bed straight away. We still chatted until 3.30am and went to bed in anticipation for a long journey home the next day.
By Pauline Jordan
Arbat Street :Arbat Street is the most famous shopping street in Moscow. There are a lot of small shops, banks and stalls selling Matryoshka dolls (Lots of differently sized identical dolls). There even was a MacDonald's on this street! On the adjacent streets, there were ‘Western’ type shops, such as Benetton. The prices in the shops appeared to be reasonable to us, but to the Russians, they are excessive compared to their meagre monthly income.
The Trinity Monastery of St Sergei (formerly known as Zagorsk): After our visit to the Deaf-Blind School, we went to visit Trinity Monastery in Sergiev-Posad (70 Kilometres away from Moscow). The domes of the churches were thinly painted with gold. It looked like a miniature version of the Kremlin, as it was also in a walled complex. We were not allowed cameras (unless we had a special permit) and the Director nearly blew his head off when one of us ‘forgot’ and took photographs!
The complex includes the former Tsar’s palace, Cathedral of the Assumption and Church of the Descent of the Holy Ghost (Dome was painted blue, with gold stars). We went into the Cathedral of the Assumption and one of the praying monks (which looked like a catholic bishop with his rounded pointed hat) told Oliver to take his hand out of his pockets! Women were supposed to cover their head with scarves or hats, most of us did not bother. The church was very eerie with loads of lit candles and people praying. The last Tsar and his family, on their pilgrimage to Moscow, used this church as their palace was nearby.
In the grounds, one of the Russian teachers was so shocked when Sean shook hands with a monk. It seems to be considered as a terrible religious offence, the monk seemed not to mind though!
Coach Tour of Moscow: We went on a coach tour around Moscow, which was sponsored by a German based charity. Sasha was going to interpret for the tour guide when it emerged that the guide could speak English. Tyron took over and interpreted for us in BSL, which must have been hard work for him, as he did not have any breaks and had to try very hard to get our attention loads of times.
First site, of our tour, was Lenin’s Mausoleum. We were told to remain very quiet and not to sign as Tyron claimed that the police do shoot! (We could not see any sign of guns!) It was still enough to keep most of us silent. Sean kept trying to talk, but everyone ignored him! Lenin was covered in protective embalming fluid to prevent his body from rotting. It made him look implausible, like a waxwork out of Madame Tussaud's. Lenin’s body is kept as a reminder to never revert to communism.
Behind Lenin’s Mausoleum, we saw the graves of the previous leaders of the Communist Party (including Stalin) along with the communist elite – writers, scientists, army generals and cosmonauts. We were given the task to find Stalin's grave by trying to translate Stalin's name into Russian, this was interesting and we found it indeed, but more probably because we knew what he looked like and there was a bust of him on top of his grave!
The Red Square did not look red! "Red" means beautiful in Russian, there were lots of beautiful buildings surrounding Red Square. Compared to London’s Trafalgar Square, Red Square is huge! Red Square is used for national holiday celebrations and military parades. There were cathedrals surrounding Red Square, one of them is St Basil’s. St Basil’s is so unique, it combines 9 different churches in a single building. It is coloured red with the eight domed chapels, which are either shaped octagonally or squarish. St Basil’s was built by Ivan the Terrible to celebrate his capture of the Tatar stronghold of Kazan in 1552.
The Kremlin, where the Russian Government is based, is a huge walled complex. There were restrictions on where we were allowed to walk. The restrictions were not very visible, the tour guide got a wee bit annoyed with the Russian teacher for stepping over the restricted line! In the Kremlin there was one of the largest cannon (Tsar cannon) made in the world, on display but it has never been used! On display there also was the largest Bell (Tsar Bell) in the world. It weighted 200 tons – which is impossible to lift! The original version was 130 tons, but no-one could work out how to hoist it up to the belfry. In the fire of 1701, it fell to the ground and shattered in pieces. The fragments were used to make a larger bell, which cracked when fire spread through the Kremlin in 1737. This bell has never rung! What is the point of creating large masterpieces, when it is not used – a bit absurd!
To see all the sights at once, we went to Tverskaya ulitsa (highest point in Moscow). There were lots of wedding groups celebrating their wedding with bottles of champagne. (It is traditional for a Russian wedding to visit famous sites to have a celebratory drink and to take photos) The brides looked really freezing in their flimsy white dresses! We managed to spot a Deaf couple, and some of us took photos of them. It was their one moment of fame!
Ostankino Television Centre: On our day away from Tyron and Jane, the Russians took us up a Television tower at Ostankino Television centre, to see the sights of Moscow. The lift went up to the top really fast, and some of our ears felt compressed, like when we fly on planes. The view was not really spectacular; all we could see was lots of blocks of flats! It was not clear enough to see central Moscow. Lee and Martin went to the revolving restaurant, which was called ‘Seventh Heaven’, prior to meeting us on the observation deck.
In 1993, a mob of 4000 parliamentary supporters tried to capture the television centre. The national news was broadcasting at that time, and the news presenters suddenly announced "We’re under attack!" and then the news suddenly went off air. This left millions of Russians thinking that it had fallen to Yeltsin’s enemies in a coup! Actually the centre remained in government hands, but there was a eight-hour battle with the rebels, in which over 60 people died.
Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War: The Great Patriotic War is the Russians’ version of World War Two, they reckon that the war began in 1941 (instead of 1939) when Hitler invaded the USSR. The museum had huge panoramic exhibitions showing paintings and props of the critical battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk and the Dniepr, the siege of Leningrad and the fall of Berlin.
Outside the museum, there is a monument of St George’s beheading a Nazi dragon. Some of us initially thought the dragon was Welsh!
By Samantha Denton
Before coming to Moscow, some of us had images of what poverty was like in Moscow. Most of us thought that the poverty scene would be severe. I personally thought it would be like what I saw on television news, with people queuing outside shops and very poor too. When I came to Moscow, it was nothing like that. Some areas looked poor, such as bare land with rough looking flats. Other areas such as Red Square and the shopping centre looked rich and beautiful. Many rich Muscovites were sighted there.
Some things, especially hidden in the background that shocked us all were about people who worked. That there were strong differences, to be noticed in wages and occupations they are in. For example, we noticed that the deputy head teacher and teacher from the school for deaf students, earned the same wages that was 100 dollars each, equivalent to about £63 per month. That does not seem to be much when it comes to buying food, as they were not always cheap. Meaning that they would be struggling with money. What shocked us the most was that a waiter of a posh restaurant earned much more money than the deputy head teacher and the teacher. This was the same for a worker in a bakery factory, who earned about more than the staff at the school. All of this was because the school is state-owned, therefore the government only pay them little money. Whilst the bakery factory and the restaurant are private owned, meaning the staff there earn more money, because of the profits they make.
I would understand that the people who live there would think, what is the point of going to university and gains a degree? You would only earn the same or less to a person who never went to university. I think this is unjust, people who worked hard to gain good qualifications, should deserve better pay. They have knowledge and skills for their area of job that could be stressful and requires good pay. Whereas, workers in a factory or a restaurant have different kind of skills.
When we visited the Red Square, just outside there, there was a wish place for people to wish and drop some coins, not worth much of money. Many coins were dropped, old poor men and women rushed to the wish place. They collected the coins as much as they could. This showed how poor they are and are desperate for any money they could get. Around Moscow, I have seen some beggars, mostly old women on streets. I guess that they needed money for food they could eat rather than to starve. I saw some young boys begging people for money on the first day of the trip.
Generally, people in Moscow are very poor, but there are some who can afford a bit but not lavishly and some are very rich, some known as the Mafia. The Russian students we spent time with, we found out from them that they found some items dear, such as things from the shopping centre. They also did not drink much alcohol in bars, because they thought the drinks were too expensive for them. Deaf workers generally earn less money than their hearing colleagues. However, instead going out for drinks, some Russian deaf people occupy their time, in different ways. This can be anything from being involved in entertainment such as acting, miming and dancing, or even just to watch deaf people in the theatre. Most of them are very talented in this area.
By Oliver Westbury
The farewell party started at 6pm and finished at 9pm.
The farewell party was rather odd! Because there were less Russians at the party than the welcome party. This was because we found out that the Russians had to pay to come to this party, which was rather unfair.
We played a lot of games which were very new to us. For most of the games we were playing, there was a kind of competition between British girls and Russian girls and also British boys and Russian boys! We had a good laugh and but most of the games reached a draw! The best game was with Alison Leach against a Russian girl. She pulled the rope but she didn’t realise that the Russian girl let the rope go at the other end, hence Alison was flung and fell over, getting a bruise on her left hand!!
Tyron Woolfe made a speech to say thank you to the Headmaster of the Deaf school and a deaf lady translated from Russian to English for the Head's speech! (Forgot her name!). Tyron presented a brass plaque to the school which read "This is to commemorate the visit to the School for the Deaf 1838, Moscow, by the London Deaf Youth Exchange, BDA, October 20th - 27th 1999". Many posters were given to children with the British finger spelling alphabet.
Our group all wore the "teaching and educational complex" black T-shirts presented to us on our arrival from the school.
At the end of farewell party, many of the Russians and us exchanged our addresses to keep in touch after we go back to England. There were too many photographs taken in the farewell party. The best part was when our group got together for a group photo, and loads of people took pictures, we felt like famous people!!
By Shana Grummitt
At Heathrow we, all the group, were apprehensive of how good the second part of this exchange visit would go as most of us had little or no knowledge of International or Russian Sign Language. Although we all knew that International Sign Language is really a visual language which is practically based on what we see. Once we got there, we were relived to see that most of our Russian friends knew some English signs. This must have been acquired from their visit to London the year before. But for me, and I am sure for some others in the group, the impact came when we went to the school's welcome concert and met most of the other pupils who knew nothing of British Signs. I had to ask some other people for help at times to get myself understood!! But this concert was a good start and I learnt how to communicate with the Russians and what some of their signs meant. We were surprised to discover that there were some signs that was signed in a similar or same way as we do with BSL.
This started off the trip well and every day we shared our increasing knowledge of International Sign Language and Russian Sign Language to communicate. Some of us opted to use mime instead to get their message across. Some people kept forgetting that there was no point to use lip patterns while signing to the Russians, this only made it more complicated when some people spoke in English or Russian!! There was naturally some confusion and misunderstandings between us but we always overcame the problem by miming! One example used International Signing for a particular word and some others used the English or Russian sign for the same word. This caused some of us to accuse each other of signing that word wrong while it was correct in both forms!
The main improvement in our learning of Russian Sign Language was when we all stayed at our Russian host's home for two nights, so we all had a chance to be on our own and with no help around, so we had to get down to it with them. When we came back to the school at the end of our stay, we were all more experienced and confident in communicating with the Russians, although I am not sure if I can say the same for Lee who seemed to have taught his host a lot of BSL!!
It was funny to see that a lot of us were even using Russian Sign Language to each other! This was amazing, as it showed us that any sign language is learnt more easily than the spoken form as most of us could not comprehend, let alone learn, written Russian, although Sam Caiels did try!! (but this was because she had a Russian admirer and wished to impress him as well as the headmaster of the school!)
This exchange helped us all gain a skill which we have all learnt to use - this will be useful when we meet any foreign deaf people on our travels in the future!
By Colette Hogan
SHANA:
Essex girl! She loves to pull faces in a sarcastic way! Never listens to anyone!! But had a lot of respect for the Russian family she stayed with, for the weekend. Shana never bites anyone who approaches her for company! Shana is good at being patient, as her Russian friend acted as mother to her! People, like me, like being with her, as Shana always have summat to tell! Always late as she had to put make-up on her face first, no matter what!
LEE:
Crazy ‚ Jim Carrey! This character definitely suits Lee! He loves pulling weird faces and acts like a wild monkey! He encourages Russian boys to express themselves freely, Lee is a bad influence on them! Russian children are drawn to Lee, like a magnet as Lee is the entertainer! Lee has an ability to cheer people up. But he is hopeless at being a part of sheep syndrome!
ALISON:
Alison has a well-known disgusting habit and her future job would be 'spot squeezer'!! She can't stand seeing a person with a yellowish spot without being squeezed. She would not approach the person for permission to squeeze!! Alison is so passionate in a flirty way! Her ways must have worked, two Russian children were drawn to her! Some of us wants to thank her, for being the matron! Well, she had to wake us up, as she was only the person who has the alarm clock! Star of netball tournament'!! (Alison asked for this to be printed so she can show it off to her pals!)
KATHERINE:
Her character is very strong. She has the potential for leadership as she's very adamant that everyone listens to her! For the future job, she should consider thinking of becoming an analyst or a counsellor. Katherine always has the solution to solve the problem whether you like it or not!! Katherine and Alison should form a partnership as Katherine has a passion for blackhead removing!
JANET:
Should be labelled as a toilet woman‚ as every time she see a toilet, she has to use it!! Janet is deaf proud with capital D as she taught some deaf issues to some people. Janet should be the promoter for international sign language. Because she cannot stand people using B.S.L when Russian people are around! Janet kept reminding them to use international sign language many times I have lost count!
TYRON:
Tyron has good leadership skills and ensures that everyone's involved. But you should see his determination! Tyron fought for equality between deaf and hearing at the school and showed his feelings openly. Tyron loved messing about, by waking other people when they were sleeping on the bus!! Tyron has a passion with politics! He talked non-stop with a member of Moscow Deaf Association!!
PAUL:
Paul loves a challenge, no matter what is it either love or debate! Can be a smart-ass and funny at same time! Paul showed good skills in leadership as he encouraged people to take part and be heard! Paul has a way with Russian women! He received star treatment from a Russian mother who undoubtedly kept feeding him! Paul didn't mind!
SEAN:
The troublemaker of the group, yet he didn't make grave troubles but he has a way to be a mischief and we love him for it! Sean is a womaniser, attracting all kinds of girls!! The mischief tested Tyron's patience all times!! But never went over the top as Sean knows his limit! In a football match, Sean has to kick a penalty, when he kicked the ball, one of his trainers flew away with the ball, almost smashing the window!!
WARREN:
Very laid-back and tried his best to look cool (Not!) His highlight of the Russian trip was; had his spot squeezed in the bakery despite hygiene standards (guess who by?) Warren worked very hard to aim at a particular girl, taking all the week and finally in the end, his work paid off! He was the star of football tournament but his attitude with losing‚..!! I shouldn't mention it!
STUART:
Endeavours everything in sight, including all Russian food! Stuart is enthusiastic and loves questioning as he had to know full details about Russia! Stuart was the brave goalkeeper, who faced the speed of goals kicked by Russian boys! He enjoyed the game despite the fact he never wore gloves - Ouch!!
MARTIN:
A lot of girls thought that he was good, sweet, loveable and a mature guy despite his age!! Showed some excellent football experience when playing against the Russian team. The boys could learn some tips from him! Gave a lot of respect for the Russian culture and was interested to visit a school, as he is a schoolboy himself!
OLIVER:
Always catch him smiling, no matter what! Probably daydreaming about sexy Russian women...well the fact is that men keep thinking about women every 12 minutes (True, read it in Marie Claire magazine edition in May 1997!) Oliver loves to take over Tyron's role and translate it in unrecognisable language, probably gibberish! He should become a model for Quicksilver, as he wore them every day and never stopped talking about it!
SAM C:
Playful, flirty and likes to be involved in anything. Sam has a thing, for gossips! She loves talking and listening, about interesting news, such as men! Her future job would be an interrogator, getting answers out of anyone and she worked successfully on Tyron and his life, hee hee. Sam almost married a Russian guy!! Not really, but her attention were on the Russian boys all the time!
SAM D:
Always the last one in the queues etc! (Forever to get ready but that's her trademark!) Her embarrassing moment, was breaking the school's chair! Oops! She needs to go to gym! Sam is well-prepared, has everything in her bag, she even brought her cotton wool buds!! Sam is quite pleasant and is easy to talk to.
JANE:
Good person to talk to. Loves to sleep!! Her highlight of the week was: almost broke her thumb while playing basketball/netball!! But loved to show off her bruised purplish thumb! Food factories should fight for her, cos she gobbled everything and tasted the food and gave criticisms! Had to be brave to listen to Tyron waffling about politics, while they stayed at a Russian family's place!
PAULINE:
She is very BRITISH!! So you gotta be careful what you say! If you mention that we are English‚ then you are in trouble! She is Scottish and must remind people to use BRITISH!! Pauline is good at being a teacher! Everyone must watch if she's talking, she dislike anyone who is chattering when she is talking to the group! She showed an interest in meeting Russian children and improved international sign language. A confident lass!
ANGELA:
Angela is easy going and talks about anything. Respectful of other team members. A great laugh! She had the right attitude for an exchange...Went to Russia with eyes open and hands ready for some international signing! Never thought of herself all times, as she wanted other people to enjoy themselves.
COLETTE:
A very active person, prepared for anything, until that late big meal at the Russian's family home! Very generous and open minded, sweet at times! Huggable and a lot of glue between her and Paul!! Very competitive in netball and basketball matches and people saw a new side of her! (Col- hope that's a good side!)
By Warren Smith
How do I feel now I've participated the exchange for the second time?
Well honestly it has never come to my mind that this is my second trip with the London Deaf Youth Exchange Council as it is not that apparent! However, I am glad and was really excited and looked forward to being involved with going with this second group and meeting Russians, and helping each other. Well some of the others may think I am not one who helped out a lot, but the fact is that I do enjoy helping each other because teamwork is most important to me.
Generally, the trip, overall, was definitely good. Russia had the biggest impact on me and I learned loads of things e.g. culture, International Sign Language, Attitudes, places, how poor they are, deaf and blind people school and foods! (Yuck) etc.
The organisation of this exchange was quite good apart from certain Russian staff members as they had this tendency to always interfere (that's Russian culture!) Blimey! I couldn't cope with them, there was no empowerment from them towards their children.
In Moscow, there are lots of beautiful places with gold roof and history i.e. World War II, Civil War and famous buildings. It made me interested in their history, how things happened and why. There are seven famous buildings in Moscow, because years ago, their army wore Red star with six corners and one in the middle which was interesting.
Well, in the future I hope this organisation of London Deaf Youth exchange Council will continue and try to bring more youths to be involved because it will give them a good experience.
I've an idea, what if there are so many young people who want to be involved in the next exchange? Why not split into two groups like one group visit to one country and another group visits another country, then at the end both group will tell each other what they have been up to. Also I hope the next exchange trip is Japan or Brazil as I've seen enough of Europe.
The last thing to say is to Tyron and Jane, Thank you for everything and giving everyone and myself a great experience. I say "WOW!!!" because it has an impact on me to do lots of things on a trip, such as meeting deaf people; visiting their country, etc. If Jane wasn't with us then Tyron will have no-one to ask advice from, and wouldn't cope well. So thanks to her for supporting Tyron.
I definitely owe Tyron a lot. If he hadn't told me about this exchange group then I would have a very limited life, and end up educationally deprived!!