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Американские газеты - о русских студентах =) В середине лета-2007 наш менеджер Майк изъявил желание написать о нас в местную островитянскую газету и взял интервью =) После того, как вышла газета, какие-то люди на острове все время говорили нам, что читали про нас! Водители автобусов, работники в библиотеке…В ресторане, где мы работали, посетителям с маленькими детишками обычно давали цветные карандаши и картинку с рыбой, чтоб раскрашивать. А потом их рыб вешали на столбике на входе в кафешку. Ну конечно, Майк додумался прилепить свое гордое творение - эту статью - туда же. И все нам говорили, «You are celebrities!» =) Ниже сама статья, которая еще веселей)
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For Yulia Antropova and Irina Trunova, both all of 20 years old and two of Barnaul's best and brightest, to leave Russia for the first time and subsequently find themselves on the white on the white sands of Holmes Beach is like living a dream.
Not so very long ago, the thought of aqua-marine-colored waves gently lapping the shore under a powder-blue sky dotted with towering white clouds, as palm trees wave and pelicans soar, was a scene from a movie. To see that they are all part of a typical day in our little slice of paradise is to them absolutely "wonderful".
Actually, they think it is all "wonderful". When asked what it is they like about Anna Maria and Florida, they both smile from ear to ear and with hesitation at all, they say, "everything".
These delightful young ladies are here as members of a program called Work and Travel USA. It is designed for students at the university level from around the world - both Julia and Irina study information technology at Altai State University - to experience America, not from a classroom, but standing knee deep in it.
That their travels brought them here involves a little luck. Originally slated to stay in Hendersonville, North Carolina, they had the good fortune to cross paths with Bradenton resident Melvin Weinkle at the hotel where they were working. Being the world traveler that Weinkle is - this guy is a lengthy and fascinating story to himself - and intrigued by their lovely accents, he engaged them in conversation.
Learning that he was from Florida, the girls quickly made clear their wish that they could have spent the summer here. Unbeknownst to them, they had found the perfect man to make that happen. Weinkle has been involved in sponsoring exchange students since, as he put it, "my son was a senior in high school and he's now in his 60's". He immediately began to talk to the proper people, and soon enough got everyone to sign off on the new arrangement and, just like that, the girls were on their way to Florida.
In addition to the Island, they have made a good start of the local grand tour. Sandy Lynch of Bradenton Beach and a coworker at the BeachHouse Restaurant, has become a big sister to them.
So far they have together taken in the sights of St. Armands Circle and St. Petersburg, among others. On one of their outings they all had the thrill of staring down into the water from a fishing pier made from the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge when, instead of the dolphin they were looking for, a fully grown loggerhead turtle swam by.
I can't top that, but I myself have taken them to Myakka River State Park. I couldn't have them leave Florida without seeing a real live alligator. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to expose Julia and Irina to the exotic vistas of the Myakka River State Park.
As they took it all in, the joy is so evident in these young women's eyes that it was impossible not to be caught up in it.
It has not only been a singular pleasure playing a small part in their once-in-lifetime experience. It is also a reminder how lucky we are if we manage to keep that sense of "wonder" alive in ourselves.
special for The Islander
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