The current generation of Russian children is also not against studying, studying and studying again... But increasingly abroad

Sport

Photographs of cheerful boys and diligent girls look at me from the walls of the spacious corridor. The April Easter sun splashed through the window directly onto the freshly washed floor. “Oh, this is a miracle,” I thought.

About the principles of sex education

This is Edfi. It's just a school. More precisely, a boarding school. Here in Quebec, in Canada, they call it the Laurentian Academy. She is in the mountains, in the town of Upper Laurentina, where squirrels, like cats, rub against boots, where you can wash down a scalding steak with melt water. And in the summer there is a sports camp, where, if you wish, you can go down an inflatable raft, ride horses or take part in the school Olympic Games. And this is only 60 kilometers from Montreal. Who knows, you won't get lost. And who doesn’t know, too.

I couldn't sleep somehow. I got dressed, went out into the cool of the night and crunched through the fallen snow somewhere into the darkness. About two hours later I got on the highway. I wanted to go back. I hear the car rustling. I just muttered in Russian to the sleep-deprived driver: “Edfi” and soon I was inhaling the aromatic coffee in the director’s office.

Monsieur Claude Cousineau, who is also the mayor of the gingerbread town of two thousand people, Santa Lucia, his glasses shining, kindly tells me about the principles of sex education at school. As far as I understand, guys can be friends wherever they want, but boys have no right to go into girls’ rooms, and accordingly vice versa. This is perhaps the only significant and indisputable restriction in school life; everything else is possible within the framework of Quebec legislation and the school charter. But the passive stay as a guest is more than compensated by joint sports activities, annual summer tourism in Europe, not very boring academic lessons, school theater and even maintaining your own in-school store. The money earned during the year by the initiative trade group is then jointly spent on the same tourist trips.

If only he wouldn't be afraid of me...

Then Monsieur Claude Cousineau also kindly invited me to attend the choice of one of the language classes: English or French. He looked at his watch and said in French: “English for junior level children.”

I chose physical education for older children. Today the kids didn't swim, didn't play basketball, didn't kick the dust out of the tatami in the judo hall. They held a powerlifting competition in the gym. Both boys and girls, regardless of their physique and level of physical development, happily took part in powerlifting, which includes a bench press, squatting with a barbell and lifting this weight off the floor. They involved me too. They shouted: “Rushen!” and didn’t pay attention to the fact that I was shy. And I, groaning and sweating, lifted, squatted and pressed along with them.

And you will be rewarded...

I don't really want to slide down the mountain. Kids pour in from somewhere above, rush past me, baring their even white teeth, and shower me with a wave of snow flying out from under their skis. The lift's cradles swing somewhere near the sky. The sun hurts my eyes...

I found a piece of cardboard and got in line for the lift. But the cowboy controller won’t let me in and that’s all.

“No,” he says.

A junior student did a good deed. I took off my sunglasses, tucked my monoski under my arm, and persuaded the cowboy to let me climb to the top of the mountain.

It's just me and the student in the cradle. He smiles and I smile too.

Halfway through the journey, I changed my mind about sliding down the mountain. My cardboard flew down smoothly. Somehow, I think, I need to thank the guy, leave something as a gift, as a memory of me and my also snow-covered homeland.

I look down warily and fumble in my pockets. Nothing. 50 Russian rubles got lost in the pile of Canadian change and became almost invisible. I hand him our eagle coin.

“Take Russian money,” I say, “as a souvenir.”

“Thank you,” the boy replies. - How much is this in dollars?

- Well, about a fifth...

He was visibly upset.

Dmitry BELOVETSKY

Karl Goulet
-What is the main part of your body?
- Heart.

Kim Saint-Louis
- Do you have a nickname?
- Kikimora.

Marie-Line Fournel
- Do you love your face?
- Especially the cheeks.

Claude Cousineau - school director
— What telephone numbers do you remember by heart?
— Home, work and the Russian Foundation for International Educational Programs “Direct Conversation”... Because thanks to him, students from your country come to us for the first time.
- Well, give me the number.
- Uh... 925-31-87 and 360-56-25...

Photo by D. Belovetsky

GENERAL EDUCATION ACADEMY