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Pinsk Teenagers and Their Swedish Friends
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| Teenagers Oleg is speaking: “How did we start to correspond with our Swedish peers? We visited the web-page of Lerum gymnasium and wrote a couple of lines about ourselves at the Board room. In a while I received a mail from 15 year old Marianne Hellberg, the student of the first course”. From Marianne Hellberg’s e-mail to Oleg: “Hello, my name is Marianne. I live in Lerum, two Swedish miles outside Gothenburg. Lerum is quite small and there isn´t much to tell you about it, but I can tell you some about Gothenburg. Gothenburg is the second biggest city in Sweden. Here we have got almost everything. We have got a big park "trädgårdsföreningen" if you want to go for a walk, here are theaters, cinemas, stores etc. Gothenburg is by the ocean, so you can also take a trip by boat or go for a swim. We are four persons in my family, my mother, my father and my older sister Annika, who is 19 years old. Annika graduated from the upper highschool last year. My father is an engineer and my mother teaches immigrants how to speak Swedish. I have also got a rabbit called "Snuffan". My biggest interest is handball. One week from now I'm going to play in "The Swedish Cup" in handball. I'm in the "Gothenburg City" team, with the best players in Gothenburg and the city's outside Gothenburg. In "The Swedish Cup" my team are going to play against the other "City" teams in Sweden. It's going to be so much fun, and I'm really looking forward to it! Many girls from my school go in for sports: play tennis or football for example. We were talking about diffrent questions about boys and girls in school today. I wonder if it's a big diffrence between boys and girls in Belarus. Do men have got better jobs and a higher status and do boys and girls have got the same rights? I also wonder if you have got good contact with your teachers. Some people in my class were in Germany last term and they said that the German people were supprised by our relationship between pupils and teachers here in Sweden. In German they hadn´t got such a good contact with their teachers. They had to call their teachers by their second names, they weren’t aloud to call them their first names, they didn't even know their first names! I don't know so much about Belarus...If you´ve got something you think I should know about your country, please tell me! Tikhon is speaking: “I am 17 and this is my last year at school – I am in the 11-th grade. My school is quite usual. There is also nothing special about my class. The only peculiar thing is that there are only five us guys, and the other twenty students are girls. It’s hard to study in the 11-th grade. The teachers’ demands are very high. One should know the subject very deep in order to get a good mark. So we have to spend much time learning the things, which will be of no use in our future life. For instance why should I devote so my time to Physics or Chemistry if I want to become a journalist? Most teachers thrust their opinions on us, students; do not encourage us to look for our own answers to different questions. As a result teenagers become indifferent – as all the same no one is interested in our own views and ideas. I would say my peers have two worlds. One of them is school, where everything is so dull and boring. The other is real life. These two worlds hardly have anything in common. Of course it was so interesting to learn about the life of my Swedish peers”. From Fanny’s e-mail to Tikhon: “Our school system is devided into primary school and secondary (gymnasium). The secondary school years are three and I'm at the 2-nd. Compared to your eleven it doesn't sound very much! I will turn 18 in Februry, well, that's the age of most people in my class. (Some are already 19...) What will you do after you have finished school? Study abroad? I know your grading system, they have the same in Luxemburg, where my cousins live. They go to something called a European school and they have to struggle very hard...Here in Sweden we easily get high grades, it's really unfair... I'm glad to hear you like music! I'm a real music fanatic, I play the saxophone but cheat on quite many intruments. What do you play? What music do you listen to? I also dance flamenco, even though I'm only a beginner. I feel I've quite a lot of things around me, a lot of things to do, not least schoolwork...” Stas is speaking: “If you differ from the majority of your peers – doesn’t matter which way: unusual hair style, special clothes or manner of speaking – you automatically become a scapegoat, and everyone is eager to kick you. I would even say that everyone tries to hurt you morally and physically. For example the friend of mine was subjected to mockery and humiliation for nothing – he just had long hair. Finally in order to survive he had to cut his hair short… What is regarded to be cool by teenagers? It’s cool to have a short haircut and to wear a sport suit. It’s cool to be rude, it’s cool to neglect those who are weaker than you. If you abuse others and spit on their shoes – you are cool. Why do teenagers smoke? I don’t know, maybe they think they look older with cigarettes… It seems that 100% guys and 80% girls of my age smoke. I forgot to say that soon I’ll become 18. I am just thinking – maybe my peers smoke because they have no interest in themselves; maybe they don’t regard themselves to be important and special. This is some kind of absence of inner culture…” From Stas’ e-mail to Isabelle: “You know perhaps I am a dreamer. I like to walk along empty streets and to dream. I also like to sit by the riverside and to think about the future or about some events from my past. Do you like to dream?” From Isabelle’s e-mail to Stas: «Of course I like everybody else dream sometimes, but I wouldn't call myself a dreamer. I'm more of a person who likes things to happen, right away. I love exciting experiences! For example, I'm going bungyjumping this summer and next year when I'm 19 parachuting is on the schedule! We had to work hard this semester, so for the moment I'm only looking forward to the vacation and skiing. On Thursday next week I'm going to Trysil, Norway, with 100 people from my school to ski. During my spare time I go to kickboxing, a great sport!!! I also hang out with my friends and family. Sometimes I paint and draw, and of course I love to party and dance!!!” The International Programme of Lerum gymnasium |
| The Teachers of Lerum Gymnasium Gunnar Einarsson, who is in charge of the International Section at Lerum Gymnasium: “My subjects are German, Swedish, Speech and International Communications. Furthermore I speak English, French and some Spanish, Icelandic and Turkish. My wife, Karin, is Armenian and was brought up in Istanbul, Turkey. I have two sons - Philip and Thor Anton - who both are Icelandic. I have one brother living and working in London and half of my relatives in Iceland. As you can see my family is quite international. Since I was a child I have always loved travelling and getting to know different countries and cultures. After my university studies I moved to France and Paris to study and eventually work. I stayed two years in France and in 1991 I went to work for a Swedish/German company outside Berlin. After four years abroad I finally decided to settle down in Sweden and start educating young people. I feel that the experiences described above have made me rather suitable for my work here at the International Programme and I guess by now you have understood that I really love what I am doing. I think we are offering the best possible preparation for young people wanting to feel at ease in a more multicultural and dynamic global society by giving them the possibility to deepen their linguistic, cultural and social competence. Apart from teaching and travelling I try to keep physically fit. I play soccer and tennis. I love skiing, snowboarding and roller blading and used to be a rather cool windsurfer». Marianne Rylander: “I have been teaching Swedish and German for quite many years, 32 to be precise. I have taken active part in the construction of the International programme and have been a form mistress in International classes since the programme started in 1995. I am interested in literature and languages, but I also enjoy physical actvities like long fast walks, gymnastics and dance (and digging in my garden). Cooking and baking I consider creative and inspiring. I am a rather serious person, who often laughs”. Roger Miller: “Hello out there and welcome to my world. I teach the English language here at the International Course at Lerum's Gymnasium. I am born and bred in the United States, upstate New York, Webster, and lived there until the age of 22. I studied at college in Rochester, New York and in Denver Colorado before moving to Sweden where I continued my studies at the University of Gothenburg. I have a Master’s degree in English and Music and have added History and Social Studies to the subjects that I work with.I've been teaching for twenty years and have an excellant grasp on the teaching situation and a good insight into the world that our students come from. I'm married to a Swedish Woman, Gunilla and have two kids in their teens, Jesper and Josephin and two cats. We live just north of the school in a small town called Olofstorp which allows me to ride my bike to school. In my spare (?) time I play in a band and I enjoy fishing and outdoor activities. My mottos are: It Has To Be Fun and Good Things Take Time. |
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| New and different Stas is speaking: «Are Swedish teenagers different from us? Yes, perhaps they are more open, free and optimistic. It seems they have more opportunities – just do it – go parachuting or dance flamenco if you like. In our city there are very few opportunities for entertainment. If you go to disco – you’ll get to a place where everybody is drunk… Our Swedish peers travel much. It’s very important for youngsters to travel, to acquaint with other ways of life and modes of thinking…” Tikhon is speaking: «People from the former Soviet Union are easily recognisable abroad – they always look concerned and worried. How to explain it in a better way… If foreigners face something, which they can’t understand – their normal reaction is curiosity – they will come closer, start asking questions, get acquainted with people, as a result they will learn more about people and situation and tell others about themselves. Our people behave in a different way. They are afraid of everything in advance. Nothing happens – but they are afraid – just leave us alone, we do not want any changes! Of course my English in comparison with the English spoken by my Swedish peers is like a cucumber grown in a hothouse. I mean this vegetable has not been under the sun or rain and its taste is quite watery. Whom can I speak English with in Pinsk? Neither my schoolteachers nor my classmates have met an English native speaker. Foreigners visit Pinsk quite seldom. By the way I have learnt that movies in Sweden – both on TV and video – are with subtitles, they are not dubbed. So spectators always hear foreign speech. It’s a good way to learn English and other languages”. Oleg is speaking: «It was interesting to learn that Swedish girls care about gender equality. Belarusian girls don’t think about this. Belarusian girls since their childhood are oriented towards family life and nothing more – just marry the proper man and all your life problems will be solved. Swedish girls are more independent. It’s important for them to build up their self-esteem, to develop their personalities, to treat themselves with respect. It seems that Belarusian girls like to feel weak – this way they want to avoid problems and they demand that men should protect them from life hardships. But at the same time this way they get subordinate to men – as girls who have no opinions and do not wish to take decisions cannot be regarded as equal partners. No wonder the girls are addressed: “Keep silent, woman!” or “It’s none of a woman’s business”. Why Belarusian guys don’t approve girls go in for such kinds of sports as kickboxing for instance? Maybe they feel that physically strong girls are a threat for them – as guys need to feel dominant in all spheres. Do Belarusian girls consider themselves to be feminists? I can’t say about all of them, but the majority of the girls don’t know the meaning of this word. How do I understand the meaning of the word “feminist”? I think feminists are women whose aim is to have the same rights as men in the society. Feminists do not want to play the roles imposed on them by the society. By the way Belarusian guys associate a feminist with a male-looking bitch. I forgot to say that Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson considers himself to be a feminist…” To be continued From Marianne Rylander’s e-mail to Nadya Avsievich: «Our INT-team is interested in cooperation with your NGO and the schools in Pinsk. We would like to visit you at the beginning of the next academic year. It would be great to get acquainted with history and culture of Belarus, to learn more about traditions and life conditions of Belarusians. Also we can discuss the possibilities of students’ exchange between Pinsk and Lerum. Oleg, Tikhon, Stas and Sergey Rogal, the deputy Head master of their school: “We are looking forward to start cooperating with Lerum's Gymnasium!” The author used the materials of Lerum's Gymnasium web-page www.gymnasiet.lerum.se/kurser/int with the permission from International Programme administration |
