Doing social stretches

I've gotta say, one of the hardest parts about living in a foreign country is finding friends. This problem is hugely exacerbated when you struggle to understand the local language.

You would think we'd have it by now, but just remember - all up, we have only been here in Siberia for around 10 months. After our first 7 months, there was a five month intermission back in Australia when little Anna made her grand entrance. We've been back not quite 3 months.

Most of our time so far has been indoors, as we are enjoying our fourth straight winter (Aussie, Russian, Aussie, Russian). University study takes up a ton of time, and outside of that, it's nice to not plan anything too exhausting.

Slowly but surely we're making some friends, joining some groups, sending the older kids out, taking the younger kids to things.

Eli now does soccer 2 to 3 times a week at the local stadium. He still hasn't made a concerted effort to learn Russian, but is picking up the basics as he needs them (which is a slow process, but better than nothing).

Layna loves Irish dancing (though not the two hour round trip on the bus twice a week) and she is trying to learn Russian of her own accord. She lies awake reading stuff in Russian - kid's picture dictionaries etc.

Amalia will start "kindergarten" (детский сад) one day a week starting this Friday. She also learns Russian in a private lesson on Mondays.

Unfortunately, Clayton hasn't been able to slot into something, but he goes along with Eli to his soccer training.

The four kids (i.e. not Anna) come with me each Sunday to kids club on the other side of the river. So they're getting contact with Russian kids there too.

Janene and Lyuda with
the little felt owls they made

Finally, there's my beloved Janene. She's got a hard task, but she's pretty brave. Though sometimes I need to organise a social engagement without her knowledge and then spring it on her!

So at midnight last night she found out that she's going to the movies with Lyuda, a local Russian lady we've come to know.

Amalia and Layna have gone along too, and they are watching a well-known Russian cartoon at the cinema (check out the trailer below).

 We first met Lyuda when she came to the Aussie Christmas we hosted in our apartment. We have since invited her back to do some craft (see the pic) and go ice-skating with us. She doesn't speak much English, so it's a great opportunity to extend Janene's Russian.

Keep us in your prayers. Fitting in is so hard when you can't easily talk about what's on your heart. It's like your brain is a clogged filter that your non-native language gets harshly filtered through. Come to think of it, there's probably a mincer in there too, making a real mess.

2015 - Year of the ??

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
from the Phillips Family

Well it's been almost a year since the last blog post! But with a newsletter going out on an almost-monthly basis, a Facebook group and an occasionally-used Google+ page, we don't really have a lot of time to use a blog.

In fact, sometimes it's exhausting just writing a newsletter. Our days are full already, with both Janene and I now studying the Russian language five days a week at the Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University (КГПУ), the kids doing full-time distance education, extra-curricular activities, weekend ministry etc.

Sometimes we even wonder if our newsletters or Facebook posts are being read by anyone (apart from the few close friends and family)? We hope that they result in at least one person praying for us.

That thought can be a source of frustration, disappointment and distraction, but we realise in the end, what we're doing here in Krasnoyarsk is the most important thing. We know that our loved ones back home are just as busy as we are! Many of you are also engaged in your own ministries (some of whom we pray for - but please send us YOUR prayer requests too!)

So 2015 is a big year! It will either be a make or break year for The Phillips Family. We'll either become firmly rooted here, or start preparing to come back home. The outcome hinges upon three main things:

Residency. This is not a deciding factor, but will make it much easier to stay and achieve things if at least one of us obtains temporary residency (3 years). We'll know more about that in the coming weeks, and the outcome of an application within a few months.

Finance. While the Russian ruble is weakening and making our expenses (temporarily?) much lower, we are also highly dependent on a few faithful sponsors. We love their faithfulness and feel blessed that they trust us to be faithful stewards. However, our expenses are still somewhat higher than our sponsorship. This means I will be looking for an opportunity to make some income online (as I'm not allowed to find employment here while I'm on a student visa).

Political/Economic climate. Things are reasonably stable here right now, apart from some price rises on certain products. Though things could easily enough turn awry (as they could in any country). Let's just say, we promise to make sensible, prayerful decisions when it comes to the safety of our family. At the same time, we do not live in fear, and enjoy the peace that comes from knowing God is in control of our circumstances.

At the conclusion of 2014 we are able to look back and know with confidence that we have already been able to bring blessings to others.

Looking forward into 2015, we can also know for certain that there is a place for us here. Our hearts are already engaged. There is so much we could achieve. But we do it for one reason only...

2 Corinthians 5:14-15For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

May you seek the Father's blessing on all you do in 2015! 

Claytonskii

Hi, this is Clayton. 

This is my first time contributing to the Phillips Family in Russia blog.

From the time I came to Russia up until now, I have enjoyed living here. I have met some Russian kids, and walked some Russian dogs in an American village (in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk). It's very cold here and it has already been -35 degrees Celsius, and it can get as cold as -50 degrees Celsius -- I never want to experience that!!

Yesterday Dad and I walked to his University to renew our registration, but there was a slight problem... it was -30 and there was also a cold breeze, and no snow either! (snow makes the atmosphere warmer, if you didn't already know).

I'm having a great time here in Russia.

Thank you everyone that is supporting us!!

   

This is me walking Cujo, the Harrison's dog.

The Great Sakhalinskii Runaround

The Great Sakhalinskii Runaround

We arrived safely and on time in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Saturday 21st December. We have been staying in the House of Hope, where Peter and Tracy Harrison have given up their room for Janene and I. On average there are around 14 of us in this three bedroom apartment. We're comfortable despite the crowd, and despite a stomach virus passing through our three youngest and a couple of others in the house.

Medical maddness
A very important part of our application for Temporary Residency is undergoing several medical tests and obtaining stamps on a supporting document to show we have passed them. Sounds easy enough.

Well, try doing that when there are several hospitals in town, nobody telling you straight out what you need to do, and dragging four children along in bulky winter clothes.

DAY ONE out on the paper trail, we went to one of the hospitals where we hoped we could get all our tests done in one day. Jake took us, and we paid to get our tests done - around ten of them! The first piece of bad news was that the kids would need to get all their tests done at a different hospital just up the road.

So we ducked over to the next hospital to pay and book them in for their tests. The registration desk sent us upstairs to the head nurse, who wasn't there. Jake enquired in another office. They sent us to another floor with a waiting room filled with parents and crying babies and long queues.

Jake found who we needed to see, and she went off to obtain forms. A little while later she came back and told us we couldn't get the tests done there. A wasted hour or so.

Around three hours later, you can imagine how restless the kids were.

After some phonecalls, we found that the hospital nearby to the House of Hope apartment would take the kids and do the appropriate tests. So we headed home, deciding to get those tests done today so the kids could relax while we came back and got ours the following day.

Jake went to the hospital to book them in. He came back with some good news. We could ALL get our tests done there - in fact, we also discovered we CAN'T get our tests done where we had just paid that morning. Had the registration desk at the first hospital told us, they would've saved us wasting a whole day.

Good news: we got a refund.
More good news: there'd be less tests
Bad news: some of the tests are located in different parts of the city.
More bad news: clinics operate in different time brackets - not at a convenient 9 to 5.

DAY TWO
Another 8am wake up and a walk to the hospital. We breezed through the first two tests and I was greatly inspired by the progress. We had a finger prick test and they bled us into a test tube. I don't know why. The nurse was gracious and passed the three youngest without bleeding them. Only Layna was disappointed, as she wanted her finger pricked.

The next so-called test was more embarassing for the boys than the girls. It brought flashbacks of Sister Steiner visiting the high school to check our development, the shock of her cold hand as she directed us: "cough!". So today we had to stand in front of an elderly nurse, shirt off, and pants down. I guess she wanted to make sure nothing was missing?

The girls got off lightly, she just wanted to see their belly buttons. For fluff maybe?

Two tests down, all in the same building, all within a half hour or so. Looking good!

The next test was a TB xray in an adjoining building for Janene and I. Jake went in and the lady told him "the machine's broken, come back next year." Well of course, we don't have until next year! We were bewildered, annoyed, flabberghasted, disheartened etc. Yet we noticed other people were still in the line for an xray, so we asked a different nurse.

"No it's not broken, go through that door and enquire."

So Jake did that, and they told him the machine "wasn't working properly" and they were only doing emergency xrays for those that definitely needed them.

We noticed however, that there were only a few in the line, and those that were seemed to also be preparing documents for visa applications. They were going in and coming out with xrays of their lungs. Didn't look broken to me! So Jake went back and told them it WAS urgent. So they dealt with Janene and I within a matter of minutes.

I was starting to get a sense of the Russian mindset. You really have to pester them to get things done, and it's not unusual for them to spin a yarn to get out of doing their job.

We moved on to the final three tests, which were all located in the city. The first was a children's TB testing clinic. They weren't going to take us, but then decided they would. We'd have to come back at 3pm, meaning a three hour wait in minus temperatures.

So we decided to walk to the next clinic for our next test. I have no idea what this clinic was for, only that the Russian word was "СПИД", pronounced "spid". Possibly it's a clinic for testing blood for HIV etc? I'm still not sure, because when we arrived, we were told nobody was available today to do the testing, because they were all off on a New Year party (during work hours, mind you).

Bitterly disappointed, we moved on to the next clinic, where we'd be tested for narcotics by means of a urine sample. In we went, but again, we were told "Sorry, come back at 3pm".

It was now snowing outside, and Amalia was crying, Layna was tired, and everybody was totally sick of walking. So we went looking for a restaurant where we could waste 2 hours out of the snow. We found a fast food restaurant similar to Maccas, with very comfortable seats, and very annoying music (which is not unusual for fast food restaurants, right?). Although it cost over $40, it was great to relax. Everybody's mood improved and after almost 2 hours, we walked back to the kids' TB clinic.

Amalia was happy, singing and whistling. Layna was having a great time laughing and playing with Jake. Things were much better. We got to the clinic and the lady doctor there checked them over physically. She was very gentle with them, and the girls were giggling like crazy as she checked their hearts and lungs with the stethascope.

We moved to the next room where they all received a small injection under their skin, which will be checked and measured on Monday for a reaction. Amalia cried, but the others were fine.

Back to the narcotics clinic, we were processed fairly quickly, and again, Amalia, Layna and Clayton were excused from the testing, as it might be unlikely that they're using heroine or steroids. Janene, Eli and I had to go into a toilet one-by-one with a nurse and pee in a disposable tea cup, which she would then test while we waited.

ALL CLEAR! Time to go home. Amalia was already asleep.

It was a crazy huge day. Unfortunately Monday is our last day to get the final test done (at the SPID clinic), and a couple of other things. If anything doesn't happen on Monday, we'll need to wait until the new year. That would set us back at least one day in our lodgement of the residency applications.

We're hoping everything is complete so that we can lodge on the first day they open (9th Jan). As they only accept seven applications per day at the visa office, we'll be lining up the night before to protect our place in the queue.

The Harrisons are amazing people who are taking such great care of us. They are tireless in what they do. They are also very keen to make sure we are able to move here by June next year to join with them in the work of the House of Hope.

Please pray for us during this exhausting process so that we get it right and our residency application is approved. We need encouragement. We also need good health, clear thinking and cheerful spirits.

Thank you :-)

Sleepless

Oh look, it's 4.46 am...

And why am I awake? Haven't you ever had one of those nights where your brain is working overtime processing thoughts, scenarios and dreams, and after an hour or so, you conclude that: A) you're actually not really asleep, and; B) you're not getting back to sleep anytime soon? That's me right now.

In short, my brain has been very excited just now projecting scenes on the cinema screen of my imagination of us picking visitors up from the Sakhalin airport and taking them for a tour of our home city and new house. Then, the scenes of daily life in an abnormally-big Russian household including the faces I don't even know yet.

It's all very close now, having just spent yesterday organising copies of all or supporting documents ready for notarisation on Monday, and with tickets in hand for Yuzho-Sakhalinsk on Friday.

We will be taking the next big step towards making Mother Russia our adopted homeland. This includes an overnight queuing at the Federal Migration Service on the first business day in January to get these applications in first, in order to be part of the yearly intake quota.

That's when we come back here to Krasnoyarsk and await the outcome of our application (typically 4-6 months).

It's something all our supporters can pray about. Knowing that you are, I can probably go back and get some sleep!

Goodnight (спокойной ночи)!

First post

Entering the Blogosphere!

Brett Phillips

So I've added a blog account to our Google profile. This means we can start penning our memories before they're forgotten! Often our newsletter contains just a portion of the daily activities we encounter while living in Russia.

I hope you'll continue to pray for us and support us in what we're doing here in Russia.

Just to make it clear, our long-term goal is to be part of the House of Hope team on Sakhalin Island.

Right now, however, we are living in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. I'm studying the Russian Language at the Siberian Federal University, and Janene and the boys are studying Russian for 6 hours a week (3 days x 2 hours) at a language school in the city.

So I would consider this to be our "training phase", as we learn to live as much like Russians as we can before getting directly involved with the daily life of the House of Hope.

We will be flying to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Friday December 20 in order to prepare and lodge our documents to obtain a 3 year temporary residency permit there. The process includes several medical tests for all of us, and lining up at midnight in the winter snow outside a government building in order to get our applications in first.

Please keep this as a major prayer point, as it is a vital step in the process of staying in Russia long-term.

Thanks again for your encouragement and support!