Russian choir members enjoy visit to Sammamish, Issaquah, Seattle area

Local high schools. The Nightmare at Beaver Lake. Pike Place Market. Nature.

Those were just a few of the sights that area students shared with members of the Vladimir Girls Choir, who visited Sammamish and Issaquah last weekend and sang with the Seattle Girls Choir.

Skyline students Lauren and Monica Anderson, and Eastside Catholic student Hannah Schlueter hosted visitors from the Russian city of Vladimir. The girls spent the time sharing aspects of their culture, looking up words in English-Russian picture dictionaries and, most importantly, having fun, said Nancy Anderson, mother of Lauren and Monica.

On Monday, Maria Sinyavina (who asked to be called Marsha while visiting) and Ekaterina Grushina (who asked to be called Kate) visited a combined English/social studies block class at Skyline High School, where Lauren Anderson introduced them and talked about a shared “Bridges of Song” concert the Seattle Girls Choir and Vladimir Girls Choir gave in Seattle on Sunday.

“We sang two songs together, one in English and one in Russian,” Anderson said. “(The visit) was very interesting. We learned some Russian from them. They learned some English from us.”

Lauren helped the visiting singers field questions from her class. Students asked about the climate in Russia (cold), what Russians think of Americans (a beautiful country with the “kindest” people) and whether it was hard to learn English (yes, very difficult).

Before speaking in front of the class, Marsha said that she enjoyed the “beautiful nature” of the area, while Kate primarily enjoyed shopping — particularly at Target. The two later spoke in several other classes, and were met with cheers when Marsha said she enjoys goth bands and sings in a rock band in her hometown.

The visiting choir members arrived in Seattle Friday afternoon from Sequim, and left Monday afternoon for Puyallup. Their tour took them throughout the Northwest.

For more, visit www.seattlegirlschoir.org or http://vladimirchoir.ning.com/.

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