Click here to register for a summer program at Лесное озеро.
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Register for Family Weekend now!
Join Grandfather Frost, Snegurochka the Snow Maiden, and the fun and friendly staff of Lesnoe Ozero as we celebrate Russian winter and spring holidays.
Adults and children can choose from a variety of language classes and cultural activities while they enjoy comfortable lodging and delicious homemade Russian cuisine in our trademark immersion setting.
Invite grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles for an unforgettable family reunion!
Location: The Forest, near the Twin Cities!
Dates: February 12 – 15, 2010
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Last Full Day of Camp…
Today is definitely a bittersweet day. It is the last full day of not only the session, but also the end of Lesnoe Ozero until next year. Many of us are excited to return home to our families soon, but we will all miss the wonderful villagers and staff that have made this summer so great. Each year is different because of the variety of people that come to our village and bring with them their valuable skills, perspectives, and experiences. This summer has been a great one, and it is exciting to think of what next summer could bring…
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Talent Show- Thursday, July 23
Today, the credit students finished their exams, which was a great relief for everyone. They have a relaxing day and a half left of camp to look forward to.
This evening, after dinner and lessons, we had our Talent Show. This is always a favorite at Лесное Озеро because we have so many talented villagers! One villager played guitar and sang a song he wrote and other villagers sang well-known songs. We were show card tricks, we heard a piano performance, and their was a brief “guest appearance” by pop star Dima Bilan! The evening was great and fun for everyone.
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Sabotage
And the new “President” of Lesnoe Ozero is…….VITALIK!
The credit students were very excited to receive the results of the election and to be finished with all the hard work they’ve put into it.
This morning, the camp woke up to see a “revolution” staged by the credit boys’ cabin. They created their own posters and used some we use for Soviet day. It was a surprise to some staff members and many villagers and was very amusing.
This evening’s program was called “Sabotage”. Each family was a group trying to intercept an espionage mission between France and Russia. Each group was told there would be saboteurs in their family, and throughout the game they would need to vote people out. At the front of the room, there was a map with important symbols and a coded message that villagers were trying to copy down as best as they could. The saboteurs were trying to mess up their family. Each family scrambled to complete their map in the 20 minutes, and almost all families voted out several “saboteurs.
At the end of the game, everyone learned that there weren’t actually any saboteurs and we discussed how teamwork is affected when we are suspicious of everyone.
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Credit Simulation-Election
After many hours of hard work, the credit simulation comes to a close today. For the simulation, a few credit villagers in the higher level classes volunteered to run for President of Lesnoe Ozero. Two other students helped each candidate run their campaign.
Today, candidates went around to all of the two-weeker classes and gave a short presentation of their platform and answered questions the two-weekers might have. The two-weekers were also given pretend rubles to give candidates based on how well they spoke. All candidates presented commercials at lunch, and the two with the most campaign donations (from the two-weekers) are presenting at dinner.
In the evening, each candidate introduced himself or herself and stated their platform. After each candidate spoke, he or she answered questions from the other villagers. At the end, the votes were cast for the new President of Lesnoe Ozero. Since the election followed Russian rules, a candidate needed 50% of the vote or more. A run-off was then held between the top 2 candidates, and the winner will be announced at breakfast tomorrow.
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TV Night- Monday, July 20th
Today began the last week of camp, and we all have bittersweet feelings. It’s exciting that we will all be home with our families soon, but it also means that another great summer is coming to a close. We are all determined to make this last week the best week ever!
Tonight’s evening program was structured like a television program. Each family was assigned a different themed channel that they were to create a short program and perform at the end of the evening program. The channel genres were Game Show, MTV, Soap Opera, News, Children’s Show, and Sports. It was great to see what everyone came up with.
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OLYMPICS!- Sunday, July 19th
This morning, we all got to sleep a little bit after a long, busy week. Because it was a Sunday, we had no lessons, and villagers got to sign up for fun activities throughout the day. For one of these activities, the high school credit villagers also prepared pelmeni, which are Siberian dumplings. We were all lucky enough to eat them at dinner and they were delicious! Other activities offered to villagers included art activities, swimming or doing banya at the beach, and sport activities.
In the evening, all family groups participated in our Olympics. There were different stations sprawled all throughout camp and each family, representing a Russian speaking country, sent competitors to each event. The events included archery, a wheelbarrow race, a sprint, and swimming.
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Cosmonauts and Crazy Counselors- July 18th, 2009
We had a lot of fun today here at camp because all the counselors dressed up in crazy outrageous outfits for no reason. The daily announcements were also altered a little and in the morning we would say things like “Good Evening” and “At night, we…”. After being baffled for a little while, the villagers began to participate in the craziness and had a lot of fun.
For the evening program, we all learned about cosmonauts, the Russian equivalent of astronauts. There were 3 stations that each family had to go to: spacecraft design, cosmonaut trivia, and spacecraft building. After all families completed the stations, we met up outside our activitiy building, St. Petersburg and showed other families are rocket designs. Then our spacecrafts were launched: each family had created a way to (hopefully) protect an egg when dropped off the balcony of St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, not all vessels survived the fall. Overall, it was a fun, friendly competition and a celebration of the Soviet Union’s many contribution to space aviation and exploration
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Busy, Busy, Busy
The weather began to get a little better today, as the high finally crept into the 60s (degrees Fahrenheit). We are hoping that starting tomorrow it will be sunny again and that for the rest of camp we’ll have good weather.
It’s been great to see the new two-weekers acclimating themselves to camp. First-year villagers already know where to go and when they need to be there, so they can have as much time as possible doing fun camp activities.
The credit students are as busy as ever, working diligently on both their coursework and the credit simulation. In addition, many of them have been helping counselors out during dancing and singing time, as well as during free time and evening programs.
Tonight’s evening program was Мозаичная живопись. Each family was given an envelope with pieces of a Russian painting. In order to complete the painting, each family had to go to 6 different stations and work together to accomplish several tasks. These tasks included singing camp songs, dancing one of the dances taught at the village, and trivia. Once a family had their pieces, they needed to trade with other families to get the correct pieces for their painting. It was a fun and challenging program and it was great to see everyone work together.
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