Author: Hettie D.

My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996. I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future. I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life. As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.

Educational

Igor’s recent article discusses a now-high school principal who is a former immigrant student. As such, Julie Lam experienced firsthand the difficulties of navigating the American school system and is forever grateful to educators who helped her along the way.

A couple of days after Igor sent me his article, I caught the ending of an episode on BBC, where they talked about Finnish schools and Finland’s leadership in education. One statement specifically caught my attention. They said that if we compare the highest students’ achievements in Finland and the rest of the world, there is no significant difference. What is different is the average student’s achievement level.

Here is why I think these two are related. I often observe that recent (and not so recent) Russian immigrants, as well as immigrants from other authoritarian countries, judge American education based on the level of difficulty of the school courses offered to gifted students (because all of their kids are obviously gifted). I haven’t heard this kind of opinion for a while, but there are a lot of such parents in my current company. I hear a lot of conversations that are very critical of American education in general and Chicago Public Schools in particular, to the extent that “if they will close the selective enrollment schools, we are moving out of here.” Many of my co-workers enroll their children in the private school so that “they could have a proper education.”

I would be the last person to say that CPS does not have any problems. However, the American school system, with all its deficiencies and varieties that are sometimes difficult to grasp, is incredible. I want to say that it is a great equalizer, but there is much more than that. No other institution in this country is close to “equal opportunities for all.” Even schools that are severely underfunded teach their students important civic values, collaboration, and acceptance.

American schools make American citizens. Good American schools make good American citizens. People who scream, “Why do I have to pay taxes to fund schools that are not good enough for my children” are the same people who are upset with homeless people sleeping in their parking lots, panhandlers on the street corners, and unruly teenagers breaking the shop windows. And why don’t they see any connection?

My audience is slowly but surely becoming more diverse…

May Chicago PUG

Summer

I know it’s not summer yet, and no matter what your views on that subject are, the earliest you can think about the start of summer is the Memorial Day weekend. Still, I tend to think that Mother’s Day marks the turn of the seasons. Before Mother’s Day, the 50s feel “warm,” and after Mother’s Day, the 50s feel “cold.”

It was beach weather on Mother’s Day, and after that, a couple of days of cooler weather felt like “give me my summer back!”

TIME Magazine: Ways to stay hydrated if you hate drinking water

This article is for me! I am one of those people who hate drinking water, and I do not know what is so bad about not drinking it! I am perfectly fine with my coffee, tea, and fruits :), so I do not think I will try al this methodology they suggest, but – who knows!

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: Ways to stay hydrated if you hate drinking water” →

TIME Magazine: How to talk about weight loss

Very good article, I have nothing to add.

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: How to talk about weight loss” →

Mother’s Day Weekend

It was the busiest Mother’s Day weekend I ever had, and I worried that it would be too hectic, but it was great! On Saturday, Nadia and I went to the CSO matinee concert “for big kids.”

It was great as always. The concert was called “The Sound Waves,” and all the pieces that were performed had something to do with water and its symbolism. The program included music by Saint-Saens, Wagner, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Mendelssohn, and at the end, the orchestra played Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird.

After the concert, there was a kid-friendly reception at Forte. Anna was skeptical about how “kids-friendly” it was going to be, but it was amazing! They had both adult’s and kids’ food (even peanut butter/jelly sandwiches :)) and lots of fruits and vegetables.

Then, we all went to Milwaukee because Nadia had a recital later the same day. That was the part I was unsure about: obviously, we didn’t plan on the concert and recital on the same day! However, everything went perfectly, Nadia was the first to perform at the recital, and she did great. Anna accompanied her, which was especially enjoyable.

In the evening, we had one more adventure. Somehow, we all missed the news about the Northern Lights (and even if we knew, there was no time to go anywhere after the Field Museum Night). Then, we became jealous of all the people posting amazing photos, and since there were more chances for the Northern Lights to reappear the next night, Anna suggested we go away from the city lights pollution and try to catch them.

We didn’t get a chance to see them; as it turned out, they appeared after 11:30PM, and we left at about 10:30, but we didn’t regret that we went on this adventure. I can’t recall when was the last time I saw a clear night sky away from the city. All the constellations, and the Milky Way, and a shiny half-moon – everything was up there above us! The parking lot of the forest preserve was full of cars: many people had an idea similar to ours. We asked for the way to the beach and followed the stone steps down to the lake. We stood there together with other people, staring into the sky. Then, we saw the lights of the police car. We were sure they would kick us out: the park closing time was 10 PM, but the officer got out of the car, approached us, and asked sympathetically: nothing yet?

He said that the night before, there was a huge crowd at the beach, but the police didn’t kick the people out: it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event; how could we! We were just making sure everybody’s fine.

We stayed there for a little bit longer, but since we were unsure whether anything was going to happen, we left. It was still amazing :).

Then, there was an actual Mother’s Day, and Anna cooked the most delicious breakfast (and I didn’t take pictures!), and then I went back to Chicago. The weather was gorgeous, I could actually go to the beach, but I decided in favor of biking – I didn’t have a chance to go biking for several days. Then I went to see my mom, and there was a little bit of disaster, but that’s a separate story. The most important thing is that my Mother’s Day was amazing, and I also got a new Dunes t-shirt from Igor and also my friend mailed me this very special gift:

Field Museum Members Night!

it was the first time that we attended the member’s nigh with both Nadia and Kira! If was a very long day for them even though Anna took them out of school earlier, but we had tons of fun!

the event was extremely crowded, and there were so many things to do that we had to decide what’s the most important things we want, and not even try to cover everything. Before heading to the FIeld museum, they stopped at my work, had som efood and took the whole bag of snacks with them. It was a great idea, because the line to the cafe was very long, and we would waste a lot of time if we would decide to eat there.

We spent more than three hours at the museum (I didn’t think the girls would last more than two!). The highlight of the event was a visit to the mammal preparation lab, where they do taxidermy. That was the only lab for which we needed advanced tickets and the only one where you could not take pictures. The toxidermists were demonstrating how they skin a lioness!!!

There were many other interesting activities and stations where the scientists explained what they work on, or just explained some interesting facts. Nadia liked the station “Mammals are sick,” where the scientists explained how they can diagnost the diseases of the extinct animals by examining their bones.

One fun fact I didn’t know – different animals have blood of different colors, and pretty much all possible colors can be found in nature!

Dinasourus pappets
Continue reading “Field Museum Members Night!” →

Biking Along The Lake

Last Sunday – my first long bike ride of the new season!

And More Theater!

Firstly, I found a review and a couple of pictures of the Prelude For A Kiss, which I am happy to share!

And a Chicago Reader review, where I can second every word!

Secondly, Igor and I went to see a Thanksgiving Play at the Steppenwolf. I was almost about to give up on the Steppenwolf after several disappointments, and that outing was almost “the last chance.” I am happy to report, that I loved it!

It’s a play written by a Native writer, and it’s about “well-intended white people trying to do right things” and then things going very wrong. It is hilarious. Satirical. Laugh and cry. The characters are remarkably recognizable. Here is a review Igor sent to me after we saw the play. It tells the story of the playwriter, Larissa FastHorse, and how the production came together.

it is still not the end of the theater season. I have a couple of CSO concerts to attend, and two Goodman plays. And then I have to decide whether I am doing any theatrical subscriptions for the next season :).

TIME Magazine: Parents Who Regret Having Children

In this Time Magazine article, R O Kwon addresses the topic that pretty much remains taboo even in the most liberal societies: not only are there people who choose not to have children, but also there are people who regret having children. She approaches this complex topic very carefully, understanding that no person in the world would wish to be this child their parents “would rather not have.” Still those parents, who regret, need to know that are not alone in the world.

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: Parents Who Regret Having Children” →