Sister City-Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia

Novosibirsk (Russian: Новосиби́рск, pronounced [nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk]) is Russia's third-largest city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg. It is also the largest city in Siberia and the administrative center of Siberian Federal District, in the southwest where it is located.

A number of years ago I took students from our school in St. Paul as well as a small group from Duluth, Minnesota to Siberia to join students from Norway and the USSR for a winter trek that was filmed by the Soviet government for tourism purposes. This was before the break-up of the Soviet territories. There were hundreds of students that walked or cross-country skied from village to village. As you can see from the photo, the Soviets took pity on me and gave me a sled pulled by reindeer that transported me from place to place. Villagers greeted us warmly and private homes housed the students overnight. During the evening the students from these different countries usually met in community centers for athletic competitions, recreational and cultural dances. It was a spectacular event, exhausting but spectacular.

The above image is a photograph from the trip. I have borrowed my son's printer and have no manual so I had to guess at the method to scan. I had not done this before but after several attempts I produced this acceptable, but not great, picture. Could be better, but here it is. I have good memories of this journey because of the friendliness of the people, despite the many hardships they had to endure during that period of history.

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