When Johnson was in Lithuania, it had only been seven years free of Soviet reign. Many of the challenges Johnson ran into sprang from the fact that Lithuania was just beginning to gain some identity. During this crucial growing time, Johnson did what she could in the classroom and even raised money to bring text books into the classroom — a learning tool rarely granted to students.
Peace Corps volunteer Marlene Johnson served in Lithuania
Johnson proves the Peace Corps is not just for 20-somethings
More and more retirees are opting for 'no RV required' travel
Sarah Fleener
Budgeteer News
Last Updated: Friday, August 26th, 2005 01:51:45 PM
Photo courtesy of Marlene Johnson
A few years ago, Peace Corps volunteer Marlene Johnson of Duluth threw a Halloween party for her Armenian students. However, the following year the government ruled it a pagan holiday and banned its celebration in the school.
After Marlene Johnson retired, she was free to do as she pleased: sip lemonade, play bridge and winter in Arizona. Instead, she joined the Peace Corps.
"I wanted to do something active," she said. "The idea of classic retirement just didn’t appeal to me."
Johnson said there is a trend of older folks joining the Peace Corps because of healthier lifestyles, early retirement and financial stability.
Johnson was inspired by a traveling peer to look into the Corps and once she decided to go, she said her family supported her fully.
"They were so supportive it was almost anti-climactic," she said. "‘Go,’ they said. ‘You’ll love it, and they’ll love you.’"
So with their blessing Johnson began her service in Lithuania in 1998 and stayed for three years. While there, she taught English in a college setting to Lithuanian students. Before retirement, Johnson had taught business communications at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
And while she was the teacher in the classroom, she too was schooled by the Lithuanian people. "The mission of the Peace Corps is to help us understand others and well as help them to understand us," Johnson said. When Johnson was there, she said most Lithuanians drew their impressions of Americans from the TV show "Dallas."
When Johnson was in Lithuania, it had only been seven years free of Soviet reign. Many of the challenges Johnson ran into sprang from the fact that Lithuania was just beginning to gain some identity.
During this crucial growing time, Johnson did what she could in the classroom and even raised money to bring text books into the classroom - a learning tool rarely granted to students.
After her time in Lithuania, Johnson returned home to Duluth for a quick year and then in 2003 she was off again.
This time, she went to Armenia to teach English in the secondary schools as well as provide teacher training.
In Armenia, Johnson’s teaching strategies of participation and comprehension resonated with both teachers and students. In the previously Russian occupied Armenia, rehearsal and memorization were the common classroom practice. Johnson wanted to liven things up.
"It is the custom in Armenia to put the weaker students at the back of the room and ignore them," Johnson said. But she made every student participate in the language exercises. "Pretty soon, every one was speaking English on their own."
The daily life in Armenia was virtually another world for Johnson. Pizza was a piece of bread with mashed potatoes, corn, peas and ketchup; every window in her apartment had a view of breath-taking mountains; and traffic jams meant there was a sheepherder going through town.
Another challenge was communication. The phones, Internet and mail service were all unreliable. "Things we take for granted here, are big problems there," she said.
Even bigger problems included political turmoil all around the country. "While I was there, there was a revolt in Georgia to the north, they deposed their president in Azerbaijan to the east and there were poor relations between Armenia and Turkey to the west," Johnson said.
Johnson just returned from her travels a few weeks ago. She said the trip gave her a lot more self-confidence, insight on America as well as other counties and taught her how to think on her feet.
Since she’s been home, she said she’s shocked at the convenience of food, and she is relieved that she can cross the street without worrying about a reckless driver.
Johnson said she would like to stay home now and work on some genealogy, but she’s already received a call, asking her to teach in Ecuador.
