I've Been Drinking the Kool Aid

I was perusing The New York Times when I saw this little image in the side bar:

I instantly thought: An article or artist from Ukraine! Why did I think this? Because the Ukrainian flag looks like this:

Unfortunately, it was not an article about or an artist from Ukraine. It's actually a painting by a Canadian artist named Leanne Shapton of the Titicus Reservoir in New York.

But I think the painting demonstrates the meaning behind the Ukrainian flag quite well, and is another example of how Ukrainians are connected to nature. The flag represents the golden wheat fields meeting the perfect blue sky.

Another fun fact: The names of months in Russian are close to the Latin equivalents, but in Ukrainian the names of the months mimic what's happening in nature. October (жовтень) literally means 'yellow', because all the leaves start to change color; December (грудень) is 'frozen ground'.

I'm hoping to get my own picture of wheat fields and sky once summer arrives.

Give Peace A Chance

PC articles are everywhere if you've got your eyes open for them, including this one.

TEFL in Georgia

This article isn't about PC or Ukraine, but it highlights some of the challenges of teaching English in the former Soviet Union.

"But some expressed frustration with the educational system in Georgia, which remains a relatively poor country. As in much of the developing world, the local English teachers sometimes do not speak competent English. Children are told to memorize lists of words and are engaged in little if any conversation. Teenagers who have been in English classes for years cannot utter a sentence."

And...

"There are so many obstacles preventing this cadre of foreign teachers from doing their jobs effectively,” Mr. Norton said by e-mail. “I often wonder whether the government would be better off focusing on fundamentals first — buying books for all students, training teachers in modern techniques (as opposed to the translation-and-memorization doctrine which is currently rampant), paying Georgian teachers a living wage, better accountability metrics, etc."

New Village/Permanent Site

My street.

 On the left: An old, falling apart house. On the right: A newer house.

 This is the puppy who lives outside my door. He is adorable.

The soil that earned Ukraine the nickname "the breadbasket of Europe".

 Road.

 Unexpected flashes of color everywhere.

More Training Photos

Training Photos

Russian Vs. Ukrainian

Being talked at in Russian is actually more frustrating for me than when people talk to me in Ukrainian and I just don't understand. Usually, if people use simple enough Ukrainian I can understand the message and mostly answer (though I'm sure it sounds atrocious). But with Russian, it sounds close enough to Ukrainian that I feel like I should be understanding, but I literally don't understand anything. But I feel like I should be understanding. But I can't. But it kinda sounds like Ukrainian, so I should understand. But I can't.

This is the cycle I get stuck in.

Now, and Then

I live in a large village near Pavlograd in Dnipropetrovsk oblast. It's southeast-central-ish. Basically, I'm not really far south and I'm not really far east.

Most people speak Surjek, which is a mix of Russian and Ukrainian. I spent my first three months learning Ukrainian, so communicating with people is interesting. I try to tell people I speak a little clean Ukrainian, which makes them laugh, and they try to stick to pure Ukrainian but it's difficult for them to distinguish between the two or remember the Ukrainian word. Pavlograd, which is the closest large city and my regional center, is Russian speaking.

When I first arrived at my site, it was the last week of the school semester. All the teachers were doing control work, so I hung around for a couple hours and a few students were given the task of showing me around the village. They showed me where the shops, hospital, pharmacy, post office, museum, monuments, cultural building, orphanage, and kindergarten are located.

The two weeks after that were winter break. I mostly hung out in my house, trying to make it feel more like home and unpacking my things. I also watched a ridiculous amount of tv on my computer, mostly because I didn't have anything else to do, and I went for a long walk everyday to be seen and to learn my way around.

The first week of this semester I observed my counterpart's lessons. My school has two English teachers, and my counterpart is one of them who is supposed to help me establish a schedule, observe my lessons, and give me feedback. This past week I actually started teaching, and taught 12 classes. I teach the 5th, 7a, 7b, and 10th forms, and I think eventually I'll have to add a class or two for a total of 16-18 hours every week. If I don't end up teaching that many hours at my school, there's an orphanage close by that I can offer to teach at (to be honest, I'm hoping to work there).

During training, I lived in a small village about 60 km outside of Kyiv. It was very cute, and I lived with a wonderful babushka (grandmother) who was always worried about my health and safety. Most days, I would wake up early, go to language class for two hours, have a 30 minute tea break, have another two hours of language, go to the shop next door, buy and prepare lunch as a group, have a hour or hour and a half session about something teaching/education related, take a walk around the village (weather permitting), do my language homework and study Ukrainian until my brain started to melt. There were also miscellaneous tasks thrown in, like health and safety visits from the PC office, site placement interviews, and after the first couple weeks we started teaching at the local school. We usually put in about 8 or 9 hours of work everyday, Monday through Friday. Saturdays we would hop on the local train and travel to our link city, and have cultural sessions and go to larger stores to buy things our village didn't have, and we also started English language puppet shows. Sundays were our "relaxation" days, but we usually spent them studying, spending time with our host families, doing laundry, more studying, catching up on reading, or working on our community project.

Fridays and Old New Year

Last Friday, January 14th, was Old New Years. I'm not really sure what this holiday celebrates, but I was woken up by my landlord banging on my window at 6:45 am, yelling "It's a holiday!" After I opened my door, she turned on all the lights and ushered in three young men, who sang-chanted something I didn't understand and threw grain all over my corridor. Then I paid them for their wake-up call. I think the grain is supposed to be good luck for the next year, and you leave it on the floor for one day.

Next year, I will remember to be more prepared for this experience and actually be awake when it happens. And have candy and money ready.

On another note, I'm pretty sure yesterday would've completely sucked had it not been for my fifth formers. They were the last of the four classes I taught, and all the others didn't go so well. I had them read a short joke, and I could tell they didn't understand. So I made them act it out, which they were excited about, and I translated a few of the difficult phrases. Then, they had an "Oh!" moment and started giggling as they got it. They saved my day.

Training

I have no idea how to tell you about everything I experienced during my first three months in Ukraine. This is just a list of some of the things I learned or observed. I'll post more later.

• When going into the city, pack your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Expect squat toilets, ladies and gentlemen.
• When you hear the word “cock”, someone is speaking Russian at you. Good luck.
• Be aware, but stay out, of local politics/drama. Pretend it doesn’t exist or (my personal favorite) blame the language barrier and pretend like you don’t understand what’s going on – Я не розуміла.
• On a related note, don’t attempt to see your principal and her former gangster of a husband’s pet bear they keep in their “compound”. It will not end well.
• Be prepared to eat lots of man food: Meat and taters, and usually bread too.
• When in doubt, don’t eat the mushrooms.
• “How many spoons of sugar would you like with your tea? Only one?! No, I will give you six, it is better for your health.”
• If you go outside without a hat, gloves, scarf, and warm shoes, you will get sick and die. Also, if your feet get wet, you will get sick and die. Also, if you stand by an open window, you will get sick and die. Also, if you drink cold milk or eat ice cream on a cold day, you will get sick and die. Sometimes you can prevent death by drinking massive amounts of tea and eating honey.
• Beer isn’t alcohol.
• I asked my language trainer about the legal drinking age in Ukraine, and she told me it’s 21. Then I told her I saw a shop sell beer to young kids, and she replied, “Of course!”
• Don’t pet dogs. They’re guard animals, and not family pets. Don’t be surprised when you see packs of them running around the streets either, they’re part of the scenery.
• Cheating isn’t considered cheating in Ukraine. It’s considered helping – it’s part of their community based values.
• Your personal space doesn’t exist on public transportation. As many people as can possibly be squeezed onto a marsh (small bus) or train, then add 17. As a fellow volunteer put it, “My crotch was totally just in some woman’s face. I feel like I should apologize.”
• Fridge doesn’t work? Lucky for you, it’s winter. Stuck it in the window. Natural refrigeration!
• Gaggles of kids will gasp, point, stare, giggle, sneakily nod in your direction, and yell “HI!!” at you.
• The most surprising answer you can give when someone asks if you like Ukraine – yes.
• Walking around aimlessly is a common hobby. It’s even better if you do it while eating sunflower seeds.
• The verbs for “to walk aimlessly” and “to fuck off” are unfortunately similar. If you want to get used to how they’re pronounced, talk to a babushka (grandmother). Then, go watch a futbol game.
• The verbs for "to write" and "to piss" are the same word with a different emphasis. Once our students figured that out that we weren't always sure where to put the emphasis, they would try to make us say the word as many times as possible in a lesson.
• Everyone will insist the food they grow is better than anything you can buy in the stores. They’ll also say different regions cook certain dishes differently (aka they’re wrong).
• Most of the coffee here is instant.
• Take your shoes off as soon as you get in the door. Always wear slippers (again, you’ll get sick). Don’t shake hands over the threshold. And do NOT whistle indoors.
• Be flexible. The "schedule" can change at any time.
• You literally can not fail the Ukrainian education system.
• The chupacabra is on the news every week.
• Shoes are one of the biggest giveaways that someone isn't Ukrainian.
• Everyone (including young students) seems to know the U.S. president is Barack Obama.
• Flicking the side of your neck means "drinking" or "drunk".

Winter Wonderland

I went to Pavlograd today with three of my 10th form students. We walked around, ate cheese puffs and chocolate, and played on the multicolored old and new playgrounds in the park. I think these may have started during communism, because I swear they're in most villages and cities but I'm not sure. And I love them. It's nice to finally have some Ukrainian friends.

I also discovered that stores here sell crab flavored potato chips. I may have to try them at some point.

Sarge Shriver

This is a great article about a great man (NYT). R.I.P.

Winter

I realized today that the days are getting slightly longer. It isn't completely dark at 4 pm anymore!

Sometimes it's the little things.

Google

This makes my heart happy.

Introductions

I was invited into Peace Corps in August 2010, as a Secondary Education Teaching English as a Foreign Language Teacher in Ukraine. This blog is an attempt to record and share my experiences, projects and adventures during the next two years. I’d give you more details, but those don’t get decided until I get my in-country placement and so much is dependent upon the city or village I’ll live in. Besides teaching, I’ll also get to work on secondary projects in my community, which could be anything from HIV/AIDS education, multicultural awareness, civic activism, and journalism.

My service starts at the end of September 2010 and is scheduled to end December 2012, so check back here for lots of updates until then. As always, your comments are much appreciated. Keep in touch often, please.