Click to enlarge.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Souvenirs
There aren't many things I want to buy as reminders of Ukraine to bring back to America, but I do really want to buy a set of these Eastern European tea/coffee mugs. Maybe one day I will find a set in the bazaar.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Of Course
“This is a country that teaches you to look after your life and not fall into depression,” Mr. Erofeyev said. “It is also possible to buy vodka.”
-NYT (about Russia)
-NYT (about Russia)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Challenges
I wanted to sit down and write about some of the things in my school/Ukraine that make teaching effectively a challenge. I'm sure I will encounter more as the school year goes on, but here's what I've currently been thinking about.
The schedule constantly changes. It is now the fourth full week of school, and there are still changes being made. I asked a student how often it will continue to change. His response, "Every week, of course!" I think he finds my bewilderment amusing. While I find it annoying and obnoxious that the schedule of lessons is never for sure, and that sometimes I'm not told when there are changes, it's also really confusing for my kids. They come into class late or unprepared, without their book or notebook, because they didn't know the schedule changed and didn't know they had English that day. It just makes it harder to get them into a routine where they know they have to bring which books to school on what day, and have their homework done.
I'm not sure what the situation with books is. My school ordered new books for a few of the forms this year, which were late to arrive of course, but there are still many, many students without books. For some forms, it seems like the school ordered a set number of copies that was supposed to guarantee every child a book, while in others I'm under the impression that students were told they had to purchase their own books. So of course, the parents who are already involved in their child's education dutifully bought the book. The parents who are not so involved, didn't. Then there are the set of children whose families are too poor to buy the book, or the book and the accompanying workbook, thus making it harder for those kids to get a good education and help them escape poverty. It's also fairly awkward because I'm in a village and there is no privacy about anything for these kids, so everyone knows exactly who didn't buy the book because their family simply can't.
I'm fairly certain that I'm not considered a real teacher by anyone in my school except my non-counterpart English teacher. And I think that's only because she hasn't actually seen me teach. Because I don't make kids memorize passages and recite them, regardless of whether they know what they're saying or not, I am not legitimate. I let them get up and move - gasp! It's blasphemous, I know. I've been observing the second form this past week, and I find it wildly strange that a group of 7 to 8 year-olds are made to sit straight and still for about 50 minutes.
Speaking of the second form, I also find it completely overwhelming that they're learning the block letters of English, the cursive letters, AND the transcription symbols of sounds, simultaneously [for example, æ and ɔ]. They're also learning Ukrainian and Russian. It just seems very ineffective to put so much emphasis on that, while actually being able to read simple words gets pushed aside.
I'm about to start teaching with my non-cp English teacher. She's very nice to me, but she's also been teaching for 40 years and very set in her ways. She tightly controls everything that happens in her classroom and anything that deviates from that is bad. She wanted me to ask students questions about a text they read, and instead she ended up saying the question to me, which I then repeated to the students, even though they heard her say it first, because I wasn't asking exactly what she wanted. I'm not there for a teacher to dictate to me exactly what I'm supposed to do, I'm supposed to teach the way language teachers in the U.S. teach, a.k.a. the communicative method. I feel like this is going to be a fight.
When I was got to site last December, my school gave me a little room to serve as an office on the third floor. It was really nice for me to have a place to go between classes, plan lessons, and store materials. I also give my individual lessons there. As of this week, I will no longer have that room as it's being given to another (new?) teacher. I will be moving into the room of my non-cp English teacher, which isn't really a big deal. I just wonder logistically how this will work out. There's only one key to this room, which she has, and I don't think we're always at school at the same time. I know she has Wednesdays completely off. I'm anticipating being mostly displaced and finding weird little corners to sit in and work, and having to carry around everything that I need. I don't know what I'm going to do about individual lessons yet/where they will take place now. While the weather is nice, I can do walk-and-talks with my older students but that's only going to last until November, maybe December. I live close enough to my school that I could, in theory, have them at my house. But to be quite honest, I really, really, really don't want to do that. I consider my house the one place in Ukraine that is my judgment-free, safe haven. I don't have to worry about being judged constantly or having kids giggle at the sight of me, or people staring at me, or whispering about every little thing that I do. I don't want to lose the sanity that it provides me.
Also, my counterpart and I don't really speak. Ever. It's awkward. I'm fairly certain she strongly dislikes me. Why, you may ask? I don't know. She's had that attitude towards me ever since she retrieved me from Kyiv after I was sworn in. The only thing I've come up with is that it's because I'm young and American, and the kids in my school think my lessons are more interesting than hers.
The good thing right now about teaching is that it doesn't have quite the same effect on me that it used to. There were days last year where I could physically feel my stress level in my chest as it grew, and I'd get upset about things. Now, I just get this weird feeling of flatness. I don't know how else to describe it. I think it's partly that I know what to expect and I'm also being wildly proactive about managing my stress by running, journaling, and having a routine. I don't know what else to do.
The schedule constantly changes. It is now the fourth full week of school, and there are still changes being made. I asked a student how often it will continue to change. His response, "Every week, of course!" I think he finds my bewilderment amusing. While I find it annoying and obnoxious that the schedule of lessons is never for sure, and that sometimes I'm not told when there are changes, it's also really confusing for my kids. They come into class late or unprepared, without their book or notebook, because they didn't know the schedule changed and didn't know they had English that day. It just makes it harder to get them into a routine where they know they have to bring which books to school on what day, and have their homework done.
I'm not sure what the situation with books is. My school ordered new books for a few of the forms this year, which were late to arrive of course, but there are still many, many students without books. For some forms, it seems like the school ordered a set number of copies that was supposed to guarantee every child a book, while in others I'm under the impression that students were told they had to purchase their own books. So of course, the parents who are already involved in their child's education dutifully bought the book. The parents who are not so involved, didn't. Then there are the set of children whose families are too poor to buy the book, or the book and the accompanying workbook, thus making it harder for those kids to get a good education and help them escape poverty. It's also fairly awkward because I'm in a village and there is no privacy about anything for these kids, so everyone knows exactly who didn't buy the book because their family simply can't.
I'm fairly certain that I'm not considered a real teacher by anyone in my school except my non-counterpart English teacher. And I think that's only because she hasn't actually seen me teach. Because I don't make kids memorize passages and recite them, regardless of whether they know what they're saying or not, I am not legitimate. I let them get up and move - gasp! It's blasphemous, I know. I've been observing the second form this past week, and I find it wildly strange that a group of 7 to 8 year-olds are made to sit straight and still for about 50 minutes.
Speaking of the second form, I also find it completely overwhelming that they're learning the block letters of English, the cursive letters, AND the transcription symbols of sounds, simultaneously [for example, æ and ɔ]. They're also learning Ukrainian and Russian. It just seems very ineffective to put so much emphasis on that, while actually being able to read simple words gets pushed aside.
I'm about to start teaching with my non-cp English teacher. She's very nice to me, but she's also been teaching for 40 years and very set in her ways. She tightly controls everything that happens in her classroom and anything that deviates from that is bad. She wanted me to ask students questions about a text they read, and instead she ended up saying the question to me, which I then repeated to the students, even though they heard her say it first, because I wasn't asking exactly what she wanted. I'm not there for a teacher to dictate to me exactly what I'm supposed to do, I'm supposed to teach the way language teachers in the U.S. teach, a.k.a. the communicative method. I feel like this is going to be a fight.
When I was got to site last December, my school gave me a little room to serve as an office on the third floor. It was really nice for me to have a place to go between classes, plan lessons, and store materials. I also give my individual lessons there. As of this week, I will no longer have that room as it's being given to another (new?) teacher. I will be moving into the room of my non-cp English teacher, which isn't really a big deal. I just wonder logistically how this will work out. There's only one key to this room, which she has, and I don't think we're always at school at the same time. I know she has Wednesdays completely off. I'm anticipating being mostly displaced and finding weird little corners to sit in and work, and having to carry around everything that I need. I don't know what I'm going to do about individual lessons yet/where they will take place now. While the weather is nice, I can do walk-and-talks with my older students but that's only going to last until November, maybe December. I live close enough to my school that I could, in theory, have them at my house. But to be quite honest, I really, really, really don't want to do that. I consider my house the one place in Ukraine that is my judgment-free, safe haven. I don't have to worry about being judged constantly or having kids giggle at the sight of me, or people staring at me, or whispering about every little thing that I do. I don't want to lose the sanity that it provides me.
Also, my counterpart and I don't really speak. Ever. It's awkward. I'm fairly certain she strongly dislikes me. Why, you may ask? I don't know. She's had that attitude towards me ever since she retrieved me from Kyiv after I was sworn in. The only thing I've come up with is that it's because I'm young and American, and the kids in my school think my lessons are more interesting than hers.
The good thing right now about teaching is that it doesn't have quite the same effect on me that it used to. There were days last year where I could physically feel my stress level in my chest as it grew, and I'd get upset about things. Now, I just get this weird feeling of flatness. I don't know how else to describe it. I think it's partly that I know what to expect and I'm also being wildly proactive about managing my stress by running, journaling, and having a routine. I don't know what else to do.
Money
I've heard this before so I figured I would share it.
50 years of Peace Corps has cost the same as five days of the Defense Department budget.
50 years of Peace Corps has cost the same as five days of the Defense Department budget.
West and East
Despite the very obvious western bias of this graphic, I really enjoy it. I also really enjoy when I find a well written article about Ukraine and its importance due to its geographical location and history. Molodets (good job) to The Economist for Viktor's Dilemna.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
I Get It
“That’s the one problem with living abroad. You end up getting those weird feelings like, Oh, I can’t leave; I can’t stay.”
-NYT
-NYT
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Observations From This Week
I did end up teaching this week. Not a full schedule, but not bad. I also taught a good number of individual lessons. Here's what I noticed/decided:
So much gets lost in translation. What I said: "She gave me the list in the hall." What I wanted to say: "She handed this list to me in the hallway on her way out. No discussion because god forbid she spend more than one minute of her time talking to me in any given week."
I spent part of last year debating whether it was better when my 7th form classes behaved like monsters or zombies. I've decided I prefer zombie mode.
Which reminds me: I'm teaching the two 8th form classes now instead of the 5th form. This is a bummer. The little kids are fun and usually more willing to work. The 8th form classes were my worst last year and not much seems to have changed over the summer.
I had an individual lesson with one of my sixth form students. This is how this situation came to be: Some woman knocked on my door. I answered. She asked if I would tutor her younger brother who's in the sixth form, and then she said his name. [Side note: Ukrainians name people by their last, first, and patronymic names which usually results in a really long, fast blur where I rarely remember anything but the first name]. I have three students with this first name in my sixth form class. One is an excellent student, one is mediocre to low, and one is non-existent. I figured this was probably the sister of the mediocre student (I even tried to figure out which student she physically resembled). Nope. It's the non-existent student, aka the student who rarely has his book, or paper, or a pen to write with and who usually just distracts everyone around him. When he showed up, I knew we were going to have to work on all the really simple things because in class I can tell he doesn't know/understand much English. This is fine. It became apparently quite quickly that I will probably spend my next lesson with him teaching him the English alphabet. He's been "studying" English for four years...
There's a staircase in my school that is for teachers only. I didn't know this until a student told me. My first thought: awesome. Then I thought about how sometimes I get mobbed by hyped up, semi-psychotic children and I thought about how I could just stand on the landing between floors and none of them would be able to follow me, and then I thought: AWESOME.
I had a penis shaped clay-mation thrown into my office this week. Oh, children.
Only one student in my 11th form class did their homework (and he only wrote one sentence) for the second lesson of the year. This didn't really surprise me. I don't know if it's a good thing that I now have realistic expectations or just sad that my expectations are so low.
In theory, Ukrainian students can be trilingual by the time they finish secondary school at the age of 17 (they study Russian, Ukrainian, and English languages starting in primary school). How many American schools can claim the same?
September 16 is the day my village was freed from the oppression of fascists. There was a flower ceremony at school to commemorate this holiday.
So much gets lost in translation. What I said: "She gave me the list in the hall." What I wanted to say: "She handed this list to me in the hallway on her way out. No discussion because god forbid she spend more than one minute of her time talking to me in any given week."
I spent part of last year debating whether it was better when my 7th form classes behaved like monsters or zombies. I've decided I prefer zombie mode.
Which reminds me: I'm teaching the two 8th form classes now instead of the 5th form. This is a bummer. The little kids are fun and usually more willing to work. The 8th form classes were my worst last year and not much seems to have changed over the summer.
I had an individual lesson with one of my sixth form students. This is how this situation came to be: Some woman knocked on my door. I answered. She asked if I would tutor her younger brother who's in the sixth form, and then she said his name. [Side note: Ukrainians name people by their last, first, and patronymic names which usually results in a really long, fast blur where I rarely remember anything but the first name]. I have three students with this first name in my sixth form class. One is an excellent student, one is mediocre to low, and one is non-existent. I figured this was probably the sister of the mediocre student (I even tried to figure out which student she physically resembled). Nope. It's the non-existent student, aka the student who rarely has his book, or paper, or a pen to write with and who usually just distracts everyone around him. When he showed up, I knew we were going to have to work on all the really simple things because in class I can tell he doesn't know/understand much English. This is fine. It became apparently quite quickly that I will probably spend my next lesson with him teaching him the English alphabet. He's been "studying" English for four years...
There's a staircase in my school that is for teachers only. I didn't know this until a student told me. My first thought: awesome. Then I thought about how sometimes I get mobbed by hyped up, semi-psychotic children and I thought about how I could just stand on the landing between floors and none of them would be able to follow me, and then I thought: AWESOME.
I had a penis shaped clay-mation thrown into my office this week. Oh, children.
Only one student in my 11th form class did their homework (and he only wrote one sentence) for the second lesson of the year. This didn't really surprise me. I don't know if it's a good thing that I now have realistic expectations or just sad that my expectations are so low.
In theory, Ukrainian students can be trilingual by the time they finish secondary school at the age of 17 (they study Russian, Ukrainian, and English languages starting in primary school). How many American schools can claim the same?
September 16 is the day my village was freed from the oppression of fascists. There was a flower ceremony at school to commemorate this holiday.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Stress
Tomorrow will be the start of the second full week of school. I have yet to teach a lesson. I don't know if there's a set schedule (my guess is no) or really what is going on. I was told that I would start teaching tomorrow. I don't know which classes or when. I also realized that I don't have a book or the correct book for 5 of the 7 classes I was told I'd be teaching. With all of the books, I make a plan using some of the exercises in the book but usually also prepare my own activities to dovetail with the theme of the lesson. The books usually don't provide enough or the type of activities we're supposed to be emphasizing. I was also told that I'll have a meeting tomorrow after school to finalize which classes I'll be teaching.
Basically, I have no lessons prepared and don't know if I'll be thrown into teaching tomorrow.
It's stressing me out.
On the bright side, I now have five private lessons scheduled (and that I taught last week). There's a good chance this number will increase as the next few weeks go by, until I hit the ceiling of the number I can handle.
Basically, I have no lessons prepared and don't know if I'll be thrown into teaching tomorrow.
It's stressing me out.
On the bright side, I now have five private lessons scheduled (and that I taught last week). There's a good chance this number will increase as the next few weeks go by, until I hit the ceiling of the number I can handle.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Квас/Kvas
It's a Ukrainian/Russian beverage sold on the streets out of large tanks in the summer. I quite like it. You can also buy it in stores in bottles.
From Wikipedia:
Kvass, kvas, or quass (from Old East Slavic квасъ, kvasŭ, meaning "yeast" or "leaven";[1] today, in Belarusian: квас, kvas, сиривець, siriviets; Lithuanian: gira; Russian: квас, kvas; in Ukrainian: квас, хлібний квас or сирівець, kvas, khlibnyy kvas or syrivets; Polish kwas chlebowy) is a fermented bread. The colour of the bread used contributes to the colour of the resulting drink. It is classified as a non-alcoholic drink by Russian standards, as the alcohol[2] Overall, the alcohol content is low (0.05% - 1.0%).[3] It is often flavoured with fruits or herbs such as strawberries or mint. Kvass is also used for preparing a cold summertime soup called okroshka.[4] beverage made from black or regular rye content from fermentation is typically less than 1.2%.
It is popular in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and other Eastern and Central European, where one can see many kvass vendors in the streets.[5] Kvass is also popular in Harbin[6] and Xinjiang, areas within China that are influenced by Russian culture. countries as well as in former Soviet states, such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.
Commercial kvass, especially less expensive varieties, is occasionally made like many other soft drinks, using sugar, carbonated water, malt extract, and flavourings. Better brands, often made by beer rather than soft drink manufacturers, usually use a variation of the traditional process to brew their products. Kvass is commonly served unfiltered, with the yeast still in it, which adds to its unique flavour as well as its high vitamin B content.
There is only one brewery in the United States that brews a Kvass year round. That is the Beaver Brewing Company in Beaver Falls Pennsylvania. They make it with the addition of raisins and lemons.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Day Off
Where can you earn a day off before you even start work? Ukraine, of course!
I went to school today expecting to teach two classes and was told right after I walked in that I wouldn't start teaching until next week. Something about the schedule being a mess, who knows. I have a number of individual lessons scheduled so I'll still be teaching those on my own.
In honor of my boredom, I spent my morning taking pictures of my landlord's new kitten. Enjoy!
I went to school today expecting to teach two classes and was told right after I walked in that I wouldn't start teaching until next week. Something about the schedule being a mess, who knows. I have a number of individual lessons scheduled so I'll still be teaching those on my own.
In honor of my boredom, I spent my morning taking pictures of my landlord's new kitten. Enjoy!
Chillaxin'
Gargoyle pose?
Wahhhhhhh
Emo-kit? This reminds me of a myspace picture. She's got pretty eyes though.
Curious kit
Go ahead, climb up my leg
That face!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Old Photos
At the end of the last school year, I tried to take a picture with the students of each of my classes. I should have known better than to think my schedule would be normal. I only got a picture with two of my classes, the 6th form and the 10th.
6th Form cuties.
10th Form. Blame the blurriness on the random boy who took the photo. Also, this is about 1/3 of this class. They like to not show up to class sometimes.
Things I Did Today
I went running, and ended up playing fútbol with some of the middle school boys from my school. This is the second time this has happened and I'm definitely not opposed to it. It feels pretty nice to be back on the field, and part of me is surprised that the boys have embraced my presence so openly. But I'm happy about it.
Then I went out for a walk and ended up hitting around a badminton with another group of kids, one kid told me a scary story, and they all tried to convince me to go to the disco tech with them (I declined).
Ohio State's football season starts today. I'm not going to lie, I miss being in Columbus and watching games. Thinking about that also makes me crave a slice of pizza and a beer.
I guess I'm trading football for fútbol this fall.
Then I went out for a walk and ended up hitting around a badminton with another group of kids, one kid told me a scary story, and they all tried to convince me to go to the disco tech with them (I declined).
Ohio State's football season starts today. I'm not going to lie, I miss being in Columbus and watching games. Thinking about that also makes me crave a slice of pizza and a beer.
I guess I'm trading football for fútbol this fall.
First Day of School
The first day of school in Ukraine is always September 1st, which is actually a holiday called День знань (den znan), the Day of Knowledge. The first day of school looks a lot like the last. All the kids line up according to form and speeches by the directors and important officials are made, some doves and balloons were released, and a child sang. Then, the students were dismissed to their "first lesson" which really is just a meeting with their lead teacher and then they went home. My school was also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the opening of the school, so there was a concert in our House of Culture building. It was mostly a commemoration of former and present teachers at the school, along with a performance group singing traditional Ukrainian songs. It lasted three hours, and most of the kids left early (well, of the ones who actually showed up).
I'm fairly certain I will be teaching the 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th forms, and possibly helping out with the 2nd form (the first year they start learning English). I'm pretty happy with this schedule. Last year, I taught the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 10th forms so I'm keeping a good portion of the kids I've worked with before. I won't be teaching my least favorite classes from last year, now 8a and 8b, though I may try to do a club for the few kids who are interested in learning. I think I'll be co-teaching the 9a and 9b classes with my other English teacher, which will be nice. The only other hiccups right now are new books were ordered for a few of the classes but they haven't arrived yet so the students don't have books, and there's not a set schedule yet of when I will be teaching all of these classes. I'll probably just have to ask everyday what I'll be teaching the next day and go with the flow.
I'm fairly certain I will be teaching the 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th forms, and possibly helping out with the 2nd form (the first year they start learning English). I'm pretty happy with this schedule. Last year, I taught the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 10th forms so I'm keeping a good portion of the kids I've worked with before. I won't be teaching my least favorite classes from last year, now 8a and 8b, though I may try to do a club for the few kids who are interested in learning. I think I'll be co-teaching the 9a and 9b classes with my other English teacher, which will be nice. The only other hiccups right now are new books were ordered for a few of the classes but they haven't arrived yet so the students don't have books, and there's not a set schedule yet of when I will be teaching all of these classes. I'll probably just have to ask everyday what I'll be teaching the next day and go with the flow.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Summer Recap: July/Early August
My parents arrived in Kyiv at the end of June. We spent a week seeing the sights, such as St. Michael's, St. Sophia's, Podil and eating delicious food. Then we went to my village for a week. In typical Ukrainian fashion, there was a welcome dinner and a tour of my school, our museum, the orphanage, and the statues. We mostly just hung out and walked around.
Independence Square on Constitution Day, June 28th
My village's cemetery
A memorial to the victims of the famine in the cemetery
In Dnipropetrovsk
Couples put locks on the bridge in Dnipropetrovsk (we saw this in Odessa also)
National writer and hero Taras Shevchenko... personally, I find him kinda creepy looking
A church in Dnipropetrovsk
Then the last week of their trip, we went to Odessa. Odessa is famous in Ukraine, especially because it's by the Black Sea.
Lioness and cubs statue in the City Garden in Odessa
The Opera and Ballet Theater in Odessa
Fountain near the Theater
A museum in Odessa
Pushkin!
Potemkin, at the top of the Potemkin Stairs (which were under construction when we were there)
The infamous Odessa port
I couldn't resist: a kit in a flower pot!
Catherine the Great
I put my parents on a train back to Kyiv for their flight home, and I traveled to the city of Sergeevka. I spent the next three weeks working at Camp Bereg, an English language international friendship camp with about 35 students, other PCVs, and a group of international volunteers.
It was... interesting. I guess it was one of my first real experiences working at something run by Ukrainians. It was a bit unorganized and there was no communication but... what are ya gonna do, ya know? It was fine. We went swimming in the Black Sea almost everyday, which I loved, had English lessons, sports, crafts, and competitions. The food was atrocious. I got to spend time with other Americans (win!), saw dolphins and jellyfish, slept on the roof, moved out of a moldy sanatorium into the "Shore House" (a house supposedly built for the former Moldovan president during Soviet times, but is now being turned into a hotel... it had bidets) and then back into the sanatorium, and played with puppies and kittens.
You never know what you'll find in the street
Shannon and one of the kittens living on the porch of the Shore House
Black Sea
Camping on the beach
Picking up jellyfish. They really are very squishy.
Me attempting a jumping picture with Yuri Haharin, the first man in space
Nothing says communism like an "Our Garden" sign
Kiddos at camp. The girl on the left always looked like that.
Piñata time
Found art sculpture
Bessarabia Festival. Construction courtesy of orphan labor.
Some campers and counselors singing on stage
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