I'm out of the 20s!
Figure it out.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Summer
It's true what they say: summer in Ukraine is wonderful. It's hot and sunny and there's fresh produce and baby animals everywhere.
I was originally worried that I would have nothing to do all summer after I got rejected by a few summer camps, but now I think I'm going to be so busy that I won't have much down time at all.
I was originally worried that I would have nothing to do all summer after I got rejected by a few summer camps, but now I think I'm going to be so busy that I won't have much down time at all.
Kaniv and Hrebeni
A couple of weeks ago, I went on an excursion to the city of Kaniv and to the village of Hrebeni. My non-cp English teacher invited me to go with the same people I met the previous week at the Cossack site and others that belong to that organization.
We met in Pavlograd that Friday night, boarded a marshrukta and drove through the night to Kaniv, which is located in Cherkasy oblast. We arrived at about 5 am and took pictures with the statue on the main road of a man playing a bandura, Ukraine's national instrument (like a guitar), along with watching the sunrise.
From there, we went to the village of Hrebeni which is located in Kyiv oblast. From here, I can't give many factual details because there was too much going on and not enough translating for me to keep up. We met some woman artist at her summer cottage, which was very pretty. Then we walked to an overlook of the Dnipro River. It was gorgeous. We then walked some more and found some kind of building that looked like an art studio/small house where her husband was working. He is a famous children's book author and artist in Ukraine. He was also kind of eccentric. We walked around some more and picked flowers and posed for photos, and then had a picnic.
After that, we went back to Kaniv. Kaniv is the city where the famous Ukrainian writer and artist Taras Shevchenko is buried along with a museum. The weekend I went was some kind of memorial/tribute to him.
We met in Pavlograd that Friday night, boarded a marshrukta and drove through the night to Kaniv, which is located in Cherkasy oblast. We arrived at about 5 am and took pictures with the statue on the main road of a man playing a bandura, Ukraine's national instrument (like a guitar), along with watching the sunrise.
From there, we went to the village of Hrebeni which is located in Kyiv oblast. From here, I can't give many factual details because there was too much going on and not enough translating for me to keep up. We met some woman artist at her summer cottage, which was very pretty. Then we walked to an overlook of the Dnipro River. It was gorgeous. We then walked some more and found some kind of building that looked like an art studio/small house where her husband was working. He is a famous children's book author and artist in Ukraine. He was also kind of eccentric. We walked around some more and picked flowers and posed for photos, and then had a picnic.
After that, we went back to Kaniv. Kaniv is the city where the famous Ukrainian writer and artist Taras Shevchenko is buried along with a museum. The weekend I went was some kind of memorial/tribute to him.
Закінчування школи/The End of School
This past Friday, May 27, was the last day of school. It was less a day of school and more of a short celebration and wrapping up of business day.
The celebration started at 8.30am outside my school. All the forms lined up, and the 11th form (the graduating class) walked out. There were many speeches by the director, assistant director, the teacher that supervised the 11th form, people in education, and a few dancing and singing performances. All in all, it was about an hour long.
On Saturday, there was the graduation ceremony held for the 11th Form in the Cultural Building in my village. The way people dressed reminded me of prom. The top scholars were announced and diplomas were handed out.
After, there was a dinner in my school's cafeteria for the graduating students, their parents, and teachers. Like every Ukrainian celebration, there was way too much food. It was also weird to watch students drink openly. It was like a small dance and I believe traditionally they stay until the morning, then head out to the river to watch the sunrise together. I didn't teach this class though and didn't know many of them, plus I was tired, so I went home at about 2am.
The celebration started at 8.30am outside my school. All the forms lined up, and the 11th form (the graduating class) walked out. There were many speeches by the director, assistant director, the teacher that supervised the 11th form, people in education, and a few dancing and singing performances. All in all, it was about an hour long.
On Saturday, there was the graduation ceremony held for the 11th Form in the Cultural Building in my village. The way people dressed reminded me of prom. The top scholars were announced and diplomas were handed out.
After, there was a dinner in my school's cafeteria for the graduating students, their parents, and teachers. Like every Ukrainian celebration, there was way too much food. It was also weird to watch students drink openly. It was like a small dance and I believe traditionally they stay until the morning, then head out to the river to watch the sunrise together. I didn't teach this class though and didn't know many of them, plus I was tired, so I went home at about 2am.
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