Sometimes

Sometimes I realize how super weird/super cool my life is when I do something ordinary like say hello to a group of kids in three languages.

Reading

I'm back from my trip with friends and I've been enjoying catching up on some reading. So I figured I'd share some of my favorite articles. At first, I thought they were all unrelated but after I thought about it, they're all connected in certain ways.

The 'Busy' Trap
Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day... I can't help but wonder whether all this historic exhaustion isn't a way of covering up the fact that most of what we do doesn't matter.

Redefining Success and Celebrating the Unremarkable
"In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another - which springs, I think, from our fear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality - we have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement," he told the students and parents.

"You make a lot of money or have athletic success. That's a very, very narrow definition. What about being compassionate and living a life of integrity?"

How do we go back to the idea that ordinary can be extraordinary? How do we teach our children - and remind ourselves - that life doesn't have to be all about public recognition and prizes, but can be more about our relationships and special moments?

Vacation Sabotage - Don't Let It Happen to You!

Oh Glory by the wonderful Hayley Williams

June

The first two weeks of June were utter boredom. I have no responsibilities anywhere from now until school starts, so I've mostly sat around on the internet, read or intensely cleaned things in my house. My landlady went to Egypt with her family, so I did get to experience what it was like to be here completely by myself. It was strange - not bad - but I prefer it when she's here. Also, Euro 2012 started. I know there's a lot of hype but since I don't have a tv, I haven't actually watched a game or anything yet.

BUT the most important and exciting thing that's about to happen is that in less than 24 hours I will be meeting one of my best friends at the airport in Odesa for a couple much needed weeks of together time! I AM SO STOKED.

Us in college.

May Wrap-Up

While initially I felt like this month was creeping by, towards the end it seemed to speed up. And now that everything is said and done, it doesn't feel quite so eventful or momentous as I thought it would. But here's what happened:

Victory Day
Ukraine celebrates May 9th as the end of World War II, called the Great Patronymic War here. My school had that Wednesday off from lessons and I attended the Memorial Service in the center of my village, where the war monuments are. It was a fairly short service, about 30 minutes, where government leaders made speeches, veterans were honored, and flowers placed on the memorials.

Then there was a concert in my village's Cultural Building.

11th Form Last Bell
This was a shortened version of the official Last Bell, which ends the school year for all students. Thanks to Ukraine co-hosting Euro 2012 this summer, the 11th form students had to have their exams and graduation ceremony finish up much earlier than usual.

Last Week of School/Last Bell
A lot of my classes ended up canceled, so I barely taught. This was really only disappointing in that I didn't get to do one last fun lesson with my students before summer. Otherwise, I didn't really care much. Also, my school held a traditional Pioneer's Day. I had no idea what this was other than what my kids kept telling me: that they were going to the soccer fields to have some kind of contest eating buckwheat. I was really confused until I showed up and realized it was basically like a picnic/field day. The 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th forms camp out in the fields and make food, play football and have contests. Then, each class brings a sample of the buckwheat concoction they made to the jury and a winner is chosen. It's a pretty cute and relaxing day. I ended up sitting with the 7th form, who are some of my favorite students and my counterpart is the class leader for that form.

Український Рецепт/Ukrainian Recipe

Салатчік                                                                      
Капуста                                                                        
Огірки                                                                          
Цибуля                                                                         
Чорний перець                                                            
Сіль
Олія (і оцет, якщо ви хочете)

Salad
Cabbage
Cucumbers
Onion
Black pepper
Salt
Oil (and vinegar, if you wish)

Winter Botany

 

I planted some seeds in either January or February, and they finally started sprouting not too long ago. I'd like to tell you what type of plant they are but none of them look anything like the pictures on the packets, so I'm not really sure myself. I planted some more flower seeds a week or so ago, and those have little baby sprouts. Hopefully, they'll continue to grow up through the fall. It's nice to have some color in my house.

Plants

 Greenhouse.

 Plants.

 

 Lion.