Family Reunion in Kiev (Aug 20th)
Year 2 in Kiev has begun and so far there have been many things to be grateful for, most importantly old friends who welcome you back like no time has passed. Upon my return (at midnight, Kiev time) I was greeted by my newest roommate (who is Ukrainian-Canadian), and a french Exchange student who is with us just for the first month. My two suitcases made it safely from the plane to the baggage area (it must have been the twist-ties that deterred the infamous Borispol Airport Suitcase thieves http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/l2ed/29515/) and the jet-lag didn't last more than a week, which was okay since we were all in the same boat as returning staff, and were united in a strange way as we stumbled in each morning to set up our classrooms and participate in various meetings. Despite our mild insomnia and lethargy, we all still managed to cultivate our long days into entertaining evenings thanks to a couple birthdays, some welcome-back happy hours, new eager teaching staff, embassy pub nights and a LOT of cheap champagne.
We just finished our first full week of school (which started Aug 25th, the day after Ukrainian Independence Day) and it was a sweet beginning as I have a smaller class (smaller by 2, but I'm sure those spaces will be filled in the coming months) and a lot of the bulky furniture that was in my room was moved out so I could completely re-model it to create that 'zen-o-sphere' I was aiming for. Thankfully, we have year-round carpenters on school property so we can basically commission whatever piece of furniture to suits our needs. The photo below depicts my order from June:
Miss S's new classroom...complete with custom-designed cubbies!
INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE: August 24th 2008
Contrary to last year's celebration of Independence day (previous blog Aug 2007: involving a trip to the artisans outdoor market, buskers on the street, and playing in the fountain) another teacher and I went to check out the gargantuan military parade on the main street, Kreshatik. We positioned ourselves at the back-end of the parade where tanks of all sizes and missiles ranging from a few meters long to truck-loads of rocket-sized anti-aircraft missiles paraded through the streets. It was pretty overwhelming to see, and from what I hear, a lot more elaborate due to the tension between Russia and Ukraine, in light of the attack on Georgia.
A more detailed (but overly technical) description of the parade can be found on the Kievpost, for anyone who is really interested in this sort of thing:http://www.kyivpost.com/bn/29482/. All I can say is that it sure puts our National holiday to shame when a government spends something like $6.5 million to beef up the parade alone!
Flashback to summer:
The 8 weeks of summer flew, and it really wasn't until my last few days in Canada that I became comfortable and mildly excited at the idea of returning to Ukraine. I realize now that it was my first summer in almost 10 years that I HADN'T been working...and I must admit, it was incredibly nice. Summer began with a 3-day camping/road-trip to the Carpathian mountains (western border of Ukraine), a 2 week trip to Germany (1 of which was spent in a classroom), several beer gardens, a bike tour, the official Sound of Music tour (Austria) and a lengthy and fulfilling 5 week stay in my favourite vacation spot: Home. This portion of the summer consisted of endless driving, wining, dining and cottaging between the southern tip of Lake Huron and the northern edge of Lake Ontario.
Kamyonets-Podilsky (Western Ukraine)
Caves (western Ukraine)
Camping (western Ukraine)
Bus stop, small town in Western Ukraine
MUNICH and AUSTRIA
Munich streets
surfers in Munich
Austria
CANADA
Southern Ontario
Northern Ontario
If I have gained one thing from being away for a year, it's a new found appreciation for coming home. And that speaks for both my Canadian and Ukrainian 'home'.
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