The single most often asked question I get about Peace Corps, and the one I remember asking is: I always hear all these great stories and experiences. I want to hear the bad stuff. The things that might make me crazy and regret my decision. So please let me have it.

So here is my answer:

Red Tape

Make no mistake, you are joining a government organization. This means that there are policies that WILL NOT make sense to you. There are restrictions you MUST adhere to. There are forms and more forms and more forms. This is frustrating. One policy is that if you are out of the country during a weekend, this counts as your yearly vacation time. "But why should it count if weekends don't usually count????" That's what most volunteers complain about. What they don't realize is that they are volunteers 24/7. This means that if they're away from their sites and in the country, they're STILL PCVs. They're STILL representing the country. As soon as you leave, you stop representing America to your host country. Still, this red tape is annoying to many volunteers.

Down Time

It amuses me so much to hear future volunteers talk about how much they'll do at their site. They get the idea that they'll land in country and everyone will be so excited to see them and they'll have so many projects and be so busy. The reality is that a LOT of Peace Corps is the down time. In Ukraine the wintertime is harsh. It feels like it gets dark at 4pm, people stay inside, it's freezing cold. And you find yourself at home sitting, doing nothing. "I'll go visit my neighbors!" Well, what if they're suspicious of you and want you to leave them alone? (Yes, this happened to me). I personally watched a lot of tv. Some people read a lot of books. Others called their friends. Regardless, you will find your self with a LOT of time on your hands. Peace Corps is NOT just about doing your job. It's about living in the country.

Not properly utilized/not being NEEDED

Sadly, this has happened to many a volunteer. In some cases the site just doesn't want the person to do ANYTHING but their job, which in Ukraine means teaching English. Even though the volunteer may have grant writing experience, the site may not care. The volunteer may find that the host country nationals, while SAYING they wanted to help or get something done, may not actually have any follow through. Additionally, many volunteers feel like their skills and talents are going to waste. They have a lot of experience working on computers or with adults, and end up teaching children. This leads to a lot of frustration. Additionally, many felt like "Ukraine doesn't really NEED our help!" and they ended up leaving, wishing they'd been selected for a country that REALLY needed help.

Not appreciated

When you leave your home, your friends, and your country for two years, it's not unreasonable to think that you'll be appreciated. Your host country will welcome you, you'll be a celebrity, people will thank you, and you will have made a difference. But what if you end up in a town like my friend, whose neighbors kept telling her things like "You need to stop buying so many raisins" or "Stop running. It's dangerous for your health" or worse: they wouldn't allow her to help the students who were preparing for English tests. Imagine being bullied by people whose language you barely speak, who will reluctantly help you if at all, and who seem to feel you are more of a hassle than you are worth. This is not the experience of all volunteers, but I know more than one volunteer who has fallen victim to this.

Not the experience you expected

This one hit several volunteers hard when they were told they were going to Ukraine. There was a crestfallen look as they read their acceptance letter. Either because they were hoping for a proper third world experience, or they felt like this would be "Peace Corps Lite", or they were sad that so much technology (cell phones and computers and tv, oh my!) would be available. They had this idea of a rural living situation and got a post-soviet country. Or they hoped they would be working with their hands and instead were teaching children English.

Nothing to show

This one is very specific to the ESL job. When you build wells, you have something to show for it. You can look on your work and be very satisfied. When you plant crops, you have something very tangible and empirical that you can look at and say "See, I'm making a difference." With education it's nearly impossible to do. You DON'T see the results right away. You end up NOT feeling like you've really done anything. There is no proof of your efforts.

Being ON all the time

Some Volunteers never fully relax. They have this "I'm representing the United States and all Americans" thing going on all the time. They don't ever yell or show they're upset. They don't feel comfortable saying NO when men in their town ask for their phone numbers. They don't ever really make friends because they are not really people--they're representations of people.

Loneliness

This one is huge. This one got me. I had a million volunteers around me and I felt utterly alone. I was tired of just being able to say "I have a family. I have a mother. I have a father." etc and not really connecting with anyone. Even though at times it felt like "Hey, people are people!" other times I would be shocked at how utterly different we were, and that made me feel very alone. A friend of mine had literally no one in her town who was even close to her age. When the young people would come into town they wanted nothing to do with her. They were small town people not used to changes in their lives and didn't know how to incorporate this new, strange gal.

Other

For me, the absolute hardest part of Peace Corps was the other volunteers. Before I offend everyone I have made friends with, let me clarify. I was in a country where volunteers had to be warned about alcohol abuse, as it was a very serious issue. Most volunteers were either fresh out of college or were seniors, and I fell in that awkward age of 30s. I absolutely hated the drinking parties and college frat feel that seemed to arise whenever volunteers got together. I absolutely made wonderful friends there, but I couldn't stand the party mentality. For me, it had no place in Peace Corps. I did have a reputation of being overly serious and caring too much about my job. In fact, every time I talked to volunteers I would talk about projects or ESL or teaching. I was there to do a job and was very very annoyed when volunteers would "cut loose." At one point I found myself at a party where the volunteers were SO LOUD that the Ukrainian police came, took everyone's passports, then agreed to accept a bribe to make this "go away." Which should be fine, except that a few volunteers were SO ANGRY about this CORRUPT SYSTEM and being loud and belligerent and being total JERKS. I have little patience for this. I wouldn't be surprised to know that many volunteers there didn't care for me, but honestly I don't care. I spent nearly all my time with my Ukrainian friends and hanging out with them.

These are what I feel were the worst things about Peace Corps where *I* was assigned. Your miles may vary, especially depending on the country you are assigned. For me, it was a really great experience, one I wouldn't change for the world. I was very lucky for a few reasons: I met some very outstanding Ukrainians who were absolutely ready to work, I met many Ukrainian women my age who spoke English, I felt comfortable being myself--I realized that I wasn't doing the US any favors by not being myself, I had a background in Education, so for me, having no "results" was absolutely no issue, I was properly utilized and appreciated at my site, and I personally loved all the down time.

I'm sure that these would be very different for people who are in Africa, but many will remain the same regardless. Just remember--the less developed the country, the more time you will have to spend on JUST LIVING. Getting water, getting and preparing food, etc.

Peace Corps is a very rewarding site, and truly the inflexible will not make it far. People drop out all the time. They realize it's just not for them for a multitude of reasons. But many times it's because they're absolutely inflexible. One girl quit after she was told where she'd be living. She went to visit and said "I'm done" because they couldn't accommodate her religion. Others would cry when they were told they'd be living in the East, or had to learn Russian or had to learn Ukrainian. It was as though they'd used up their whole notion of "flexibility" right before they landed in the country, then were absolutely rigid when they got there. Frankly, a lot of that made me absolutely sick to my stomach and made me fairly angry.

So my advice: put down on the application countries you DON'T want to go with. If you'd feel disappointed working in a 2nd world country, tell Peace Corps you don't want to go there. If you heard you'd be in Ukraine and that would bring tears to your eyes, tell PC you don't want to go there. You get my point of view. Your viewpoint will be colored when you get there, you'll be looking for reasons to hate it and back up your point of view, and you'll probably leave during training.

Good luck to you. I adored my time in Peace Corps, and hopefully this will help you in your journey. I am by no means an expert, I just try to be a bit observant and listen to what the volunteers I KNEW were complaining about. Just remember: BE FLEXIBLE! It will serve you well.

I have been having kitty related stress lately. The apartment complex I was to stay in in Korea has a no cats allowed rule. I worried about this, and I even considered sneaking her in.

After discussing it with my company, they talked with the landlord's wife. First she said no. Then said it was because cats make so much noise. I told them my cat is SO QUIET! and my company kept wearing her down. Finally she said yes, but her husband said no. Twice. Then today I got this news:

They finally called me today, and told me that she could bring the cat (Dr. Kim also talked to them), but if the residents complain, they can't allow her to have the cat there. Julia said her cat is so calm and does not make any noise at all. As long as she's careful when she brings her outside.

HOORAY!!! I am so excited about this!

I also received news that my paperwork is being processed and that everything should be finished on March 8. Once the paperwork is finished I will book an appointment with the Korean consulate in Seattle and then get my airline ticket! SO EXCITING!

So yes, I will be heading to Korea VERY SOON and I will be legally taking my kitty with me! YAY!

The wardrobe takes careful consideration when you are going overseas for a set amount of years and are not given money for relocation.

You want to account for the weather, professional and personal, casual and dressy, etc.

I made the mistake of bringing a lot of shirts that were like this:

The problem was that Ukraine ran hot and cold. So when it was cold I really wished I had two layers on. When it was hot I wished I could take one layer off or roll up the sleeves. A better solution would have been to go with two button up shirts and two sweaters or a sweater and a vest.

Another problem I had was going too professional. Nearly all my clothes were professional and I had very few lounging clothes. SO STUPID! Who wants to hang out in their house in a button up shirt and slacks? That's what t-shirts are for! and pajama bottoms! When no one is coming around, comfort should be priority! Argh!

So now that I'm packing for Korea I am trying to keep these things in mind. What can be layered. Can everything go with everything? Professional AND casual. Most of what I brought to Ukraine was clothes and books. Now I will be bringing very few books, less clothing, but still quite a bit of wearables.

My place in Korea will be miniscule, but still, it's important to bring nice things that remind you of home. I will be bringing some artwork with me--small and portable, they don't take up a lot of space, they will look very nice on my walls, and they are very personal.

I will be bringing three cross stitch projects: One I've started, one I intend to start, and one with a much lower level of difficulty just in case I want to do something different. That should be enough. I may bring some knitting needles, but no yarn.

Thankfully I'm getting things like a Kindle, and I have my hard drives, so I don't have to lug dvds or music or books.

Tomorrow we do a trial run of packing for Korea, just to see what kind of room we have. Then I'll make some choices and decide what should come with me and what should stay, going back into storage.

Some things I *am* bringing that will take up some space: games and a frying pan. I am taking my cast iron skillet with me. I can handle a lot when it comes to kitchens: poor burners, no space, but having a skillet that SUCKS is not stress I want to handle. Good skillet is high on my MUST HAVEs. Really.

I finally broke down and bought a gorillapod

It is a perfect tripod, and something I've had my eye on for 2+ years.

Also bought: a small "day bag"

And a matching purse or a "city bag" as REI calls it

And a pair of athletic shoes. So today was an astounding success. I was very happy with the outcome. Cheers!

When I was in Ukraine, my laptop case's strap broke. This meant always carrying it by hand. And sometimes it was VERY heavy, especially since I would put papers or books in with it. So I was thrilled when we came across this beauty:

So now I'll be able to fit my laptop in it AND everything else AND not rip my arm out of its socket!

In paperwork news, my company received my paperwork and have begun processing it! Hooray! I told them I can't leave until March 1 at the earliest, but who knows how long it will actually be...I'll keep you updated!

Shhh this isn't something women are supposed to talk about! BUT, let's talk about it anyway.

Going to less populated places, or foreign countries, it can be really difficult to find the feminine hygiene product you favor (you are welcome to stop reading now:). I got around this by having my parents send me Insteads, which have been my preference for years now.

Having someone send you products like these that you use on a regular basis isn't very practical. Not to mention expensive. Also, being a Seattle girl, I do have some green guilt, and thinking about all those products ending up in a landfill is really distressing.

Introducing the Diva Cup! :) It's reusable, simple, and clean. You can wear it up to 12 hours no problem. You don't throw anything away, just wash and reuse. I had wanted to get mine for Peace Corps but I never got around to it. Now that I'm going to Korea I finally splurged and got it. $40 for an entire year. I can't believe I didn't get this earlier.

You can register for a free one here:

http://www.mommybloggers.ca/2010/01/diva-cup-giveaway-ends.html

Today I drove down to Olympia. My job in Korea requires I have a background check done and have an apostille. What is an apostille? I'm glad you asked. It's a bit like notarizing a notary. So after I went online to do a criminal background check for $15, I then had to print out the "your name does not match any known criminal names" page. After that I had to get it notarized by the Washington State Patrol. I could do this online, sending in payment there and then having it mailed to me, or I could go in in person and have it done within about an hour and a half.

I picked the faster route and drove down. I got there around 1pm, turned in my form, paid the $5, then sat down and read my book until it was finished (the paperwork, not the book). Next, I drove to the Secretary of State building and paid them $15 to sign a piece of paper. All done!

Tomorrow I FedEx all my paperwork in to Korea!

I've been getting very excited about this. I signed up at two different expat forums and started making connections, including meeting one very nerdy girl who will play boardgames with me. I also contacted the KOTESOL organization and talked to them about being a part time Teacher Trainer with their organization. I looked at another organization called KATE (Korean Association of Teachers of English) and they have a call for publications, so I will be writing a paper in hopes they will accept it! I also have decided I'd like to volunteer at a thrift store on the army base. 20 hours a month volunteering=free pass to get on the army base, which gives me access to free sewing lessons!

I am very excited about this. I am very much looking forward to doing well in my career.

The cat costs will be high, though. I was looking online and some of the fees were as much as $250 for taking a cat on the plane. Sigh. She's coming with me, regardless. Because how can you refuse a face this cute?

Since January I have been applying to various ESL jobs. I had a few criteria I was aiming for:

A salary of around $3000 per monthAdult students, 18+Located in Korea or the middle eastAirfare and housing paid I had an interview in January, shortly after applying for a teacher training job in Seoul. This phone interview went very well. I knew I would be working with the woman who was interviewing me--we would be colleagues, so I intentionally strove for a balance of professional and personal. For example, I asked questions about turnover rates in the company, and I also asked if the staff socialized in their off hours. I showed an interest both in the job and in the staff. We spoke for a very long time, and I was thrilled at how wonderful it seemed to go. She told me I should hear from her within a week or two.

So I waited. Nothing.

One important thing I learned from Ukraine is that the world moves at different speeds and urgency doesn't always translate. This is neither good nor bad, just important to note. While America often is very schedule and deadline focused, many other countries have a lackadaisical approach that seems to lack urgency. Knowing this, I was not concerned when I did not hear from them.

For the next month I heard from the woman twice to tell me that the director had not yet made up his mind (great idiom, right?), but that she would let me know as soon as she could. So I waited, but began applying for other jobs.

I've been unemployed since coming back to America. Money runs out, sadly. I had my heart set on the Middle East for a while, applied to several jobs there and waited to hear back from anyone.

I got a job offer from South Korea and Saudi Arabia on the same day. This was unexpected, but it gave me a lot to think about. I know I would like to live both places within my life, both are very appealing to me, so I made a mental list:

PRO - Saudi Arabia PRO - South Korea

good food some of my favorite food

better money more freedom

extra plane ticket home allowed to date

friends and family can visit

better job

Ultimately I ended up with South Korea, and I am excited about my job! Here are some of the nitty gritty details:20-25 hours a week teaching TESOL certification courses

30 hours a week in the office

4 weeks paid vacation

free housing

Additionally, I'll be right on the metro line only 4 stops away from my work. Convenient, convenient, convenient. I am very much looking forward to this new adventure!

Miau Miau will get to rack up some frequent flier miles! Ukraine to America to South Korea!

For now I am waiting on paperwork. In order to proceed, I need to submit a Fedex package consisting of:3 visa sized pictures (35mm x 45mm)

my original diplomas (this is very normal for Korea)

current resume

2 official transcripts from each school

criminal background check with a special signature from someone in Olympia, WA

signed contract

Thankfully a few weeks ago I contacted my schools and asked for 2 official transcripts already. I have all but one of them, and I expect the final ones tomorrow or Tuesday. I need to print the visa pictures, and I need to drive to Olympia tomorrow for the autograph. Beyond that I am finished. They'll fill out the paperwork and I'll make an appointment with someone in the Korean consulate in Seattle.

I could leave in as little as 3 weeks. This is amazing.

New language goals: read and speak Korean. Let's hope it doesn't mean I forget all of my Russian.

Hope you enjoy my new adventures!

I will be making changes to my blog.

1. MORE UPDATES! I had a very difficult time with Peace Corps's policy about blogging. All my blog postings had to be first sent to my regional manager who had to approve them. For some reason that step caused a huge mental block for me. Every entry I submitted was approved, but the fact that I had to take the step prevented me from posting as much as I would have liked. My goal will be to blog at least once per week. I also plan on adding more stories about Ukraine.

2. MORE PICTURES! I went back and put a few pictures in to nearly every entry. I plan to upload and post pictures relevant to the journal entries. Pictures make things more interesting, break up the monotony of words, and are fun! Plus, it means I'd be uploading my pics to the Internet. Sadly, after coming home, my hard drive failed and I lost every picture I took in Ukraine. :( Uploading them will help prevent that from happening.

See how much more interesting this is? :) It is I, at Beth's!

3. MORE ADVENTURES! While I do love sitting around and watching tv more than your average bear, it doesn't really make for interesting blog posts. So to remedy that, I shall have more adventures.

4. MORE INFORMATION! I'm an English teacher and I find language fascinating. I find that in general most people don't have a strong level of awareness about their language. For example, if I asked you which idioms you use most, could you tell me? I know many of the ones I use a lot, such as "yanking my chain" or "on the fence" "pick you up (in a car)" or even "change my mind." They seem like "normal" English to most Americans, but they are idioms and their meanings are unintelligible unless you learned it as a phrase. I find this very interesting.

5. MORE TAGS! Tags are useful and should be used!

I hope you continue to read as I continue to write! Thank you again!

I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer. I am now a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Those four initials, RPCV, will follow me for the rest of my life. I will forever be an RPCV.

I finished my Peace Corps service in November, 2009. I haven't written about it because I felt like my emotions have been too close to the surface.

Leaving Peace Corps is not quite as simple as it should be. First, there is all the paperwork. They give you two papers that must be filled with signatures. These items range from: closing out your bank account, to getting your final dentist checkup, to receiving your plane ticket home. This is impossible to do in a single day. I started mine very early and thankfully finished very early.

I am happy to say that before I left I was able to go to Lviv, finish my host sister's wedding cloth, and go to her wedding.

Here is a picture of the finished wedding cloth. I had an incredible time finishing it. I had to teach myself hardanger (cut work) for the ends.

Here is a picture of me and my host sister at her wedding. Isn't she beautiful?

Okay, back to the leaving part:

Then there's the process of packing all your belongings. Difficult to do, but then begins the more difficult task of deciding what comes and what goes. You end up with so much STUFF. Thankfully there was a wonderful PCV who took ALL my clothes. You have to remember who gave you what so that you don't accidentally offer it back to the person. You lug the extra stuff to the Peace Corps office to leave for other PCVs. You say goodbye to your friends and colleagues. I ran around asking people about letters of recommendation.

Then it's time.

My final day was spent with my best friend in Ukraine, Maryna. My friend Ira and her helped me do the final packing and cleaning. The night before I'd gotten maybe 4 hours of sleep and I was exhausted. They let me sleep while they cleaned. It was amazing. We hung out, packed, weighed suitcases, repacked them, weighed them again, and finally finished.

Going home, I was traveling with my cat. We went from Kyiv to Moscow, Moscow to New York, and New York to Seattle. My first flight was at 8:30am, so I hired a friend to drive me, Maryna, and Miau Miau to the airport. He came at 3 or 3:30 am and picked us up. We got to the airport, and Maryna waited with me until it was time for my flight. It was really great being with someone special on my last day. We really tried to stay positive. I miss her!

Finally I got on the flight and sat with Miau Miau the whole way home. It was such a long ride. She was fairly scared, so she stayed in her carrier the whole way. She only drank a little bit when we got to New York, and she ate a TINY bit of salmon on the way to New York. Overall it was not so stressful. Traveling with a cat means you have to have the vet check her over, she has to have her vaccinations and have a kitty passport :) Getting her through customs was a breeze. Total cost for kitty: $150.

Since "graduating" I've been living at home. I moved into my parents' house, stayed in Colorado for a month with friends, visited my grandmother and dad's side of the family for a week or two, and have been doing my best to see all my friends. I haven't been working, just living off of parents and Peace Corps funds. I have been going through my belongings, repacking, reducing, recycling, and selling. It's really nice to get rid of things, and amazing how much STUFF I've managed to save up over the years. I am enjoying and also stressing out about this process.

While my Peace Corps adventures have come to a close, my life adventure has not. I am, after all, an ESL professional with a passion for living around the world. This blog has changed from "PC Ukraine" to "Where in the World?" It is no longer simply a chronicle of my journey through Peace Corps, but a journey throughout my career. As such, I changed the format of this blog just slightly, and I hope you will continue on with me. Thank you for all your support.

Party expectations in Ukraine are very different than they are in America. It's good to know this before you arrive to your first Ukrainian party, or before you invite your first Ukrainian to your party. The first is that Ukrainian parties are ALWAYS dinner parties, and they will expect a full meal.

Arrive to the party with some sort of edible/drinkable gift, such as juice, chocolate, vodka, wine, etc. In the main room there will be a huge table in the middle set up with chairs/sofas/stools around it. All the food will be set on the table.

Food that will always be present:

* a veggie plate with slices of cucumbers, tomatoes and sometimes green peppers

* a platter of cut sausages and cheese

* at least 2 kinds of mayonnaise based salads (such as krab+corn+chinese cabbage+mayo, or cabbage+peas+sausage+mayo, or eggs+onions+cheese+garlic+mayo, or apples+shrimp+egg+mayo) (oh, and those are real salads--I called my host sister up just now and asked her to tell me the ingredients for some standard mayo salads, so I wasn't being crazy with those).

* Pickled herring

* Sandwiches, consisting of single, small pieces of bread with any of the following on top: butter+cheese, butter+sausage, butter+sausage+cheese, caviar, mayo+small fishies

* Shuba (a layered salad with the following ingredients in descending order: chopped egg, mayonaise, beets, egg, carrots, onion, and pickled herring).

* Flattened, fried chicken or fish

* Galuptsi (meat rolled up in cooked cabbage leaves)

* Hot chicken or cutlets

* Some hot potato dish, such as mashed potatoes

* Bottles of vodka, a pear soda which they call "water," congac or wine

At the beginning of the party you would choose your spot around the table. This will be your place for the entire evening, so choose your companions wisely! You will then sit, eat, and talk. That is the party. Food would come out in stages, there would be tons of toasts, you'd be totally full, tipsy, and have made great friends.

Near the end of the party, your hostess would ask if you would like coffee or tea (black or green). Along with your coffee or tea you'd get sweet dishes, which may include cake, chocolate, or cookies. You will NEVER be served sweet things without coffee or tea. According to my Ukrainian friends, they're just not tasty without tea or coffee. So your slice of birthday cake (well, they don't really do "birthday cakes") will be accompanied by tea. :)

That's the standard Ukrainian party.

My parties, however, are nothing like this. As an American English teacher, I like to have parties that are high on culture and low on drinking. My parties are a great place to practice English, learn a little about American culture, and do some fun activiites! My parties in Ukraine have been very successful, and they're something I plan to continue in whatever country I'm in, so I thought I'd share my party prep ideas.

Step One: Choose a theme

This step is crucial. If you're doing a holiday party, the theme chooses itself. Go all out and embrace that holiday. If you're doing a birthday party or a non-holiday party, it's important to select a good theme. It will drive everything else: the music, the food (to some extent), the costumes (if you're doing that), the games, etc.

My theme this year is Flora and Fauna.

My party is a costume party. Everyone is expected to come in costumes and bring food and drink to share. In Ukraine none of these are typical, so I make sure to tell them via sms. I also teach them the word "potluck" :)

Step Two: Choose the decorations/your costume

For my party this year I'm dressing up as a lounge jaguar :) I have my awesome jaguar-print pjs, will do makeup and make ears and a tail to go along with this and I'm done. For decorations, I bought some self sticking, dark green scotch paper that I will cut into long, wavy grass and stick on the walls, along with flowers, butterflies, etc. I'm making a bumblebee pinata, and the like.

Step Three: Choose the activities

For me, this is what really drives things. This is the part I very much enjoy, and something that makes my parties stand out. If you have an awesome theme and awesome decorations, sure you can just let the party be, but if you want something great for non-native speakers, something that will give them a chance to practice English/learn about American culture, this is super important. Plus, it's fun for native speakers as well.

* Songs. I like to pick some songs to teach that fit with the theme. For my V-day party I picked "The Riddle Song," "Love Me Tender," "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and "All You Need is Love." I print lyrics, my friend plays guitar, and we all sing together. For my Flora & Fauna party I think we're going to do "Jeremiah was a bullfrog," and not sure which else yet.

* Crafts. This is something new for me, but it worked really well at my Valentine's day party. I gave everyone the tools for making V-Day cards. That way we could hang out, people could chat, work on crafts, and have something to show for their night. For the Flora & Fauna I'm doing origami!

* Games. I like doing things like scavenger hunts or pictionary or taboo. For V-day we did a kissing game--one partner had a bright lipstick on and had to kiss their partner on the face as many times possible within 15 seconds. We then counted kiss marks. Another game was for a partnership to open a candybar together with their hands behind their backs. :)

* Food. By asking people to bring food/drinks to share, you ensure that you will have enough food, but not TOO MUCH food. I like to provide something theme-y like heart shaped cookies or red/pink foods for V-Day, or traditional Thanksgiving food for T-Day. You can do fun things like serve eggnog or spiced wine at a Christmas party, green beer at St Patty's day, etc. The more "traditional" or theme related, the more fun it is.

* Etc. For Halloween I'll do things like bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving and the like. On Valentine's Day, we composed proverbs about Love--I provided the word LOVE+a random word. They came up with gems like "LOVE is a HOUSE I want to live in always" and "LOVE is like WINE--it makes you feel good and you want more."

I teach people the word "mingle" and show them how to do it (really, they don't usually do it amongst themselves). I also occasionally like to have prizes to encourage certain behaviors. Want people to have fabulous outfits? Give a prize for best costume. Want people to put lots of effort into a game? Give a prize to the winner. It helps to let people know that ahead of time. Also, if you really want everyone in a costume, provide for those who have come without costume--for my party I'll have animal hats/masks for them to wear.

I make sure to tell people early, then a week before, then a day or two before. People are very forgetful, so it helps to have an initial invite and then two reminders. I also don't have drinking at my party. If someone wants to bring alcohol, they can, but I ask them to bring nothing stronger than wine, champagne, or beer. I like showing them how to make mimosas. :)

That, my friends, is something that takes up a fair bit of my energy in Peace Corps. So far I've thrown about 6 of these parties, and they get better and better. At my Valentine's day party I even had my English club put on a play! :) As you can see, it fits Peace Corps's 2nd goal very well, which is to teach host country nationals more about America and Americans. I put a fair bit of time and myself into these parties, and I've even seen results--I went to a girl's birthday party and she'd pushed the table to the side of the room and had activities! It was really great. People were surprised, but they had a great time.

Other things I've learned: If your party is big, it can be a great idea to have responsible friends take on this role: emcee, dj, bartender, even host. If you do want to have a bar, I recommend making a SINGLE party drink based on a SINGLE kind of alcohol. For my "high school stereotypes" party in America, we made a punch. For my "runway models" party in America I made the mistake of wanting a full bar, and as a result, half my budget went to alcohol. If I did it again I would serve just mimosas, and invite people to bring other alcohols. I also like to give people the opportunity to do different things. If the space is large enough, I like to have a quiet room for conversations, a louder room for games, a dance floor, etc.

Enjoy!

Okay, so I'm really excited: my host sister is getting married this fall. It is common for the bride to stitch herself a breadcloth--a long table-runner looking thing, with decorations on the two edges. I offered to do her bread cloth, and she was very excited. Then she said she'd rather me do their "good luck" cloth, or something like that. It is used during the wedding--laid on the floor and the bride and groom run to see who is the first to step on it. Whoever does will supposedly have the control in the marriage. I am so thankful for the links to Ukrainian patterns, because tonight the both of us came up with some designs for her cloth! Yes, yes, that is the Tree of Gondor on the top of one. We're going to see which her fiancee likes, but I'm REALLY hoping for the geeky version ;)

This is a rough draft mockup. It was us piecing together designs, so the proportions aren't exact, but it gave us a good idea.

NOW, there is one thing "wrong" on this. I plan to do the ends in a handstitched lace, which would REPLACE the greenish border at the bottom, but would be essentially the same design. Whichever design is chosen will be stitched on both ends of a long cloth. In the middle will be a ukrainian saying meaning: for happiness, for love (or something like that).

With the tree:

From Stroke of Midnight

Without the tree:

From Stroke of Midnight

Today was a really fun day. On the docket for the day: picking up my boots, getting my clothes repaired (oh crap—now I am forgetting my English—do we say “repaired” for clothes?)

My boots are pretty sweet. I found a place that does custom boots. They will make nearly anything you want for a decent price—for me a “decent price” is less than $100. This is one price I absolutely compare with American prices, because I’m planning to take these puppies home with me! So this pair is knee high with the Battlestar Galactica logo stitched into the sides—specifically the phoenix/angel from the logo.

So my friend Maryna and I plan to meet at 11:30 near the tank. Every town in Ukraine as “A Tank” as a monument to some war or victory or historical event. History isn’t my strong suit. We were both late, as usual. I had a baba bag with me—a very large, plastic, zippered bag that the locals carry. It had all my clothes to be repaired in it. I was wearing a pair of black slacks and tennis shoes and my winter coat because the weather didn’t look too bad. Man was I wrong.

While waiting for Maryna, I was happy to spot my favorite lady near the tank. She sells Piroshki. These are amazing. They’re (I think) potato dough with cabbage, potatoes, or meat inside, that are then deep fried. OMG DELICIOUS. I like the potato ones. So I ate that while waiting for Maryna.

It was then I realized that a) I hadn’t called the lady to confirm that I was coming b) I didn’t have her number c) I didn’t have her address. Oh well. We’d been there before and decided to wing it. We knew which marshrutka to take (a marshrutka is like a cross between a van and a short bus), so we waited. While waiting we saw a poster for So You Think You Can Dance, the Ukrainian version (something like Танцюють Всi). Turns out they were performing in Zhytomyr the next day!!!! I LOVE SYTYCD, and even though I had never seen the Ukrainian version, I knew it would be just as good.

So we get on the marshrutka and make our way to the boot lady’s house, only to find out she wasn’t there. Maryna had the woman’s daughter’s number, so we called and the lady said they would be ready on Tuesday. *sigh* So we made our way to the tailor.

Maryna thinks I’m lazy, I think, because I don’t repair small holes that happen in the seams of my clothes. J Whatever. I’d rather have a professional do it. I dropped off a bag of mine that had been splitting open, my jeans that needed to be hemmed, two sweaters with holes in the armpits, a coat whose zipper kept popping open and whose pockets needed mending, a pair of pants that had a hole, and my coat whose liner was literally in tatters. Total price 185 griven (around $20). Not too bad. SPENDY for a Peace Corps budget, but that’s what I get for waiting and having them pile up.

We went to the bazaar and I got one of my favorite foods—galuptsi with carrots. It is usually meat that is wrapped in cooked cabbage leaves, but this kind is basically spiced carrots wrapped in cabbage leaves. DELICIOUS. It was around this time that it REALLY started snowing. BIG FATTIE FLAKES. And the ground was solid mud. I’m in the city, but do we have awesome, mud-free sidewalks here? Nope. So it was snowing really hard and completely muddy. The snow felt a bit like rain, as well. I departed from Maryna and walked to the theatre, where SYTYCD would be performing, and met Tanya. By this time my right foot was COMPLETELY soaked. Blarg.

I found out that not only were there seats available, but there were GOOD seats available! So I bought a ticket—just one, because sadly my friends were unavailable. It is nice to have a friend there when you’re negotiating something like that—I did negotiate the ticket sale myself, but I had a backup translator.

Tanya went with me on the marshrutka home, and I had to walk across this nasty mud field to get to my house. By the time I got home, both shoes were covered in mud, my socks were soaked through with mudwater, and my pants were really wet at the bottom. Lovely. And tomorrow night—I’ll be going to see AWESOME DANCING!!!! WOOT!

On Saturday I found out that Танцюють Всi was on tour in Zhytomyr and was performing on Sunday. Next day. Танцюють Всi is Ukraine's So You Think You Can Dance. I lovelovelove SYTYCD So much, and I was really bummed that in America tickets always sold out very quickly. Day before I figured I didn't have a chance of getting a ticket. Well, I was wrong, and I got a fabulous seat--4th row! It was 200 griven (a little more than $20). A lot for my Peace Corps budget, but well worth it. I've come to the conclusion that some things in life are worth paying a little extra for--tickets for a close row to something you love--worth it.

Here is my play by play of Танцюють Всi along with videos from their website!

I dressed in my Wonder Woman gear--Wonder Woman boots that I had custom made for me here in Ukraine, red/white purse, and white undershirt/red overshirt. I found my way to the fourth row, and sat next to Alla, a woman I met right then and there. We talked about dance, she told me her daughter wasn't interested in coming, and that this was her second event. We had a fun time talking.

It was supposed to start at 7pm, but it was closer to 7:15 when they actually started.

Everyone came out dressed like the Nut Cracker--the red and white soldier outfits. It was really exciting to watch, and the host participated in the dance! It was so different seeing in real life--you could focus on whomever you wanted, and you could really get the energy from the dancers! This video shows a show opening that looked exactly like what we had.

The dance after that was a 2-guy dance with Oleksander and Sasha. It was a swing/tap dance number if you only watch a few, this is completely worth watching. I could completely see Tranji doing it.

After that, they transitioned to a freaking sweet Argentinian tango piece with Colya and Toni. Amazing. She came in sweeping the floor and he was a douchey customer at a table. RED HOT!This one is way hotter than any other Argentinian tango I've seen on the American SYTYCD. Actually, it may just be regular tango.

This was followed by a pretty contemporary dance with Michael and Dasha.

Sasha and Mariam did a really fun hip hop number to Rama Lama Ding Dong.

There was a super sweet number here using a table--I originally thought it would be a rip off of the table dance from the American version, but it wasn't--and it kicked ass, but I can't find any video.

A group number! This is one of my favorites: GLADIATORS! If you only see one number, this is the one to see

Max and Olya did a pretty cool contemporary number where she has a mirror and he's trying to get in the way of her mirror.

Olexander and Tonya did my favorite swing number!

Zhenya and Maria did an emotional waltz. Not sure if I totally got the story, but it looked like she received some letter saying he was going off to war.

A super fun and funky group contemporary number where everyone was dressed as bugs. They came out from the audience! It was really cool!

Masha and Denis did a fun modern dance number where she was dressed as a violin and he was the violinist.

Max and Toni did this really cool "voodoo horror" jazz piece. They made fun use of a cauldron and voodoo doll.

I'm really bummed that I can't find these next two dances as videos. The first was a women's only number. They were dressed as flappers and they danced to All That Jazz.

Then the men came out, dressed as 30's gangsters and did a dance to Wild Wild West.

Dasha and Michael did a Broadway Vampire number to KISS by Tom Jones.

Sasha and Vika came out and did a cool JIVE number that started out on a couch

Olya and Olexander had a super emotional modern number that has what appears to be a cool storyline: he dies in a car crash and she is left to mourn him.

They had two other cool numbers in here. The first was a group number that was set to the sound of wind and it was a contemporary number. Pretty sweet.

Then there was a really really strange number with these aliens? two people were dressed in blue latex and danced with dress forms. I didn't really understand it, but it was entertaining.

Olya and Colya did a freaking amazing jive to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.

Dasha and Michael did a super sweet contemporary horror dance. Very fun! The song was "Remember horror number?"

Another fun group dance! This one was a sort of "Adam"/garden of eden story? Maybe? It's weird and totally fun and done to Santogold - You'll Find A Way (Switch & Sinden Remix)

I WISH I COULD FIND THIS VIDEO! It was AMAZING! It was a quickstep to Puttin on the Ritz.

Zhenia and Mariam danced a Jazz number that was--no joke--her cast as a Dominatrix.

This group dance was MUCH BETTER in person...The entire beginning is LOST in this video! What you can't see is that everyone is lined side by side, and one by one they start doing very mechanical movements. AWESOME dance, but poor videography.

Masha and Denis did a very dramatic modern number about a prince and a princess on their wedding night! VERY dramatic!

Victoria and Martin did a really cool smooth contemporary dance number. She started out sitting on a chair, but her partner was under a sheet, and so she stood up and started dancing with her partner covered in a sheet. Very cool effect.

They had a tango where the dancers started out on two chairs, and it was really great, but alas, no video.

Finally, they had a big band number that was really fun, and again, no video.

The absolute last thing they did was bring out a cake to celebrate Oleksander's 21st birthday--and they smashed it in his face, then they had a cake fight on stage.

It was really really amazing and I'm really glad I went.

I teach at a Teacher Training Institute. This last year I’ve taught such classes as:

Creative Writing, Teaching Speaking, Teaching Reading, Teaching Writing, Teaching Listening, Teaching Country Studies, Teaching Young Learners, etc.

My students are all English Teachers from Ukraine. Every five years they are required to take recertification courses at my institute. The first time they go, they are there for one month. The next time they go, they go for three different weeks spread throughout the year.

So what do I do? These are teachers of English, with experience in teaching English. I do feel qualified to teach them because I have had methodological training in school. And, more importantly, I have life experience—a lifetime of classes in American schools, where the teaching is approached differently. I also know such songs as "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" and "Goin' on a Bear Hunt" and "There Was an Old Lady" and "The Wheels on the Bus." So for me, my role here is to give a little bit of methodology, and give a lot of new ideas that they can adapt and use in their classrooms.

So here’s an example of a class I’ve taught and will teach again: Teaching Country Studies.

Teachers Will Be Able to:

Participate in experiential learning activities for teaching Country Studies to their Students

Modify and Adapt activities for their classrooms

Those are the basic TWBATs I have for all my classes. I’m a big fan of experiential learning, which means that you learn by experiencing it rather than just talking about it.

Warm up: Finish the sentence

Each Teacher gets a slip of paper. They will anonymously finish the sentence:

Is it true that Americans_______________________

Trainer will collect. Trainer will sort and read and answer at the end of the session.

For this class I try to give them a little information that they can’t get in the classroom, as well as a taste of several kinds of activities, so I set up three “booths” with samples of the activities. During my class they are not expected to finish all the activities, merely get a taste of them. I emphasize that so that they don’t get frustrated about not having enough time 

Station Activity 1: Map Work

ACTIVITY 1A: Spell and Find

Teachers are given their own un-labeled map of the US that they are to write on, a reference map labeled with all fifty states, a reference sheet of the fifty states and their capitals, and the following Scrabble Tiles:

A-2, C, D-2, E-2, G, H, I-2, L, M, N-3, O-2, P, R, S, T-2, U, V, W, Y

Teachers must:

a) form as many states’ names as possible using those tiles.

b) color in the state on HO1 (unlabeled map), using a blue highlighter

ACTIVITY 1B: Name that Shape

Teachers are given a labeled map of the United States, a reference sheet of the fifty states and their capitals, and shapes of unidentified states.

Teachers must

a) identify the states by shape

b) mark where the capital is on their map

c) write in the name of the capital.

Why did I pick these activities? For me, it’s just showing different ideas of things you can do with a map. Even more, it helps prevent training “answer robots,” students who simply look for the answer and repeat and cannot put together two pieces of information logically. It also uses different strengths: linguistic strengths (spelling words), as well as special intelligences (picture smarts).

ACTIVITY 2: Design a flag and quarter for Washington State

Teachers will design a flag and quarter for Washington State, using important symbols and information about Washington State.

Here, teachers are reading about Washington state, using art to show understanding, and putting together information. Again, moving away from being Answer Robots.

ACTIVITY 3: Seattle Festivals Logic Problem

Teachers are given a logic problem I created about four different festivals in Seattle: Gay Pride, Bumbershoot, Folklife, and The Freemont Solstice Festival. They are to fill in a chart telling which friend went to which festival, which month it was in, and what sort of festival it was.

Here, I’m using a logic problem to teach about the different festivals. The idea here is that they can put together information and have students read about it in creative ways. Again, using a different strength, this time logic and reasoning.

ACTIVITY 4: Jeopardy game

Now teachers play a small Jeopardy game based on information given in the class. This is not so they can play, but rather so they can learn HOW to play a Jeopardy game.

ACTIVITY 5: Is it true that Americans _________ followup

At this time I address all the questions that the Ukrainian teachers have put down about Americans. Most of the questions I get are based on food, personality, and work such as

Is it true that Americans have only one or two weeks of vacations?

Is it true that Americans don't like to speak about their problems (they do it with doctors or psychologists only)?

Is it true that Americans always smile?

Is it true that Americans eat fast food 3 times a day?

So you can see, when I’m teaching, I’m not simply teaching ABOUT America, I’m giving techniques for teaching about them—ones that many of them have never seen. And yet I’m still giving some extra information, such as: that handout on Washington State. And addressing common questions they usually have about Americans.

My job is tricky, because I’m not just teaching, but I’m teaching about teaching. It’s made it very interesting—not duplicating teaching techniques, how to give different information, how to collaborate, etc. I’d never done teacher training before, but I’m getting great experience doing it. And it does help that I do the same lessons again and again.

The final thing I do is that I make all my lesson plans and information available to all teachers, which is very time consuming. It’s one thing to make a lesson plan; quite another thing to write it in a presentable way for teachers taking your classes. I have to make the directions understandable to Ukrainian teachers, not just myself, so vague notes on how to do it are not acceptable, and neither is simply writing down “Do the Hokey Pokey”—because most Ukrainians have never played The Hokey Pokey and I need to write down directions for how to do it, since it’s not just for me. I’m also often giving lesson plans to teachers who have been doing this for 10-20 years, so I’d better have something great so they don’t feel like I’m wasting their time.

So that’s what I do for my Peace Corps “job.” I do teach less than most of the other volunteers, but as you can see, my time is really put into developing materials and presentation of said materials. There are more bits and pieces, but that’s my standard daily job. Hope you enjoyed it!

Wow. It doesn’t seem like yesterday that I arrived, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been a year.

October 1, 2007 I stepped off that plane into blistering hot heat. We were greeted by a sign in English saying “Welcome to Ukraine,” and we were greeted by friendly smiles from Peace Corps staff, friendly smiles that are still dear to my heart. It was unseasonably warm in Kyiv, and we were all dying while waiting on the bus. We were herded, eyes unseeing, ears unhearing, into our pre-training site. Everything was strange, the faces, the policies, the billboards. It was all novel—the Cyrillic signs, people speaking in an unfamiliar language, people selling things by the side of the road, the cars driving like they were in the Pole Position game, the layouts of the stores, the prices, the inability to communicate.

It was all novel because it was all new and interesting and WOW this was why we signed up for Peace Corps.

We were given our languages—I was given Russian, and some people rejoiced, while others complained. Our first day of language class—given the letters of our names and asked to make it into our names.

Д Ж У Л И Я

None familiar but that little Y, which wasn't a Y, but an OO. I couldn't spell my own name: Джулия. Overwhelming! Being taught to say “My name is” and ask “What is your name?” Running to the really cute security guard and asking him “Как вас завут?” KAK VAC ZAVOOT? Then giggling like crazy fangirls when he told us, then promptly forgetting because our brains short circuited at having spoken to a really good looking dude in a foreign language.

One year ago. Rumors of who was going where. Whispers of “So and so already knows about her family.” Talk of possibilities. I vaguely remember the presentation. I remember Vova’s funny talk about the Village with Town-like qualities, and Larissa’s talk of Chernigov with bellydancing. I remember being told I would be in Chernigov.

I remember how much luggage I had. WAY more than anyone in our group. A comical amount of luggage. I remember hauling it to the busses. I remember finally getting on our busses. I remember really really really having to pee and everyone filing into an LCF’s apartment to use the bathroom before heading to Chernigov. I wonder what the babushkas in the building thought—20 Americans stomping up the stairs and waiting in a line to go into this little apartment.

I remember getting to Chernigov. My host mother, Alla, was there. She was a large, stern-looking woman. I remember being intimidated and timid and so I stayed on the bus and helped people get their luggage. Finally got to her and felt embarrassed about all my luggage. Proudly said Меня завут Джулия MENYA ZAVOOT JULIA and her saying her name, then having literally nothing else to say other than hello. So I stayed silent. She seemed so serious, and I wondered what she thought of me. I wondered if she was happy to see me, because she didn’t smile. I wondered if she was irritated by my luggage, since we had to STUFF it into the taxi. I wondered if she was weirded out by this stranger living in her home who didn’t speak a lick of the language.

I remember the first meal. Some of the food was good, some was not so great, but there was too much of it. I remember feeling overwhelmed, and wanting to make a good impression, and forcing myself to overeat because I didn’t know how to say no politely. My host sister was shy, but she spoke English, which helped. Perhaps a bit too much. She was 17 and from the village, and only now do I believe I understand who she was in relation to my host mom—I think she was my host mom’s cousin’s daughter.

I remember doing charades to ask when to be woken up. I remember in the morning being walked to my class, which was very close. I remember being taught to say “I have a family. I have a mother. I have a father. I have a sister. Do you have a family?” I was introduced to Yulia, my host mother’s friend’s daughter. Yulia was my age and she couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous I sounded—and I did. “DO YOU HAVE A FAMILY?” sounds pretty funny, no matter how you say it. I remember my host mother asking me something, which sounded like “Do you need a magazine?” And I thought “I don’t need a magazine, I have one.” Later I realized she was asking if I needed to go to the store—the word “Magazine” means “Store” in Russian.

I remember enjoying language classes, and we had so many. I remember feeling frustrated and anxious and not making friends during training. I remember just feeling overwhelmed. I also remember the feelings of giving up near the end. Then came swearing in.

We met our counterparts, we met the US Ambassador. We swore in. I was proud to be an American that day. Taking the oath that all of us take:

I, Julia Johansen, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps of the United States of America, serving Ukraine to the best of my abilities and demonstrating the respect and consideration due its people. So help me God.

This past year has been packed.

I’ve made several lifelong friends—some best friends, both Ukrainian and American. I’ve come to have some favorite Ukrainian foods that I KNOW I will miss back in the US. I’ve learned to live and thrive within my community. I’ve learned that the more you know of a language the more you realize you don’t know. I’ve learned to speak Russian—enough to have conversations, but not enough to be able to tell my landlord properly that the pilot light on my kalonka keeps going out. I got a beautiful Ukrainian cat who is the perfect mixture of ornry and sweet. I have an apartment that I’m only ashamed to show people when it looks like a homeless person has been living here. I’ve settled into good routines. I filled out my first grant. I found great organizations and great people to work with. I’ve found what it is to be a Peace Corps Volunteer.

And you know, I’ve had it so much easier than many PCVs. So much so that I often hesitate to complain about having to take bucket baths in my modern bathroom, or that I have to walk through a small field of mud, or that my apartment feels cold. No one gossips about what I bought, or how much money I spend on shampoo. I, in general, have consistent hot water, I can use the water from my tap, and I even have water after midnight. I can throw my toilet paper in the toilet, and my toilet is in the same room as my bathtub. I have Internet in my apartment. My town sells pesto and hot sauce and bento boxes and bleu cheese.

And yet there is still a need. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, and this has been one interesting year in my life.

The first Russian song I learned! It's by a band called Kino and the singer is Victor Tsoi. It's catchy, melodic, and easy!

and if you want to learn to play the song, watch THIS video!

День как день,

Только ты почему-то грустишь.

И вокруг всё поют,

Только ты один молчишь.

Потерял аппетит

И не хочешь сходить в кино.

Ты идёшь в магазин,

Чтобы купить вино.

Солнце светит, и растёт трава,

Но тебе она не нужна.

Всё не так, и всё не то,

Когда твоя девушка больна,

Когда больна...

Ты идёшь в магазин,

Головою поник,

Как будто иссяк

Чистый горный родник.

Она где-то лежит,

Ест мёд и пьёт аспирин,

И вот ты идёшь

На вечеринку один.

Солнце светит, и растёт трава,

Но тебе она не нужна.

Всё не так, и всё не то,

Когда твоя девушка больна.

На вечеринку один,

Когда твоя девушка больна.

Your emotional reserves, which are what help you have that thick skin, are what help you not react to cultural moments. They are what you draw upon in order to be culturally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and that all-knowing, wise, open-minded American. They help you deal with people staring or people pointing to you, or a whole marshrutka full of people talking about the American and what do you think she's doing here and and she doesn't understand Russian (I DO!), etc. Not that that last thing happened recently.

The emotional reserves start to go away as you are bombarded by new culture, loss of freedom, loss of language, stress of language learning, not being able to talk to your best friend, not being able to eat food you love and are familiar with, being treated like you are three years old, being around Americans you may not like, getting trained in your job and having to do homework, having someone else tie your shoes for you (yes, this happened to me), being treated like a 3-year-old, having your personal space invaded, and your body space invaded.

Your emotional reserves can deal with any of those things, but the result of being bombarded by all these things all at once for an extended period of time drains them. You lose that thick skin. Things start to bother you that would ordinarily not bother you. You become a bit more emotionally frayed and you react more. Because those emotional reserves are tapped—they're too busy trying to deal with the big stuff that the little stuff seeps through.

I knew this would happen. During our training, they showed us a video of the negative things that could happen, specifically sexual harassment. A woman in the video told about how she was sexually harassed every day with all the cat calls and sexual comments tossed at her as she walked down the street every day. One gal in our group made the comment that was pretty much along the lines of: "She should be more culturally sensitive. That's just part of Latino culture, and she shouldn't apply American standards to their culture." Or something close to that. I remember thinking at the time that the girl in our training girl had no idea what she was talking about, because something happening day after day has *got* to wear at you.

It's like someone touching you. That's fine. But now imagine them touching you in the same spot again and again and again. Where you could first shrug it off, now it's a point of contention and irritation and you JUST WANT THEM TO STOP. I knew this at the beginning of training.

And yet I was completely shocked when culture shock hit me. I remember it so clearly. A girl in my language lesson snapped at me. It was Halloween, only 31 days after getting into Ukraine. Only 31 days of Peace Corps training. Only 31 days of using up those emotional reserves. The comment ate at me all day. It made me angry and sick and more angry. For some reason, around 11pm, I just started bawling. I tried to call my best friend in America, but my phone had no money on it, which made me cry harder, and I had no idea why, which made me cry even harder. And not some stoic lady-like cry—this was an "8-year-old-who-just-got-spanked-and-now-can't-go-to-the-sleepover cry. There was nothing I could put my finger on--not any one thing, except for some stupid little comment, and I sure as hell knew one small comment didn't cause this reaction.

I probably sobbed for three hours that night. It really sucked. My own emotional reaction shocked me--I haven't bawled that hard in a while--I'm 32 and kinda thought I was past that.

Things that really helped me: Peace Corps's booklet called "A Few Minor Adjustments," which addresses culture shock. It really helped. REALLY. Also, making friends that I really liked and who I could call and talk to, because previously I had felt very alone being amongst so many Americans and not really having a close friend.

It hit me that hard again, about 6 months in country. It was late at night and I started to just feel SO ALONE. I went to the disco, hoping that just being around people would make me feel better, but it made me feel more alone, and I called America, sobbing at the disco. I just couldn't stop crying. It sucked.

I hate being shocked at my own emotional reactions. I hate when they take me unawares. I was shocked at myself the first time I screamed at my host sister (17 year olds!!!). I was shocked at myself when I got angry at every little thing. I was shocked at myself by how dismayed I was at having fried eggs with TOO MUCH OIL. And yet, when those reserves are drained, you are the emotional equivalent of a car without shocks on a rocky road.

I consider myself lucky--two emotional breakdowns in 11 months. For six months it's been smooth sailing, and I'm in a position to have built up those emotional reserves. I have autonomy, I have friends, I have people close to me, I can communicate, I have internet (woo hoo!). But I also know it's likely that I'll have at least one or two more of these moments.

The following is a metaphor I wrote about culture shock:

I'd wanted to swim in the ocean for about 10 years. More precisely, I wanted to be flown in a helicopter out in the middle of the ocean, be dropped out far enough that I couldn't see the land, then I wanted to swim to shore.

I'd read all the books about what to do, what to take, and how to do it. I had my shark repellent, my space sticks energy sticks, and even a flare for if it got really bad. Gearing up for this moment, I practiced every day in the swimming pool, and I was totally pumped. I'd even read first-hand accounts from people who had done precisely this same thing. I even knew what emotions I would likely be feeling and how to deal with them.

I was prepared. Everything was ready. I was ready. Completely.

They flew me in a helicopter, told me exactly what to do if I needed help, then I made the leap into that huge ocean. I watched the helicopter fly away, and I started to swim. I was feeling strong and awesome. Everything was going according to plan.

Then I started to get a little tired, and I felt something bump my foot. The smell of the salt water was getting to me, and I was starting to get a sunburn. I realized that as much as I had prepared, NOTHING could have prepared me for that feeling of being in the middle of the ocean all alone and not being able to see shore. I started to feel overwhelmed by all the water around me and how alone I felt, but I pushed it off, knowing I couldn't feel this way because I had prepared. But what I hadn't prepared for was my very own emotional reaction to everything. As much as my brain was ready, my emotions weren't, and after much pushing down, the emotions overwhelmed me.

It finally passed and I pressed on. The dream and the realization of that dream driving me further. Most of the time I'm fine and it's under control, but every now and then, the vastness of the sea gets to me.

These songs are REALLY catchy.

А.Р.М.И.Я - Мы сделали это This WILL get stuck in your head.

LILU - Будь ближе Fun video. Pop.

Алиби: Мелодия дождя Soft, melodic.

Юлия Войс "Где ты, мой ангел" Generically good.

Тина Кароль "Полюс притяжения" Beautiful voice.

Марта-Цветок Seriously, check out her outfit. Crazy.

Ирина Билык Нас Нет The video plays like a movie

Потап и Настя Каменских - Не пара (uncensored) Russian Hip-Hop. This video has naked women, so don't watch if you're easily offended. Great song.

Потап и Настя Каменских - VNATURE (uncensored) More Russian Hip-Hop, more naked women. Great song, though.

Потап, Дядя Вадя и Ugo - Наташа More hiphop. Sans boobies.

Last night I hung out with my new host family for a while. It's funny and irrational, but there's this part of me that thinks: You shouldn't talk about your other family with this family. What can I say--I'm a one family kinda gal! I'm cheating on one family with another. ah ha haha. I know it's stupid, and I talk about them anyway.

It started snowing last night. It's still snowing. I walked in the deep snow with my host dad. He's a really nice guy and I covet his bag. It's like this tiny little briefcase. Big enough to stick letters and keys and money in and yet smaller than a woman's purse and bigger than a wallet. I covet it. He's a really cool guy. Last night he took me around town to run errands. I needed to get my pants mended, to change some money, go to the internet club, and to the post office.

First we went to get my pants mended. My pants were waaay too long. Seriously. The reason these women wear 10 inch heels is so their pants hems aren't dragging in mud! I'm a shorty and my pants were always getting muddy. So for a mere 12G I was able to get them mended. I never would have found this place on my own. First, it's out in nowhereland. By a big bazaar and around a corner. I think I saw Lady and the Tramp there. Not the movie, the actual dogs. That's how hidden it was. So we rounded this corner in an alley and walked up these dark stairs. Had I been there by myself I would have sworn the building was closed, that no one had ever been there, that it was abandoned. Nope. We walked through the dark, up a few flights of stairs and through a door and BAM, there was light. He asked for a woman and we were led through a hallway, passing open doors filled with women, clothes, and sewing machines. It was awesome.

We finally met the woman and she had me put on my pants-to-be-altered. She marked them with white chalk and I took them off, put on my jeans, and handed my pants to her. She asked me a question about the hem--how I wanted it to look, and I got to bust out with my favorite phrase: Vso ravno. It means everything is the same-or-I don't care. She smiled and told my host dad they'd be done in about 40 minutes. So we went to do other tasks.

We went to attempt to change money. I emphasize attempt. If you come to Ukraine, DON'T FOLD YOUR DOLLARS! Seriously. They have this super fancy checking machine that has stages. The first stage is to put it under this security camera. Then they run it through an auto machine. If it is too folded it won't even pass the first stage. If it's too folded and somehow passes stage one, it won't go through the auto machine. We went to two places. The first took two of my one dollar bills but not my 10. The second place took my other one, but not my 10. I'm going to try ironing it. Grrr. I covet my host dad's brief-purse.

So the next was the post office. You'll be happy to know that, just like in America, they're slow. It's like a slice of home life. We waited and waited. I finally sent something out. A letter to my best gal pal in the US, and one to my language teacher who is leaving our group. It said in Russian: Thank you. You are good teacher. After I get apartment, I want to invite you and your wife to be guests. I will cook!

I'm proud of my language skills.

So now I'm at work, in my short pants and ready for my workshop. More about that later.

Today I went to an English Club here in Zhytomyr. My host sister was going and invited me along. I was really excited about this opportunity because part of the site assessment is seeing what the resources are, seeing what's happening in the community, etc. My host sister mentioned it was religious and my first question was: Mormon? Of course!

So we walk to this apartment. It's just started snowing slightly, there's mud everywhere, and we're cold. We walk inside the apartment and it's even colder than outside, and the floors look like they have colored contact paper on them. It's very 70s. And no one takes off their shoes, hence the scotch-guarding. We meet the two elders: Elder Paulsen and (ack! I can't remember the Ukrainian man's name). My host sister and I are the only two there to start with, and I'm asking questions about Mormons in Ukraine (they're the only two in Zhytomyr) and about his service, how they advertise, how they don't make it seem sleezy (come to my apartment and learn English, young woman), etc.

There ended up being a total of four students and one grandfather who came. E.Paulsen did the "invent your own country" lesson, which I've done before. The group decides their name, what their business is, what their language is, etc. Afterward I couldn't help but do my job. Seriously. I couldn't just go. So I asked him my Teacher Trainer questions: What did you like about this lesson? What would you have changed about it? I gave him some suggestions as well: put the chairs in a circle so they can see each other when they are speaking. Read up on the communicative method so that it's more student focused rather than teacher focused. Have a section on the board to leave up new words. And point with a pen rather than your finger. Seriously. In Ukraine, the teachers don't point to the board with their fingers. I have no idea why. But his Ukrainian partner totally nodded. ha ha ha.

So yeah, scoping out my site and found the Mormons. Rulz.

I went on an adventure the other day. My host sister and I had looked at coats at the big bazaar and on Saturday night my mother called to tell me she had put some money in my account for me to use to buy a coat and boots. So on Sunday my host sister was working and I couldn't find a single person to go with me. I decided to go it on my own.

I knew the direction, and I knew where to catch the bus. I was able to ask the woman standing at the stop which bus went there (I was also able to understand her). It was getting pretty nasty out--my coat was covered in slush, because it was sort of snow-raining or rain-snowing or slushing. Take your pick. I learned that umbrellas are awesome when it snows. Who knew? So I'm waiting for the bus in the slush with my umbrella. I get on the bus and while on the bus I'm able to ask the bus driver if the next stop is mine (it was), and I get off the bus at the big church and bazaar.

I slush my way over to the bazaar, with a vague notion of which way the coat woman was. I pass by the mayo-pizza vendors, stopping to buy a potato perogie. I get into the bazaar and can't find the coat woman. I walk up and down the aisles, looking at the different coat fashions, for about half an hour.

Ukrainian coats are interesting. Ukrainian women LOVE fur or at least fake fur. They also love lots of buckles and shineys on their coats. It's great. They also love leather. Leather + fur + sparkley buckles = Ukrainian love. I really love just looking. I did find my way into a different section. I've decided that Ukrainian bazaars are a living thing. A shy living thing. Know how turtles hide their heads and feet and tail? Well the bazaars are a bit like that. Unless you know there's more there you think that's it. Then you wander for a bit--waiting, and the turtle pokes its head out and you find a big pocket of the bazaar you would have sworn wasn't there. Either that or it's fairies messing with me.

So I found the pocket with the coat lady. I bought the coat I'd been eyeing--it was 350Г, then I found a boot vendor. The bazaar fairies were kind to me that day. Have I explained about Ukrainian boots? They are knee high, covered in buckles and sequins, and have 10 inch stilleto heels. Or at least that's how it looks. Also, the women have stick legs, small feet, and no concept of sore feet. So I happen to find the one pair of short boots with no heels and are big enough to fit me. It was a miracle. A Christmas miracle. They are full of fake fur, so my feet are WARM! And they were only 125g. Awesome.

I then went over to the yarn booth. At home, buying yarn is a relatively straightforward thing. You do have many options, but in general everything is laid out for you and you can touch and see everything. The yarn booth at the bazaar is different. It's more like a drive through. All the yarn is behind the counter, the woman speaks another language, and it's a gamble. I told her I wanted yarn to go with my coat (which is red and black) and I wanted thick, not thin. This sounds like there were no problems. It took me 20 minutes between her helping other people and me grabbing my dictionary and looking up words. She picked out a somewhat fuzzy black/red yarn. I thought it was too similar and I asked if I should have a different color. She and the other Ukrainian woman were emphatic that THIS was the right color. ХОРОШО. So I bought two of them and went on my merry way.

Check and mate.

After six weeks, Peace Corps has all its trainees go for a site visit. During this time we meet the family we will live with for one month, we meet our Ukrainian counterpart (the teacher we will work with closely for the next two years), and we get to see our workplace. We are gone from our original site for about a week, we get to bond with one another and then go to our sites, then come back together for a few days and then back on to our sites.

I didn't realize how necessary this was. Mixing it up a little. Training is strange--you are in this small little bubble, you are learning language, you see the same people every day all day, you just need a change of pace. You need to see the friends you left at Orientation, you just need a break. Plus, you get to know where you'll be, and that's really exciting, or nerve wracking, depending on how you look at it.

Site placement is this big "hush hush" event. They keep it "top secret" until we all get together and they reveal it in front of everyone. That said, a handful of people will always know ahead of time--Peace Corps tells current volunteers who is coming to their areas, they have it in their office, etc. Some people are very upset that others know their sites, others, like me, don't care.

So yesterday I got up really early to go over to McDonalds, since that's where the marshrootka to Kyiv is. I was waiting for my friend--we were going to go together, and we were supposed to meet at 8. Well, in the hustle and bustle of packing excitement, host mom excitement, I ended up somehow leaving my house at 7am! I got there 45 minutes early. And waited in the freezing cold. yep, it was a great morning. Did I mention that there was about 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground? Yeah.

He arrives at 8, as planned, and a few other volunteers came as well. We grabbed some snacks for the road and got in to the marshrootka. They told us to pack lightly, since we would be gone for 8 days and had to transport our own stuff. I was worried about my one bag + laptop bag + plastic bag. I stopped worrying when one volunteer showed up with a suitcase big enough to smuggle a small family across the border. We were all chatting and having fun, then settled in for the trip. Which involves being antisocial and listening to music. For me, it usually involves sleep.

I honestly can't remember if I slept. Yesterday feels a bit blurry. I remember looking at the scenery. Ukraine is full of amazingly bright colors. Blues and greens, reds and oranges. It's really pretty when all the fences are lined up and there is a parade of bright colors that passes you. It's a nice contrast to the snow everywhere. So maybe I slept. Probably I slept. But I don't remember.

We get to Kyiv and get on the metro and take it over to our stop, then transfer to another marshrootka. We end up at our little "soviet era" hotel. A couple of volunteers are on one of the balconies and we all shout greetings to one another. Several volunteers are down in the lobby, along with mail (I had no idea how much it FEELS like mail = love, but it does!), and check in. We get to choose our own roommates, but there are three to a room. I check in and put down Suzy as my roommate, as planned, and go up to the room to drop off my stuff.

The room is small but adequate. There are great big windows, so we got a great view of the snow, and a balcony, three beds, a small end table, a dresser for our clothes, and a bathroom. I staked out a bed and went on the balcony and saw Suzy's group. I shout to her, as I am an American and must let the world know, and run downstairs. The situation is now Social +3 and rising. We choose another girl to room with and all settle our stuff in.

That night we have our dinner and after dinner The Site Placement. Ukraine is a huge country, and we placed all 80something of us all around that country. One friend of mine got Odessa, another ended up in Crimea, and I got my site: Zhytomyr. They placed the rest of the groups, which was really hard to pay attention to, as my body was constantly reminding me that I'd had quite a bit to drink. Funny how ceremonies seem that much longer when you have a pressing need.

So, Zhytomyr. What did I know about Zhytomyr? Nothing. I'm a pretty ignorant person when it comes to world geography/politics/history, etc. Ask me anything about Joss Whedon or Battlestar Galactica, and I'm your gal. Ask me to tell you anything about parts of the world and I really don't know. I did find out many of the LCFs are from Zhytomyr, which is really neat, and our Adopt a Cluster person is about 30 minutes from there, and it's about 2 hours away from Kyiv. Score! The really funny thing is this: before I shipped out for Peace Corps--after I was given my job title and country, I looked up Teacher Trainer blogs online. And I came across one from a guy named Daniel. Sure enough, I have his old site. How ironic is that?

We received a piece of paper telling us a little bit: the name of the institute we'd be working at, the name of the person we'd be working with, the approximate population, etc. Suzy's was

I'm not as mature as you'd think.

Today I helped my host mom make borsch. Well, she made it and I watched, wrote down directions and took pictures (recipe to follow!!!). Part of the process is making chicken broth, which involved chopping up a whole chicken into about five or six sections and boiling it in a pot of water and skimming off the scum. While she was stirring it up I noticed something funky--it was a part of the chicken that looked green. I pointed at it and she said "poop."

I'm totally not kidding.

A smile involuntarily erupted on my face and I said "Poop?" trying to hold back laugher. She said it again "POOP." and then pointed at my belly and said "JULIA POOP".

That's when I lost it.

I started laughing and couldn't stop. She started speaking in Russian and her speech was riddled with Poop. This was how it sounded to me:

"ajigojaijgPOOPjaiojigoajPOOPjapogijpsPOOPajogaiopPOOP."

At this point I was bent over and tears were streaming out my eyes and I was practically convulsing with laughter every time she said POOP.

Turns out POOP means belly button, but when talking about Chickens, it means the stomach.

Really--people in Ukraine LOVE their mayo. White creamy sauces are their favorites. If it's not mayo it's sour cream or whole milk.

I was in the store and I couldn't believe how many different kinds of mayo were available. So I took a video of all of it. I call it "miles of mayo".

If you ever come to eat in Ukraine, ready your stomachs. You will get your dinner on a plate or a bowl, finish it and think you are done. But no. You will then get a second plate FILLED with food. You look in dismay at how much food is on the plate, but you steady yourself for this marathon eating event, with the end goal in sight. Finally you cross that finish line and think you are done, but NO. There's one more plate there, set in front of you with JUST as much food.

The food is delicious. I promise you. But at this point you feel like they could roll you out of the room, and they're pushing the plate toward you saying EAT EAT EAT in a loud voice. You think you're going to be sick from eating SO MUCH FOOD, but you don't want to be rude, and everyone keeps insisting regardless of the "help me" look in your eyes, so you slowly start to eat. You can't attack it with the gusto you had to begin with, because your stomach is screaming at you "what the hell! Are you trying to kill me!?" and you MAYBE finish. And finally you're done.

Nope. Now there's the blintzes (pancakes that you eat with sour cream) and chai and cookies and cakes.

I'm not lying to you. That's how almost every one of my dinners has been. I noticed that my host sister wasn't expected to eat nearly as much as I was, so I said "HEY--Why doesn't she EAT EAT EAT" and she says (and I'm so not lying) "You are eating for two" I yell HEY, I'M NOT PREGNANT!!! What her meaning was: I was eating supper and dinner--so I was eating two meals at once.

Yeah, losing weight while living with a host family is IMPOSSIBLE. At least tonight I was able to totally refuse the hot dog. I also told her I'd try a little of everything on Tuesday (her birthday), but I'm trying to steel my stomach for all the mayo dishes.

I just hope they don't make me eat "poop". (see the "poop" post)

Sometimes we think we know what we hear, but really we don't.

When we were at our tech meeting, we were all talking about the different kinds of schools in Ukraine. There are gymnasiums, which focus on humanities, and lyceums, which focus on scientifics, and someone in our group said "and there are also internet schools, too, right?"

He was really impressed that Ukraine had internet schools--what he pictured to be high tech, wired schools.

Instead, what it's called is interNOT, which is a school for orphans. Just a little bit different. Still really funny and it took a good five minutes to restore order to our group.

Those are the colors that 80% of the women in Ukraine have as hair color. It's almost hard to find brown or black hair! And when I say red, I mean Very Bright like a brilliant burgundy or fire engine red. And pink. Like pink. And apparently these colors are totally appropriate for teachers to have. Wild! I may end up dying my hair red if it's not too spendy.

My house: Okay, first of all it's on the fifth floor. I think I climb 60 stairs to get up to it. I already mentioned about the wild locking mechanism, and after you open the door, there's an inner door that's padded like a vinyl seat cushion. The dog then greets you--well, she greets me and would bark at you because she doesn't know you, of course!

You walk into a room and there's a...I can't remember the English word for it...it's like a small dresser that comes up to about your knees and has three tall mirrors on it so you can see your hair from all sides. On that dresser is the phone. Your shoes go to your right.

To the right is the kitchen, forward is the living room/my host parents' bedroom. To the left is the hallway and the first door on the left is the toilet room. Just a toilet. It's got a padded seat, which is going to be super nice when it's freezing and I won't have to set bare skin on subarctic temperature porcelain! The next door on your left is the bathroom. There's a bathtub, a mirror to your left, and a small washing machine to the right.

Straight down the hall is Tanya's room, and to the right is my room. My room has wallpaper on it--a grey/black floral design. It looks very 80s to me. My bed is pretty large, and there are massive cabinets every where. I have a table and chair for studying, and there's a balcony in my room where the laundry is often hung.

My routine: In the morning I wake up to my alarm. It's the Superman theme. Then I tell it to wake me up in 10 minutes. Then I tell it wake me up in 5 minutes. I then get up and fold my blanket and put it in the cabinet, I fold my sheet and cuddle blanket and put them in the cabinet, I put my pillows in the cabinet, shut it, straighten the decorative blanket on the bed and put on the decoration pillows. By this time my host mom has gotten up and peeked her head in to say good morning and has started breakfast. I put my stuff for class on the bed along with my bag. I pick out my clothes and change from my yummy fleece pajamas to long underwear, black pants, formal shirt and sweater. I then go eat too much breakfast. Always have coffee or chai. I sit on the side of the tub and brush my teeth using the bathtub as a sink. I then apply makeup, throw my crap in my bag and leave for my lesson.

Dom Dva. I have hit the jackpot. It means "House 2". Think Top Model meets Big Brother only with more rolling in flour (thank you, Amy, for giving me this description). Thanks to the power of my camera, I have recorded bits of Dom Dva for your viewing pleasure. Sadly, I missed most of the part where the model was attacking her boyfriend--I did catch the tail end where she was flailing her fists at him and crying. This is High Drama. Think the Puck season of Real World. Exactly--this is Real World, Russia! The commercials are pretty damn funny as well--I took a video of those.

My host mom gave me a shirt. It's so Ukrainian! It's a light blue/grey color and it's ANIMAL PRINT! Sweet! I've never owned anything animal print and now I do. I'll be the most fashionable PCV here! heh.

Today I had a tiny bit of a tough day. I've noticed that Ukrainians have their personal volume set about two notches higher than Americans. Or they're doing what we do when people can't speak English--you speak louder. ^_^. My host sister often tells me what to do in a very matter of fact way "Julia, EAT. Julia, GO TO BED. Julia, GO TO BATH." Which is fine and I take these as a) a rite of passage b) temporary c) a way of showing care. But still, there's a lot of loud directed my way and I absorb it well, I think. So my host sister and I went out to the 75th anniversary celebration of Chirnihiv being made capital city of this Oblast, and we were going around to food vendors and I was asking her what things were, and she yelled at me "I DON'T KNOW." I kind of lost it internally and held it in. A little later when I thought I was composed I said "Please don't yell at me for asking you what something is." Only my stupid eye started leaking and she said "please don't cry--I'm sorry." I have no idea why it got to me all at once, but it did. I think every once in a while things just overwhelm, and there's enough here that's NEW and DIFFERENT that sometimes really small things can tip over the internal order that was much more precariously perched than you realized.

You have no idea how relieved I am to know that the posts I'd bookmarked for public entry in my other blog were approved! The director even remarked that my writing was very interesting!

Trying to talk about differences without sounding like you are making judgments is more difficult than you would think. Take the salo. It's literally a slice of pig fat you eat on bread. When you describe it, what words would you use? Whatever you thought about it, however much you are turning up your face at it right now, be aware it is "Ukrainian Narcotic." They love it and can't get enough of it. I tried it and didn't think it was bad.

Thankfully I've had the experiences of being an ESL teacher, and I've had the opposite experience: telling students to try something and they turn their face up at it. They judge it before they try it, they refuse to try it, they make faces. And here I am telling them about a wonderful thing! I wonder how they describe what I was talking about.

More about Ukraine!

First thing is first: When you enter the home, TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES! Really. This means always wearing your best socks. Unless you're in school, you will constantly be taking your shoes off. And since you wash your socks and undies by hand, make sure you don't get white. Nothing says "gross!" like dingy white (now grey) socks. Second: WASH YOUR HANDS! My host mom is constantly motioning for me to wash my hands. Ha ha! I've beat her at her own game and so far have had my hands washed by the time she's said it to me. Thirdly: if you're visiting, BRING A GIFT! Btw, it's okay to leave the price tag on here! I was giving my host mom a small dessert and, while walking, I was starting to tear off the price tag and my host sister looked at me strange and said "what are you doing?" Well, duh! It's rude to give a gift with the price tag on. Not here. In the US I've received gifts with the tags on and the person noticed, grabbed it out of my hand after I'd seen the price, pulled off the price tag and handed it back to me. Okay, to be fair, I've done that as well. Here, apparently not a big deal. Oh, and lastly: remember that if there's a trash can in the bathroom, put your used paper in there. I've probably mentioned it a few times already and will probably mention it a few times more, but it would be really embarrassing to forget and have the toilet back up and have someone talking in loud Ukrainian or Russian about your bathroom business. I'm not speaking from experience. I swear. Really.

Today: Today was a great day. I went to bed WAAAY too late last night. I was writing a huge long email to friends and had to read a lot of pages for my homework. I woke up in the middle of the night because my door was squeaking open. I swear I would kill for some beeswax and WD40. Really. Okay, not really. So I got up and threw a sock over the top of the door and it shut tight. Ah. My host mom, in the morning after I pantomimed the squeaky door (by the way I will TOTALLY PWN AT TIME'S UP when I finish my two year stint here), she said "JULIA" and walked me into my room and locked the door from the inside. Okay okay, but I only like to lock my door if I really need people to stay out. Is that strange? So I've now sacrificed a nowgrey sock to the door gods.

Breakfast was big, as usual. And dinner-like, as usual. I don't think most cultures have such clearly defined parameters for "breakfast food" as in the United States. Really. Don't believe me? Try serving cold cereal to your guests for dinner. Or pancakes and eggs and sausage for lunch. From what I've seen, most cultures don't delineate specifically "breakfast food." Of course I come from the one culture that does, and I wonder if I'll ever get used to it after 30 years of specific breakfast foods.

After breakfast, on to language. Yesterday we started learning how to use the present tense! Hooray! (I'm still hung up on wanting past tense!) So now instead of "Julia to wash" and pointing at the dishes, I can say "I wash" and point at the dishes. Rules! Also I can say "I study Russian!" and "I speak little Russian" (Ya gavaryou tchoot-tchoot Pa-Russky). I feel like a pro. And during language class I was able to match all the correct endings with the correct subjects. SCORE!

Today we started our unit on food. We activated prior knowledge and named all the foods we could. We got a lot, actually! We also got a lot of homework! Yai yai! After our lesson I had a tutoring session. I asked about some words. I'm such a language teacher--I'm constantly saying "that ending means that word is an adjective, right?" and things to that effect. For me, knowledge of the language is as important as learning phrases. Well, for my longer term goal. Of course I want to know how to say things like "Repeat please", but I do want to understand the cogs and inner workings of a language as well--it's the language teacher in me. I got a Russian magazine called "Good advice". My teacher helped me read through part of it. We looked at the recipe section and through the index. I'm really excited about the words I can recognize. Even later today when I heard people speaking out of context and I was able to connect that with meaning, it was so exciting!

After the lesson I made my way to the bazaar. I found my host mom's booth--she sells shirts and jackets, and I took oodles of pictures of the "Ukrainski fashion" for my "Amerikanski padrooga". I was able to ask them if I could take pictures ("Harasho?" and pointing at the camera) and able to indicate that in the US we don't bling out our jeans and don't usually wear runway model boots. So yeah, most of my pictures from the bazaar are of jeans butts (they were laid out and folded, not on people!) and boots. I got some great pictures of the bazaar as well--some booths and a great shot of the church overlooking the bazaar.

I also relearned the sneaky way of taking pictures. Looking like you're "Just holding" the camera down by your waist, but you're serruptitiously snapping pictures with your thumb. It's not that I'm trying to be all Cloak and Dagger, but people look at you strangely enough just because you're American, so having them not stare MORE is a good thing.

In the center I found a woman selling magazines outside. I bought a Russian Cosmo and told her I speak a little Russian and that I'm studying Russian. I saw she had a Harry Potter and was going to buy it but she said no and showed me that it was in Ukrainian! Good save!

I found a bookstore and blew my personal wad on a bigger Russian/English dictionary and a Russian Harry Potter. 45G!!! Wow. That's not a lot US, but it's a LOT here. But it's the one Russian book I really wanted to buy. My Russian Cosmo, Good Advice, Fantastic Four comic, and my Harry Potter are really all the Russian reading materials I need.

After the bookstore I went into the 2 Geese cafe. I bought some food and sat and internetted for over an hour. Did I mention I love the internet? I love WiFi. I like internet cafes, but I LOVE being able to use MY computer with its English default language that I can read all the warnings and 404 pages and understand all the menus. I really do.

I bought a Life :) card, but apparently it doesn't work! Argh. My host sister wants to go to the center with me tomorrow to talk to the boy who sold it to me. Okay okay. She was looking through my Cosmo and found a sample of this "untinted" foundation. Apparently "untinted" in Russia means you have quite the tan. After she smeared it on my face I smeared it on hers. It was very girlie. I'm having a lot of fun bonding with her. Apparently I translate the same to teenagers. All my teenage "friends" regardless of country end up mock punching me. What's up with that? It's fun and cute.

It was really nice to be able to talk to my host mom a little. I can REALLY see an improvement i my Russian. The first day I wasn't able to say ANYTHING to her, and today I was able to ask her if we were going to make borsch on Sunday (okay, I said "tomorrow tomorrow" for "the day after tomorrow", but still--communication!). I was also able to say "I wash" when she took my dish. hooray me!

Tomorrow is Chirnihiv's 75th birthday of being made the capital of this oblast. There are going to be lots of festivities in town. I'm pretty excited about it. It should be lots of fun.

I'm trying very hard to keep up with my journaling. It's Sunday night and I'm writing Saturday's entry. Not too bad. So far I've only gone a full day without writing.

We were given a task to complete yesterday. We had to go on our own to School Number 1 by 8:30. I totally had it planned out and was going to walk in the morning, but my host dad insisted on going with me. First I thought he just wanted to leave at the same time and he was on his way to work, but nope, he totally went with me. That was cool, though, because I already knew how to get there, so it just reconfirmed what I already knew.

Met everyone at 8:30am and started our Technical Training at 9am. We learned about what we're going to be doing in and for Ukraine.

As a teacher trainer, these will be my tasks:

--travel to schools outside the Oblast Center in order to conduct techer-training events.

--Conduct one day teaching seminars at Institute on English Language and on active teaching using communicative TEFL methods.

--Development of scopel sequence of teacher recertification seminars.

--Continue professional development and support of PC secondary school TEFL volunteers; peer technical support during site visits.

--Organizing/facilitating summer TEFL camps for teachers/students

--Participating in the development of English Olympiad materials

--Organization and facilitation of English clubs for teachers

--Development of teaching materials (visuals, cards, audio, video materials)

--Grading

--Classroom management

--Teaching in Ukrainian Schools

--Secondary Community projects

Our ultimate goals will be to:

--Work effectively within a Ukrainian educational environment demonstrating ability to implement current teaching methodoogies and techniques

--Use teaching skills to positively influence educational community development

During these three months we will end up doing about 10 lesson plans, teaching about 10 classes, and additionally teach three classes to our peers. I'm signed up to teach Lesson Planning, Extra Curricular Activities, and PDM intro (I have no clue what that is). We also have 4-5 hours of language training five days a week and homework every day (which I love! seriously!). It's pretty intense--like being back in school.

While we were in our lesson, I noticed my socks were getting wet. This is a "slipper society". Because it is so muddy during the wet times and the streets are not pristinely paved, your shoes get dirty and so every house you immediately take off your shoes. I thought I had spilled my water, so I looked around and noticed that the floor was REALLY wet. I looked behind my chair and between the carpets I saw a river of water in the hallway. Apparently this is one of the negatives of having a first floor apartment in Ukraine--when people flush toilet paper it can back up the systems, and it screws over the people in the lower floors. So her plumbing was backed up and we had to relocate.

After all our tech training we had a cross cultural breakdown. We have an hour each week to chat with the LCFs--Language/Culture Facilitators. We talk about what's happened in the last week, we ask questions, and they try to explain. Having someone break down culture is awesome. Being able to ask questions without offending is really great. We covered bathroom etiquette, housekeeping, food, etc. A few things that popped out were: apparently Americans drink a LOT of water. One of the ladies said that Americans laugh at Ukrainians for not drinking any water and Ukrainians laugh at Americans for drinking too much water. Their philosophy is that they get enough liquids from their soups (because borsch is practically manditory every day!) and so they don't drink water during meals at all. Another thing they said was that my earrings would have to go. They didn't exactly say that, but really, I have to take out my earrings. Big sigh. No zero gauge stretching these next two years. They also said that after 3 days someone staying in their house becomes family or "that weird person living in the house." heh. One way to distinguish between guest and "family" is--who does the guest's dishes? If the family insists on doing the guest's dishes, then the person is a guest. If they let the person do their own dishes, that person is family. Needless to say, that night I insisted on doing my own dishes.

After all that, my language group decided to meet at 3pm for a picnic with our families. There were about 15 there: T&M and their host mom and host brother, E with her host mom and host sister, Cindy with her host mom and host brother, me and my host mom and Larissa, our language teacher. E, Cindy and I all brought desserts. We walked for about half an hour through the forest and finally came to this really great area with fires burning. These two guys had left a fire burning unattended, but it was set up okay--on vodka bottles. What a great use of glass! The moms laid out the tablecloth and food and we all hung out and ate and toasted and drank. It was finally my turn. After all the "eat eat eat eat eat"s from host moms, I pointed to our desserts and said to the host moms "eat eat eat eat" (pronounced "yest"). ha ha ha It was really funny and they all laughed.

After food we played some games to help with our Russian. We had to stand in a circle and introduce the person to our left, us, and the person to our right, then the person to our right would introduce us, then themself, then the person to their right, etc. We also were randomly given names, we had to find the people and ask where they were from, what their hobbies were, and what their occupation was. I've decided that kids are a lot of fun to learn language with, because somehow they have infinite patience, can repeat the same thing over and over, and aren't hung up on understanding every word you're saying if you slip into English.

After all the games, we walked home. I'm starting to figure out Chirnihiv. There's basically one main street and a few minor streets, then some footpaths. It makes it easier to navigate, and I'm connecting dots, as it were.

When we got home I did some homework--copying some of the verbs I'm learning into my notebook, recopying the notes I took in class, then I about split my head open with my yawning. I was EXHAUSTED. I went into the bedroom and made the bed, then laid down and started reading my homework. When I finished that I was plumb tuckered out and I went to sleep at the crazy hour of 8pm. All the insomnia was finally catching up with me and it kicked my butt.

Last night I didn't just fall asleep. "Fall" is too gentle of a word. It was more like I was bitch-slapped asleep. I started dreaming while I was still aware of my physical presence. I could feel what position I was sleeping in, I could feel my pillow, I was aware of the time, but I started dreaming other people were in the room. I dreamed Cindy and E and Larissa were in the room and we were having another Russian lesson in my room! In my dream I was actually laying on some of the Russian papers with phrases written on them (Like "otkooda vwieu") and they were talking to me in Russian and expecting a reply. In my dream/real life I tried to answer but was too exhausted. (I really wouldn't be surprised if I really did try to answer irl) I was also thinking to myself "Why are we having a language lesson this late!?"

The dream then morphed into a great one. I dreamed I was in Ukraine and met this great guy. We were speaking in Russian and I found out he was an ex-pat and had been living in Ukraine for the past few years. He really liked me and as we were talking I asked if he liked the show "Friends" and he said "No, I prefer Stargate." He then proceeded to show me his stargate tattoo! I practically flipped out in my dream.

Back to reality. I went to bed at 8pm and woke up just before 9am. I only woke up once in the night to use the bathroom. Amazing and rested I was! My host sister made me breakfast (The host families agree to make breakfast and dinner for us) and I washed all our dishes. She and I watched some music videos together (her: Enrique Iglacias is so good looking!) We also were looking out the window and giggled together at the two guys looking out their window in the apartment down the way who weren't wearing their shirts. She walked me down to the bazaar to buy some toothpaste (pasta) and some other things. Her shoes are amazing.

After we finished with our purchases (she helped me pick out an appropriate Ukrainian hair scrunchie. It's very blinged out with the sparkles) I went on to the center of town.

My frustration today: I lost the back of my phone! How the heck does that happen?

The center is about a mile and a half from my house. It was a nice walk and I started noticing different businesses and trying to memorize where things are in my community. I met up with Cindy at McDonalds (it's the only McDonalds here in Chirnihiv, so it's a great recognizable landmark). We started searching around for the internet cafe, and spent a good half hour looking for the sushi place, which we knew to be near the internet cafe. We stopped in a restaurant and bought some food and then found the library and studied for a while. I think I know my numbers. I at least can recognize them. I can produce about 80% of them.

When we got to the library a woman stopped us. Apparently you can't take your bags upstairs in the library, so there's a bag check at the front. I had to take out all my study materials and leave my bag. The great thing was that the lady had a piece of paper already prepared in English that had that rule as well as things like "Unfortunately you cannot check out materials because you do not have documents"

Upstairs there are all kinds of card catalogs and paintings on the wall and tons of desks/tables. We went to a room filled with tables and chairs. Great place for studying! Apparently in Ukraine it's not cool to study at a cafe or restaurant. It's kind of weird. I met a few Ukrainian students (I needed them to write "21" in Ukrainian for me). They spoke some English and Andrew introduced himself. They were history students!

Cindy left while I was studying and went to the internet cafe. I stayed for another half hour? and made my way over to the internet cafe as well. She was in line for internet. The internet cafe we went to has 26 computers. You give them XXX Grivnyas (their dollars) and they give you a receipt with a number on it. You go to that computer and when you are finished you hand the operator the receipt and she gives you money back. I gave her 20 grivnyas. Apparently it was only .70 or so an hour (that would be $.14US. Awesome.

I spent a good three hours in that internet cafe. I emailed my friends and family, I chatted with my best friend Selene, and spent a good two hours reading blogs. It was great. It totally recharged me. Remember the smoker analogy? Well, I got my full pack in and was able to leisurely smoke it. Ahhhh. That's what it felt like to me--slipping into a warm bath and not having any pressures. My host mom called when I had almost finished up and I had the guy next to me talk to her. I bought her some flowers on the way home--3Grivnyas ($.60US) and bought a ton of baby pears for only 2.5Grivnyas ($.50US). I waited for the bus and experienced my first EEK moment. I knew where my bus stop was and tried to get off, but the bus took off and I was like "what?" I got off at the one down the corner, but it's very frustrating not to be able to say "WAIT! It's my stop!" when you need to say "wait! It's my stop!"

Got home and gave the flowers to my host mom (I swear to you that if they're always that cheap I'm buying fresh flowers for myself every week in my apartment). She made me a great soup with potatoes and carrots and onions in it and flavored with dill. Mid eating that she brought me a plate of seasoned rice, two hot dogs and a tomato. While eating that she brought out a purple dish. It was very pretty--it looked like frosting or sour cream on the top which was purple from beets, there was a design in the top made of carrots, and a beet flower in the top. I told her I'd try a tiny bit (tchoot-tchoot) and in it was chicken and sour cream and maybe rice? Some was hard to identify. I told her it was so-so and thanked her for it.

When you eat in a Ukrainian home, understand that an empty plate means "Please give me more." So if you're done eating, leave food on your plate. Trust me.

My host mom and I then chatted for a bit. By chatted I mean drew pictures and looked up words in the dictionary. I read her my paragraph about my family. Here is my paragraph:

This is my family. I have a mother. Her name is Deana. I have a father. His name is Joel. My father is a carpenter. His hobby is repairing radios. My mother is a librarian. Her hobby is church.

Nice job, me! I asked my host mom about her family, and we figured out both our families between the dictionary and pictures, and she helped me with Russian spelling of names. Then into my room for studying and writing of blog. And now you're up to date.

Am awake with insomnia. Apparently my body isn't doing as well with the 10 hour time difference as I thought. While it's 2am and change here, it's 4pm and change there. I'm pleased to report that your tomorrow is looking good. Except for the first night when I was EXHAUSTED, I haven't yet slept an entire night through. This is the third day waking up at 4am, 3am, 2am.

Today was a good day! Let me break it down thematically

Food: Breakfast was marvelous. The food I've eaten has been very rich, and while it is extremely tasty, I'm a little worried that I won't be able to leave at the end of two years because I will be too big to fit on the plane. I've had so many bready-foods. This morning it was delicious pancake rolls--they were about the size of a deck of cards, they were sweet like pancake batter, and perfectly cooked to a slight crispy on the outside and warm and doughy on the inside. I put applesauce on mine and was immediately chided by my Mama. (It was great, though!). I also had a savory pancake type dish, which was flatter and had less sweet and had bell peppers in them. First I thought they were apples, so the savory flavor surprised me. So this morning--Mama has 4 of the pancake rolls for me, a large savory pancake dish, and sweet chai (tea). You see my dilemma! Delicious food = more of me to love, no delicious food = no delicious food. But, we were running late, so this is also the first time Mama didn't continue to tell me Eat Eat Eat Eat in Russian. For dinner I had BORSCH!!! It was seriously the MOST DELICIOUS THING EVER. Holy crap it was so good. Mama Ala said she would teach me on Sunday. I also had applesauce filled blintzes. YUM!

Going places: This morning we all met at the center of town (McDonalds--there's only one here) and took another bus to the consolate building (I think that's what it was). We got back to our language teacher's apartment without her help! Hooray!

Language: I was able to ask for and buy sugar at the store! Hooray! Also, feel like I'm keeping on pace with the class. I do have hours of studying ahead of me, but that's how I keep on pace.

Relationships: I feel like I'm really bonding with Cindy. We have things in common, we have fun together, it's just good. I also bonded with my host mom's granddaughter. She helped me with learning my numbers. It's crazy to me how patient 5 year olds can be sometimes, and she has so much more of the language than I do. So seriously, we spent a good 30-45 minutes doing numbers. She's also started hugging me a lot. I'm not used to kids hugging me, and it's strangely nice!

Daily life: I successfully washed my own delicates today. My host family has a washing machine, but it's only for pants/sweaters, etc. Any smaller items (bras, undies and socks) get washed by hand, and so I washed my first "load" by hand today. The 5 year old kept me company and I was trying to teach her "Row Row Row your boat. I'm also starting to get into a routine, which I love. I love routines. Wake up, take off the pillows, fold the blanket, fold the sheets. Put pillows, blanket and sheets in the cabinet. Put decorative pillows back on the bed. Get dressed, eat, fix face (I'm actually trying to do makeup every day. In Ukraine it's things like that that show people you care. Seriously.), take vitamins, leave.

And of course: a new simcard! I can finally send and recieve messages! The nice thing is that receiving phone calls is FREE! Woot!

But, of course these accomplishments cannot come without trials. Here were my trials for the day:

Food: I am a big girl! It's hard not to turn down delicious food. In addition to feeling like I'm putting someone out by not eating their food, I love delicious food! I did manage to say "Excellent but diet!" and I scraped off the loads of sour cream she poured over the blintzes. I am totally willing to try everything, but it's hard when you don't know how to say things like "I did enjoy that slice of pork fat on my bread, but it's not something I can eat everyday."

Language: I don't think I have ever really had a full appreciation for how frustrating it is not to be able to express yourself. I'm so into clear communication and emotional conversation and I'm reduced to nouns and pantomimes. I can't say "Today I learned..." I have to just show them the pages from class. I can't say "I want to take a shower first and then eat" I have to say "doosh" (Russian for "bath") and hold up one finger and say "Yest" (Russian for "to eat") and hold up 2 fingers. Having a master's degree and not even being able to say "It's really beautiful here and I really appreciate how much work you've done for me to be here" instead I say "Spaceeba" (thank you) and "harasho" (good) a lot. It's like being a gymnast and being paralyzed from the waist down. You, of course, rejoice that you can move your big toe, but on some level you think "it's just a toe!!!"

Dope moments: I dropped money for a new phone and sim card. I'm an IDIOT--I had a triband phone and was completely caught up in the heat of the moment and spent over half my cash on a new phone. It was the cheapest and I REALLY REALLY hope that one of the other volunteers will take it off my hands. On the up side, my cell phone works now!

Being an addict is hard! Thankfully my addiction is to technology and internet and the only real physical hardness I have to worry about is actually physically bonding with my couch. The only true benefit an addict like me would have in going to a mud hut in Africa (most people's first thought about Peace Corps) is that the technology just isn't there in the villages. It's not even an option. Here, however, in my building I feel like I have all the cigarettes I want but no lighter. That's right--wireless network, I can connect, but CAN'T GET ON THE INTERNET. The times I have been able to get online have been a 5 pack a day smoker's equivalent of getting a few drags in while someone is watching you. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, the class is waiting, the person is waiting. I'm looking forward to Sunday when I can relax on the internet. heh.

The plusses really do outweigh any minuses which come from not being able to speak a language and not really knowing a culture. I love it here. I have wanted to be in a situation where I'm learning a new language in a structured setting for several hours a day, and in this case my expectations were far exceeded--only five people in my language class! AND, after the 3 month language training period I can have a personal tutor. My entire two years in Peace Corps! That absolutely amazes me.

First day back in school

Last night I went to bed a little early and woke up around 4am. I kept hearing these noises. At first I thought they were the heater--a sort of metallic thwanging. I opened up the door to my balcony in my room and it was rain.

It was just light enough to make out the silhouettes. The city I'm from is huge and you can't but see hundreds or thousands of lights when you look outside. Outside of my apartment there were 40. Yes, I counted. The sound was rain hitting the metal roof. I was pretty wide awake, but really didn't want to be up at 4am, so I plugged in my iPod and earphones and put in Battlestar Galactica OST, which I often listen to before bed. I was able to fall asleep.

I got up at 8am and got dressed, hung out a bit, then my host mother, Ala, made me breakfast. I had a tomato-garlic-vinaegrette salad, cheese blintzes which were amazing!, tea with sugar, and was full. I was chided for drinking water with my meal, but I was uncertain why, regardless of how many words she used. Through her pantomimes I think she was saying that drinking water with this food would bloat my stomach?

Off to school!

We were a tiny bit late, but thankfully I wasn't the last person there. X and Cindy were already there, and we were waiting on Tom and Mary. We chatted about host moms and our host dads and the food and our rooms until they showed up. Then on to the lesson!

My studying paid off and I did pretty well on the reading! We did a lot of practicing phrases like "how are you?" "What do you do?" "Where are you from" and we even got to practice with one of the host families on the phone! It was a little scary and yet fun!

Then off to the market! We all went outside and were so happy to have Larissa, our trainer with us. We went in some local Ukrainian stores. They are so filled with sausages and desserts and liquors! We made our way to the bus, and I'm glad she was with us, because they were very different than the busses I'm used to. First, they are very tiny and are more like a van. The number appears on the side and the front on a yellow card. People squish in (Cindy and I wonder how long before we'll be able to squish as efficiently, because we're not so good at it) and pass their money up to the front and a lady gives change. There is no buzzer or bell, you simply wait until the next stop and get off at the right place.

We ate at a cafeteria style restaurant. For just about $4US I got a sausage, a tomato/cucumber/cheese salad, a bowl of mushroom rice and a coke lite. I split the sausage with Cindy, who split her chicken/egg patty with me. Yum!

Then off to the stationary store! I bought more school supplies. The store people are very nice. I was surprised that index cards seem to be unheard of, and that the paper type of choice is graph paper! Seriously--finding a regular college-lined notebook is difficult. I also bought rechargable batteries. Now I need to buy the charging unit, which is about $20.

Back to our teacher's house. We took the bus again and landed back by her house. Her house is right by a local market, and outside there are many babushkas selling potatoes and fresh veggies and fruits. At her house we were given our textbooks and homework. Did I mention I love homework? I really do--chances to practice in a controlled setting. She also gave me my second key of the day.

Ukrainian keys are wild. I've never seen anything like them. They remind me more of big toothed saws than of keys, and if I were to collect something new I think I would collect Ukrainian keys. To lock our apartment door from the outside, you must first open the door. Once it is open, you trip the double lock from the inside--they're two long pieces of metal bent near the ends, that when unlocked face up and down. When you pull them together toward the middle, they spring forward and lock. Once you've tripped the lock, you insert the key. No turning, just shove it in. Shoving it in springs the locks back, and with the key still in the door, you close it and then remove the key. Done! Door is successfully locked.

Vasa, my host father, picked me up and walked with me to our apartment. He tried to initiate some conversation with me, but my Russian is so poor that he and I ended up awkwardly smiling, but knowing that the other wanted to talk but couldn't. Same in the apartment. He showed me some pictures of his family--his brother and his mother. I showed him some pictures on my camera of my parents, but it's sad how few pictures I have of them! Mom--send more pictures soon!

When Ala got home she made me dinner. An awesome potato/pasta soup flavored with dill, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs with an extra dab of mayo on them, slices of pork fat to eat on your bread, blintzes, and cole slaw. Seriously. I had a little bit of wine with my food, and while I was eating, my host mom's other daughter, her son-in-law, and her two grandchildren showed up.

The family was really nice. Ala's son in law spoke a tiny bit of English, and he was very jovial and friendly. He shook my hand and introduced himself, and joked with me most of the evening. Joking can be hard to do when you don't really speak the language, so I totally give him props for making me feel included. One granddaughter was maybe months/a year old (how old are kids when they usually start to walk?), and the other was 7. I gave the 7 year old some Pop Rocks and a candy necklace. The daughter also talked to me a bit. Very nice family.

Then on to studying. I almost know the entire Russian alphabet, but I still pause on a few of the letters! ИЙУ always get me, and sometimes EЁ get me too. Grrr. I know, be easy on myself.

To study, I wrote out the alphabet three times. I also rewrote the conversations from class, and the vocabulary words. I got my host sister to record on my camera the conversations so I could listen and repeat a few times. I also practiced reading out loud.

I want to succeed, and I know that if I keep studying hard I can do it.

We packed up and left Kyiv today. Packed all our things back in bags and finished our pre-training. I'm going to be in a big city with internet! Hooray!

Our bus left at 2:45 (though it broke down before getting to us, delaying our leave by an hour or two). We all stood around and hung out, played Mad Libs, and bs-ed until the groups left. Our bus was late, so we went to the store. I bought a bottle of Georgian semi-sweet wine (my favorite!) for my host family, and I bought some yummy milk chocolate for myself.

The store was great! There were a lot more American brands than I thought. It seemed like a regular grocery store except with different brands and you couldn't read the signs. They sold everything from liquor to fruit to Tide with bleach. The Ukrainian dollar is about 5.05 per US$1. Candy bars were ukrainian $3-$6, and the good wine was anywhere from Ukrainian $40-120.

We waited more and I had to use the bathroom. I'd heard about the "squatty" toilet in the main building, and I had to go pretty bad, so I decided to try it out. Thankfully I had two ladies with me to walk me through it.

First, I rolled up my pants legs, then walked into the stall. In order to get in, you open the door and walk up two stairs onto a platform with a porcelain sink in it with porcelain sides to step on. You are supposed to face the door, so you stand on the porcelain, face the door, pull down your pants to your knees, squat down and hold your pants out of the way. I was concerned about my hair fallin in it because my hair is really long, but I think I got through it okay. After wiping you throw the toilet paper in the trash and then flush. Success!

Finally got on the bus and loaded my many suitcases (I have THE most luggage from anyone in our group!). I immediately fell asleep on the bus. I woke up when we stopped, and I looked out the window. There were trees everywhere, and everything had an orange and brown color to it. Then you realized it was because of the autumn trees. Leaves were everywhere and to my right was a sort of tree park, and the trees seemed to go on forever. We were in a very old style village, and the host families were there to greet their volunteers. Everything felt like a Hans Christian Anderson story--it was absolutely gorgeous.

Today was medical and I had to get a series of immunizations. Now I feel like I was punched in the arm and it makes blogging difficult. Do you see what I deal with to get you the news? Pushing through the pain.

Blogging policies are that if someone posts anything publicly that they must be reviewed by a Peace Corps person to make sure they are culturally sensitive. This makes total sense, but since I am a very prolific blogger, it means blogging very differently, which means that for the most part most of my posts here will be friends only and not for public consumption. Anything posted publically will have been reviewed and okayed for publication. Really and truly the only reason for the friends only will be because I like the instant gratification of posting, not because I have a plan to write terrible things about Ukraine.

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It's like you're 5. I am going to be writing about my successes. Small things are really what get you through the day and through two years and being able to celebrate them with people is important. I plan to post daily/weekly/monthly successes and please, cheer with me!

My success: I was able to ask for my room key in Ukrainian and be understood! "Trista pedisyat david" means that my 359 room key is handed to me.

We were given our assignments today, and I am so happy with my results. I am learning Russian and I'm going to a big city: Chernihiv. There are a total of five people, including me, in our cluster and for the next 12 weeks we'll be learning Russian together for 4-5 hours per day.

My first Russian lesson! I learned how to say "My name is...", ask someone else's name, and say "pleased to meet you." We also learned to say "I want/I don't want..." and "Where..." (they taught me to say "where internet?" so I should be set!)

After class we went to a Ukrainian past and history and I don't think I realized how tired I was until I opened my eyes at the end and had a crick in my neck and the lecture was over. We then ate a wonderful food. One of the volunteers told me what it was, but I can't remember the name. It was rice and meat wrapped in a thin dough with a thin sauce over it. It was so delicious! Along with that we had cucumbers and tomatoes and bell peppers. I love their cucumbers so much!

The city I'm going to is Chernihiv, and it's the capital of the oblast with the same name. An oblast is basically the Ukrainian equivalent of a state. The city I'm in is huge and has several universities and museums and ballet and ballroom dancing. I'm crossing my fingers that they have swing dancing!

So I made up my Russian flashcards and am going to go play some games with my clustermates. I'm very excited and can't wait to learn more!

So I spent Saturday night packing until 3:30am. We had to be downstairs at 8am with our luggage, and I didn't totally finish packing things up until 7:50am. Thankfully I made it down to the lobby in time. Thankfully also, one of my group members only had one checkin baggage, so she let me "use" her and she offered to checkin one of my bags. Thank you, Kelly!

Went out to breakfast with Emily, my roommate. Well, we searched. We did stop in at Walgreens to pick up some shoe insoles for me, since I apparently ate through my old ones. Got some snackies for the road as well.

On the way back to the hotel we passed a vendor. Score! I ordered a breakfast sandwich and a keilbasa. I didn't plan to eat them all, and in fact, gave half of my breakfast to another volunteer. The vendor's name was Muhammad. Very nice man and I think he probably undercharged us.

We got on the bus and headed for the airport--JFK in NYC. It was my first trip to NY and I got a bunch of pictures from the bus. My first time seeing the Statue of Liberty! MFI (my first impression) of the Statue of Liberty: It's VERY green! Also it must be really cool to be able to see that daily, the way in Seattle we see Mt. Rainier or the Space Needle daily. Something touristy for tourists, but an integral part of daily life for residents.

MFI of NY: The apartments are JUST like the Cosby show! Shoved up against one another, different colors, yards pressed up and gardens in the back. I think it would really create a cool sense of community. Also, I didn't realize people actually play handball! ha ha. I felt like I was watching a movie.

We got to the airport and it was a fiasco. We were split into groups of about six, complete with a group leader. My group got split up and Kelly and I were the last two to catch up. Got in the most massive line. Thankfully there was beautiful eye candy and German arm porn! This guy had the greatest arms and no sleeves. I had a little line crush going on!

At the front of the line the woman made me check in my carry on. GRRR!! $105 later and three trips back and forth and I finally have my boarding pass. Another line. Take off shoes, coats, belt, pull out laptop, oops, left a coke in there, drink it quickly, walk through metal detector, oops, left on my belt, finally success. Redress and repack and on my way.

Flying from New York to Frankfurt takes a long time. It takes several conversations, a book, naps, stretches, and even then you've still got a few hours left! My seat mate was Keith and we chatted about movies and tv shows and books. He is a big heavy metal fan and we had fun talking about everything. I was wearing long johns under my pants, and where I was sitting didn't get much air. I was so uncomfortable and sweating so much that I got up and changed out of them. I finally got a little sleep, but spent most of that time reading someone else's copy of Stardust.

Touchdown in Frankfurt! All the pilots threw down the football and did a dance. We got there late, but thankfully in plenty of time for the plane trip to Kyiv. MFI of Frankfurt: The men are delicious. I went to McDonalds in the airport (fast familiar food), and holy cow they have McRib! I got that, a coke, and a box of water. Seriously--a box of water. $9 and went back down and waited. We boarded and saw the most awesome posters.

The posters were four pictures, two repeated. There was a picture of Mars by a picture of the moon by the same picture of the moon by the same picture of Mars. The first said Madness, the second Romance, the third Romance, the fourth Madness. One had a woman's heel and a jalapeno with the captions: pain pleasure pleasure pain. Tattoos and henna: traditional trendy trendy traditional. They were amazing.

MFI of Ukraine: WOW! You could immediately tell the women residents by their SUPER pointy high heeled shoes. The woman who checked me in looked like a model--smoothed back hair with a rhinestone headband, glitter eyeshadow, mascara. Gorgeous.

The Ukrainian airport had a Heinekin machine instead of a Coke machine! Seriously! We got outside and it was SO HOT! We were greeted by Peace Corps people and they were so friendly and helped us out to our bus. We walked up these TALL stairs and onto a burning hot bus, which thankfully had curtains. I sat next to one of my favorite people: Anastacia. We were given instructions and walk around money and headed over to the compound for our training.

We were given a room with a roommate. My roomate is another teacher trainer. Very nice person and although we have little in common we're getting along really well. We had a Ukrainian greeting ceremony and dinner, a small orientation ceremony then went to bed.

MFI of our rooms: very practical. Small beds, very warm wool blankets, tiny bathroom. Everything in the bathroom is very tall. The toilet paper was unexpected--it is unbleached brown paper with no roll. It's just rolled up but no cardboard tube through it. The shower is very small and missing a small part of the door. I took a shower and it, apparently, takes a dexterity check of 12 to successfully take a shower. I think I rolled an 11.

Taking a shower in this building takes a few steps. Because the room is very small, you have to decide where to undress because there's not really enough room to do it in the bathroom. First step complete. Then the question is: where do you put the shampoo/soap. I ended up putting them on the sink ledge. Check. The third involves a combination of soaping up while balancing the hand held shower nozzle on the water control, then putting the soap down and grabbing the shower and turning it back on and rinsing off. I think half my water got on the floor and I completely blame my lack of dexterity.

Dinner consisted of a sort of chicken omelete--a thin piece of chicken cooked in an egg. It was very tasty. We also had cucumbers and tomatoes and a carrot/apple/strawberry juice.

I relaxed in the room and watched a few episodes of Weeds until I was falling asleep too much to follow the episode and I went to sleep.

I'm so excited about this! I found out today that my passport came through! I'm so glad I sent them. The guy sounded doubtful, but I said "Let's send them anyway and see what happens." And it did!

Up until this point I'd been very ambivalent--maybe I was going, maybe I wasn't. It was hard to get too geared up for things because I wasn't sure if I was going or not. Now I know I am. And now I'm feeling a bit of crunch time panic! Ack!

I am so behind. I was supposed to turn in my Pre-Service TEFL test report by August 31, my learning style by August 30, and my passport papers by, oh, five years ago (it feels like).

I sent the two emailable reports tonight, and I am going to overnight the passport papers tomorrow.

There is a small chance I could not go this September if they are unable to process my paperwork. This would mean I'd be going later. *sigh*

All the moving pushed these deadlines to the back of my thoughts, and with the holiday weekend it didn't make it any easier.

Wish me luck.

I wrote this as one of my initial Peace Corps essays. There are some grammar mistakes (whoops!), but overall it really captured my enthusiasm and spirit as well as professionalism. Enjoy!

Tonight was one of the best nights of my life, and it was exactly the reason I went into teaching ESL. I was invited to dinner by one of my former students. I went expecting a sit down dinner, with maybe four or five people, perhaps six, and instead was treated to an awesome Saudi Arabian dining experience. We had tons of amazing food and engaging conversations. Because we were outside of the classroom it gave us an opportunity to relate as people in an informal setting. It was a chance for them to show off parts of their culture they are proudest of to one of their teachers. I got to see a slice of Saudi culture that I would not have otherwise.

I have a true sense of wanderlust. No way would I ever be content staying in the same city, the same state, or even the same country while the world was out there to explore. I know in my heart that just being a tourist would never give me the satisfaction of really being a part of a culture. I am not content with the experience-equivalent of a fast food restaurant; I want to savor my experiences. When I first heard about the Peace Corps years ago, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. The exchange of culture and ideas is what really breaks down prejudices. Until I started teaching ESL I was not aware of how many prejudices I had, and I am so grateful every day to break down my own stereotypes and the students’ as well. I want to know people outside of what the media tells me, not as a tourist, but as an honored guest. People like me, and organizations like the Peace Corps help dispel myths perpetrated by media and tourists. The Peace Corps would give me the chance to experience a people in a way that I would not normally get to and would provide a profound life experience—there is something important that happens during a volunteer experience, doing something out of love rather than out of need for money.

I have wanted to teach ESL for about as long as I have wanted to join the Peace Corps, and the reason why I have not tried to do either until now is that I wanted to do them right. They are so important to me that I wanted to make sure I had all the qualifications, all the degrees, all the preparation out of the way. At this point I have finished my Master’s degree, and am completely qualified to teach anywhere in the world, and I am pausing in embarking on my career for the chance to join the Peace Corps, because I want to start my career by doing something important and significant and not based on how much money I can make. Sure, money is important, but right now for me, the experience is more important, and I would be honored and excited to be accepted into the Peace Corps.

Julia's Picasaweb Album

I'll be posting all my Ukraine and Peace Corps pictures in there eventually. For now there are random pictures, like my birthday party, a ren faire I went to, a luau I attended, and a Mariner's game. Plus, many more!