Деніс ні Канадйка, Деніс Українка!

Today is officially one month plus two days since I arrived in Ukraine. What a month it has been! I though it appropriate to give a general overview of things here and where I’m at – a more macro perspective than some of the other posts.

Let me start with how I’m feeling – I love it here. Like really without even a touch of exaggeration I am really in love with being here. I knew the hour after my suitcase arrived (12 hours after I had arrived) that I was going to have an easy time adjusting. In my first e-mail home to Joanne I told her how much of a blast I had been having. She cautioned that my euphoric feelings were just a honey moon phase. I was definitely given pause and reflected heavily on why I was having such a great time… Here’s what I came up with:

First and foremost, this has been the best “vacation” of my life! As stressful as getting here was, as soon as I arrived here I was absolved of all of my Canadian responsibilities, and in so doing all of my Canadian stress melted away – no more cookies, or house cleaning, or driving, or school, or papers, or family or sick cat, or money worries it was all gone. Ok so Living in a different continent/country/city and learning a new language and adjusting are all challenges, but when you’re used to living life with a red lining stress level at all times, a 20% stress level is more than manageable no matter what the task. No more anxious hours and heart palpitations – I can take on anything Ukraine has to offer!

There are two other (related) things that have made a huge difference in how quickly I’ve adjusted. One is that I didn’t leave much behind, save Felix and the dogs (and amazing friends), and although I miss Fee and the boys and my wonderful friends I know that I’ll see them (you) again (actually exactly 100 days from today – and no I’m not counting down the days I’m keeping track of the days left as a reminder to make the most of every single day). The other contributing factor is my Ukrainian Family – I’ve talked about this before – this is probably the thing that will stay with me for the rest of my life and the “foreign” experience that will most shape me coming out of this trip. Mike (one of the Sask kids) and I talked about how each one of us Canadian students was perfectly matched with a Ukrainian family, and each family seems to be exactly what each of us needed. How the universe aligned to make that happen I’ll never know… But I know that Tanya, Luba, Sasha and Slaveek have earned a very very special place in my heart.

So the other thing that is protecting me from the falling out of the honeymoon phase is that I think life here is so wonderfully simple. The first week I was here I started making a list of all of the things that my family needed from Canada to make their lives easier – things like a can opener, oven mitts, an oven with a temperature gage, a non-rotary phone, a DVD player (I was gonna have felix ship it all, well, not the oven)… and then in the second week I deleted that list and started a list of all the things that Canadians need to learn from the Ukrainians to a) make their lives easier, b) take better care of the planet, c) be better people (I’ll probably post this list at the end of the summer, or not… no promises). And the truth of the matter is that even without the conveniences of home (home being Canada), life goes on here and seems to go on much more smoothly! This re framing of life and redefining what comfort is happened without much struggle on my part – I can attributes this partially to the fact that I have never really found comfort and self definition in material objects and the richness of the people here more than make up for the fact that we don’t have a can opener or a clothes drying machine.

I have also spent the month learning a new language (which also wasn’t particularly difficult overall) making new friends, and exploring an interesting and magnificent country that’s beauty I steeped in a deep and rich history. I have made an effort to assimilate into the culture by learning how to cook traditional dishes and do Ukrainian cross stitch( which is a lot of bloody work!!). Mama (Luba) had taken a liking to telling me and all of her friends that “Деніс ні Канадйка, Деніс Українка!!” (Denise is not Candian, Denise is Ukrainian) which I think is great proof of my adjustment. I think out of the 33 days I’ve been here I can admit to having a single bad day that stemmed from being super sick with bronchitis, stir crazy from being in the house for 3 days, and sweltering from the 30+ degree weather, but a good sleep cleared that bad mood right up. I expect a small slump when the Saskatoon kids leave and I have to adjust to being here alone, but I think I’m up for the challenge, and I don’t expect to loose my honeymoon euphoria!!

If all else fails.... beer is less than one Canadian dollar for half a litre and is double the alcohol content; this means if I take a turn for the worst I can afford to drink my sorrows away!! (hahahahah)


*love*