This is true. I am currently at the ripe ol’ age of 25 – almost to the point where people start making jokes about pushing 30 (well, some already have). I don’t know how to take it. Whenever I log into FaceBook, I am always shocked by messages of people getting engaged, married, and now having babies! Ah! Usually, people are shocked to find out that I’m over 20, and I often shock myself when I tell them my real age.

Sometimes, it’s ok. Older people sometimes see me when I’m out and about and offer me help because they think I am a lost little girl. When I flew home from Kazakhstan, this older man that sat beside me kept getting me coffee, tea, and offering me food (even when I was trying to sleep). Waiting at the Kazakh embassy, an older woman made sure to tell the guard I was there before other people so I could get let in earlier. Yeah, sure that’s ok. Taxi drivers would often walk me to my marshrutka and help me bargain prices for long journeys. I’ll take whatever help I can get.

But, the thing is, I’m completely capable of dealing with these situations on my own. So, sometimes, it just seems patronizing. In class the other day, a girl asked me, “But you’re so young! How can you travel all the way to Ukraine by yourself?!” Ugh. Come on.

Oh, now, lucky me! It seems I have chosen the best location for people with problems of looking way younger than their age. From the first weekend here, Tanya and I have realized just how difficult guessing the ages of local people is! I actually had to take my roomie out onto the balcony to gossip, “Oh my goodness! She’s only 18?!” This was when we were sure the person was at least 23-ish!

This shock continued into the classroom. People my age often look well into their 30s, and so on. It is no lie, but the people here age differently than we do back in America.

So, why am I lucky?! Apparently, in a year’s time, I will also experience the aging benefits (?) of Ukraine! Another teacher explained that when he first got here, people always guessed him as being extremely young, but after almost a year, he is now pegged at his real age! Then, again, maybe that’s not lucky. I don’t know if I like the idea of aging 5 years in one.

Then, you might be wondering why this is true. I hadn’t thought much about it before coming back to Ukraine, but there was little incident some years ago known as Chernobyl… Yeah, ha, right? I always laugh when people make jokes about not drinking the water…

I like little things. I have always had an affinity for travel-sized shampoos, puppies that can be carried in a bag, and mini cars among many others. For me, finding something tiny and cute is like finding gold - and this can be applied to the details, as well. Yes, it is the fine details of my current life and living situation in Ukraine that I like to call my “little treasures.” Here are some of the things that bring a smile to my face every day.

These are just a few of the things I enjoy. There are also a number of things, or little treasures, that I can’t quite take pictures of. These might be little tid-bits of information that I can’t get past. Here are some of those jewels:

1 - It might shock and surprise you that it is quite common for people to just pay for their driver’s license instead of taking tests. Safe, no?!

2 - Dentists make more money than doctors here. And, if you want to have a good operation or care, you have to give your doctor a “gift”.

3 - The landladies here are just as crazy as they were back in Kyrgyzstan. They are known to just drop in and check things out whenever, and not quietly!

And there you have it - Just some of my little treasures from life in Ukraine!

Hollllllllly cowwwwwwww! I have a job! After a whirlwind two weeks (that seriously felt like 2 months) of training, Brooke has officially become a paid-member of the teaching staff at an English language school in Kiev. Ahhh!

I’m definitely kind of excited. Yes, a paycheck would be nice. But… but… oooh I must admit, my mind is already asking, “Where to next?!” Besides this nagging feeling of needing to move on, everything else in Kiev is treating me quite well. I love Ukrainian food: potatoes, dumplings, and borsch. I am remembering more Russian than I thought I would. Actually, the Russian is clearer to me now than it was on the streets of Bishkek, which may have something to do with my mind not being on meltdown from lessons during the day. And, I think I might not be so bad at this whole teaching thing.

For training I felt like nothing more than a substitute teacher, which is frustrating for both the teacher and the students. Now, I have my own classroom and students, most of which are in their lower 20s with a few younger and older thrown in the mix. I can build a lovely little rapport with them over the next 7 weeks (we do 7 week semesters) and hopefully get them speaking some English! Woo!

In order to teach effectively to people who know very little English, I’ve had to dumb down my speech dramatically. I can already tell this is starting to creep into my normal life. It reminds me of when I was working my IT job and started throwing words like “resolution” and “reboot” into every normal conversation. My job here is also to just make people talk, so I, of course, have become a pro at asking the right questions to keep people going.

I will hopefully get some pictures of all my work and classes in the near future. But, for now I must prepare another lesson!

Halloween this year, though not traditionally celebrated in Ukraine, was no other than a memorable experience. Now I didn’t get my annual dose of scary movies, passing out candy, or haunted houses (the closest thing we got was walking up the dilapidated black stairs to the party’s apartment), but I did get to have a few laughs thanks to the Ukrainian students and American teachers in the area.

Since the teacher trainees were all so busy last week, we didn’t really have time to find a costume, so at the last minute we found a website that had some last-minute ideas. I pinned a sign to my shirt that said, “Nudist on Strike.” Ross burned a DVD and tied that to his neck. He was a DVD burner. Tanya held on to a sign that said, “Go ceiling!” She was, of course, a ceiling fan. Nothing special, but at least we put in some sort of effort. We could have just showed up.

Anyways, when I think about that night, I cannot help but giggle. I must say that before I came to Ukraine, I was wondering what type of person would choose to move here to work. Well, I think Halloween night gave me the answer. Here are some pictures from my very, very, very strange evening.

When I was at home in August, traveling and living in this part of the world felt normal and not out of the ordinary to me. I didn’t realize how strange it actually was until I was at the salon getting my hair cut and the lady acted in shock when I said I was hoping to get a job in Ukraine. “Oh, yeah, I guess that does seem a bit odd to hear a young American girl say she is hoping to move to Ukraine.”

Ukraine – probably one of the more cut-off feeling Eastern European countries – lacking sufficient budget airlines, highways, and popular gauge of train tracks – barring Australians and South Africans without a visa – sometimes waking up to no hot water or even no cold water – just plain mysterious. But, like I said before, it feels normal now to be living here – everything from hearing Russian on the streets straight down to the circa 1975 style apartment I just moved into. It’s probably a combination of just getting used to it and an attraction to all things “retro”, but I love my new apartment!

I am rooming with another teacher from the language school – a Canadian named Tanya (you’ll probably hear a lot about her) – who I get along with quite well. We have two large rooms, balcony, kitchen, bathroom, an extra bed, washing machine (but no dryer), all the cooking supplies we will ever need, enough Russian books to keep me busy for about 10 years, a nice tea set, a dining room table that could host Christmas dinner when pulled out, and so much more.

Our first impression on walking into the apartment was that it felt like living in your grandparents’ basement – partially because an old couple was in fact living here before. We had our first apartment guest last night and we were very happy to hear him say that he thinks we have the nicest apartment out of the all the teachers thus far. Go us! And, we are also very close to the bridge meaning we are also closer to the metro line. Oh! And I also just found out I get to teach at the school that is literally a 5 minute walk away from here instead of the one that would take an hour commute each way! How cool is that?!

Unfortunately, we don’t yet have internet in the apartment, so I decided to keep busy by putting together a little video of forgotten clips from the past year. It makes me feel all nostalgic and miss all the cool people I met along the way. It has truly been a great year!

This post will be short and sweet because I merely want to showcase Kyiv’s wonderful Metro line. The Metro is a super cheap way to travel (only about $.10 a ride!) and pretty quick. However, avoid it at rush hours if possible! They get super crowded and even the babushkas will kick you around.

Overall, the most interesting part of the Metro, in my mind, would have to be the depth of the escalators at the Kreshatik stop. They go on forever… I mean… forever. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this video as proof. Enjoy!

“How long have you been traveling? Where are you going? Why are you going there?”

The list goes on and on. Having travelled as much as I have at this point, I have been bombarded almost every day with some form of a question above. It has gotten to the point where I am thinking about writing my response down and just giving it to people when we are introduced. Just last week I would have probably put together some sort of Q&A like the following:

Hi! My name is Brooke and I am an American from Illinois (not Chicago!).

Q. How long have you been traveling?
A. Off and on for about a year now.

Q. Where are you going?
A. I’m moving to Kyiv, Ukraine for an entire year to teach English and study Russian.

Q. Why are you going there?!
A. After living in Central Asia for some time, I have become insanely intrigued with the former Soviet Union countries. I am also in need of some cash and therefore must work.

Ok, so printing off about a hundred of these and just passing them out would probably be seen as pretty impersonal. Even though I have to force myself to reciprocate the interest with this repetitive interview at times, in the end it is worth it when you meet some amazing people from around the world. Since there is a common bond in the love for travelling, it is generally easy to get along for a few days before having to say goodbye. As travelers, this is all too common. We constantly come and go. It is what we do.

Normally, this is not a problem, but recently I did struggle with a goodbye more than I would like to admit. And, as much as I can pretend to be a realist, the truth comes out: I am a romantic – a hopeless romantic maybe – and maybe more hopeless than anything. Haha. I was thinking about this fact recently and how it sometimes makes me a little embarrassed. Then I thought about it some more and just realized it is because of this romantic side that I am able to see life how it could be and not just how it should be. It makes me a dreamer, and let’s face it, without this side of me how else would I have done any of the things this blog has followed?

Because I am a dreamer, I had to follow through on the goodbye and board a very tiny plane – one with the big propellers and only enough room for 3 people in a row – in the cold, dark evening on a one-way ticket. I landed in a place that was vaguely familiar – cold, sterile, and hassling (I don’t need a taxi already!). Yep, breathe that in. That is the fresh stench of Kiev.

All the previous week I worried that I might have made a bad decision on moving to Ukraine. Damn nerves! So, it didn’t help when I arrived at the Kiev airport and was not able to find the person I was supposed to meet. Of course, I was also without contact information and the internet café at the airport was broken (haha, oh Ukraine you are too funny). I was at the point where I was about to just get a taxi to a hotel for the evening when finally my ride arrived (blame it on a traffic jam). Whew!

I was taken to get some dinner and dropped off at the apartment where I will be living for the next 2 weeks. Outside on the street, I was able to see some of the popular monuments of Kiev – St. Sophia and the Rodina Mat - lit up at night. The sight immediately brought back memories from about six months before when I was in this city not knowing a word of Russian or able to read the Cyrillic alphabet. At this moment, my nerves subsided. I just felt lucky. Ha! As funny as it sounds, I feel lucky to be here in Ukraine.

So, here I am – home for a while – terribly missing the past, but still enamored with the now and the future. On the plus side, I won’t have to deal with the get-to-know-me traveler interview and constant goodbyes for some time. I started training yesterday. Can you believe I will actually be working again after a year off?! That is definitely going to take a while to wrap my head around, but then at that point, I will have my 3 week break for the holidays to travel. Oh yeah! So, any ideas on where I should head to for 3 weeks starting Dec. 28th?! I need to start planning!

P.S. Get this! Other people here signed on with a 6 or 8 month contract. Hmm…

Ok, so in case you didn’t know, I am about to move to the Ukraine… for a year! If you asked me a year ago where I’d see myself in 2008, I don’t think I would have for a split second considered Kiev. But, a year later, a slowly dwindling bank account, and a better understanding of former Soviet culture made the thought of finding a job in this country very appealing.

I mentioned before that I had a phone interview recently for an English teaching job - an interview that was cut short by a bad internet connection. I had given up on that idea until a week later when I heard back from the recruiter offering me the position! I was overjoyed! Not only do I get to continue living in a Russian speaking country, but I will also make enough money to live a decent life and SAVE. AWESOME! And, if that wasn’t good enough, I will also be getting a whopping 10 weeks of vacation during that time! So, don’t worry, there will be plenty of travel stories to go around. My first break in very late December (they celebrate Christmas on January 7 in Ukraine) will be for three weeks! Oh, sweet travel time.

Time for the big move to the land of leather, stiletto heels, and stern faces is drawing near. I’m getting nervous and excited thinking about it. Wish me luck! I’m about to go shopping for some new work clothes!

Yes, I’m no longer in Ukraine, but I needed to get these little myths out in the open before I start divulging all my Bishkek related goods. This post is definitely a little slow in the making because I was trying to search for some place in town that has some sort of wireless signal, or a place where I can plug in my computer. Alas, Bishkek is a little behind, even for a third world country, because they are still on the type of connection that charges per amount of usage and bandwidth. When I asked the language school about access, they actually mentioned getting a dial-up modem! So, I’ve resorted to typing on my computer and copying information off my jump drive to save time and money.

On to the myths! I stayed in three different places in Kiev, the last one being the highest rated one on hostelworld, and the only one with an internet connection (even though it wasn’t working too well while I was there), only to find myself wishing I maybe hadn’t left the lonely private room outside of town. Here is a list of reasons why you might want to think hard before going to this hostel:

1) Privacy is basically non-existent. Generally, this is a given in hostels, but when your room has no door, is the room that you walk directly into, and the office is the kitchen connected to it, it brings the privacy level to an unknown level. The hostel is a 1 bedroom flat in an apartment building. The bedroom has 6 beds and the living room has 4 beds.
2) There are no tables or chairs ANYWHERE. This means you sit on your bed, on the floor, or just stand. When it rains outside, you will really feel it. If you mention this fact to the owner he will go on a tirade on how he backpacked forever and people don’t need chairs (all this while he is lounging on a cushy computer chair in the office (kitchen) surfing the internet).
3) Oh, yes, the hostel advertises free internet usage, but if you don’t have your own computer, you only get 20 minutes a day of usage while he is sitting right next to you reading anything you write.
4) You can’t have ANY food in the hostel. NONE. You have to eat outside in the cold or spend money at restaurants. If you have food in there, the guy will kick your ass, or curse you out.
5) There are no lockers, so you have to keep tabs on your stuff at all times.
6) The shower (singular) was actually broken. Taking a shower was very difficult.
7) The beds were just like the foamy eggshell stuff you put on top of your mattress for extra cushion… only without the mattress.
The stairs leading up to the apartment (hostel) were the creepiest – straight out of a horror film packed with phantom lady, half-naked old guy, and sleeping bum. And I won’t even get started on the smell.
9) Last, but not least, the owner of the hostel just might drive you INSANE. He definitely did NOT make me want to go back there. He insulted people for even wanting to come to Kiev!

Besides all of this, the one part of my stay that made me chuckle was this guy’s telling of some Ukrainian myths. Now, I would take these all with a grain of salt because I think this guy is a complete story teller, but please let me know if anyone else has heard of these myths.

1) Ukrainians believe that sitting on concrete will make you sterile. That explains why you never see them outside sitting around town drinking beers; they are always standing! This actually appeared to be true around the hostels I stayed in, but it could have just been that the concrete walls and steps were cold.
2) Every house has a money tree. If the money tree dies, the family will go broke.
3) Even in the dog heat of summer, you will never see a marshrutka (minibus) with a window open. The reason is that if the wind blows in and hits the back of your neck, at best you will get the flu, and at worst you will become paralyzed.
4) Whistling is taboo. If you whistle indoors, you will go broke. Apparently a Swiss guy went to a poker table and whistled. The Ukrainians looked at him like he was crazy and the entire table cleared out!
5) Too much water will make you fat. They supposedly believe that drinking more than one cup of water a day will result in obesity, which is the reason why you only see people drinking beers outside, even at 9 am!

Like I said, I take anything that guy says with a grain of salt, but I thought you all might be interested in these little tidbits as well. I must go now – learning Russian in Bishkek is a very time-consuming task!

Ukraine (YkpaiHa) exudes all characteristics stereotypical of a former Soviet republic. The buildings, big and grand with gold domes, consume the otherwise stark landscape. The statues stand tall with bold features and some forceful pose. And the people… The people in Ukraine are such badasses! They drink a lot, smoke a lot, always wear red or black leather, and they never crack a smile.

When I decided to abandon the apartment I rented out my first night, a girl at the bus stop took me under her wing to get me to the metro. All the while I was thanking her and smiling, and it almost seemed that her face wanted to smile back, but just did not quite know how to flex the muscles in order to do so. I received a few slight, quick winces in return, but nothing more.

I had to run it through my head a few times that Ukraine has only recently been able to shake Soviet rule and is still recovering from those times. As a country, they are just now realizing they have the opportunity to make money off the tourist industry. For example, there are probably a total of 5 youth hostels in the entire city of Kiev, all of which are no competition to the wonderful hostels in Poland! A guy staying in my hostel now explained that just a few years ago, there were none. Perhaps the people here just don’t know how to react to foreigners, which would explain my metro-helper-girl’s inability to communicate with me expression-wise?

Overall, I think Kiev is fascinating. I’m slowly falling in love with the city, and slowly learning the Russian alphabet. Half of my day is spent trying to decipher signs – street signs, store signs, metro signs – and it’s revving me up for my Russian lessons fast approaching in Kyrgyzstan. So far, I’ve spent time learning about Chernobyl at the museum in town (I passed on the $180 tour to the actual city), and explored the WWII area. Patrick, a Canadian in my hostel who had spent the prior 6 days in town, showed me the ropes and introduced me to the best budget place for awesome Ukrainian-style food. I will probably eat there many times before I leave!

So you can also experience a little bit of the Soviet culture I’ve been taking in, I made a small video. Enjoy!

Oh, and somewhere along the way, a bird pooped on my backpack and shirt, which I was oblivious to until probably many hours later.