Winter has arrived in the lacy snow that's covering my backyard and trees. It's funny to think of a playground school yard as your backyard, but I suppose that's what it is. The holiday season has begun with Thanksgiving already through the door and the anticipation of Christmas time activities already filling my head and keeping the time from passing quickly. I can feel the settling in; the familiar feeling of winter here. I feel my body saying, "put on the long underwear. You know what you're in for." The temperatures are dropping though they're nowhere near what they reached last winter my heater is already plugged in and starting to swirl the warm air around my room. Though it mostly feels like it's swirling warm air within a one foot radius. And so, the season of 3 pairs of long underwear has come again to Ukraine. There's a little solace in knowing this time next year I may just be in a decently heated living space. I'm excited for winter (at least the first part of it). Mostly, just the holiday season. But I'm happy to feel something familiar. This whole last year, everything felt so new, all these things at school or in Lviv that I hadn't experienced yet. And eventhough feeling like everything is new or different can be fun, it actually feels nice to know what to expect in some ways. I'm looking forward to school Christmas pageants and performances to watch. And small parties with other volunteers. It seems most are headed home for the holidays and while I get it the going home that is, I feel more comfortable with staying and not rocking the boat.
Thanksgiving was good. Lots of food, lots of people and a feeling of community that a lot of times I find myself missing. I think that volunteers really try to create a sense of home for one another which I really appreciate. I think that maybe it's the feeling of being completely isolated in a lot of ways (despite technology) that makes us cling to one another for care and compassion. Of course, there were typical holiday dramas that played into the day, but overall, the day gave me a sense of being a part of something that was a pretty decent substitution for the love of my family.
I accidentally bought beef tongue at the store the other day instead of stew meat. I really need to start reading labels instead of just blindly picking things up. It's not that I can't read or that I don't understand words, it's just a lot of work to pick up a package and read it and figure out what it says. It adds a lot of time to shopping. I used to put in a lot of effort, mostly because packaging here never felt real. Like I would find something I would expect to be one thing because of how it was packaged and it turned out it was something completely different. So, when I first arrived I studied and studied what the package actually said. Nowadays, I just sort of stick to what I know, trust my eyes or in this case eat the fact that I bought beef tongue instead of stew meat and start brainstorming or internet searching for recipes that include beef tongue and let me know how to cook it. I'm not grossed out by eating beef tongue and I'm sure there are some volunteers that would just pitch it and call it a loss in the living allowance column, but I just feel bad tossing perfectly good meat even if it is something I wouldn't normally pick out. The package recommends I use it for stroganoff. I hate stroganoff. My brother suggested Vietnamese dishes (good luck finding veggies or materails to make that in winter in ukraine, does the recipe happen to have beets?) So, I'm thinking I'm going to make a soup which means another trip to the store to get beef bouillon but who knows what kind of soup this is going to be. I'm thinking some sort of beef and tomato combination.
So, what's going on in the work department. I know that the world of TEFL is thrilling in everyway for all of you. I'm teaching, as per usual, my normal classes in the school though the schedule has changed. . . again. . . and probably will, again; as soon as the new semester starts, that is. Other than teaching at school I'm also teaching a private student named Pasia, who I wrote about in my last entry. She's really great and I'm thankful to have met her and gotten to know her. AND I'm now teaching the Lvivska Regional Police, I know, you're jealous. The president has issued an order that Police in the cities where the Euro Cup 2012 will be held to learn English to help along with tourists etc. who come to Ukraine to watch the games. That means I get to teach the exciting material of, "Can I see your documents please?" I'm secretly hoping to teach things like, "Hey, hooligans, quiet down before I beat you with my billy club." Probably, not encouraging the best of behaviour, but at least it would be more interesting to draw the visuals. l'll keep you all updated on what it's like to work with the Police as much as possible. My guess is that my nervousness before teaching them that I'm currently experiencing is probably unwarranted, but for some reason, I tend to fear the police here. Probably becuase no one wants to go to jail, especially not in a country that isn't their own where their language consists mostly of threats for students, like, "If you don't start behaving I will call your mother." I'm guessing it's not the best option as to how to begin a conversation with an angry Militia man but it's yet to be tested.
The countdown has begun until the end of the first semester, marking my second full semester here in Ukraine and the beginning of my last full semester here! I'm not exactly sure why I'm so excited about that fact other than things move TOO fast here. I enjoy all the small moments of socializing and teaching and all that goes with being a volunteer, but when I think about my time, it still seems like I've only just arrived. Nevermind the fact that due to constant staffing changes at my school I'm the second most tenured English teacher in the department. And now, as of this month, we're the oldest TEFL group around. The group that arrived before us already received the email about their close of service retreat and the paperwork will probably soon follow. Mine will be at the end of the summer from what I've heard. Well, on the reflection of how stunningly close and painstakingly far the end is I suppose I'll call this one at an end. Happy Advent season to all.
loveandhugstoall
this is my winter song
12 years ago
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