T-10 hours and counting

These are some of the things I love most about my dear Ukraine. Things I will miss, including the quirky stuff. I know this list will grow as I think of more... but here's a start.


-Spring. It is SO GREEN. I've never seen so much green in one place... they weren't lying when they said you can walk from one side of the city to another in the middle of the day and be covered in shade the entire time.... (no I didn't actually do it but I can attest that it is true:)
-Teaching the munchkins. I won't miss coming up with lesson plans, but I will miss seeing their faces light up when I have a really good SPE or hearing little Sofia spontaneously spout out an entire grammatically correct sentence of english when she hasn't said a word almost the entire semester
-The fact that everyone walks. Everywhere. You are never alone in this place.
-Hearing "WOAH! WOW! OI! CLASS!" from the shower because my host dad loves taking ice cold showers in the morning... 
-Making Chocolate chip Cookies with Ae
-How excited Ukrainians get when I finally figure out how to say "hello" correctly. I got a full round of applause in Crimea for that. It was great.
-Dictionary moments with my Babushka. Sitting at the kitchen table and trying our hardest to formulate a conversation... with many charades, laughs, and pausing to flip through one of the many dictionaries sprawled out on the kitchen table.
-Adidas.
-Taking the metro every single day of my life. I got kind of used to it. You see a lot of really great things on the metro, I'll tell ya
-Being so squished in a Mashrutka you can barely breathe (maybe I won't actually miss that)
-Fresh Flowers every single day, at every single metro stop
-Fresh fruit every day
-Пузата Хата with Britney. And Cherry Vareniki every time.
-How everyone just ignores the constant strain of car alarms 
-The awesome superstitions that they have. The latest one I learned was after accidentally breaking a plate and watching it shatter into a million pieces... waiting for the rebuke... instead everyone smiled and said "that is very good luck!"
-The fact that they take it upon themselves to help the stray dog population out.
-The colorful playgrounds everywhere.
-Super Konmik cookies.
-Kreshatyk when the fountains are on.
-The fact that they wear jackets even when it's 70 degrees F out.
-SCRUNCHIES!
-Fur. Wintertime fur wonders. Oh the coats that we saw....
-That they wear whatever they want. 
-When they get excited that you are an American and they try their very hardest to communicate to you in caveman english. 
-Gift-giving. It's a big thing. 
-Picture sharing. It is a gesture of friendship, and I always felt like I had been accepted when a Ukrainian would whip out their pictures to share.
-Juice. It tastes amazing here.
-Yogurt. Way better than in the states.
-The fact that McDonalds is classy. 
-Our international branch. Every single Sunday was amazing, and the people in that branch were so interesting to talk to! Most of them were from the embassy and knew everything there was to know about everything, I swear.
-Our institute teacher. Once again, one of the most genuine people I have ever met.
-Trying to order stuff at restaurants, and hoping that what you got was something edible
-Laughing at Britney every time she tried to order something (Chai anyone?)
-Night trains. Although stuffy and hot at times, I loooove trains and will miss that part of the experience.
-Andrievsky street.
-Ice cream on Kreshatyk
-Buying an entire loaf of bread for only 75 cents
-Reading stuff in Cyrillic and the rare times where you realize you actually understand what it says
-My host dad rocking out on the guitar
-Dandelion crowns on little girls
-Zoloti Vorota
-Anya, Olya, and Eena, the amazing coordinators at our school
-My ghetto-tastic christmas-bell shoes 
-The gorgeous acoustics in the metro, and every single kind of instrument you'd ever think of being played at some time.
-That women are so strong and feminine, and men truly respect them.
-High heels anyone?
-Drunk moments. (no I did not get drunk. But it was fun to watch)
-Techno remix music.
-Murses! Man-purses galore. (thank you Christina ;)
-Babushkas. DON'T get in their way. Or forget to dress appropriately (scarf and hat) in the wintertime. 
-Ukrainian Standard Time. It is worse than Mormon standard time, believe it or not. 
-The cleaning lady. She came every Thursday. She was so sweet. She always tried to talk to me and I'd try to talk right back, and we always ended up getting so confused but we both loved it!
-The ladies in the window at the door of our building who scan everyone who comes in . . I always got a smile out of them when I tried to speak Russian.
-Smiles. When you get a Ukrainian to smile, you feel like you've really accomplished something. And you know that it's a genuine smile. It is more rare here, consequently, it means so much more, and I love that.
-Zoryana's little happy dance 
-Dinner parties. 
-The Kyiv Temple.
-The fact that they are really good bad drivers. It amazes me...
-The thing I will miss most of all is the people! I have never met so many passionate, giving, genuine people in my entire life. 


Я люблю Україна!