Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Back in the USA

I'm sorry I have been so awful about sending out updates. I can't even remember the last time I sent one! The last few months in Ukraine were just a whirlwind of wrapping up projects at work, packing, saying goodbyes, etc. Sending an email out to you was on my "to do" list, but I never quite got around to it! I'm already back in the US now. Actually I flew back on November 19 and have been slowly, slowly integrating myself back to life here. I spent a couple of weeks in Ohio visiting relatives, but I was in Kansas for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was so great to be able to celebrate the holidays with family again!
Let me just try to update you a bit with what I did in the last few months in Ukraine. My last couple of semesters teaching at the secondary school, I picked up some older and younger classes. I ended up teaching grades 4-11! That was quite a challenge, but I really enjoyed it. I liked teaching the older classes, because I got to have discussions with them and didn't have to focus on English grammar so much. Surprisingly though, I liked teaching my youngest classes the most. The fourth graders didn't have the best English, but they were just incredibly eager to learn and really sweet to me.
This past summer I was accepted to work with American Councils again to train Ukrainian high school students who were about to go to the US to be exchange students. We taught them about American culture, how to live with a host family, American high school, etc. I had a lot of fun with this.
June 14 marked a major event in Ukrainian history - Paul McCartney gave his first concert in Ukraine........and I was there to see it! The concert was held in the main square in Kyiv, and it was free. Of course once I learned that, I knew there was no question that I would be making the 14 hour trek to Kyiv to see the concert. Unfortunately there was a TON of rain the day/night of the concert. I mean an absolute downpour! My friends and I stood outside for hours in the rain in order to get a good spot to see the stage. We had umbrellas, but they soaked through to the point where they couldn't repel rain anymore! It was so cold that everyone was huddled together for warmth. But wow. The concert was amazing. The Ukrainians absolutely adored the Beatles, so everyone around me was just as enthusiastic to see Sir Paul as I was. I still can hardly believe that I finally saw him in person!
This summer I became a mother.....to four kittens that is. Many Ukrainians have pets, but they are always outdoor animals and are usually fed table scraps. My next door neighbor's cat was probably the sweetest cat I have ever encountered, so I would often feed her real cat food and let her inside my house to warm up in the winter, or to chill in the summer. She pretty much thought that she was my cat. So this summer when she had kittens, she brought them to me! I looked out my window one day and saw her standing at my front door with a tiny, six day old kitten in her mouth, and I knew I had no choice but to help her. Fortunately the house where I was living had a "mud room," or little enclosed entry area. I set up a cardboard box and food and water dishes there. That was quite an experience raising those kittens! I found homes with three other Peace Corps volunteers, but just could not find a home for the fourth kitten. And....well I really fell in love with one little guy. I named him Mirchik (pronounced Meer - chick). "Mir" means "peace" and "-chik" is the diminutive form Ukrainians give to names. It's like calling "Samuel" - "Sammy." I ended up bringing this kitten back to the States! (My mom jokes that he won the visa lottery.) There was a lot of paperwork and worry before I left Ukraine. I had to get a rabies immunization, passport with a picture, certificate of health, and microchip (since I had a layover in a European Union country - but I don't think this step was actually necessary). There was no quarantine though. In the end, I worried a lot over nothing. The trip was fairly uneventful. I was able to carry the cat with me in a canvas and mesh bag stored under the seat in front of me on the plane. He cried some, but was mostly so tired that he slept for most of the day of traveling (I wish I could have!) Mirchik is settling in nicely to American life. He loves his new Science Diet food, playing with his new sister (my parent's cat), and bird watching. Poor guy probably wasn't expecting that moving to the US would mean getting "demanned," but he's fine now. He's a very, very laid back, sweet, calm but fun-loving cat.
I'm sure I mentioned before about the secondary project I worked on for much of my service in Ukraine - the foreign language resource center. I learned so much from doing this project. There were a lot of negatives (promises that were made about what materials would be provided or work that would be done were broken, and as a result we just couldn't do a lot of what we originally wanted to do with the project, plus we got terribly behind schedule) but also a lot of positives. Between the book drive in the US my mom organized (thank you all so much for the books you donated!), donations from two international book donation programs (Darien Book Aid and Books For Peace), and purchases made with the grant money we received, the resource center has a very impressive library of books. It includes sections of children's fiction, history, science, arts and entertainment, cultural studies, etc, as well as a whole section for teachers including books on methodology, reading/writing/speaking/listening, grammar, and English textbooks and workbooks. We had two bookcases built to hold the books, and we also have a TV with a DVD player and numerous DVDs in English, a computer, printer, copier, scanner, and whiteboard. Throughout my two years in Ukraine, I held a weekly English club, and once the resource center was set up, I had a few movie screenings. I also held weekly teacher training seminars. These mostly had to do with the "communicative method." In other words, more communication and less grammar/translation in English lessons. I taught sessions on how to teach each of the four skills (reading/writing/speaking/listening) communicatively, as well as how to use music in the classroom. I did not get nearly as much attendance at these sessions as I had hoped, so that was really a disappointment for me. I try to console myself with the fact that there were about three teachers who came to all the sessions they could, and I hope that they benefited from them.
Now that I'm back in the US, I have been laying kind of low. I'm enjoying the incredible selection of foods at the grocery store. I became a vegetarian about a year ago, and it is nice having a much bigger variety of foods to choose from here. The first week or so was a little overwhelming adjusting to the mass of STUFF available in the US, but I think I'm used to it again now. :)
Right now I am job/grad school searching, trying to figure out exactly what I want to do next. I've got some good ideas, but would welcome any suggestions!

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