Christmas in Olexandriya

December in Ukraine

I’ve been busy, so I haven’t updated my blog lately. As I haven’t updated it since the entry about my first day here, I’m going to hit the highlights.

I went to the bazaar for the first time on Sunday, December 15, 2013. I didn’t buy that much that day. I bought a pair of really cool black leather gloves, and a mobile with MTC (the service my colleagues use).

The next week (Monday, 16 December through Friday, 20 December) I was at school. I got to meet the students and see what they were looking for in an English Club. On Thursday, 19 December, I watched the New Year’s play. The whole school watched. It’s about the traditions of Christmas/New Year’s in Ukraine. Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated on Orthodox Christmas, in January. The whole town is decorated for New Year’s, with trees, lights, and presents for all. It is very beautiful. There is a huge tree in main square, with blow-up Santa and Frosty, and a nativity scene. The, um, unusual, part is that Vladimir Lenin overlooks the whole thing.

On Friday, 20 December, my counterpart (A) called and told me that a friend of a friend had found me a new flat. And could I be packed and ready in 30 minutes? I said that I wanted to see the flat first, so A and her friend and I went to the new flat. It’s awesome. After going over the PC guidelines, I decided that it was perfect. So, we decided that I would move in the next day. The friend, A, and I had dinner together at a pizza place, to celebrate my new flat, and new friendships. Only drawback – no silverware, flatware, pots, or pans.

 

So, on Saturday, 21 December, the Solstice, I moved into my new flat at 5 or so in the evening. As I didn’t have Internet, I made plans with my counterpart to meet at a local wifi-café for lunch on Sunday.

The next week was complicated, as I had Wednesday off. I had Wednesday, 25 December (Merry Christmas) off because I was waiting for the Internet guy to set up my Internet. A great Christmas present – wifi in the flat. I was able to FaceTime with my parents and family on Christmas! The rest of the school week, I was at school. On Thursday, 26 December, I watched a play put on by the ninth forms. It was very interesting, and was about the Snow Maiden being kidnapped. Had a full cast of gypsy fortune tellers and army officers.

 I was also given a large number of Christmas presents, as my students wanted to “Congratulate [me] on Christmas, and to feel at home in our town.” These gifts included a New Year tree (my director insisted that I get one), a kitty-bank (a piggy-bank, only a cat), Christmas tree decorations, lots of chocolate, 2 really cool magnets, a Winter scene (made in crafts class), a pair of Christmas slipper socks, a box of candy from my director, a Christmas decoration, and a hand-made jewellery-box.

(not pictured, a box of truffles).

On Friday, 27 December, I talked to A about my schedule for next semester, and what forms I’m teaching. I got copies of the first unit of the textbooks, so I can start planning my own lessons, and creating games. I’m going to be team-teaching the 6th formers, and one set of the 11th formers. A and I decided that we are going to pull-out some students from the 9th and 11th form, and I’m going to teach them, and once a week, we are going to put everyone together, and learn about grammar.

On Sunday, 29 December, I went with A to the bazaar, where I bought forks, knives, spoons, a cooking pot, a frying pan, and some other kitchen necessities. I was thinking about cooking a dinner, but remember that I had no ingredients. I didn’t have salt, or butter. Got both at the bazaar. Had the odd experience of being given a taste of the butter – like of ice cream. Need to ask A the word for “unsalted” as that was the butter I got. Awesome, now I don’t have to figure out the salt ratio when I bake. Now, I can have a dinner that doesn’t come from a packet.

Today, Monday, 30 December 2013, I slept in. After a small breakfast, I went to the grocery store, ATB, where I proceeded to buy the ingredients to borshch. I spent the afternoon cooking. While my borshch was cooking, I made myself scrambled eggs. I didn’t have any mozzarella or shredded cheese, so I used the sweet curd cheese. It’s a larger-curd, more cow-wy and more bitter cheese than ricotta. It’s really good mixed with sour cream and a either a spoonful of sugar or a spoonful of jam. It is also very good scrambled into eggs, with a pinch of salt. My borshch turned out pretty good. I need to see if I can find some chicken broth – boiling the chicken just doesn’t create a strong flavour – as well as get some spices. Bay leaves, cinnamon, ground pepper.

10 - 11 December 2013: Olexandriya

10 December and 11 December 2013

On Tuesday, 10 December, I got up early, got dressed, and went down for a hasty breakfast before getting on busses to go to the US Embassy. It took over an hour to get to the Embassy, because of traffic in Kyiv. Once there, we had to wait for 20 minutes in the cold, as we were the last few on the bus, and therefore the last few off the bus. We had to have our passports, we had to let our bags be inspected (no cameras, bummer), and we had to go through a metal detector as well as be wanded down. That was before we were even on Embassy grounds itself. Which actually makes sense – according to international law, the US Embassy is US territory. Once inside the Embassy, we checked our coats, and went into the main room, where the ceremony would be taking place.

There, we learned that it would be close to an hour before the ceremony began. We were told that we could get pictures (there was a PC person and an Embassy photographer covering the event) in front of the sign. When the CD arrived, we could get pictures with him. I bought some coffee (the real deal, not instant), which was very nice. After that, I had a chat with a lot of my fellow PCVs, as we waited for the ceremony to start.

Once it started, everyone was introduced. The ceremony was translated in to Ukrainian by a member of PC Admin, who grew up wanting to be a translator. Various PCVs who brought instruments played the dual national anthems. The Ukrainian anthem was played as a sax solo; the American anthem as guitar and choral ensemble. The CD gave a long talk about what it means to be a PCV (he was one of the first PCVs – 1961 – in Morocco), and why what we do is important. Then, we were officially sworn in as Volunteers, by the deputy head of the mission in Ukraine. He gave a long speech about what we, as American Volunteers, represent to the people of Ukraine. There were also important people in the Ukrainian Education system, who are responsible for the TEFL programme being in Ukraine. They gave long speeches welcoming us to Ukraine. Three PCVs gave speeches about what it means to them to be PCVs – one gave the in Ukrainian and one in Russian, while another PCV (a native Russian speaker) gave the English variant. It was a very nice ceremony, and very impressive.

After the ceremony, we had a small time to hang out (about 10 minutes), before we had to get back on the buses to head back to the hotel. There, we had lunch, before we had to leave for our sites. I had several hours before I needed to leave for the train station, so I spent some time online (got to chat with both of my parents) before packing. After I was packed, I dragged my stuff down to the lobby, where there was both friends and wifi. Several hours later, we had dinner (those of us leaving after 6pm got dinner), and got on the marshruktas (PC rented the van) to go to the central train station.

Once at the station, we unloaded the van, and went to McD’s to wait. Our luggage was watched by various members of PC security staff and the porters, who had it loaded on a trolley, and ready to go. After we waited for over an hour in McD’s, we followed the porters to our train car, where they loaded our bags for us. We had to show our tickets and our passports to get on the train. We had 6 beds in Kupenie class (a sleeper coupé style car), so we had one whole compartment and 2 beds in another. Our stuff got loaded into one (the upper bunks, below one of the lower bunks, and on the lower bunks), so we split up. M and I took the lower bunks in one coupé, and our counterparts took the bed in the other. We all had dinner (we were given a bag with a bottle of water, a Capri Sun, a Kit-Kat, an apple, and a sandwich) and tea (comes free with the ticket) together, before we got our beds ready and tried to sleep. Our counterparts asked for a wake-up call, so they could wake us up and we could sleep. I put my music on, and managed to zone and rest, but not to sleep.

At about 230am on Wednesday, 11 December, our counterparts woke us up, and told us that we had to get our stuff out of the compartment and get ready to get off. Once we got into Olexandriya, we got our stuff off the train, and were helped to our new flats by colleagues of our counterparts (my helper was my landlord). I was given my keys, shown around the flat, and told that my counterpart would pick me up at about 10am, to take me to the school. She told me that my boss was worried that the cold lunch/dinner that was left for me wouldn’t be enough, and I needed a real lunch. My counterpart left, and I was able to get to bed, at around 4am, only I needed to be back awake by 930am. I did manage to get a few hours of sleep.

I was woken up by my counterpart phoning me, telling me when she would be in my building. Then, I got treated to a 30-minute explicit rap concert, as one of my close neighbours was playing his/her music loud enough for the baseline to rattle my windows and walls. I took a few audio-recordings to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Once she arrived, my counterpart and I walked our school. It’s about a 30 minute walk (which sounds much better than it should), and we walked down the main street in Olexandriya. I got to see all the main stores in town, as well as the main square (Lenin Square). We walked past several school, as there are many schools with many different specialities (music, English, Russian, math, science, etc) in Olexandriya.

At school, I met many people (everybody who works at the school, I think), and had a very nice lunch. Then, I got a tour of the building, and got to talk to even more people. Everyone seemed excited to meet me. I helped my counterpart set up our room (making more room for the activities used by the Communicative method), before I got to help with my first class.

I got to talk with the class, and asked them a lot of questions. They told me that they were very interested in as many clubs as I could offer for them. After that, my counterpart and I got my schedule at least mostly decided. I am teaching mostly older students, as they are talking their national and/or independent English exams and would like to work with a native speaker before the tests. I will also have 6th and 7th forms, as they are very interested in meeting with me. I am hoping to observe until the end of the semester (Dec 27ish) and then start teaching with the next semester (Jan 15ish). After that, we went back to our respective flats. My counterpart has called me several times, to make sure that I am okay and that I am not hungry. I had dinner (bread, sausage, and cheese), and am going to try to relax and maybe go to bed early today.

05 - 09 December 2013: Transition to Service Conference

05 December – 09 December 2013

On Thursday, 05 December, I went with my cluster to thank the teachers who had worked with us at School #5 in Obukhiv. The Peace Corps gave us certificates to give to our teachers as thanks. After we thanked them, we were given gifts (chocolate) and talked to them about where we were going. After not long enough, we had to go to our last Russian class. We had a 2 hour class, where we learned several new sets of phrases – how to call for a taxi, how to talk to the landlord, and how to talk to our school. We practiced our phrases. After that, we had lunch, and had a short X/C session, where we went over how to deal with/communicate with our landlords, and how to continue on our own self-directed learning. After that, we cleaned the flat, and were free until Sunday at 9am. I walked back to the flat, did some more organizing, and had dinner with my host-family.

On Friday, 06 December, I was able to sleep in, as I didn’t have any classes. I ended up completely reorganizing how I had my things packed, but I was able to get even more things into Big Red, my large, red, rolling suitcase. That evening, I had dinner with my host-family. My host-mother went to watch the younger grandchild, so it was a very quiet evening.

On Saturday, 07 December, I also slept in late. I finished all of the packing that I could  (the things that I wasn’t going to use in the next 12 hours) and almost packed my smaller bags. I had several long video-chats with my parents, and was able to video-chat with my grandparents. After that, I had dinner with the whole family: borshch and noodles. As it was a special night, we all had a small amount of vodka and a very good torte. I hung-out with the family for a while. I read for a while before going to bed.

On Sunday, 08 December, I got up early, as I needed to be at my LCF’s flat at 9am, with all of my stuff. I finished packing my things, get dressed, had breakfast (scrambled eggs with sausage), and went to my LCF’s flat by car (my host-uncle drove me, my host-sister, and my stuff). There, we were picked up by a bus, which we loaded up with our stuff and went to Kyiv. In Kyiv, we drove to a university, as we were staying in their dorms. The transition to service conference was held in conference rooms in the building. First, we got the information-filled flash drive that we were promised will be amazing, got signed into our rooms, and signed two very important documents – the release of information (we can take your picture, and use what you create for TELF as  PCV) and the Oath itself – before we met our counterparts and had lunch.

My counterpart is very enthusiastic. She is about my parents age, and has lived in Olexandriya most of her life. I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We listened to our CD talk about the Transition to service conference, and then we got to learn about Small Project Assistance Civic Program (SPA) and Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) Grants. We learned what they were, what the difference is, where they get their money, what they can do for us, and how to apply for them.

After that, we split into groups, our counterparts going to talk to our regional managers, while we listened to the final administrative details. We went over our registration details – what we need to do to get registered in Ukraine – with the person in charge of registering us. He has helped many cohorts of PCTs and PCVs get registered in Ukraine . We also went over our various stipends and money.

After that, we broke into regions, and met with our regional manager, to get specifics on our registration, among other stuff. We went over things like the cantina: Eat at or bring? Tickets: who and where? Peace Corps money: when and where? and banking: Who do we give the money for things to, and when? Then, our counterparts joined us, and we got to know all the counterparts. Then, the TEFL Lead Specialist (Russian) came in and talked to us. She explained that we need to teach a certain number of hours, and have a certain number of extra-curricular. She told us HOW to get those extra hours. After that, it was dinner time, and then we were free. I had dinner with my counterpart, and then went back to the room, where I got ready for the next day, and read before going to bed.

On Monday, 09 December, I got up early, had breakfast with everybody (LCFs, PCTs, and Counterparts), and went to the next training. We were divided by region, for our HIV/AIDS/PEPFAR training. Over three hours, we had many activities that helped us understand what HIV is, how it becomes AIDS, how it is transmitted, and why it is an issue in Ukraine. We also talked about how it is treated, as it can not be cured, only treated. Before lunch, we got our passports back (with a stamp that means that we are registered in the country, even if we don’t have the document to back it up (our Posvidka; which we get once we finish the registration process). During lunch, there was a book/English teacher supply sale. There is an organization that sells English-language books/supplies to English teachers in Ukraine. They have some really cool things. I saw several things that I wanted to buy (and likely will once I have the space to carry them), and I bought some back-issue journals with interesting articles and activities, as well as a guide to idioms. After lunch, we had an hour and a half of activities on what stigma and discrimination are and how to overcome them.

After that, the whole group got together to learn about the Free Kick Programme - a programme that combines HIV/AIDS awareness, HIV testing, and football; supported by the Elton John Foundation – and PEPFAR (US President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief), which is grant programme that puts on programmes to train people in talking about HIV/AIDS and discrimination. There’s a training programme in February, and my counterpart was thinking about doing it. After PEPFAR, we learned about the VAST small funds programme – money for grants for PEPFAR and trainings that help with the most-at-risk-populations for HIV/AIDS. We then had a coffee break, before learning about the partner organizations: Bibliomist, FLEX, Open World Programs, Education USA, Windows on America, and the Regional English Language Office (US Embassy).

After that, we had the CD’s meeting, where our CD talked about how important we are to the future of all the countries we serve, and how we are in Ukraine during an interesting time for the country. He went over the rules, the important rules, the ones that could mean immediate administrative separation from the Peace Corps if you do them: leaving the country without the CD’s approval, engaging in espionage of any sort, and doing illegal drugs. He also went over why we are important to Ukraine – we made a commitment to serve Ukraine, to help to build the future of Ukraine, and we bring with us hope and possibility to Ukraine. Then, we had a bit of a surprise. Because of the possibility of something happening overnight in Kyiv, we wore sworn in by our CD. I think that, while the pomp of the ceremony at the Embassy was very cool, being sworn in by the CD was more moving.

After the impromptu-swearing-in ceremony, we voted for our TAG and VAC reps, who will be responsible for collating what we PCVs think about PST and being a Volunteer in-country and letting PC-U admin know about what we think. We then picked up our requested medications, learned the schedule for the Embassy (as long as we were still going), and went to have dinner.

After dinner, I got ready for the next day, and left packing until then, as I would have several hours to get ready before we would depart for the central train station. I got a shower and read for a while before going to bed.

29 November - 04 December: Site Placement Announcment

29 November 2013 – 04 December 2013

On Friday, 29 November 2013, I the final tech session of Pre-Service Training, where we went over what we’d learned in PST. After that, I went with 3 members of Obukhiv 2 to Kyiv. We walked to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (World War II). The museum is under a monument – the mother of Ukraine, built to look like an incredibly tall and metal Joan d’Arc – and, to get to it, you walk past various stone murals and Soviet-era tanks. It’s very impressive. The museum itself is… quite something. It’s 2 stories, and 15 rooms. The rooms have artefacts and pictures and souvenirs from the war. It is a necessary site to see if you are interested in military history. Much as Hôtel National des Invalides is in Paris. After that, we walked and Metroed back to centre Kyiv, where we got lunch. After lunch, we went to the Roshen store – a chocolate store with a set of kinda-creepy singing puppets on one level. After that, we walked as close to Independence Square as we dared, before heading to an amazing bookstore. After that, we Metroed to the bus stop, and took the Marshrutka back to Obukhiv. I had dinner with and hung out with my host-family before going to bed.

On Saturday, 30 November 2013, I learned what PC region I had been placed in, as well as when and where I needed to go to meet my Regional Manager (RM) and learn exactly where I was Sited. I spent most of the day doing various open-book PC tests and competencies. As well as some home task in Russian. There was one on safety and security, one on medical, and one on the Policies and Procedures handbook (the one where you have to either have the handbook in front of you while you take the test, or have the entire book memorized…). There was a host-family recommendation form (I gave a my host-family a “Strongly recommend” as to whether they should continue to host PCTs), and a PST review. I also did some home task. I had dinner with my host-family.

On Sunday, 01 December 2013, I had some friends over, as they wanted to watch the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special. We watched the episode, and nerded-out over how awesome it was. I washed some clothes by hand, and filled out the overly-complicated Volunteer Reporting Form. I finished my home task, and had dinner with my host-family. I also updated my blog, downloaded and edited my photos from Kyiv, and video-chatted with my parents.

On Monday, 02 December 2013, I had 3 hours of Russian, and close to an hour of individual tutoring. We spent most of the time talking, as our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) was the next day. We practiced asking each other questions, and answering various common LPI questions. After that, we had a break for lunch, and then we had individual tutoring, which was more questions and situational practices for the LPI. I had dinner with my host-family, as usual.

On Tuesday, 03 December 2013, I had my LPI. I had the middle slot, so my test was at 1045am. I don’t think it lasted much more than 15 minutes. I talked about my normal day in Obukhiv, my project and practice, my Ukrainian family, myself, my happiest day in Ukraine, as well as what I was going to do after my LPI. I didn’t know the Russian work for “packing” so I tried to get around it with “getting ready for my new city.” After that, I was given a situation, and I had to ask some questions. I was given a very easy one – make small talk with you host-mother as dinner finishes cooking. As I hold a similar conversation everyday, I think I did well on that part of the exam. On my way out, I suggested to V that we might be able to see the movie on Tuesday, instead of waiting until Thursday, as we had a lot to do on Thursday, not including a 2.5 hour movie. A bit later, I got a text from my cluster, telling me when we were going to watch the movie. The movie was called, I think, “Moscow doesn’t believe in tears,” and was about the lives of three young women, who all came to Moscow to try to get a better education, job, or husband. It was filmed during Soviet times, and was a comedy. It was very interesting, as it tracked their lives for about 20 years, with several time-skips. It explored various relationships, and various stereotypes. I had dinner with my host-family, and got ready to go to Chernigov, again, for my Site Announcement.

Today, Wednesday, 04 December 2013, a member of my cluster and 3 from Obukhiv 2 went to Chernigov (PC van), so that we could learn our Sites. We had to get up early to catch an early marshrutka to Kyiv, and the PC van to Chernigov (2+ hour drive) I almost fell asleep along the way. I am in PC Region 7, which included Kirovograds’ka Oblast and Odesas’ka Oblast. I learned that I am Olexandriya, which is the rayon (county) seat of Olexandriya Rayon, in Kirovograds’ka Oblast. I am in a one-room flat, living by myself, a few minutes walk from my school. I have “good, normal, living conditions.” I am teaching at the local Gymnasium, which is a boarding school. There is another PCV, M, in my town, just a few minutes walk from my flat. His school is on the same street as mine, and he’s in my training cluster. I didn’t think that the PC put cluster-mates in the same city, but, they did here.

After our sites and housing were announced, we learned how and when we would get to our sites. I have the 9pm-3am (the next day) train to my town. I get three seats (beds) in a Coupé wagon (these compartments have doors; platzcartné is cheaper, but doesn’t have doors) – one for me, one for my counterpart, and one for my stuff. We were also given some information about our Swearing-In Retreat, as we get to meet our Counterparts on Sunday. Wow! Sunday! We were given some forms and important documents, and let out early. Which was good, as we now had 45 minutes for lunch, instead of 15.

6 of us ended up at a small café called “The Golden Keys,” which serves coffee, juice, and sweets. M and myself, plus 4 members of the 3 various Chernigov clusters. We talked about our Site placements (3 of the Chernigov group have their announcement tomorrow…), and our lives at training. We talked about what we would do at Site (sleep, shop, etc), and when we wanted to visit our friends. After that, we walked back to the PC van, and piled in for the ride back to Kyiv.

We shared around some of the food we had – sweet and savoury – and talked excitedly about our Sites. I put on some music, and tried to zone. It worked a bit. Couldn’t nap, but still got some rest. Instead of dropping us at the Metro station closest to the motorway to Chernigov, our nice driver dropped us at the bus stop where he picked us up. We took the Marshrutka back to Obukhiv, where I got to hang-out with my host-family. I had a quick video-chat with my parents, telling them where I had been sited. Tomorrow, I’m going to School #5, to thank my training-counterpart again.

29 Nov - 04 December 2013: Site Placement

29 November 2013 – 04 December 2013: Site Placement

On Friday, 29 November 2013, I the final tech session of Pre-Service Training, where we went over what we’d learned in PST. After that, I went with 3 members of Obukhiv 2 to Kyiv. We walked to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (World War II). The museum is under a monument – the mother of Ukraine, built to look like an incredibly tall and metal Joan d’Arc – and, to get to it, you walk past various stone murals and Soviet-era tanks. It’s very impressive. The museum itself is… quite something. It’s 2 stories, and 15 rooms. The rooms have artefacts and pictures and souvenirs from the war. It is a necessary site to see if you are interested in military history. Much as Hôtel National des Invalides is in Paris. After that, we walked and Metroed back to centre Kyiv, where we got lunch. After lunch, we went to the Roshen store – a chocolate store with a set of kinda-creepy singing puppets on one level. After that, we walked as close to Independence Square as we dared, before heading to an amazing bookstore. After that, we Metroed to the bus stop, and took the Marshrutka back to Obukhiv. I had dinner with and hung out with my host-family before going to bed.

On Saturday, 30 November 2013, I learned what PC region I had been placed in, as well as when and where I needed to go to meet my Regional Manager (RM) and learn exactly where I was Sited. I spent most of the day doing various open-book PC tests and competencies. As well as some home task in Russian. There was one on safety and security, one on medical, and one on the Policies and Procedures handbook (the one where you have to either have the handbook in front of you while you take the test, or have the entire book memorized…). There was a host-family recommendation form (I gave a my host-family a “Strongly recommend” as to whether she should continue to host PCTs), and a PST review. I also did some home task. I had dinner with my host-family.

On Sunday, 01 December 2013, I had some friends over, as they wanted to watch the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special. We watched the episode, and nerded-out over how awesome it was. I washed some clothes by hand, and filled out the overly-complicated Volunteer Reporting Form. I finished my home task, and had dinner with my host-family. I also updated my blog, downloaded and edited my photos from Kyiv, and video-chatted with my parents.

On Monday, 02 December 2013, I had 3 hours of Russian, and close to an hour of individual tutoring. We spent most of the time talking, as our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) was the next day. We practiced asking each other questions, and answering various common LPI questions. After that, we had a break for lunch, and then we had individual tutoring, which was more questions and situational practices for the LPI. I had dinner with my host-family, as usual.

On Tuesday, 03 December 2013, I had my LPI. I had the middle slot, so my test was at 1045am. I don’t think it lasted much more than 15 minutes. I talked about my normal day in Obukhiv, my project and practice, my Ukrainian family, myself, my happiest day in Ukraine, as well as what I was going to do after my LPI. I didn’t know the Russian work for “packing” so I tried to get around it with “getting ready for my new city.” After that, I was given a situation, and I had to ask some questions. I was given a very easy one – make small talk with you host-mother as dinner finishes cooking. As I hold a similar conversation everyday, I think I did well on that part of the exam. On my way out, I suggested to V that we might be able to see the movie on Tuesday, instead of waiting until Thursday, as we had a lot to do on Thursday, not including a 2.5 hour movie. A bit later, I got a text from my cluster, telling me when we were going to watch the movie. The movie was called, I think, “Moscow doesn’t believe in tears,” and was about the lives of three young women, who all came to Moscow to try to get a better education, job, or husband. It was filmed during Soviet times, and was a comedy. It was very interesting, as it tracked their lives for about 20 years, with several time-skips. It explored various relationships, and various stereotypes. I had dinner with my host-family, and got ready to go to Chernigov, again, for my Site Announcement.

Today, Wednesday, 04 December 2013, a member of my cluster and 3 from Obukhiv 2 went to Chernigov (PC van), so that we could learn our Sites. We had to get up early to catch an early marshrutka to Kyiv, and the PC van to Chernigov (2+ hour drive) I almost fell asleep along the way. I am in PC Region 7, which included Kirovograds’ka Oblast and Odesas’ka Oblast. I learned that I am Olexandria, which is the rayon (county) seat of Olexandria Rayon, in Kirovograds’ka Oblast. I am in a one-room flat, living by myself, a few minutes walk from my school. I have “good, normal, living conditions.” I am teaching at the local Gymnasium, which is a boarding school. There is another PCV, M, in my town, just a few minutes walk from my flat. His school is on the same street as mine, and he’s in my training cluster. I didn’t think that the PC put cluster-mates in the same city, but, they did here.

After our sites and housing were announced, we learned how and when we would get to our sites. I have the 9pm-3am (the next day) train to my town. I get two seats (beds) in a Coupé wagon (these compartments have doors; platzcartné is cheaper, but doesn’t have doors) – one for me, and one for my stuff. We were also given some information about our Swearing-In Retreat, as we get to meet our Counterparts on Sunday. Wow! Sunday! We were given some forms and important documents, and let out early. Which was good, as we now had 45 minutes for lunch, instead of 15.

6 of us ended up at a small café called “The Golden Keys,” which serves coffee, juice, and sweets. M and myself, plus 4 members of the 3 various Chernigov clusters. We talked about our Site placements (3 of the Chernigov group have their announcement tomorrow…), and our lives at training. We talked about what we would do at Site (sleep, shop, etc), and when we wanted to visit our friends. After that, we walked back to the PC van, and piled in for the ride back to Kyiv.

We shared around some of the food we had – sweet and savoury – and talked excitedly about our Sites. I put on some music, and tried to zone. It worked a bit. Couldn’t nap, but still got some rest. Instead of dropping us at the Metro station closest to the motorway to Chernigov, our nice driver dropped us at the bus stop where he picked us up. We took the Marshrutka back to Obukhiv, where I got to hang-out with my host-family. I had a quick video-chat with my parents, telling them where I had been sited. Tomorrow, I’m going to School #5, to thank my training-counterpart again.

17- 28 November 2013: Long time, no update.

17 – 28 November 2013

On Sunday, 17 November 2013, I got to sleep in and chat with my parents. I also worked on my lesson plans and the community project.

On Monday, 18 November 2013, I went to Russian for 3 hours. After lunch, I had individual and pair tutoring before a community project update, where we outlined the plan our workshop. I did a lot of home task, had dinner with my host-family, and read for a bit before dinner.

On Tuesday, 19 November 2013, I taught a double lesson on recycling and writing letters to the editor. After that, we had a technical session, lunch, and 3 hours of Russian. I walked back to my host-family’s flat, where I did my home task, outlined a lesson, had dinner with my host-family, and read before going to bed.

On Wednesday, 20 November 2013, I had 3 hours of Russian, and a long break before another community project update. There, we planned our workshop. I walked back to the flat, had dinner with my host-family, planned a lesson, made materials for a lesson, did my home task, and read before going to bed.

On Thursday, 21 November 2013, I got to observe the first Demo Lesson – a lesson that everyone observes, so that they can see what works for what classes. I got to observe the 6th form, who were learning about household items. They are a very energetic group. After that, I observed a double 9th form lesson on various global problems – earthquakes, pollutions, etc. Then, I got to teach me Demo, where I had a review lesson. I had them review a lot of vocab, and then had them play reverse Jeopardy! – I gave them the answer, they had to do something with it. My students enjoyed the class. After that, we had a debrief, where we talked about our demo lessons, before heading to lunch and 3 hours of Russian. After class, I went back to the flat, had dinner with my host-family, and did my home task.

On Friday, 22 November 2013, I had 3 hours of Russian. It was M’s birthday, so some of the activities were tailored to his interests – movies. I also had 30 minutes of pair-tutoring (which is still torture and still doesn’t work), before having a long gap, where I was able to do most of my home task. After everyone finished their tutorings, we saw Oblivion, which is just as good on the second watching. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

On Saturday, 23 November 2013, we had a link tech session, where we went over our counterparts and interaction with them. We then had a week debrief, and an X/C session, where we talked about Holidays, Humour, and Slang. It was the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special, so I stayed off of Facebook until I was able to see the episode. I spent the afternoon and evening reviewing Russian, and had dinner with my host-family.

On Sunday, 24 November 2013, I was able to sleep in. I bought the episode, but didn’t watch it until that evening. I did my home task, planned a lesson, made materials for my lesson, and reviewed my Russian some more. I had dinner with my host-family, watched my anniversary special, and read a bit before going to bed.

On Monday, 25 November 2013, I had 3 hours of Russian, before individual and pair tutoring. After that, I had a community project update, where we talked about what we needed for our workshop, and on our “Readiness to serve form.” I completed and submitted the form, had dinner with my host-family, and did a lot of home task.

On Tuesday, 26 November 2013, I observed 2 Demos (9th form and 7th form), before co-teaching a class on the next section of The Hound of the Baskervilles. I had the students play two games: Who am I? and Taboo (which they played with full rules). They did really well and had a lot of fun. After that, we had a tech session (Vl from the PC came down to talk about electrical safety) about how to negotiate our workload at site. We then had a debrief of the day. After lunch, we had 3 hours of Russian. After that, I walked back to the flat, had dinner with my host-family, and spent several hours doing home task.

On Wednesday, 27 November 2013, I had 3 hours of Russian before a 3 hour gap before a run-through of our workshop. I was able to do some of my home task and plan my lesson during the break. We had a good run-through, as we figured out what we were going to say the next day.

On Thursday, 28 November 2013, I observed the last demo lesson, and co-taught the second half of the double, before teaching my final lesson. I had went over their home task (H.O.U.N.D.), and then into the next unit – man-made wonders and the passive voice. I had them read dialogues, then went over vocab words, before we played a game of Who am I? over various landmarks. After class, we had our workshop, which I think went over very well. The teachers seemed to like it. After the workshop, we had tea with the teachers, who wanted to know about where and when we are going to our permanent sites. After tea, we had lunch, and got started on 2 hours of Russian. We had 2 hours because it was Thanksgiving, and we could watch a movie if we wanted to. After class, I had some pair tutoring, and then walked back to the flat. I got to video-chat with my parents for a bit, as they had the day off. Took the night off, as I didn’t have class the next day. We all took our one personal day to relax after our workshop and before our LPI.

06-16 November 2013 - I've had a long couple of weeks.

06 – 16 November 2013

The last few weeks have been very busy. 06, 07, and 08 November were spend in PST University, where we learned how to be better teachers in Ukraine. We learned how current PCVs have adapted to the limited resources in their town, how to hold/gain the attention of our students, and some classroom management strategies. We stayed at the same hotel as the arrival retreat, which is a very nice hotel. Not that expensive, either, from what I’ve heard. On Friday, 08 November, I had my Site Placement Interview, which determines where I am going as a PCV.

Saturday and Sunday (09 and 10 November) was full of trying to catch up on any work I needed to do for the next week, which included having a community project and lesson debrief meeting. I also got to help cook a bit – I made cabbage vareniki. My clustermate, M, came over to hang out with my host-sister, and met the whole gang. The uncle of my host-sister’s uncle was there, and he insisted that we all drink some vodka. As a woman, I was able to sip mine, but M took his the Ukrainian way – as shots. We all had dinner as well – borshch.

On Monday (11 November), it was the official end of Rotation, so our original LCF, V, was back. We had 3 hours of Russian, most of which was taken up by our mock-LPIs, which are a version of the test that we will have to take in less than a month. While our clustermates were taking their mock-LPI, we did various activities for V. After that, we had our final English club meeting, where we showed a powerpoint and talked about various English speaking countries. I did my home task, and had dinner with my host-family. I can now hold a several minute conversation with my host-mother.

On Tuesday (12 November), we taught. I observed the first half of the double lesson, and then taught the second. I was observed by a person from the PC, who was impressed that I managed to teach modal verbs to 7th forms, without running screaming (her words, yes). I was told what I did right, and then told what I needed to do better. We had a Tech Session, where we learned some tips for how to manage large classes. We then had 3 hours of Russian. I did my home task, and spent some time hanging out with my host-family during dinner.

On Wednesday (13 November), we had our usual three hours of Russian. I then had an hour of pair tutoring, and an hour of individual tutoring. No matter how much the PC insists that pair tutoring works, it doesn’t. I only learn what I don’t know, not what I do know. Most of my individual tutoring was taken up by (another) mock LPI, but I was able to ask some questions about the imperfective/perfective aspect of the verbs. After that, we had a community project check-in, where we decided how we were going to hold our workshop, and our teaching/observation schedule for the next week. We also decided on a time to come to my host-family’s flat, to work on our project. I did my home task, hung out with my host-family and read before bed.

On Thursday (14 November), we were flying solo at the school, as our LCF was in Petrovski, with Obukhov 2. I think my lesson went pretty well – there are some things that I would do differently, if I had to teach the same lesson again. While I was teaching, a large white bin bag (one of the large ones that fits in a large kitchen bin, and has a red pull-tie) floated past the window like an absurd kite. It kept getting drawn past the window, much to the amusement of myself, my 3 students, and my counterpart. After class, I was told that I was doing much better. We then had our 3 hours of Russian, after which I walked back to the flat, and did my home task. I hung out with my host-family during dinner, and I read before bed.

On Friday (15 November), class started an hour early, as V wanted to go home for the weekend, and therefore needed to be in Kyiv for the train. We had our three hours of Russian, and then had a quick X/C session on humour and slang in Ukraine. After that, I went to Kasheniya (the grocery store), where I checked my account balance, and got biscuits for the next day, when my clustermates would be coming over to work on our Community project. I also refilled my mobile with money for minutes. I had dinner with my host-family, and read before bed.

Today, Saturday (16 November 2013), I got up and had borshch for breakfast. A bowl of borshch is actually a well balanced breakfast – a soup with meat, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, beets, beans, and sour cream. I then helped a bit with cleaning before my clustermates came over. They came over at 1pm, and were pretty much herded into the kitchen to have tea. They brought biscuits and juice, so we had a biscuit break before work. My host-mother reminded me (at least twice) to feed my clustermates – she’d made borshch and galupsi. We worked on our project for a few hours, going over the lesson plans and dialogues for spelling and grammar errors. We took a tea break in the middle, where we had tea/coffee and galupsi. After that, we finished proofing our project parts, and set a time for when they needed to be done by. Then, we recorded the dialogues. After everyone went back to their flats, I sent in my dialogues and shot the comics, which I then edited and converted to pdf files. I had dinner with my host-sister(s) and the next-door neighbour. I’m probably going to watch some X-Factor Ukraine before going to bed.

04 and 05 November 2013

04 November 2013

Monday, I got up, got dressed, had breakfast, and walked to Russian. There, we had a short class (about an hour) where we talked about trains, their parts, and their schedules, before having a brief break and then taking the bus to Kyiv. Once in Kyiv, we took Metro to the Vokzal station, which is the station closest to the train stations in Kyiv (Vokzal is Russian/Ukrainian for “Station;” the type of station is specified). There, we met P’s sister and asked her a few questions before she had to go. After that, we walked to the P/J Vokzal (Train Station), and looked at the arrivals and departures boards to find information about trains that we had been given. We looked for when it would arrive, when it would depart, when it would get to its last station, when it left its first station, and what bay it was coming into (if applicable). After that, we had to go up to the info counter and ask about a different train. We wanted to know when it would run, when it was leaving, and how much tickets would cost at various levels. The person I asked made me pay her for the information – she got irritated with the fact that I couldn’t understand her. While she was speaking nice and clear Russian, it was through one of those grate-like things that muffles and transforms sounds. After, that, we wandered through the Vokzal, through the various waiting rooms (and looking at the ticket counters), and through the passenger bay, where there is access to the bays.  We walked all the way through, to the “Southern Station,” which is the new entrance and where you can buy tickets for different types of trains. Then, we had to almost run back to the Metro station (Metro Station Vokzal is housed in the local train station), buy a token, and take the Metro back to our bus stop, and the bus back to Obukhov, as we were running late to English Club.

A few of us managed to eat a tiny bit of lunch before running to English club. There, we discussed film genres briefly, and asked the students to talk to their friends about their favourite film and genres. After that, some of the students told us their favourite films (which ranged from Iron Man to Warm Bodies to Titanic). For the last 20 or so minutes. we watched James and the Giant Peach, as we hadn’t really had time to prepare anything for club. The students seemed to love it.

After English club, we had tutoring with S (for Tuesday’s lesson) and I had language tutoring with P. With P. I went over my hometasks, and was assigned more. With S, I went over my lesson plans, and got some ideas as to what I should do as reserve activities, but not much more. After that, I helped a bit on the PST University poster (I erased the pencil lines from the storyboard after L and/or MM had traced them in pen). I then went back to my host-family’s flat, had dinner, and wrote my home tasks. I wrote up the field trip to Kyiv – what we did, when we did it, and about our train. After that, I wrote out a review activity for travelling for the cluster. After that, I made sure that I had all of my stuff set out to pack on Tuesday, and read for a bit before going to bed.

05 November 2013

Tuesday, I got up, got dressed, had breakfast, and walked down to School #5, where I observed M review phrasal verbs with his 9th forms. He went over how a phrasal verb works, and then had them had them practice with a few phrasal verbs.

After his class, I went to teach my double, and was able to “observe” a teachers’ meeting – all of the English teachers, the vice principal in charge of the specialized school, and the principal all talked about something. My counterpart, Y, told me to get prepared for class, and not worry about their meeting. I wrote the review on the board, and then wrote the new words on the board. Once the meeting was over, class started. I went back over my daily marks, and re-introduced the unit. I went over the review words, and tried to explain some of them. How do you explain “unleaded (petrol)” to 7th forms? I simply said that petrol used to be leaded, and that I didn’t think that Ukraine uses leaded petrol, but that some places still do. I then translated petrol (benzene) and kept going. Also, the difference between “rubbish” and “litter.” In Russian (and Ukrainian), the word is the same. I explained that rubbish is binned, and litter is just thrown somewhere else. I then had the students write a sentence using one of the new words, before the break. During the break, Y and I decided what I would teach on Tuesday, as I told her that I wouldn’t be there on Thursday. I have a very vague outline of what I need to do for the second class on Tuesday.

After the break, I taught, well, solo, as Y had to run for a meeting at the Dome Culturé (the House of Culture). I had them read their sentences to the class, to see how they did. I have a question that no one seems to answer – what mistakes am I correcting? Grammar? Accuracy? I had a student who had a perfectly grammatically correct sentence, but which wasn’t possible. I corrected her, making sure to emphasize that she was right grammatically, but the sentence wasn’t possible. Then, we went over the dialogues (I paired them up to read), and decided what rules were discussed. We then decided on some classroom rules (raise your hand) and talked about the rules of their flats. I tried to tell them the difference between “should” and “have to,” which seems to be the main focus of the Thursday lesson. After that, I assigned them home task, telling that they could get to work, as we had a few minutes left. I started marking them, and one student asked for clarification – they’d already done the assignment I tried to assign. Yes, one of the students pointed out that I assigned them something that they had already done! As I wasn’t prepared for that, I simply gave them speaking practice – read those sentences aloud, to your mirror, your pets, anything. After that, we had a tech session in the auditorium, where we talked about the necessity of effective communication, and what effective communication entails.

After that, we walked back to P’s flat, where we had lunch and started on Russian. We went over what we’d written, and then had various review activities. One cool one was a dice game, where we had to say where we were going, where we were coming from, an what we were doing each time we rolled. Another was an awesome review activity that dealt with trains and could we understand what the loudspeaker (M held his nose to mimic the muffled and distorted sounds from the loudspeaker). After class, we had a brief X/C session, where we talked about direct vs. indirect culture. As in, New Jersey vs. North Carolina. One says what they think (and means it), the other says something carefully designed to say what they think, but in a way that saves face for everyone. Instead of “I don’t think that will work,” an indirect way would be “Well, I think that’s a wonderful idea, John, but what do you think about ___x___.” After that, the group went to the store to get ingredients for dinner (they were making dinner) and I waited for S to give us her schedule, so we could plan the next week’s classes. Once we got our schedule of tech sessions, we planned our Russian and tutoring schedule for the week. After that, I walked back to the flat to pack. I met my host-mother walking back to the flat (she was walking back from the bus stop), and we talked for a bit. I had dinner with my host-family, and talked about PST Uni, for which I would have to leave very early the next day. I packed everything that I could, and read for a bit before going to bed.

29 October - 03 November 2013

29 October – 03 November 2013: another long update

29 October

Schools in Ukraine had last week off, so Tuesday started with a Technical Session, where we talked about classroom management. We talked about some issues in the classroom, some possible reasons behind those issues, and some possible solutions. We also went over tips and things to remember about classroom management. Then, we went over Self-Assessment (for the PC), before we moved on to our Community Project. We creates goals and objectives, and started filling in what we needed to fill in. A member of the cluster is coordinating what we need to write, and when he needs to email it in. After that, we had individual meetings with our TCF, where we went over our TEFL organizer and got to learn how she thought we did during her observations. After that, we had lunch and Russian class.

Russian class started with some new phrases of agreement and disagreement. We had to agree or disagree and then explain why we felt that way about a sentence. Then, we went over what we’d written the previous night – a text on new subject. I drew “Show Business,” so I wrote a society page paragraph about a musician and his career. We read our paragraphs to the class, pretending to be on TV. I got fussed at for using too many new words when I was writing. We then went back over the verbs of motion, and talked about the type of transport. We learned what they’re called, and discussed what we thought about them and how expensive/popular they are. After that, class was over. I had 30 min of pair tutoring and an hour of individual tutoring after class.

L and I spent more than 20 minutes trying to hold a conversation in Russian, me as the neighbour of a new PCV in a very small village. I got a very emphatic thumbs up when I asked if the new PCV knew President Obama. We then discussed our mistakes and L went home. I had an hour more tutoring, where I read my various written assignments, and we went over my mistakes. I seem to be inaccurate, but precise – I make the same mistake repeatedly. But, once it’s pointed out, I don’t make it as much.

After that, P walked with me up to the flat, as he wanted to meet my host-family. I showed him around the small flat, and he had dinner with my host-family. After that, I did some home task, finished and emailed the Self-assessment to the PC, and some more home task (translation) before giving up at past 1130pm. I went to bed shortly thereafter, to repeat the next day.

30 October 2013

On Wednesday, we started with a link tech session, where I helped to co-facilitate a session on NEST/NNEST and co-teaching. We learned what the advantages and disadvantages for teachers and students, and why a NEST/NNEST pair can be very useful. After that, we had a short review session, and then left to go to the Children’s Creativity Centre, which is where children can go to do various arts. We got to participate in a few minutes of a painting class, and observe an award-winning dance group. They demonstrated their warm-up and the song that they’d won with – Chubby Checker’s “The Twist.” After that, we had to leave, as Obukhiv 2 had to return to Petrovski, and we had Russian to get to.

First, we had went to the store, and then we had lunch. In class we went over all that we had learned in the past few days. We went over types of transport, locations in town, everything. I don’t remember all of the activities, but I know we went over the transport questions from home task, and talked about the types of transport. We also learned the words necessary to talk to a bus driver and went over them. “Stop here, please.” “Where is this bus going?” “What is the next stop?” “Are you getting off?” “May I pass?” and many more. We then got our home task – who are you portraying for Hallowe’en? as we needed to be in costume. I walked back to the flat, did some home task, had dinner, and did some more home task, before going to bed.

31 October 2013: Hallowe’en

Thursday, we had a community project check-in, so we all covered our costumes and applied make-up before Russian. During the Community project check-in, we finished filling in what we needed to fill in, and decided on what needed to be done by when. After that, we walked across the hall to P’s flat, where we changed (if need be) some of us applied lots of make-up. Because of the limited contents of our wardrobes, we were all fairly simple costumes. I was Lestat, as it was the only costume I had enough parts of. Plus, with the right movements and attitude, anyone can play Lestat. We had to share the little things we’d written about our characters, after which we asked questions about the character and about any words that we didn’t know. After that, we practiced our verbs of motion and directions using public transport to direct a clustermate around a town. We had to ask them were they were, why they were there, why they wanted to go there, and then tell them how to get there. After that, talked about where we’ve travelled, and how we’ve travelled where we’ve travelled. We had a break for lunch.

After lunch, we learned how to navigate a train station, and how to buy a ticket. We practiced “buying” tickets to various locations, taking various types of tickets. We practiced some more and got our home task assignments. We needed to do more bookwork and write up a story about a past Hallowe’en and a news story. I drew Opinion Piece. After class, I walked back to the flat, finished the previous nights home task, and had dinner with my host-family, and wrote my Hallowe’en story and my opinion piece. I read a bit before going to be.

01 November 2013

Friday started with new vocab, where learned how to ask the name of something. We then went over our Hallowe’en stories, and talked about them in. After that, we went over our news piece. For each of our pieces, we wrote new words on the board (with translation), and read the story in Russian. Then, our clustermates had to explain what happened in English.

After that, we went back over the train station words, and practiced them some more. After practicing the words, we got to look at a train ticket in our workbooks, which we went over and learned where to look for various information. After that, we got to look at some of P’s train tickets, and we asked our clustermates questions about “their” train. We then got to ask questions about an imaginary train – we were given a schedule, but it only had one train on it; we had to ask about the other trains. We learned and practiced some new words. After that, we were done for the day, with Russian, anyway.

Next, we had our Progress-Assessment interviews, where we talked to the training director about how we feel about our progress towards integration, being an effective teacher, etc. She said that some of our answers were answered usually expected from COSing (close of service) PCVs, not mid-PST PCTs. I think we’re all doing well in those respects. After that, we had a brief SAS session, where we looked at sexual harassment of female volunteers and discussed what should have been done differently, or what could have happened to prevent the situation from happening in the first place. After that, we watched Interview with the Vampire, as it’s one of P’s favourite films, and two of our cluster hadn’t seen it. We got started pretty late, so we were done late. I was walked back to my flat (Ukrainian tradition – men walk women back after dark), which we don’t normally do, just when it’s pushing 1030 at night. I watched a bit of “Everybody Dances,” read for a bit, and went to bed

02 November 2013: Football in Petrovski 

On Saturday, I scared my host mother – she didn’t know I had a Saturday class, in Petrovski. So, I walked out to brush my teeth, etc, she saw me and asked when I was leaving, and quickly made me Kasha. I got dressed and had breakfast, remembering that we needed to bring biscuits (it’s still think that biscuits should come with gravy…) to the meeting, as we were going to another person’s house. While texting my clustermates, my mobile told me to plug it in, so I did (the 10 minute charge got me to Petrovski) while I was eating breakfast. Then, I walked quickly to the store to get the biscuits. When we got to Petrovski, I asked their LCF if I could charge my mobile during the session (of course; motioned towards power strip). Saturday’s X/C session was on Gender “issues” in Ukraine, because gender-roles are very strongly defined and almost enforced. We talked about the fishbowl effect on PCVs, and other important things to know.

After our X/C session, we had a tea/coffee break, and then played football. Well, I photographed my friends playing football. I got some great photos. While I was taking them, I filled up my card, and had to delete the previous pictures before I could keep shooting. I left after I had almost refilled the card, and my fingers were freezing. I took the bus back, repaired my jacket (some of the inside shoulder seams had torn), and edited the pictures, which I then posted to Facebook. After that, I worked on a dialogue for our Community project, and we chose a topic for English Club on Monday. I had a lazy evening – had dinner with my host-family, watched a bit of X-Factor Ukraine, had a long video-chat with my Mom, and read for a bit before going to bed.

03 November 2013

Sunday, I slept in a bit, but was up in time to help make a salad. I peeled and sliced cooked potatoes, beets, carrots, and pickled eggplant. All before breakfast. Then, I had a perfect “brunch” – kasha (breakfast) and a rice and duck dish (lunch). All with coffee. Host-Mom had a big pot of borshch on the stove for dinner. The rice and duck dish was very good. The duck tasted like chicken, but juicier. It was very fresh; I think it was caught and killed a few days before. After that, I washed some clothes by hand and went to the store with my host-sister. After that, I did a lot of home task. Most of it was translation (transportation), but some of it was finding what we were going to do for English club. We had some technical difficulties, so we changed what we were going to do. I was able to do half of my home-task before I had a snack and tea with my host-sister. I then went back to my home-task, almost finished it, and had dinner with my host-mom when she got home. I then finished it, and was able to video-chat with my dad. I read a bit before going to bed.