There are a lot of things about the Ukrainian school system that I just don’t understand because I grew up in the American school system. Things are done quite differently and it makes me wonder why. For example, the Ukrainian system of grading is on a 12 point scale where the American system is letter […]
As of today, September 17, 2012, it has been exactly two years since I left Wisconsin for the Peace Corps. Granted, I didn’t actually arrive in Ukraine until September 22, 2010 due to problems with visas at the embassy. Also, it’s been a year since I last visited home. Time has flown.
I talked to Jeramie yesterday and it sounds like she had an awful first day back at school. If not awful then at least not ideal. Apparently she had to deal with the same kinds of things we had to deal with in earlier years, but she’d thought she had helped her school past them. […]
So, I’ve been growing a beard. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I think it’s something everyone should try, at least to learn how your facial hair actually grows. Hell, you might end up liking it. Some of my “friends” have strongly urged me to shave it. They insist that […]
I’m in Kiev today for medical. I’ve been up since 4:00am and it’s earlier than I planned to be awake to get to Kiev. You see, it’s the end of summer and the university students are monopolizing the trains to get from their villages to their universities. The train I usually take was full earlier than I […]
This summer, we’ve been going to get soft-serve ice-cream in the center. I’m not really sure why we didn’t do it last summer but what matters is that we are now. I have a standard order of, “Big chocolate.” Usually this rolls in around 200g (0.44 lbs) and it costs me 8 UAH ($1).That’s not […]
Yesterday, August 24, was the Ukrainian Day of Independence. I had looked forward to it because there are celebrations in the center for holidays. At celebrations, there’s almost always shashlik. Shashlik is delicious. It’s grilled meat but not like grilled meat I’ve had in America. I wish I knew how it is different, but I […]
For the last two weeks of summer, I was asked to work with some of the students one-on-one to prepare them for the National English Olympiad. It’s been fun, and I’ve talked about my approach to teaching already. Today, I want to share the first week results of my method. While most of the time […]
School has me coming in this week and next week to work with some select students. There’s a handpicked group of six or seven they want prepped for the English Olympiads well in advance, and while I’m still here able to help. While I certainly could argue and put up a fight about having to […]
You don’t know this, but I should have a bunch of photos of Berlin to post here for your eye-candy enjoyment. I don’t because I’m a dummy. There would have been photos of the Wall and beer and pretzels and possibly me riding a bicycle. Oh the joy to ride something with two wheels again […]