Made it to Chernihiv, Ukraine!! Safe and in one piece, looking good so far.
Quick facts:
Was greeted by a lovely, potent smell of body odor at the airport, and by all friendly locals thus far.
Women really do dress up when they go out and walk the streets... in skirts and heels.
We are 7 hours ahead of EST.
The flight was brutal, I'm exhausted.
I'm going to learn RUSSIAN!!!!!
I'm freaking excited for whatever is to come!!!!!!
For those of you who were wondering where, what and how to stay in touch with me, it's here. My blog.
Please email me your address so that I can send you a post card! (zeekrainian@gmail.com)
XOXO
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Inching Foward.
Ah, yes. No pun intended, but I do intend to vote using an absentee ballot while abroad for the upcoming elections using that website they mentioned during roll call:
https://www.votefromabroad.org/
Yes, I watched the whole thing and yes, I failed quite miserably to hear the two most important speeches of Thursday night. All week, I waited and anticipated listening to Joe Biden and President Barack Obama speak, but when I finally sank down into my couch and turned the TV on, I passed out. Utterly and completely. When I woke up, the cardinal was blessing America.
Inching forward. AH!!! It's finally hit me that I am leaving this house in one week, and that I am heading for Ukraine in just 10 days!!! I am literally rendered speechless about my feelings, emotions, and understanding of the world around me. It's all just happening too fast. Too soon, the weddings were over. Too soon, I found myself saying goodbye to my dad, sending my sister off to school, and officially entering the office one last time. Too soon, too soon.
I know I will have to make my goodbyes, but it's just too surreal. I'm in a sort of denial mode, caught in the suspension of disbelief, while fencing off my feelings into a flashing danger zone. Do not enter, or, Enter at your own risk. Danger zone must be avoided because keeping my eyes dry and putting on a pretty show is obviously more important.
One day, it will strike me as necessary to explain why I have chosen to embark upon this path of life, to tread a less familiar road and experience the armpits of this world. ARMPITS. That's right, I said it. I will also explain why I have chosen to go without the well-versed and comfortable environment of mission groups. (There is no criticism implied, it is a mere simple stand-alone statement. No need to read in too deep.) In the meantime, however, my duty, and hopefully those of whom I love and are closest to me will understand that this is their duty as well, is to simply put my whole faith and trust in our God, the creator and loving father of all things. He will guide me, he will make our paths straight.
I shall end my babbling. After all, today is an exciting day. It will be an evening of glamour, glory and death all rolled into one!
Stephie is over and out! Peace.
https://www.votefromabroad.org/
Yes, I watched the whole thing and yes, I failed quite miserably to hear the two most important speeches of Thursday night. All week, I waited and anticipated listening to Joe Biden and President Barack Obama speak, but when I finally sank down into my couch and turned the TV on, I passed out. Utterly and completely. When I woke up, the cardinal was blessing America.
Inching forward. AH!!! It's finally hit me that I am leaving this house in one week, and that I am heading for Ukraine in just 10 days!!! I am literally rendered speechless about my feelings, emotions, and understanding of the world around me. It's all just happening too fast. Too soon, the weddings were over. Too soon, I found myself saying goodbye to my dad, sending my sister off to school, and officially entering the office one last time. Too soon, too soon.
I know I will have to make my goodbyes, but it's just too surreal. I'm in a sort of denial mode, caught in the suspension of disbelief, while fencing off my feelings into a flashing danger zone. Do not enter, or, Enter at your own risk. Danger zone must be avoided because keeping my eyes dry and putting on a pretty show is obviously more important.
One day, it will strike me as necessary to explain why I have chosen to embark upon this path of life, to tread a less familiar road and experience the armpits of this world. ARMPITS. That's right, I said it. I will also explain why I have chosen to go without the well-versed and comfortable environment of mission groups. (There is no criticism implied, it is a mere simple stand-alone statement. No need to read in too deep.) In the meantime, however, my duty, and hopefully those of whom I love and are closest to me will understand that this is their duty as well, is to simply put my whole faith and trust in our God, the creator and loving father of all things. He will guide me, he will make our paths straight.
I shall end my babbling. After all, today is an exciting day. It will be an evening of glamour, glory and death all rolled into one!
Stephie is over and out! Peace.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Progress.
I could potentially write in crypt now that I know bits and pieces of three languages. Try this:
Джін тіан, во ден бу джі ша бан!
That says “Jin tien, wo den bu ji xia ban,” or “Today, i can’t wait to get off work!”
The phrase is in Chinese spelled out in Ukrainian letters. Once I download the Ukrainian cryllic alphabet, I can write whole entries in code and no one will have a clue as to what I’m saying. Possibly including myself.
This is besides the point. After work today I will be visiting a new friend named Олґа, Olga. I attended an ESL class yesterday at Middlesex County College to get a taste of what it is like to teach a bunch of non-English native speakers and was given the opportunity to meet a wonderful woman, a mother of three, who moved to NJ seven years ago from the Ukraine. She was so nice she invited me over to her house today to chat, tell me a little more about her home country and give me some lessons on Russian. She even offered me a place to stay in her mother’s empty apartment in Ukraine. I gratefully declined her offer but accepted the invitation to visit her this afternoon.
Olga's accent is rich and heavy, and in class when I paired up with her for a reading exercise, I could recognize her mistakes now that I have been vaguely acquainted with the Ukrainian language. To my great pleasure, she was deeply impressed that I could say “Украіна,” Ukraine, without a hint of an American accent. WOOOOO GOO MEEEE!!
:) Okay… work is crazy today. Bye for now.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
The Invitation. Giddy!
"I, Stephanie Zee, am accepting my invitation to serve as a Secondary Education TEFL Teacher Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, departing September 17, 2012."So it's been done. I accepted!! :) And to mark the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in life, I've created a new blog and e-mail address. Feel free to follow the Zeekrainian experience and comment as you wish, or e-mail me inquiries about Ukraine to your heart's content at zeekrainian@gmail.com. In the meantime, and for the next 8 successive weeks, I will be packing like crazy and mentally preparing myself to leave home behind and be immersed into a foreign culture. Til then, happy blogging!
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