Women seem wicked when you're unwanted.

            (This is a response to the previous post by Helen)

I have many friends in Ukraine and overall I have found most people ready to lend a helping hand. However, nearly everyone I interact with (this is mainly students, other English teachers and travelers) speaks English. On the other hand, I have walked into an internet café and the person refused to assist me because I didn’t speak Russian. Another time, the clerk at the train station sent me to the “foreign ticket window” when she could have just as easily sold me the ticket. I have also had people ask me for money and then act very rudely (they do seem to know how to say, “Yankee go home”) when I said “No”. This included one person who stopped me while I was walking down the street in Odessa. He must have recognized me as a Westerner because I was carrying a day pack. He offered his services as a translator but I said that I didn’t need one because it was toward the end of my trip. He then asked for $40 and when I refused, he asked why I wouldn’t just give it to him! Once I even saw an American that was taking pictures outside of his hotel being told that he must pay for the privilege by some unknown person who probably did not even work for the hotel. It seems to me that people in clothing stores, restaurants and the people who have their own business at a market are the most helpful. When I’m eating out, I always like to tip extra when a member of the wait staff speaks English.

I’m not really acquainted with “the evil spreading from the West” but I know my brothers thought that one way to judge who won the Cold War was the fact that there is a McDonalds directly across from Red Square in Moscow. I can understand someone’s confusion about why Westerners move to Ukraine. I got this question all the time in my classroom. I got so tired of answering it that I wrote a rationalization note on my Vkontakte page.

Kharkov is very excited about being one of the hosts for 2012 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2012) during June and July of next year. I think a lot of the current infrastructure maintenance in the city is to put on a better face for this event.

It is a mystery why so many Asians come to the Universities in Kharkiv. I guess the education is a better value here or the teaching is just that much better? I am aware of this first hand because I have taught many foreigners in my classroom as well. I’m sure the universities/schools have enjoyed the extra inflow of money from these students. My university in the United States had many international students but it was nowhere near 50%. I always thought of this as a good thing. If someone traveled that far for an education then maybe I made a wise choice myself.  In some of our states there are many illegal immigrants. This may cause schools to be filled with non-English speaking children.  Towns that are not growing may welcome the additional students but sometimes it can also be a burden; if new bi-lingual teachers are required or if there is overcrowding. It may be a surprise to Ukrainians but even if these children are the offspring of illegal immigrants they are guaranteed an education by the U.S. government.

Some things are hard for me to comment on. It is understandable how the oldest citizens in our city might not like hearing the German language because of the Nazi occupation during WW II and the four battles that took place for control of the city but it is unlikely that I would ever be conscious of this because these opinions will not be directed toward me especially in a language that I understand. Alternatively, I do know that the Russian saying “we will show you where a crayfish spent winter” means “to give a person a piece of one's mind” or to punish.

It is interesting to hear the Ukrainian view about the placement of Russian gangsters in American Movies. I can recall them in the movie Eastern Promises and also The Boondock Saints. I don’t really want to talk about taxis right now. I’ll keep the option open to write a whole post about them in the future.

Posted by John