Summer's Almost Gone?

        In the Northern Hemisphere according to the astronomical outlook, summer lasts from the summer solstice (typically June 21) through to the autumnal equinox (typically September 21). Of course, the Northern Hemisphere includes all of North America and all of Europe so summer should be celebrated at the same time in both continents. However, this is not always the case because the meaning of summer can vary in different cultures. Americans are aware of the official dates for summer probably because the mass media always reminds us. Nevertheless, some people consider the real summer, the full months of June, July and August. Strangely enough, Americans can think of summer as either the aforementioned astronomical or full month views but they can also observe what is called the unofficial summer. This would portray summer as being book ended by the holidays of Memorial Day (the last Monday in May) and Labor Day (the first Monday in September). So it seems that in America one person’s summer may not be quite the same as someone else’s.
        It can vary from state to state but traditionally school children would have off almost the whole summer. American children have the following rhyme to mark the end of the school year:

        “No more pencils,
         No more books,
         No more teachers’ dirty looks,
         When the teacher rings the bell,
         Drop your books and run like hell.”

(This was actually used in Alice Cooper’s 1972 song called “School’s Out”)

        Parents love when they start seeing the “Back to School Sale” signs because they know that the rug rats will soon be safely back in the class room. At the other end of the spectrum these same advertisements are the worst nightmare of children. Even the older kids know that they will soon have to say farewell to their summer jobs and their summer loves and get reacquainted with their textbooks.
        In Ukraine things are a little different. I noticed this right away when the calendar initially hit June first. I heard all of the Ukrainians chatting about the start of summer. I politely informed them that summer was still 3 weeks away. I was then also politely informed that it was not the case in Ukraine. This is a minor cultural difference because as far as I can tell all Ukrainians think of June 1 till the end of August as the season of summer. Actually, last year when I was starting a vacation at the end of August the quick change in the weather had me emulating their pattern. In any case, it is traditional in the former USSR to follow the meteorologist view of summer, which is the full months with the warmest days. Right now, my Ukrainian friends are enjoying the beginning of their summer but I won’t correct them because I learned that I can never win this argument.









Alice Cooper is cool but The Doors ROCK!

 Posted by John

Janitors with higher education and the never ending ladder

        I guess the word “school” for most of western world means the same as “studying” or “educational establishment” as opposed to post Soviet Union space, where it’s used just for one step of education from three main stages that we have.

The first one is secondary school (or just school), which is compulsory for everybody and consist of 11 grades.  The options are: you might study for 11 years and go to university (at age 17) after or you can leave after 9^th grade (at age 15) and enter then a college – the second step of our education, where you can get some professional training and a degree (small degree) in some profession. Colleges are very different here. For example, some of them are equivalent to community colleges (not for apt pupils), the others are quite serious. You’re supposed to study at college for 4 years. Having some sort of “special secondary education” which is given by college you can start working, give up on all of this or go to the third stage − university, the only one which is used with the adjective “higher”. If anybody is curious, I’ve started working at the 3d year of college.

So, in order to get a higher education you have to study for 4 or 5 years and receive respectively a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Maybe it’s strange, but every employer wants to hire someone with a higher education, no matter in what area you’re going to work. They think that if you are able to finish a university, sweeping the sidewalks won’t be a challenging task for you. But it is not the only explanation, why so many people here study in universities. The second reason is that you can pass all three stages of education without paying any money whatsoever and also be given a scholarship. Of course, it depends on your grades and diligence, but you can actually buy your diploma paying for university according to a contract or illegally. That’s why corruption prospers in most of our higher educational establishments and, frankly speaking, I’ve already become a part of it by writing bachelor and master’s degree papers for some lazy students of my university.

           Did I say there were three stages? So here is the fourth one: so called in western countries postgraduate school, where you can earn your Ph. D. degree by defending your (or somebody else’s) thesis. It’s actually a bit different, than in Europe or the USA, and untranslatable in a direct way, so I’m not going to talk about it further. The most amazing thing that Ph. D. is not the last rung of the ladder…


Posted by Helen

School Daze

I learned kind of early that the word School doesn’t have quite the same meaning in both Ukraine and America. I first realized this when I asked a young women which school she attended. She gave me a strange look and stated matter of factly that she finished school and that she was now attending University.

Let me discuss school in America initially and then I shall talk about the modest amount that I know about education in Ukraine. It is important to recognize that when I discuss school in America that the circumstances can be different from state to state or even town to town. In the U.S. most children attend public school that is funded by property taxes. These are taxes that are levied on real estate such as private homes and land by municipalities. Child education is compulsory usually until the age of 16 or so. I started school (kindergarten) at age 5. These days children will usually start preschool between ages 3-4. Some children will attend preschool for more than one year. After kindergarten the next step would be Elementary School which is also known as Grade School. This is usually attended from grades 1-5 or 1-6. A student would say “I’m in first grade” rather that “I’m in grade 1.” In grade school, I was first introduced to the infectious disease of Cooties. I learned that this could be caught by touching a person of the opposite sex that was approximately the same age as me. I think most of my friends stopped using this phrase after the age of 10 but it scared me so I just concentrated on baseball and stayed away from girls until I was twenty-five. I also learned at this time that if I stepped on a (sidewalk) crack that I would break my mother’s back. I was very careful where I stepped. Intermediate School (A.K.A. Middle School or Junior High) would follow usually to the eighth grade. High School would typically be attended for grades 9-12. Students would normally be 14-18 years of age at this time. High School is also called secondary school. In High School someone in the 9th grade is called a freshman, 10th grade a sophomore, 11th grade a junior and 12th grade a senior. At this time I found out about another devastating disease called senioritis. This is a disabling ailment that inflicts high school seniors. Most occurrences of senioritis have a tendency to start after college applications have been mailed. Symptoms usually include skipping class, idleness, a lack of studying and being apathetic all the time. The only known cure is an event known as graduation day. Post secondary school in America is called college. A student could attend a local 2 year community college in hopes of acquiring an Associates Degree (A.A.) or attending a 4 year college or university to get a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.). In college, students are also referred to being in their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. Up to High School, education is publicly funded but students would have to pay for college themselves. However, there are many different sources to get funding for college including scholarships and government loans and grants.  The government aid is usually need based. Following college someone would attend Graduate School or a Professional School to study Law, Medicine etc. A principal would be the head of the school up to secondary school while the head of a college is called a dean.

             My understanding of education in Ukraine is very limited. I believe that while Americans use the word school for any education; in Ukraine it is only used up to High School. After that someone would say that they are attending University. Ukrainians that are attending University do not like it when you refer to them using the word school. Also it seems like there are places that have Academy or Institute in their names. This would be a little unusual in America. While there are well known schools such as the U.S. Naval Academy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology most post secondary schools in America just have college or university in the name.

A word to the wise, if you know someone in Ukraine who works at a school but also attends University; you should never make the mistake of saying something about attending school. I have made this mistake in the past but now it is actually amusing to see the reaction. 

Posted by John