When 162 children get together, it’s always an event. That many students have enough extra energy to power a small city for at least a day or two. The challenge is to try and funnel that energy into something productive. If these are kids in Ukraine, that energy will often be put into working in… [Read more…]
March 31, 2011
The first day of school this year, my students were already asking me about summer camp. It’s finally time again to start planning and thinking about camp again. Thankfully, I knew it was coming and was much more prepared. I have, hopefully, 20 volunteers coming to help me teach the 150 students we expect at… [Read more…]
March 29, 2011
For spring break, my friends and I decided to go to Moldova. I had never really heard much about Moldova, or its capitol Chisinau, but it’s right next to Ukraine, so I figured I might as well check it out. So, at seven in the morning, I got on a bus to Vinnytsia, another city… [Read more…]
March 20, 2011
On my first day of school, in December over a year ago, students pointed at me. Every student I passed whispered “Americanka” excitedly to their friends. I felt like a rare animal in the zoo, something that people had heard of, but never seen. I was something of a spectacle. Since then, the students have… [Read more…]
February 4, 2011
Birthdays are tricky things. It’s really hard to make sure that you have a good birthday. You have to rely on the people around you to remember and wish you a happy day. Last year, my birthday wasn’t a very big deal. One of my classes remembered, they may have been the only class I’d… [Read more…]
February 4, 2011
I gave my students an assignment to turn some news stories in our books into news stories for TV. I was so proud of how excited every group got for the project. This is one group who told the story about a father who fell off a cliff while searching for bird’s eggs. Unfortunately, my… [Read more…]
January 30, 2011
Late at night thirty Americans gathered around the edge of a small river somewhere in the woods outside of Rive. We were in the sanatorium Prolisok for the biannual language refresher, but we stood by the river to celebrate a Ukrainian holiday commemorating Christ’s baptism. Traditionally, Ukrainians havewater blessedand bring it to their home. They… [Read more…]
January 11, 2011
No matter what you’re doing or where you are those are always days that are simply good. Sometimes it’s because something great really happened, like when a kid finally understands the present perfect tense or when you make a new friend. Other times, days are just good for no apparent reason. Those are my favorite… [Read more…]
January 11, 2011
2011 didn’t really seem to start until around 10 o’clock this morning. That’s about when I got to school for the first time since last year. Sure, I rang in the new year with champagne and friends in D.C., which was amazing, but it didn’t seem real until I got back to my life again.… [Read more…]
January 11, 2011
Last year at this time, I didn’t really believe that winters in Ukraine would be that much worse than what I faced in Syracuse. I was used to walking to school in freezing temperatures with wind blowing snow into my face. I figured it couldn’t be much worse. Then the end of January came and… [Read more…]
June 15, 2011
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