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 days. Days that remind me why I love what I do. So for today’s post (part of my New Year’s resolution to keep this poor neglected blog updated) I’m going to share the top 20 little things that make living in Ukraine special.
1. 1,000 kids are really excited to see me every single day and say hello.
2. No one here has had American cookies before. No matter how my chocolate chip cookies turn out, they are still the best anyone has ever had.
3. Students who trust me and tell me personal secrets.
4. Ukrainian music blasting from stores, windows and shops. I don’t know why, but it makes me laugh.
5. Small victories over the internet, old appliances and other things that don’t seem to work or make any sense.
6. Teachers who treat me like an equal, even though I’m only 23.
7. I don’t have to worry about how I dress, if I wear something they don’t find fashionable it’s just assumed to be American.
8. How excited I get every time I buy frozen broccoli.
9. How much more I appreciate friends since I can’t talk to them everyday.
10. Spending 80 UAH on groceries or something and being able to remind myself that it’s only $10.
11. Seeing snow and knowing I don’t have to worry about driving through it.
12. Talking to random strangers about what I’m doing here in Ukraine.
13. Finding a recipe or a way to make something that I’ve been missing from America with ingredients from Ukraine.
14. Suddenly realizing that it’s after 9 and the dishes will have to wait for the morning.
15. The wall of autumn in my apartment.
16. Furry Ukrainian hats.
17. Walking past the “Style” dress shop on the way home and looking at the latest in Ukrainian fashions.
18. Students who actually want to work.
19. The first time there is no ice on the sidewalks and I realize that I can get to school about 10 minutes faster in the morning.
20. How normal and comfortable I am living in a country half way across the world from where I was born.
Posted on January 11, 2011
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