I’ve had a chance to experience my first Congressional Delegation (Codel) this past week. We actually took to calling it the Mega-del because of the size of it. We had over a dozen Congressmen and a Senator in town, add in their support staff and it was more than 40 people. Granted, a visit of the President or Secretary of State would dwarf this visit, but our added difficulty was that each member of Congress considers themselves equally important and they all want the freedom to go in whatever direction they want. We had to be ready to accomodate that desire. All in all, I think it was pretty successful.
At long last we have semi-high speed internet access at home. I can’t claim much credit. Almost all of the work was accomplished by my wife and the secretary in my office. We don’t have too many uploaded yet, but I’ll give you a little taste. For more, head over to Jennifer’s side.
The topic of culture shock has come up a few times recently. Honestly, it isn’t something that is addressed all that often in Foreign Service blogs from what I’ve seen. Sure, people talk about the funny food or how bad the drivers are or the packs of wild dogs in the streets, but those are more like colorful anecdotes. True culture shock is something deeper and more subtle.
It has been a very busy time at work the last few weeks. While I’m still learning how to do my job and who everyone is, I also have to actually do the job and learn to live in Kyiv. Between that and trying to get decent internet access at home, it has been difficult to blog much. This week looks a bit more promising for time. We’ll see.
I’ve had two days of work this week and tomorrow is a holiday. They really love their holidays around here. Tomorrow is Victory Day so I don’t have to work because I’ll be too busy reminiscing about how we beat the Nazis. We’re hoping to figure out when the big parade is downtown so we can watch the WWII vets all decked out in their medals and old Soviet uniforms.
We’ve been in Kyiv almost two weeks now and I think we’re starting to adapt a bit. Fortunately, after a week at work we ended up with a five day holiday and that has given us plenty of time to explore, relax, and adjust to life in this place that is at times looks so much like America, but is really completely different.
We’ve been in Kyiv, Ukraine for just over a week now. Impressions are still being made, but I think we’re starting to settle in. Unfortunately, we only have dial-up access at the moment and most of our belongings haven’t caught up with us yet so I can’t write much now or post any photos. Here are a few quick thoughts on the city and the job. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re approaching go time…after 11 1/2 months of training and preparation. The movers came today and took away most of our belongings. Our furniture was all rented so we still have that until tomorrow. Then it is off to a night in a hotel and then a quick flight to NYC and then a slightly longer flight to Kyiv. Hopefully, everything goes as smoothly as I just made it sound.
I took my final Russian test last Friday thus ending the largest portion of my training. For the last seven months I have been in Russian classes for six hours a day, five days a week…not to mention homework. I managed to score a 2+/2+ on my test which is as good as I could really expect for the amount of time I had. The test, as usual, was very tiring and I’m glad to have language classes behind. Now I’ll never have to speak Russian again…
Since I’ve yet to hear a single reference to current political crisis in the main stream American media, here’s a link to an editorial from The Kyiv Post about their thoughts on President Yushchenko’s recent dissolution of parliament.
Recent Comments