Ahh, Delicious Pencils

After living for two years in a foreign country, it's bound to happen.

You've studied the language, you've practiced, and instead of practicing the phrase in your head twenty times before you order a loaf of bread, you only need to repeat it ten times.

Time continues to pass, you no longer rehearse ten times, but five, then fewer and fewer until it happens.

It creeps up on you slowly, your confidence is building. You don't practice in your head before you speak.

And then that's when you order pencil salad in front of all of your students.

Skyfall

Today I was teaching my delightful sixth formers, who were exceptionally curious this afternoon. As a general rule, at the end of class, if students happen to ask me an off-topic question (but still in English) I let us stray. Of course it is the five minutes of class that they speak the most English and pay the most attention.

Nastya's hand shot up and she asked "Miss Ashley, what is your father's name?" 

I told her that my father's name is James.

Every students' eyes went wide, the class became silent, no one breathed.

Softly, Sasha asked in a whisper "Like James... Bond?" 

I just nodded.

Delays, Delays, Delays

Let me confess, I have no really good reason for taking so long to update. Fortunately, my spankin' new iPad makes a fun clicky noise when I type, so maybe I'll update more often! For today, we have a cool diagram that really shows the brilliance of Ukrainian thinking:

It's clear that I should go buy some vodka now! Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday season! Yesterday was Orthodox Christmas, and the 14th is the Old New Year -- don't ask me to explain it!

Peace,

Ash

Hard at Work

So on Monday I officially returned back to school, which I was very excited about. Today, as I gathered with my coworkers, one new English teacher informed me that my oblast is the only oblast in Ukraine that has a higher birth rate than death rate. My friend leans over in to the conversation and adds: "We already knew we were hard workers!" Oh, Ukraine.

My House is Turning Ukrainian on Me

So everything in Ukraine works... except for a small glitch where you have to be really careful about it. For example: Wagon doors on a train... they work as long as you don't try to close them. The cash register works, but you still have to use a calculator, the water works but you need to turn it off and on every thirty seconds, etc.

My house is suddenly extremely Ukrainian. You can use the bathing room, but you can't lock the door, and you can use the toilet room but you can't close the door because the light doesn't work and your knees won't fit. You can put something in the fridge, but hold the freezer door so it doesn't fall on your head. You can sit in the bedroom, but not when it gets dark because there are no lightbulbs.

It's been a while since I've been updating regularly... sorry about that! I'll try to update more now that I'm almost on a schedule.

Peace!

Ash

The Shower Is Half Full

With no sarcastic intentions, I woke up today thrilled to find it another gray, rainy day. It is a wonderful 55* and I'm wearing my flannel! I really can't handle the summer heat, plus rain always makes me feel like I'm in a Jane Austen novel. I made breakfast, cleaned up around my apartment, and then hopped in the shower.

My shower is my absolute favorite part of my day. When I was younger (and didn't have to pay my own water bill), I could spend an hour in the shower, easily. Here, in Ukraine, I'm forced to be much more eco friendly. So I put on my new radio app (thanks, mom!) on my iPhone (thanks, dad!) and jumped in. I lather up my hair and... and... THE WATER TURNS OFF. Completely. No water. At all. The lights flicker. My power goes out. In the darkness of my windowless bathroom I rinsed as much shampoo out as I could with bottled water. Then the lights came back on... still no water though!

Alas, the glass shower is half full... because I'm getting muffins today!!



Peace,

Ash

Even Better!