holla back дід мороз

cultural update

ukraine and russia's bedazzled santa clause (дід мороз - father frost) with his granddaughter (снігуронька - snow maiden) who takes style tips from queen amidala are the stars of the new years and christmas holiday season here in ukraine.

Myrhorod rang in his arrival with a free concert that i accidentally fell into - молодець мені

i will have these skillz mastered

twas a village christmas

with the american christmas season come and gone, ironically as I write this post which will have had its "post date" altered, ukraine feels more like our traditional christmas for many reasons.

my project will all my
english clubs

• it finally started snowing
• ukrainian christmas falls on the seventh of january
• christmas trees (or new years trees) go up around the twenty eighth of december
• stores in town have lights and santa paraphernalia
• і тд.

however, that doesn't mean I can't bring / force some "early" holiday cheer to the students in my school. a lot of our american traditions for christmas and new years are combined in ukraine, which makes distinguishing between the holidays much more difficult for myself during the holiday season. 

that sadly took about 25 minutes to perfect

the 25th ended up being pretty low key. with just a small"ish" gathering of local friends over some chilled beverages, tunes of christmas carols, white elephant exchange, and intense discussions over the super powers. it was just enough america to get you back in the holiday spirit for the evening even though outside that apartment door the holiday spirit hadn't picked up yet.

the big finale before holiday break, schools put on a play of sorts where santa and his granddaughter are the main star. kids dress up in costumes (not quite sure why) and go hybrid carol / trick-or-treat for money or candy.  

Birthdays with Mr. Coco

If you feel so inclined, you can get your ukr dance party going while you read.

So as most of you know, my birthday has come and gone and Ukrainians spared no expense in "expressing their wishes of wealth, happiness, and that all my plans find their way to success". I tried to make it clear that I'm not one to enjoy celebrating my own birthday... however I guess either they didn't understand my Ukranglish / didn't listen.


The day consisted of a few things repeated over and over...

1. flowers - enough to where I presume a small garden was decimated (a moment of silence please)
2. the happy birthday song sung in with an Eastern European accent
3. home made cards

A few highlights of the day included a massive torso sized cake that the faculty refused to eat, a jar of Nutella gifted by the 5th form, and Robin Hood.

An interesting thing about Ukraine is that each city has it's own "day", for instance Myrhorod Day (which I think pertains to the day the Nazis left said town/city). Anyways, Myrhorod day ended up being celebrated my birthday weekend. So, once my school day ended, I made my way to Myrhorod where I spent the rest of the day with my sitemate Robin. 

The 8:45 morning train was actually on time and wasn't late arriving to Kyiv - in essence my true birthday present from Ukraine. I was able to grab my Mickey D's and shawarma fix and hung out with friends for the rest of the weekend. This weekend may or may not have included ending up in a 80's grunge hangout (denim jackets included) where presumable self titled DJ Mr. Coco spoke some broken English words of wisdom...

• "my name is Mr. Coco"
• "make some loud"
• "it makes me feel like oh my god"
• "why is it so dark in heaven?"
• "ladies get your booties moving"

All and all, a successful birthday number 1. 

(We also may have taught hipster Ukrainians how to electric slide - great success)

Nikolai Gogol... google that ish

CLICK HERE - now was that so hard?

the black and white makes him look so serious

So we all know how Walt Disney has Disneyland as his claim to fame - well Mr. Gogol has my town, Mirgorod / Myrhorod (Миргород). 


While you and I both know I actually live in Harkushyntsi, I find myself in Mirgorod probably four times a week (it's only 3UAH and buses run all day) so I've since adopted it as my own (a subsequent post will be provided on Harkushyntsi in the near future). 

View Larger Map

Located in north central Poltavs'ka Oblast, Mirgorod is centralized to a lot of other major Ukrainian Cities (which I'm pleasantly happy about). Being located in central Ukraine I think will make traveling to other major cities on either ends of the country much more feasible. 

• 1.5 hrs to Poltava
• 3 hrs to Kyiv
• 4 hrs to Kozelets 
• 4 hrs to Kharkiv
• 4 hrs to Sumy
• 4 hrs to Dnepropetrovsk 
• 10 hrs to Odesa
• 11 hrs to Sevastopol
• 12 hrs to L'viv
• 12 hrs to Mount Hoverla (Carpathian Mountains) 

My town is actually named after the title of a compilation of short stories written by Nikolai Gogo way back in 1835. While I would like to eventually get my hands on a copy for sentimental value, Ukrainians and Russians love this guy and have probably snatched up most of the copies. 

The town has around 40,000 people and is a very common resort city for Ukraine as well as Russia. And apparently Canada too (ran into four Canadians in the past 2 days). We have beaches, boat rentals, super markets, fountains, concerts, swans, hotels, etc... and because it's such a major tourest attraction, a lot of buses and trains that normally wouldn't run though this size city do pass through my town! I'm also happy to say I'm not alone here - two other Youth Development volunteers from my group are within 10 to 20 minutes from me. 


Poltava region in general is very flat and has a large farming community so I want to buy a bike asap. A few weekends ago I went on a 45km bike ride to the surrounding villages and it wasn't too exhausting - I excited for what else I can find here.


Things I've already found via велосипед (bicycle): 

• a lake
• herds of animals
• gigantic sunflower / wheat fields
• possible camp sites

Today I went on a photo tour of the city with a buddy and here are some of the results.

and yes, that last photo says Robin Hood, and yes, that is a castle.