Patriotism

Today was the opening day where we had registration, played interactive games with the students and proctored their placement tests.  There was an air of nervousness and excitement. We then spent time as teachers placing the students into three different groups based on their test scores.  Some students came from cities as far away as 16 hours by bus.  That is dedication.

One thing I like about Ukraine is that I blend in much better than I do in other countries such as in Latin American or Asian countries.  In Mexico, they whistle at you and call you 'güerita' meaning blonde girl and in Korea they stare unabashedly at you. That drove me crazy even though I had good experiences there overall!  Maybe I blend in too much, since today one student thought I was another fellow student! Oops, I think they were more embarrassed than I was! 

This is me pretending to be a Ukrainian girl, haha.  We went and got our hair done at a festival for Euro2012.  They are still patriotic even if they didn't make it to the finals!  They made traditional braids in a bun with the colors of the Ukrainian flag which are yellow and blue. Now I really blend in :)  Except for one thing- can you tell from the picture? Ukrainians and probably most Europeans don't smile in pictures.  Oops, I gave myself away!

Yesterday we had the privilege of attending a church service at Nina's church.  She is a friend from LCC who lives in Cherkassy and has been helping us here.  It was very uplifting and prayerful. Thankfully Nina translated for us as it was all in Russian.  Afterwards, we spent time together at the local zoo and had lunch together.  In the evening we strolled through the downtown area.  One thing I love about Europe is being able to walk everywhere.

Tomorrow is the first full day of classes!