Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Back in Ukraine
Hello everyone everywhere! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I have a story to tell you though I've been very quiet this year a lot of things have happened and now I am planning to catch up a bit and tell you them one by one. So my second and last story of this year will be a big one. After 5 years of living in the USA, I am back to Ukraine. Ta-daaam! I know that for a lot of people in Ukraine this decision is something they can't wrap their heads around. I know that for many people in the US moving across the ocean it's something absolutely crazy but romantic. I want to explain to you why they think so and tell you what I think about all of it.
For the majority of Ukrainians, I have to deal with on a daily basis moving abroad is a dream of their lifetime. Don't get me wrong, Ukraine is a wonderful country, but being a Ukrainian is a tough thing and demands some amount of patience and courage. We became independent a while ago but our Soviet past still holds an icy grip on our mentality and behavior. So not surprising that the amount of my fellow citizens that believe that the grass is greener on the other side is still pretty large. Once they move abroad and understand that each country has its good and bad sides they take a decision to pretend that they are a story of great success. So they feed their relatives that stayed home all these stories about "money grow here on the trees" and keep all the hardship to themselves. I've never been illusional as for "wonderful abroad" though I have to confess that living in such country as the US opened my eyes on a lot of things and taught me to appreciate my own country. I learnt that the virus of bureaucracy has infected the whole world, that you have to pay attention to what food products you buy (we are slightly spoilt here in Ukraine with more natural products), that you have to be careful with people you speak to because what seems like a joke in Ukraine can be offensive to someone in the States. There is a bunch of other things that I had to adapt to but since I speak the language it was relatively easy for me. However, I am fully aware that I risked living in another country only because of my husband. I am not sure I would do something like that, especially in my age. Moving to another country requires a lot of energy and dedication. It's way easier if you are just 21 years old and there is no power in the world to stop you. Once you crossed the Rubicon of 35 years old you get used to your lifestyle and any dramatic changes are very painful. At least for me )) On top of that Americans live a very stressful lifestyle. They work all the time and rest very little. It literally wears you out and by a certain age you are tired and your health starts going downhill. Ukrainians are hard-working nation too, especially those who live in rural areas. They heavily depend on the land to feed themselves and their families. And since a lot of people still think the old way they tend to grow more than they really need. Smart farming just started coming to Ukraine and it will take a while to reset the minds to new ways.
So, for Ukrainians that are shocked about our decision to relocate to Ukraine, I can answer that though the United States is considered a country of endless possibilities the possibilities are actually pretty limited and will require a ton of effort and that still won't grant you anything. If you are ready to gamble like that, well, be my guest. I weighed all pros and cons, my husband did even more of that weighing and we came to the conclusion that it might be a solution for us. Especially if to take into account that we are looking for a quiet lifestyle and downshifting to a rural environment. For Americans that romanticise Europe I can say that, unfortunately, Europe has changed a lot. Old good Europe is pretty much non-existent and the events of 2020 proved that. It's sad but that the reality we have to accept. That's why countries like Ukraine, Romania, Slovenia and alike look more attractive right now. At least they are more attractive to me. I do see both good and bad sides of the developing economies and I can say that some good things I see actually outweigh the bad ones. Among them, I can definitely name the quality of food and less bureaucracy (surprisingly). Of course, if you are a person heavily dependant on American lifestyle you would have massive problems here. I will not pretend that it's easy to integrate into local communities, even the language will look to you as an abyss between you and natives, but with a little bit of an effort in a year local people will call you lovingly "Our American".
So I am happy to be home, I am happy I can show my country to my husband in a more profound way, literally from inside. It's a challenge for both of us, though the whole 2020 was a kind of endless quest and I am not sure there is anything left to surprise us. Though I think I should keep my mouth shut because you never know what 2021 has on its mind.
With all this said I want to wish you a better year ahead and not to be afraid of changes. What is life if not a bunch of changes we constantly try to adjust to?
Greetings and stay safe!
P.S. A couple my photos for good mood ))
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Ukrainians and Cars
Hello everyone! We made it through the first half of 2020! At this point, I feel like ordering myself a T-shirt saying "I SURVIVED 2020" at the end of the year. I planned to proceed with my blog earlier this year but too many things have happened and my head was somewhere else. Yesterday I checked the statistics for my blog and was surprised to learn that people keep reading it and even leave comments. That was very inspiring, therefore I will continue and bore you with more stories from my past and, hopefully, from my present as well.
The first story of this year will be about cars. Tell me true: What's your relationship with your car? Do you have only one? Does it have a name? Do you remember the day you bought it? Do you attentively listen to its engine every morning you start it? Do you come to your garage to say "good night" every evening? I remember I was utterly shocked when I googled how many cars glide the roads of the US. The number is staggering, 272.48 million cars. Of course, this number includes all kind of them, buses, trucks, and motorcycles. But the number is shocking anyways. An average American family owns 2.28 cars. When you read the statistics it says that owning a car does not reflect the financial status rather location and proximity. That's what shocked me when I first got to the US, the number of cars around me. And then I tried to figure out how I can get to places if I don't have a car. And guess what! My options were either a very long walk (if you feel like walking 10 miles and still not get anywhere) or a pretty long bicycle ride. If you don't live in a big city in the proximity of the public transport network, you must have a car. I have a confession to make. It might sound shocking but in my 38 years, I have never had a car. I do have a driving license, I did drive a car for a very short while. But... I never had a car and I'm not sure I will ever buy a car just for myself when I am back to Ukraine. Don't get me wrong, my husband has a car and we use it for his work and long trips. But the "proximity" allows me to walk to the stores and ride my bike to work and it feels great just like it used to be when I lived in Kyiv.
So how did it happen that a 38-year-old woman never had a car of her own? I will have to remind you of my background again. And it's not like I'm complaining, but I was born in the USSR. A country where everyone was equal, rather say equally poor. So in order to have a car, my dad, for instance, had to be on a waitlist for a number of years. And only in 1990, he was able to buy a car. So you might wonder what kind of car did he buy? A Ford? A Chevi? Or maybe something European, a Fiat or a Peugeot? And... you didn't guess. He was able to buy a Moskvich! What??? You have never heard of Moskvich??? Really? How come??? Ok, ok. Don't worry, I will show you a photo of this miraculous creation of the finest car designers. Here it is.
So how did it happen that a 38-year-old woman never had a car of her own? I will have to remind you of my background again. And it's not like I'm complaining, but I was born in the USSR. A country where everyone was equal, rather say equally poor. So in order to have a car, my dad, for instance, had to be on a waitlist for a number of years. And only in 1990, he was able to buy a car. So you might wonder what kind of car did he buy? A Ford? A Chevi? Or maybe something European, a Fiat or a Peugeot? And... you didn't guess. He was able to buy a Moskvich! What??? You have never heard of Moskvich??? Really? How come??? Ok, ok. Don't worry, I will show you a photo of this miraculous creation of the finest car designers. Here it is.
Appetizing, right? Well, we were happy. Actually, a car fulfilled my biggest childhood dream and it was a DOG!! My parents promised that as soon as they got a car I would get a dog. And it did happen ))) The car gave us relative freedom since we were not tied to trains and buses anymore, so once in a while, we could take small trips to the mountains or go to some historic site. The only and biggest problem connected to the car was gas. As you know cars need gas, and during the 90s it was pretty impossible to buy gas by simply going to a gas station. I know it's hard to imagine but it's true. When Ukraine became independent our stores and other businesses were just trying to figure out where to get goods and other commodities. You needed to know people who knew people that knew where to get gas. My father used to keep an oil drum in his friend's garage where he stored gas for our trips. So hopping into the car in order to go get a loaf of bread from the store was out of the question. We walked to stores, to market, to school. The only short trips within the town were made in case of extremely bad weather and on Tuesday and Friday when I attended music school in the afternoon.
The funny thing about all soviet cars is that either their design or engines of most of them at some point were "stolen" from other countries. For instance, my father's first car had an engine that was a copy of the BMW M10. At first, we thought that it was some kind of "legend" but when our friend from Germany looked under the hood and shouted "BMW Three!" we were speechless.
When Ukraine became independent the car market started developing but in a weird way. For a long time, famous brands were nervous coming to Ukraine, so used cars market turned into a huge business with its own mafia and criminal conflicts. However, the lack of official dealerships and car workshops encouraged a lot of very skilful mechanics to study foreign cars really well and in result, they were able not just stay very busy but created workplaces for others. At some point, living conditions of Ukrainians improved and people started buying more cars. I can single out three categories of car owners in Ukraine: used cars owners, new cars owners and Ukrainian cars owners. There is also one more category - carless people )) New car owners are a privileged cast of people and their number is not very big. We don't have generally accessible car loans like in the US or an opportunity to trade-in our old model. The cast of used cars owners is huge and I would say that the majority of cars in Ukraine were brought from Europe. You have to be very vigilant when buying a used car since they are not sold in dealerships but at the car markets and nobody will provide you with the results of a mechanical check or you can get in touch with a seller via an online ad and then set up a meeting to see the car. I've heard a couple of stories from my friends about their experience buying a car and the circumstances were pretty sketchy. The lowest cast is the owners of Ukrainian cars. I remember when my dad bought his latest car a lot of his acquaintances were mocking at him for he bought a Ukrainian car. I don't think you've ever heard the name of the brand Tavria Slavuta.
Not a Ferrari but it does fulfil its function - it has 4 wheels and a steering wheel and can take you from point A to point B!
I won't deny, young people in Ukraine dream about Lexuses and Mercedeses. A lot of people buy cars mainly to underline their status. A big number of people can't afford a car at all. It definitely limits their trips to only necessary ones and doesn't benefit local national tourism. If in most countries it is believed that a car is a means of transportation rather than a luxury. In Ukraine, unfortunately, it is on the contrary. As I've mentioned before I've never had a car and never felt need in it. I travelled by trains and buses most of the time or joined my parents on their car trips. This fact shaped my lifestyle in a certain way. I would walk to the supermarket and never buy the whole cart of food rather as much as I could effortlessly carry home. So I wouldn't buy anything I didn't need. Consequently, my food was always fresh and I would throw things out very rarely. Though I lived in the capital city I would take very long walks from work home in warm sunny evenings easily covering 20-30 thousand steps. Sometimes I would walk from the right bank of the Dnipro river to the left sipping a milkshake with favorite music in my headphones.
Of course, there are people that can't imagine their life without a car and they find ways to get one at any cost. So if you are a car owner in Ukraine you will have to prepare yourself for a couple of issues you will have to deal with on a regular basis. Firstly, be morally ready that when oil prices in the world will drop to their historical minimum the prices of gas in Ukraine will remain the same or even slightly go up. In the US I've several times witnessed the lowering of gas prices substantially but have never seen it happen in Ukraine. Secondly, you will have problems with the parking spot, especially in big cities. When our cities were developed the number of cars was way way smaller. Nowadays such cities like Kyiv or Lviv are literally choking with the number of cars. You will see cars parked in very unexpected places and sometimes even blocking pedestrian zones. It's very frustrating and nothing is being done at this point. Thirdly, you'd better have a good mechanic among your acquaintances because official workshops are extremely expensive. And one more thing to keep in mind, unfortunately, we don't have any road trip infrastructure. I mean you won't see rest stops with toilets and vending machines in Ukraine. There is a bunch of old rest stops back from soviet times, but they are just an asphalted pockets on the side of the road without any amenities. So if you need to visit a restroom you will have to do it at the gas station and maybe even buy something there so that they let you use it. Oh! I almost forgot! Quality of roads! Well, I don't want to talk derogatorily about m own country but sometimes the waysides are better quality than the main road itself. Sometimes we joke and say that "There is no road but just a direction". It's sad because Ukraine has many unique places and it gets very challenging to see them. But we do hope that bit by bit this situation will change for the better.
Anyways, appreciate your ability to buy a car and the freedom it gives you, but don't overdo it by driving it everywhere especially when you need to go one block down to get a bottle of water. We have two feet not for just for brake and accelerator pedals, they can take us places and keep us fit!
Stay safe and explore the world!
Sunday, December 29, 2019
It's the end of the year post
Hello everyone! It's hard to believe but we are living in the last days of 2019. I completely fell out of the writing spree as well as out of my photography hobby for almost 2 months. I've got a new job and now try to adjust to it and still fit in all the things I am used to doing.
I don't want to write a sum-up post because I simply don't like things like that. Maybe it's not very smart but I don't have a precise plan for each year because I don't want to expose myself to unnecessary stress. So I will say this: This year was full of different events, some were very positive others not so much. There were moments when I was extremely tired and moments of utter excitement. I worried a lot because my country is in big danger nowadays and I feel very irritated that it made into the most international news due to Trump impeachment and not due to the ongoing war with russia. Yes, the war is still in the active phase and a lot of Ukrainian soldiers got killed and wounded. Unfortunately, the mass media environment runs on scandals and everyday life is not making onto news screens and pages. It makes me very very sad but that the reality we all live in. I've heard words filled with chauvinism and words filled with support and understanding for my country. Tough year. But then it's another reminder that I love my country and will always remain the Proud Ukrainian.
So what do Ukrainians traditionally do the last days of the year? Well, big city inhabitants usually are involved in all kind of different parties that take place in their offices. The corporate party culture is pretty new to Ukraine and people really enjoy getting together with colleagues and get drunk. Sometimes they get drunk to an extent they don't remember what they did the night before. I'm not sure how it helps to work relationships but they keep doing it year after year. In smaller towns, people also get together at work and celebrate but they don't call it a "corporate party" though the results are pretty much the same. At schools, children have so-called children's matinees that have quite transformed since I was a student myself. In my childhood, we had a costume masquerade in the school sports hall that was transformed into a big celebration area with a Christmas tree in the center. One year I was dressed as a cowboy, I had a hat, my mom added fringe to my jeans side seams, and the biggest pride was my plastic gun in a holster. I still have a photo somewhere. Nowadays these school parties are more like discotheques. Good old times...
There are two other compulsory components to New Year celebration in Ukraine. Actually, you can even say three components. The first one is shopping. I don't mean the Christmas shopping thing for presents. We usually give presents on St. Nicholas day, that is the 19th of December (because we are still on that stupid old-style calendar). Of course, I mean western Ukraine. It can differ depending on the region people live in. So shopping is mostly about preparing for the big New Year dinner that takes place on the 31st of December. And by "big" I really mean BIG. Some families, unfortunately, go overboard and female part of the family cooks for at least two days. Once I decided to have a bunch of friends over for the New Year party but it ended up me cooking a ton of stuff and when it was time to celebrate I was sooooo tired that one glass of champagne almost knocked me out. Since then I decided that I'm not running this marathon again. And.... I lied to myself because a couple of years later I danced on the same rake again, though with a smaller number of guests and dishes respectively. So people shop for food, all kind of food and sometimes very expensive food like red and black caviar, for instance. As one lady said: We buy caviar once a year to celebrate like the last New Year. I don't think she really meant the "last" thing but it does look like that sometimes. Salads, fish, meats, pastries, cakes and many many other things are on the table along with a load of different alcohol.
The second big thing is CLEANING!!! Long, tedious, exhausting, thorough, detailed, focused cleaning of all the place where you live whether it's a one-bed apartment or a mansion the size of Buckingham Palace. The next time you will clean your place even more thoroughly would be before Easter and then you will go even further because on top of cleaning there would be also some minor repair works, things like painting walls or changing all curtains and sheers. So New Year cleaning is big and important and when you live in the country where it snows in winter you will get all the carpets you have and clean them in fresh snow outside. That's the part I liked the best. The smell of carpet fibres that was brought from the cold of the outside smells better than any Febrese. And the bonus for all the fuss of the day is the decoration of the Christmas tree. We usually put the Christmas tree for the New Year since our Christmas comes after New Year, so actually, it's a New Year tree ))
Some people prefer to have big parties and invite a ton of guests, others prefer to celebrate just with family. When I was little we celebrated all New Years with our neighbours that lived in the apartment next to us. We were very close and hanged out together quite a lot. When we, the kids, moved out, and then their parents moved from the apartment to a house, my parents came up with a new tradition. After they have some champagne at home and we exchange phone calls with greetings they take some treats and go to greet their friends that come to the town center to the main Christmas tree. A lot of Ukrainians like to stay home and watch TV for the rest of the night. The best thing about the 1st of January is that you don't need to cook. Actually, you don't need to cook on the 2nd of January as well. Some people manage to skip cooking on the 3rd as well, but that's already dangerous for their health in my opinion.
There is one more traditional thing about the New Year celebration and it is the fireworks of course. Personally, I have a problem with this part because there are a lot of people in Ukraine, I mean war veterans and people that had to resettle from the east of Ukraine, and the sound of fireworks is very traumatic for them. I would like to have this part eliminated until the war in Ukraine is over, but not all my fellow citizens are understanding enough.
So at this point the only thing left is to wish all of us a Happy New Year and to hope that it will be better than 2019. And of course, BEHAVE!
I don't want to write a sum-up post because I simply don't like things like that. Maybe it's not very smart but I don't have a precise plan for each year because I don't want to expose myself to unnecessary stress. So I will say this: This year was full of different events, some were very positive others not so much. There were moments when I was extremely tired and moments of utter excitement. I worried a lot because my country is in big danger nowadays and I feel very irritated that it made into the most international news due to Trump impeachment and not due to the ongoing war with russia. Yes, the war is still in the active phase and a lot of Ukrainian soldiers got killed and wounded. Unfortunately, the mass media environment runs on scandals and everyday life is not making onto news screens and pages. It makes me very very sad but that the reality we all live in. I've heard words filled with chauvinism and words filled with support and understanding for my country. Tough year. But then it's another reminder that I love my country and will always remain the Proud Ukrainian.
So what do Ukrainians traditionally do the last days of the year? Well, big city inhabitants usually are involved in all kind of different parties that take place in their offices. The corporate party culture is pretty new to Ukraine and people really enjoy getting together with colleagues and get drunk. Sometimes they get drunk to an extent they don't remember what they did the night before. I'm not sure how it helps to work relationships but they keep doing it year after year. In smaller towns, people also get together at work and celebrate but they don't call it a "corporate party" though the results are pretty much the same. At schools, children have so-called children's matinees that have quite transformed since I was a student myself. In my childhood, we had a costume masquerade in the school sports hall that was transformed into a big celebration area with a Christmas tree in the center. One year I was dressed as a cowboy, I had a hat, my mom added fringe to my jeans side seams, and the biggest pride was my plastic gun in a holster. I still have a photo somewhere. Nowadays these school parties are more like discotheques. Good old times...
There are two other compulsory components to New Year celebration in Ukraine. Actually, you can even say three components. The first one is shopping. I don't mean the Christmas shopping thing for presents. We usually give presents on St. Nicholas day, that is the 19th of December (because we are still on that stupid old-style calendar). Of course, I mean western Ukraine. It can differ depending on the region people live in. So shopping is mostly about preparing for the big New Year dinner that takes place on the 31st of December. And by "big" I really mean BIG. Some families, unfortunately, go overboard and female part of the family cooks for at least two days. Once I decided to have a bunch of friends over for the New Year party but it ended up me cooking a ton of stuff and when it was time to celebrate I was sooooo tired that one glass of champagne almost knocked me out. Since then I decided that I'm not running this marathon again. And.... I lied to myself because a couple of years later I danced on the same rake again, though with a smaller number of guests and dishes respectively. So people shop for food, all kind of food and sometimes very expensive food like red and black caviar, for instance. As one lady said: We buy caviar once a year to celebrate like the last New Year. I don't think she really meant the "last" thing but it does look like that sometimes. Salads, fish, meats, pastries, cakes and many many other things are on the table along with a load of different alcohol.
The second big thing is CLEANING!!! Long, tedious, exhausting, thorough, detailed, focused cleaning of all the place where you live whether it's a one-bed apartment or a mansion the size of Buckingham Palace. The next time you will clean your place even more thoroughly would be before Easter and then you will go even further because on top of cleaning there would be also some minor repair works, things like painting walls or changing all curtains and sheers. So New Year cleaning is big and important and when you live in the country where it snows in winter you will get all the carpets you have and clean them in fresh snow outside. That's the part I liked the best. The smell of carpet fibres that was brought from the cold of the outside smells better than any Febrese. And the bonus for all the fuss of the day is the decoration of the Christmas tree. We usually put the Christmas tree for the New Year since our Christmas comes after New Year, so actually, it's a New Year tree ))
Some people prefer to have big parties and invite a ton of guests, others prefer to celebrate just with family. When I was little we celebrated all New Years with our neighbours that lived in the apartment next to us. We were very close and hanged out together quite a lot. When we, the kids, moved out, and then their parents moved from the apartment to a house, my parents came up with a new tradition. After they have some champagne at home and we exchange phone calls with greetings they take some treats and go to greet their friends that come to the town center to the main Christmas tree. A lot of Ukrainians like to stay home and watch TV for the rest of the night. The best thing about the 1st of January is that you don't need to cook. Actually, you don't need to cook on the 2nd of January as well. Some people manage to skip cooking on the 3rd as well, but that's already dangerous for their health in my opinion.
There is one more traditional thing about the New Year celebration and it is the fireworks of course. Personally, I have a problem with this part because there are a lot of people in Ukraine, I mean war veterans and people that had to resettle from the east of Ukraine, and the sound of fireworks is very traumatic for them. I would like to have this part eliminated until the war in Ukraine is over, but not all my fellow citizens are understanding enough.
So at this point the only thing left is to wish all of us a Happy New Year and to hope that it will be better than 2019. And of course, BEHAVE!
Instead of a Christmas tree, my parents buy compositions like this. This wreath is made of spikelets that symbolize prosperity and health, and the wreath shape corresponds to the oldest and most important deity of all - the Sun called in ancient Slavic tradition Dazhboh meaning The God that gives.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
As we say in Ukraine 2
Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing great, enjoying the cooling down and colors change all around you. I miss fall a lot, you start appreciating seasons when you are deprived of them. My friends and acquaintances say that they envy me that I have summer all year round, but I do miss fall. The yellow leaves, fogs, cold rains when you can sit in a cafe, sip something warm and watch people rush by. At the same time, fall is the season of results that can look like a basket of apples from your garden or something more abstract. In Ukraine, we say that even a sparrow is rich in fall. There is a whole bunch of other proverbs about fall and most of them are result-oriented. For example, count chickens in fall, quite good advice for those who jump into conclusions right away or want quick results. I like proverbs and sayings a lot since they help to express complicated ideas in an eloquent and concise way. That's why I decided to dedicate one more text to As we say in Ukraine.
Today I will describe to you TOP-5 of my favourite sayings. Unfortunately, I can't use them in English because they will sound weird in translation, but I will translate them for you and the concepts that stand behind them.
So #5 is a pig-related one: A granny had no worries and so she bought a piglet. If you never lived on a farm you need to know that to have a couple of chickens and a pig is a very time-consuming thing. You need to feed them on a regular basis, you need to make sure that the chicken coup and the barn are relatively clean and if you live in a four-season area you need to make sure that they are warm in winter. My grandpa very often lives on his chickens' schedule )) So this saying is really true!
#4 Send a fool to pray to god, he will break open his forehead. Persistence is a great thing and can bring really great results, however, there are people that can turn pretty much anything into a catastrophe. I bet you have observed in your life stupid people striving to get something with a ridiculous degree of persistence. I have to admit that sometimes I even envy them because they have this endless amount of energy and blind faith that whatever they do will make them happy or change their life. When you are smart and persistent it's still a different story. The grain of doubt sits tightly in your mind and maybe because of it, you don't go for certain things in your life. This saying is pretty popular with older people in Ukraine when they try to characterise the younger generation.
#3 has an equivalent in English but it sounds very logical while its Ukrainian counterpart underlines all absurdity of the situation. So the Ukrainian version of the saying is "An elder tree in the garden and an uncle in Kyiv". Makes no sense, right? So you would use this saying in Ukrainian if the person you are talking to tells you something that makes no sense. "That is something utterly irrelevant" that's how you would say it in English. It's funny that sometimes you don't need to say the whole phrase to the person, you just say "An elder tree in the garden" and they understand that they are talking nonsense.
#2 This one is incredibly philosophical. Sometimes I even take it as a compliment though it isn't considered to be a saying with positive meaning, especially if an older person characterises you like that: You can talk to the mountain but the mountain will remain to be a mountain. S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N-N-E-S-S!!! This saying describes stubborn people and I take it as a compliment because this feature of mine has helped me move ahead in my life even when others doubted my choices. That's why sometimes I can be a mountain ))) For some reason this saying associates in my head with Japanese mountain Fuji. It's always there, just like any big idea that sits in my head.
My number 1 is a very interesting saying for a couple of reasons. Most of all I like that historic aspect of it. But firstly, I will tell you how it would sound in English and then explain how it appeared. So, To jump out like a Pylyp (Philip) from hemp bushes. This saying will be used in a variety of cases. For instance, you would use it when somebody does something unexpected or even literally jumps out at you. At the same time, you can use it when somebody says something unexpected, something that hardly fits the situation. So the historical aspect of this saying has two constituents: the first one is the name "Philip" used in the saying. I will open you a secret, name Pylyp (Philip) was used in old times to call hares, it was a kind of nickname for them. Along with that, this saying describes a very important fact about my country. The hare in the proverb jumps out from the field of hemp. HEMP! Not rye, wheat, barley or any other kind of field. I'm not hinting on my ancestors to smoke weed or getting high every single day. Of course, they did it, because tobacco was brought to Ukraine at the beginning of the 17th century and I do know for sure that my ancestors were smoking pipes a long time before it. And whatever they were putting in those pipes did have some effect similar to trance since some of the herbal mixes were smoked strictly before important battles by well-known Ukrainian Cossacks. Hemp was one of the components and t people also knew about the anaesthetic effect of hemp seeds and they would make a different kind of teas for people that were in a lot of pain. Moreover, hemp was not a plant that you would have to go and look for somewhere, we grew hemp just like any other cropper because its stems were used to make cloth. The cloth was used to make clothing and other textile goods one needed at home. The great thing about hemp cloth is that it's hyper allergic and very durable. Nowadays, there is a bunch of small productions in Ukraine that manufacture clothing and shoes out of hemp. Now you can see why I like this saying so much. It literally uncovers a huge layer of Ukrainian history and a simple hare that jumps out of the bushes of hemp can tell you the whole story.
I hope I didn't bore you with this long historical explanation but I find it cool when things like this can take you centuries back and tell you something more than just an outer shell.
With everything said and done I wish you a wonderful time of the day and BEHAVE!
P.S. Just a couple of photos of clothing and shoes made out of hemp. All photos were taken from the Internet.
Today I will describe to you TOP-5 of my favourite sayings. Unfortunately, I can't use them in English because they will sound weird in translation, but I will translate them for you and the concepts that stand behind them.
So #5 is a pig-related one: A granny had no worries and so she bought a piglet. If you never lived on a farm you need to know that to have a couple of chickens and a pig is a very time-consuming thing. You need to feed them on a regular basis, you need to make sure that the chicken coup and the barn are relatively clean and if you live in a four-season area you need to make sure that they are warm in winter. My grandpa very often lives on his chickens' schedule )) So this saying is really true!
#4 Send a fool to pray to god, he will break open his forehead. Persistence is a great thing and can bring really great results, however, there are people that can turn pretty much anything into a catastrophe. I bet you have observed in your life stupid people striving to get something with a ridiculous degree of persistence. I have to admit that sometimes I even envy them because they have this endless amount of energy and blind faith that whatever they do will make them happy or change their life. When you are smart and persistent it's still a different story. The grain of doubt sits tightly in your mind and maybe because of it, you don't go for certain things in your life. This saying is pretty popular with older people in Ukraine when they try to characterise the younger generation.
#3 has an equivalent in English but it sounds very logical while its Ukrainian counterpart underlines all absurdity of the situation. So the Ukrainian version of the saying is "An elder tree in the garden and an uncle in Kyiv". Makes no sense, right? So you would use this saying in Ukrainian if the person you are talking to tells you something that makes no sense. "That is something utterly irrelevant" that's how you would say it in English. It's funny that sometimes you don't need to say the whole phrase to the person, you just say "An elder tree in the garden" and they understand that they are talking nonsense.
#2 This one is incredibly philosophical. Sometimes I even take it as a compliment though it isn't considered to be a saying with positive meaning, especially if an older person characterises you like that: You can talk to the mountain but the mountain will remain to be a mountain. S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N-N-E-S-S!!! This saying describes stubborn people and I take it as a compliment because this feature of mine has helped me move ahead in my life even when others doubted my choices. That's why sometimes I can be a mountain ))) For some reason this saying associates in my head with Japanese mountain Fuji. It's always there, just like any big idea that sits in my head.
My number 1 is a very interesting saying for a couple of reasons. Most of all I like that historic aspect of it. But firstly, I will tell you how it would sound in English and then explain how it appeared. So, To jump out like a Pylyp (Philip) from hemp bushes. This saying will be used in a variety of cases. For instance, you would use it when somebody does something unexpected or even literally jumps out at you. At the same time, you can use it when somebody says something unexpected, something that hardly fits the situation. So the historical aspect of this saying has two constituents: the first one is the name "Philip" used in the saying. I will open you a secret, name Pylyp (Philip) was used in old times to call hares, it was a kind of nickname for them. Along with that, this saying describes a very important fact about my country. The hare in the proverb jumps out from the field of hemp. HEMP! Not rye, wheat, barley or any other kind of field. I'm not hinting on my ancestors to smoke weed or getting high every single day. Of course, they did it, because tobacco was brought to Ukraine at the beginning of the 17th century and I do know for sure that my ancestors were smoking pipes a long time before it. And whatever they were putting in those pipes did have some effect similar to trance since some of the herbal mixes were smoked strictly before important battles by well-known Ukrainian Cossacks. Hemp was one of the components and t people also knew about the anaesthetic effect of hemp seeds and they would make a different kind of teas for people that were in a lot of pain. Moreover, hemp was not a plant that you would have to go and look for somewhere, we grew hemp just like any other cropper because its stems were used to make cloth. The cloth was used to make clothing and other textile goods one needed at home. The great thing about hemp cloth is that it's hyper allergic and very durable. Nowadays, there is a bunch of small productions in Ukraine that manufacture clothing and shoes out of hemp. Now you can see why I like this saying so much. It literally uncovers a huge layer of Ukrainian history and a simple hare that jumps out of the bushes of hemp can tell you the whole story.
I hope I didn't bore you with this long historical explanation but I find it cool when things like this can take you centuries back and tell you something more than just an outer shell.
With everything said and done I wish you a wonderful time of the day and BEHAVE!
P.S. Just a couple of photos of clothing and shoes made out of hemp. All photos were taken from the Internet.
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