NBA playoffs

So this is obviously unconnected to Ukraine or Peace Corps or my current life.  Just thought I'd share something American-sports related.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=wilbon/110530

I understand the sentiments behind this article, but I simply don't see how LeBron is single-handedly responsible for the NBA's boost this season.  Granted, his prima donna antics have generated some interest and plenty of haters (can't say that I'm a fan).  And I think the Heat are the team America loves to hate for these playoffs.  But I think the major factor driving the NBA's boost this season is the new competitive nature.  The last 2 finals had the same 2 dominant teams play each other, Los Angeles and Boston.  That's great and interesting if you're from California or Massachusetts, or if you're a bandwagoner like one of my college roommates (he was from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and his favorite pro teams were the Yankees, the Colts, and the Lakers).  But it's kinda boring when even though your team makes the playoffs, no one thinks they have a snowball's chance in hell (and they don't...Atlanta). 
But this year, the mighty Lakers fell in humiliating fashion, in the end to Phil Jackson's distinguished career and possibly Kobe's.  Everyone brakes to gawk at a car accident.  The Celtics were out early as well, opening the door for new teams, and a new level of competitiveness.  Basketball leagues are always, I think, more likely to be top-heavy than other leagues because the teams are smaller--it's easier to get a lineup of superstars and have a dynasty.  But now we have a multi-polar world in the NBA.  And I think that's what is driving the boost in ratings.

Наша Школьная Жизнь

Or, Our School Life.

So I've made an entry devoted to my work here teaching English.  I've added photos from School No. 9 in Vasylkiv and School No. 1 in Pavlograd, ranging from October to this morning.  Without further ado...

 School No. 9 in Vasylkiv, with our 10B class.  I'm on the left, next to Avital and Colette. 

 10B, same day

 Showing my driver's license to the students

 Observing a lesson in Vasylkiv

 Courtney and I with 2 of our best 10B students, Anya and Alina

 More 10B students from Vasylkiv in one of our demo lessons.

 A demo lesson in Vasylkiv with a younger class, 6th or 7th grade I think

 School No. 9's direktor, on the left; Larissa, Peace Corps staff and our trainer; and School No. 3's direktor (I think)

On a school field trip over winter break to Dnepropetrovsk, at a McDonald's.  We went to see a children's production of Alice in Wonderland on ice in Russian.  Several 5th grade classes from different schools went.  Yelena Ivanovna, my counterpart and English teacher at School No. 1 in Pavlograd is on the left in the brown jacket, with her homeroom class and our 5A class in tow.

 The front of School No. 1 (my current workplace in Pavlograd) in the dead of winter on a rare sunny day.  It looks almost completely different now with leaves on the trees and so forth.

 Some of the 10A students at School No. 1 at a Christmas party/my welcome party, shortly before winter break.

 The Christmas "pageant" in my school.  One of my 10A students, Kristina, is Snegurochka, the granddaughter and companion of Ded Moroz (Russian Santa Claus). 

Ded Moroz, Snegurochka, and me

10A at a lesson in March.  We started the double-header lesson with learning the old folk song "Oh! Susanna," which they thought was awesome (especially with the harmonica and banjo mp3 I played for them)

"Shto??  What is your banjo?!" (just kidding, they knew what a banjo was)

I still haven't mastered teacherly writing on a chalkboard.   And probably never will.

The chapter we were on was weather, which is how "Oh! Susanna" tied into it (somewhat vaguely and strenuously).  Here Roma and Kostya give their best impersonations of weathermen.

And now it's Zhenya's turn.

...and now Masha's turn.

Then Sasha got a try.

The better part of the 10A class. With yours truly, nash amerikanyets!


And last we have my 5G class at our English day camp this morning. Today was music today, so I helped them ("helped" being generous giving my complete lack of vocalist talents) learn 4 English songs--"Jingle Bells," "Hakuna Matata," "Oh! Susanna," and last but not least, "You Are My Sunshine." The last has enormous personal importance to me, because Mom used to sing it to me when she rocked me when I was a baby.

That concludes this for the day, mainly because that's basically all the photos and the only video I have from school. As you can see, I am greatly enjoying my work here, and the school is happy to have me as well. I wish I had some more photos of my colleagues here in Pavlograd, but that will come I suppose. I went with about 15 teachers on Friday to an old Soviet Pioneers (basically Communist Party Boy and Girl Scouts) camp to grill out and drink. It was great fun, but as usual, I didn't have a camera. I'll be making a photo and video blog of my apartment and neighborhood soon, so look back for that in a week or two.

Чумачечая Весна

Never before have I lived anywhere with such a contrast between seasons and months.  Three months ago I wondered if my apartment building was full of old people, because that was all I ever saw outside and in the stairwell.  No one appeared to be under 50, and no one was ever without a big fur hat for the bitter cold.  For the last month, my building, neighborhood, and indeed the whole city and country has come alive.  From the pretty much constant screaming of children at play on the well-worn and slightly decrepit playground outside my door (they scream loudly and clearly enough for even me to understand their Russian, at five floors up) to the constant badgering on the soccer field--"Mr. Andrew, good morning!  Play football?  Play volleyball?"--any time I walk through it to get to the main street, Pavlograd is unrecognizable from what it was at the beginning of March.  It's so intriguing that Ukrainians shut themselves inside for half of the year, especially the children, and then spend all day outside whenever the weather's above 60 or so.  
I feel more connected to the seasons than I ever had.  In Georgia, we have a mild winter and spend the 8-9 months of warm weather in air-conditioned cars and houses, venturing outside only when we want to.  Most of America is like that, really.  We use heating and A/C to keep our homes at a balmy 72 year-round, see no discernible difference in what different foods are available in different seasons, and so on.  Here, Ukrainians embrace the warm weather and spend more time outside picnicking, drinking, hanging out, and enjoying it.  I completely understand after the 4-5 months of cold weather.  Even living in an apartment in a city, you feel just more in tune with the natural world and the rhythms of the earth.  
I only have 4 more days of school left this year--Friday is Last Bell, a ceremony and concert for the 11th graders who will finish school this year.  Summer is already here, with all the camps, traveling and more that it brings. Пошли!