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.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
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.
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...
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.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
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!
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!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Pictures from Spring Break in Lviv
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Spring!
Greetings from a not-so-cold Pavlograd! It's been a while since my last entry, Mom informed me today, so I'll fill everyone who reads this in real quickly about the last 5 weeks.
March was a great month. On the first day, I felt an immense sense of relief that February, the coldest month, was over. The snow started melting and the sun actually shines pretty regularly now. After the snow melt, Ukraine is left with a lot of mud and a lot of massive puddles approaching pond size--for example, the soccer field next to my school. It took about 3 weeks for everything to dry up, but it finally did. The weather is mostly pleasant (highs in the high 50s Farenheit) during the day, but at night it's still cold. Also, the town administration has seen fit to shut off our central heating (finances), so my apartment has been a balmy 58-60 for the last week now. But warm weather, I firmly believe, is around the corner!
As for what I did, the answer is a lot of traveling. I went to Dnipropetrovsk several times for work and play, traveled to Kharkiv on what I suppose is my first business trip, and traveled on spring break to Kiev, Vasylkiv, and Lviv--the cultural capital of Ukraine--with my friends Anand and Kurt. We had a blast. We rented an apartment in downtown Lviv for 4 nights for about $35 a night and took in all that such a cool city had to offer. I'll try to post a few pictures from spring break this week. Spring break ended with a 17 hour train ride back to Dnipropetrovsk, where my platskart (3rd class) companions offered me vodka and pizza.
Everything is going well with teaching, I suppose. My 7th grade class is definitely my favorite--they're always interested and easy to get involved with whatever I want. One student, Anya, is the otlichnik--basically an equivalent to valedictorian, highest grades in her grade or whatever. They also made me a cool card for Defenders' Day on February 23.
I promise I'll post some pictures soon. I'm also looking to make a video entry of a grand tour of Pavlograd soon, so look back in a few days to see what I've done.
March was a great month. On the first day, I felt an immense sense of relief that February, the coldest month, was over. The snow started melting and the sun actually shines pretty regularly now. After the snow melt, Ukraine is left with a lot of mud and a lot of massive puddles approaching pond size--for example, the soccer field next to my school. It took about 3 weeks for everything to dry up, but it finally did. The weather is mostly pleasant (highs in the high 50s Farenheit) during the day, but at night it's still cold. Also, the town administration has seen fit to shut off our central heating (finances), so my apartment has been a balmy 58-60 for the last week now. But warm weather, I firmly believe, is around the corner!
As for what I did, the answer is a lot of traveling. I went to Dnipropetrovsk several times for work and play, traveled to Kharkiv on what I suppose is my first business trip, and traveled on spring break to Kiev, Vasylkiv, and Lviv--the cultural capital of Ukraine--with my friends Anand and Kurt. We had a blast. We rented an apartment in downtown Lviv for 4 nights for about $35 a night and took in all that such a cool city had to offer. I'll try to post a few pictures from spring break this week. Spring break ended with a 17 hour train ride back to Dnipropetrovsk, where my platskart (3rd class) companions offered me vodka and pizza.
Everything is going well with teaching, I suppose. My 7th grade class is definitely my favorite--they're always interested and easy to get involved with whatever I want. One student, Anya, is the otlichnik--basically an equivalent to valedictorian, highest grades in her grade or whatever. They also made me a cool card for Defenders' Day on February 23.
I promise I'll post some pictures soon. I'm also looking to make a video entry of a grand tour of Pavlograd soon, so look back in a few days to see what I've done.
Monday, February 28, 2011
My Day/Мой День
Here is my first attempt at "lengthy" Russian nonfiction, an account of my day today. The English translation is right after it.
У меня был интересный день сегодня. Сначала, я проснулся в 8 часов. Я принял душ и побрился мое лицо--как я обычно делаю в понедельник. Я позавтракал. потом, я оделся (я носил пиджак, галстук, и брюки) и я приготовил урокы. Потом я открыл дверь, но мой ключ слоиал! Дверь еще закрыта...я выл заперт в моей квартире! Я позвонил Елена Ивановна и сказал: я не могу ходить в школу, мой ключ сломал и я еще в квартире. Далее Наташа Викторовна и Виктор Григорович пришли к моей дверь квартиры. Они пытались, но нет мог открыть дверь. Потом, Елена Ивановна пришла с другой й ключевой, и дверь открылась окончательно! Елена Ивановна пошла в школу, и Виктор Григорович отремонтировал кран на кучне и дверь шкафа. Все в моей квартире работает сейчас--или я так думаю. Я не учил ни уроки сегодня, но я покушал обед в школе и у меня был Русский урок. Когда директор школы, Виктор Николаeвич, слышал о моей ситуаций, он сказал: я надеюсь, что он заперся там с девушкой. И так был мой день! И Февраль окончательно закончился!!!!!!
I had an interesting day today. First, I woke up at 8 o'clock. I took a shower and shaved my face--as I usually do on Monday. I ate breakfast. Then, I got dressed (I wore a blazer, tie, and slacks) and I prepared the lessons. Then I was opening the door, but my key broke! The door was still locked...I was locked in my apartment! I called Yelena Ivanovna and said, "I can't come to school, my key broke, and I'm still in my apartment." Next, Natasha Viktorovna and Viktor Grigorovich came to my apartment door. They tried but could not open the door. Then Yelena Ivanovna came with another key, and the door was finally opened! Yelena Ivanovna went back to school, and Viktor Grigorovich fixed the faucet in the kitchen and the door to my closet. Everything in my apartment works now--or so I think. I didn't teach any lessons today, but I ate lunch at the school and had a Russian lesson. When the school principal, Viktor Nikolayevich, heard about my situation, he said, "Well, I hope that he's locked in there with a girl." And that was my day. February's finally over!
I'm not quite on Dostoyevsky's level, but I think I'm finally improving again. I made spring break plans yesterday (tentatively) with Kurt and Anand--Lviv, probably by way of Vasylkiv/Kiev so we can visit our host families for a day or two. Everything will probably still be cold in three weeks, so I figured it's not worth going to Crimea or Odessa.
Enjoy the gorgeous Georgia weather. I'll keep enjoying the weather that defeated Napoleon and Hitler.
У меня был интересный день сегодня. Сначала, я проснулся в 8 часов. Я принял душ и побрился мое лицо--как я обычно делаю в понедельник. Я позавтракал. потом, я оделся (я носил пиджак, галстук, и брюки) и я приготовил урокы. Потом я открыл дверь, но мой ключ слоиал! Дверь еще закрыта...я выл заперт в моей квартире! Я позвонил Елена Ивановна и сказал: я не могу ходить в школу, мой ключ сломал и я еще в квартире. Далее Наташа Викторовна и Виктор Григорович пришли к моей дверь квартиры. Они пытались, но нет мог открыть дверь. Потом, Елена Ивановна пришла с другой й ключевой, и дверь открылась окончательно! Елена Ивановна пошла в школу, и Виктор Григорович отремонтировал кран на кучне и дверь шкафа. Все в моей квартире работает сейчас--или я так думаю. Я не учил ни уроки сегодня, но я покушал обед в школе и у меня был Русский урок. Когда директор школы, Виктор Николаeвич, слышал о моей ситуаций, он сказал: я надеюсь, что он заперся там с девушкой. И так был мой день! И Февраль окончательно закончился!!!!!!
I had an interesting day today. First, I woke up at 8 o'clock. I took a shower and shaved my face--as I usually do on Monday. I ate breakfast. Then, I got dressed (I wore a blazer, tie, and slacks) and I prepared the lessons. Then I was opening the door, but my key broke! The door was still locked...I was locked in my apartment! I called Yelena Ivanovna and said, "I can't come to school, my key broke, and I'm still in my apartment." Next, Natasha Viktorovna and Viktor Grigorovich came to my apartment door. They tried but could not open the door. Then Yelena Ivanovna came with another key, and the door was finally opened! Yelena Ivanovna went back to school, and Viktor Grigorovich fixed the faucet in the kitchen and the door to my closet. Everything in my apartment works now--or so I think. I didn't teach any lessons today, but I ate lunch at the school and had a Russian lesson. When the school principal, Viktor Nikolayevich, heard about my situation, he said, "Well, I hope that he's locked in there with a girl." And that was my day. February's finally over!
I'm not quite on Dostoyevsky's level, but I think I'm finally improving again. I made spring break plans yesterday (tentatively) with Kurt and Anand--Lviv, probably by way of Vasylkiv/Kiev so we can visit our host families for a day or two. Everything will probably still be cold in three weeks, so I figured it's not worth going to Crimea or Odessa.
Enjoy the gorgeous Georgia weather. I'll keep enjoying the weather that defeated Napoleon and Hitler.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Michael Jordan, #23
I went to the gym in Pavlograd today for the third time. It's nothing special. Basically, Antares Fitnes Klub is a girl gym, with a big room for dancing and aerobics, several elliptical machines, one treadmill, two benches, and two weight machines. That's basically it. But it's totally worth it, since I have been able to exercise about 4 times in Ukraine before joining Antares. Winter here renders jogging outside impossible. Not pretty much impossible or impractical, impossible. The sidewalks either have 6 inches of snow or 3 inches of ice on them all winter, so that doesn't really conduce itself to running. I played basketball twice in Vasylkiv, went to a gym once there, and jogged outside in the fall maybe 2 or 3 times. The problem there was that I had no time for anything, as busy as training was.
Anyway, I had noticed last week that after essentially 4 months of physical inactivity, I was able to work out and lift weights that are basically equivalent to what I could do when I was 15 and started going to the gym semi-regularly. So I had lost 7 years of muscle strength. After my workout today, I decided to weigh myself on the scale in the gym. 66 kilograms. Hm, I know I've lost weight, but I can't figure out exactly what that was in pounds. So after using the unit converter on my phone, I realize, holy crap, I've lost about 23 pounds since I left America. I now weight about 146 lbs. Which, coincidentally, is about what I weighed when I was 14 or 15.
So in strength and weight, I've gone back to freshman year of high school. It's both bad and good. It's probably mostly (60-70%) fat, since my 32 waist pants all have enough space around my waist now to stash a Nalgene bottle. Also everyone comments upon seeing my passport photo, "Is that really you?" Mostly because it looks similar to Nick Nolte's DUI mugshot, but I guess I've lost weight since August when that was taken. But my muscles are also smaller than normal, so I suppose there's been some atrophy as well. I'm just shocked that it was 23 lbs of loss. As you know, I wasn't exactly fat in America. Well, not fat at all. Basically average, maybe even on the thin side of average.
I'm off to cook hashbrowns and smother them in ketchup, sour cream, and sausage. And wash it down with baklava.
Anyway, I had noticed last week that after essentially 4 months of physical inactivity, I was able to work out and lift weights that are basically equivalent to what I could do when I was 15 and started going to the gym semi-regularly. So I had lost 7 years of muscle strength. After my workout today, I decided to weigh myself on the scale in the gym. 66 kilograms. Hm, I know I've lost weight, but I can't figure out exactly what that was in pounds. So after using the unit converter on my phone, I realize, holy crap, I've lost about 23 pounds since I left America. I now weight about 146 lbs. Which, coincidentally, is about what I weighed when I was 14 or 15.
So in strength and weight, I've gone back to freshman year of high school. It's both bad and good. It's probably mostly (60-70%) fat, since my 32 waist pants all have enough space around my waist now to stash a Nalgene bottle. Also everyone comments upon seeing my passport photo, "Is that really you?" Mostly because it looks similar to Nick Nolte's DUI mugshot, but I guess I've lost weight since August when that was taken. But my muscles are also smaller than normal, so I suppose there's been some atrophy as well. I'm just shocked that it was 23 lbs of loss. As you know, I wasn't exactly fat in America. Well, not fat at all. Basically average, maybe even on the thin side of average.
I'm off to cook hashbrowns and smother them in ketchup, sour cream, and sausage. And wash it down with baklava.
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