Adjusting and Learning

January 24,  2011
So a lot has happened in the last 12 days! It seriously feels like I have been here for months sometimes! I have to keep reminding myself that I will be here for 4 months and that I am in another country. It still just seems so unreal. After we arrived on Friday we had time to meet our families and catch up on sleeping.  On Saturday we started training.  Jennii and I met our native coordinators and 3 other girls at McDonald and they took us on the metro over to Center school to meet up with 4 other girls in our group. We arrived at center school and Ameri Meldrum (our head teacher) started training. It was really stressful, and we had to keep reminding ourselves that through practice teaching would become easier. We then were assigned to our schools. 4 of the girls (Auviaunce Evans, Rockie Fie'eike Tulikihihifo, Kynde Rochelle, and Kamila Brandley) were assigned to center school and 5 of us (Jennii, Natalie Neider, Audrey Hosman, Kenzie Parker, and I) were assigned to Pozniky school. Jennii, Natalie, and I teach in the afternoon from 3-7. Training was long and hard because we were all still trying to get over the jet lag from the day before.  We finally decided that we would reassemble tomorrow after church because our brains were fried.  Sunday
was quite the adventure! Church is at 10 so we decided we would all meet up at a certain stop on the metro at 9 then take a bus to church and get there in time for sacrament.  Boy did we underestimate how long it would take to get to church. Jennii and I left our houses 8:30 and we did not get there on time. When we all finally made it to church it was about 10:30... better late than never right? Our lesson was on sacrifice and how when we sacrifice for others we do it because we love them. I just kept thinking about how all of us had sacrificed so much time to be able to get to church that day. I really appreciate the people who take the time to go to church on Sunday even though it may take them a few hours. We are so lucky back in the states to have churches so close to where we live! After church we went back to the school for more training then headed home. On Monday the girls at Center school started teaching, but Pozniky didn't start until Tuesday, and so on Monday my host mom Oksana took us over to the school and showed us how we would get there by walking and bus. The school that we teach at was just transferred to a new location from last semester, so when we got there we had to unload everything from boxes and put them in the rooms and get everything ready for Tuesday! It was a lot of work but we got it all done!  Afterwards we were so hungry. So before we headed over to FHE we decided to eat at McDonalds. It was so nice to have american food again! Gotta love it. After eating we headed to FHE.  We played some games, ate a treat, and had a short lesson. I love how we have the church to go be with people of the same faith. It definitely helps take our minds off teaching and culture shock. Tuesday was the BIG day! We taught our first lessons. We have 3 groups of about 15 kids who come from 3-5 then leave and 3 other groups come from 5-7. Teaching is very hard. You have to keep the kids entertained when half the time they have no idea what you are saying because it is in another language. It is very stressful with the kids too because you have kids ages 4 to 10 and kids are CRAZY! They are always wanting to jump off the walls and you have to try and get them all to calm down for you class. After teaching for 5 days I am slowly starting to get the hang of it though! I must say I LOVE KIDS! We have the CUTEST kids in our classes and i just love them! We teach Monday through Friday each day for 4 hours and it drains you completely. On Wednesdays we have Russian Class, where this lady comes for an hour to teach us. We are learning the alphabet right now. It is very hard but I am starting to catch on and can actually sound out some words on billboards and advertisements now! Hopefully by the end of 4 months I will be able to communicate with my host family a little!

Ukrainian is spoken in Ukraine but in this area Russian is a larger language. So, Russian it is! It’s hard learning another language, my mouth seems like it is not meant to make the noises it’s supposed to. I’m learning though! Here is a short list of what I learned today. It’s spelt phonetically so I can pronounce it. I’m not sure how you really would write it.

Mih-yah-zavoot – My Name is

Kak-te-ba-zavoot-  What is your name? Kak-ye-yo-zavoot-  Her name is 

Eta- This is  Stall- Table  Stool- Chair  Diveary- door  Ahk-no- Window  Roosh-ka- Pen  Crayon-dash- Pencil  Ka-knee-ga- book  N-yet- No  Dah- Yes  Nyeah-  Is not   

Sh-tow  eta-What is

The interesting thing about Russian is that thing can be flipped. So, “Sh-two eta”  can be flipped to “Eta Sh-tow”  and mean the same thing. I have to plan 2 lessons every day.

One of them has to be either drama or shop and the other one is for our older group of elementary kids and I teach them reading and writing. It is so fun to see the kids progress with words! They really are smart children.  It amazes me how much they are able to do. On Friday after teaching we all met up at McDonalds and celebrated our first week of teaching by getting ice cream! It is so nice to be able to go to a restaurant that speaks English! It is so funny though because McDonalds here are soo nice! In Ukraine it is such an honor to work at McDonalds! It's hilarious! I'm glad they honor such a valued restaurant =) After celebrating, Jennii, Natalie and I decided to have a sleepover at the school. We painted nails, listened to music, girl talked, and watched Tangled! I love that movie sooo much! Then on Saturday we got all ready and went shopping! I found a hat and a scarf and some boots that I LOVE! Maybe now I'll look more Ukrainian! After shopping we went downtown and one of our native coordinators took us around to see the sites. It was the Ukrainian Independence day so a celebration was going on right in the middle of town and it was all decorated beautifully! We were also able to see a lot of cathedrals and even go inside St. Barnabas! It was so beautiful with all the different art work. After going around town we went and saw Gizelle, a ballet. It was ....interesting! We were all so tired from walking everywhere and teaching all week though that it was hard to stay awake. But the people in the play were very very talented! On Sunday we went to church again and this time we met at 9 so Jennii and I left at 8 and this time we got to church on time! I love going to an English ward! It's so nice to be around people who speak your same language again. The talks were on service and hard work and they were both very good lessons. After church I was able to Skype my family and that was so fun! I am learning to love it here. Adjusting is still hard at times, but I know that I was meant to come here for a reason, not sure what that reason is yet, but in time I think I will come to realize why. Well that was my first week in Ukraine.  I love the girls here and I am so excited to keep learning! Dasvedanya!