Saturday Fun and Sunday English

     Saturday marked two interesting and new experiences I had here; a flea market/yard sale and a birthday party.
     Kiev Christian Academy (KCA) is the local English school that mostly serves the missionary community. Saturday, they had a yard sale/flea market. In a lot of ways, it was identical to the ones we have in the States. But the cultural differences of Ukraine make it an interesting experience. Arguing over price can be financially vicious. Low-balling is the name of the game. Most of the sellers were American families with a few Korean families too. Between the flea market and the party, I went over to the Eide's house for lunch.

 

     The birthday party was for a member of the Liberty team. She was a student last year but volunteered for planning and organizing the camp this year. We met at a restaurant called Mafia for sushi. Afterward, we walked around part of the city; near the Motherland statue and then finished off the night with tea at a little retro (meaning lots of Soviet antiques) restaurant.

     This is a new game I learned at the party. I guess it's a way of learning how to use chopsticks. The goal of the game is to build the tower by touching the pieces with just the chopsticks. The name is (I think) called Japan Towers. Or something like that. If you can read Japanese, you might be able to get some more info here.

     And one other fun, interesting fact. Apparently, the numbers 2 and 3 are unlucky in Ukraine. In my apartment building, the 13th floor exists but there are no second or third floors. Even the electronic floor indicator skips those numbers. But the pause between 1 and 4 is conveniently timed to the same amount of time to pass two floors. :) (EDIT: It was pointed out to me that this paragraph doesn't sound like a joke so I'm making this clear. THIS IS A JOKE.)

     In reality, the number 13, like in the US, is unlucky in Ukraine. They just don't mind putting it in apartment buildings. Two and three are just plain old numbers. There is a gym that takes up the 2nd and 3rd floors in the building and it has a separated entrance.

      OK, Sunday. It was a cold, rainy, dreary day today. I guess I was feeling like it a little bit too. After yesterday's festivities, I still haven't caught up on rest. Hopefully I'll finish this before midnight (failed that) and be able to get a decent amount of sleep. For Sunday, I had a big surprise at English Club. I got there 15 minutes early. David had called before I left and said he was running a little late. So I and Yuri had to entertain a rapidly growing group until he arrived. By the time he did arrive, we were looking at a crowd of almost 20 people. By the time we started the actual lesson, we had 23 people plus one very young (around 2 years old) "student." But despite the numbers, it went well. 

     I'm surprised at the massive jump in numbers. But thanks to the flexibility we've all learned, we didn't have a problem. Roll with the changes and all that. In my intermediate/advanced group, there were eleven or twelve.

     Just a quick final note, I'd like to make a prayer request. I can feel like my mind and body are more tired than normal. When I get tired, I can get snippy and sarcastic. I don't want that to happen now. A) it wouldn't show a Christian example and B) it makes for bad interactions, especially when I need to say something in Russian. The language learning seems to have hit a wall. Or I'm just on the part of the Bell Curve that's close to vertical. I just have to spend more time on it. But for now, I'm off to bed. Have a good week.