Perpetual Change

Coming back...

... to Ukraine after being home, and starting school again(!), these were some of the thoughts that hit me:
- I came back to Cyrillic signs, which I feel are so much easier to read than Polish
- Many people the first few days back asked about my mustache or oseledets, everyone from teachers to friends to shopkeepers that I regularly frequent. I was surprised several times by how curious and interested people were, especially those who usually don’t have anything to say to me. The opinions were mixed on whether I looked better with it or not, but I think the jury would definitely say that I achieved the goal stated in the Osoledets post. [editor’s note: Katie, if we had stopped by that Friday night, you would have seen it, but I shaved it the day before your wedding because I didn’t want to take attention off you.]
- Going from camp to school was hard. I understand camps very well; they are really my home turf. There, I was a respected elder among friendly, fun colleagues; we were all working towards one goal, on one wavelength. School politics have none of these factors, neither do high school boys and girls who are high on hormones. Sometimes I feel like I am back in school, or that it might be easier if I was.
- Funny things happen everyday here (at least, definitely more interesting). For example, a man told me and a woman after the fourth bus went by that we need to walk up the street a bit for it to stop, and then he flagged one down just 10 feet from the discussed spot, but it wouldn’t for us 20 feet further (we had walked on faster, and we then continued with the woman cursing under her breath).
- Being back here is back to being the most interesting person around, by the general consensus. I personally preferred the loss of status and notoriety back in the USA.

posted by jjs @ 3:25 AM