I lived in Ukraine from 2017 to 2018. I posted on my blog about training with professional dance ensembles, the Ukrainian lifestyle, and places I visited. My one year in Ukraine has provided me with a lifetime of stories — and then some.
Since returning to Canada, I continue to post on my blog about my experience in Ukraine and about the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. Feel free to sign up for my newsletter to get the posts straight to your inbox.
I’m in Kyiv right now to volunteer with the nonprofit organization Ukrainian Patriot (UP). The organization is founded by Lana Niland, a Canadian who has lived in Ukraine for two decades, and has a team of many dedicated volunteers, some on the ground in Kyiv and others around the world.
Read MoreI miss Ukraine. A lot.
At this point, you could swap out “Ukraine” in that first sentence with a number of things. Dance practice, family meals, friend hangouts not through a screen, when breaking news was just that and not a new constant in our lives. But because my focus for this blog is Ukraine, I’m going to leave that sentence as is.
Read MoreLately, Ukraine has been in the headlines every day in the Western world, many of the stories focusing on Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings, and others reporting from the front lines in Ukraine. If you’re looking for a bit more insight into Ukraine, here are some podcasts to help get you started.
Read MoreThe Google rabbit hole is one of my favourite places.
A few months back, I was looking for information about the lizhnyk, a traditional wool blanket from the Hutsulshchyna region of Ukraine. In January 2018, I was in Yavoriv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and visited the home of a craftswoman who makes these blankets, and though I took some notes, I still wanted more info (and also was probably procrastinating doing something).
So I searched around online a bit, and I came across an article with video and photos on a website called Ukraïner. After learning more about the lizhnyk, I dove deeper into Ukrainer’s site—I was hooked. And you will be too.
Read MoreOne year ago I flew from Ukraine to Canada. I purposely don’t say “flew home” because I don’t necessarily see Canada as my home. Well, it is one of my homes — it’s just not the only one, and saying “I flew home” implies that Ukraine wasn’t my home, which it most certainly was.
When I moved to Ukraine, I’d get these flashes of feelings from Canada, the most common instigator being when I saw someone in Ukraine who looked like a Canadian friend.
Maybe I was still adjusting to being so far from what I had known as home for all my life, and so I was looking for something to bring me comfort. This lasted a month, maybe two. And before you knew it, I would see Ukrainians who looked like other Ukrainians I had met in the city before.
Read MoreDance festival season is upon us.
It’s a time of year that has dancers practising their combos under their desks at school, costume coordinators working day in and day out making their volunteer position feel more like a full-time job, and instructors and choreographers feeling excited and nervous and stressed and proud and tired and energized — just so many feelings.
Read MoreI have a few friends who said their babas warned them to never whistle indoors, and as kids, they thought it was just because their grandmothers thought they were annoying.
But lo and behold, there’s more to it.
There’s a belief among Ukrainians (and other cultures) that if you whistle while indoors, you’ll bring upon yourself bad luck and lack of wealth.
That’s why you’ll see me stop myself mid-pucker if I hear a catchy tune indoors, instead resorting to singing or humming. It’s also why I may glare at you (or perhaps look away to pretend it’s not happening) when you whistle near me and we are clearly inside.
Read MoreIn Grade 10, my English teacher asked the class if anyone knew about the Holodomor. No one raised their hand.
This famine-genocide from 1932 to 1933 affected millions of Ukrainians. I first learned about it at the Ukrainian dance school I attended. The president at the time went around to each class telling us about the tragedy and handing out wheat pins to wear to honour those affected.
This was before my English teacher asked us about the event, yet I still didn’t raise my hand for a couple reasons: 1. I was still becoming comfortable speaking up in school, after all, this was my first year in a giant high school, and 2. I don’t think I realized the importance of talking about these events to unite the Ukrainian community.
Read More
