still no heat in my building...

Bits and pieces from my life, with a heavy focus on the Yukhymets kids (as usual):

~Vitaly (age 17) has taken to asking my opinion on various topics, generally religion-related, and sharing his thoughts with me as well. He's doing a lot of deep thinking for a high-schooler--highlights have included, "How would we have become Christians if God hadn't sent the Holy Spirit?", "Do you think it's wise that all children have a computer accessible at home?" (he's not convinced, due to many parents not providing supervision), "Do you think that money is evil?", and "Did you ever hear that some people believe we come from monkeys?" All of which have led into fascinating conversations.

~Vlada (age 14) really made my day last week. We were studying holidays in 8th form, and everyone had to say what their favorite holiday was and why. Vlada said, "My favorite holiday is Christmas because Jesus was born." That's the first time in two years of teaching that any of my Christian kids have made that bold a statement about their faith, and it made me so happy to hear.

~Oleh (age 13) is going to be one of our school's competitors for the 8th form level of the rayon-wide English Olympiad! I'm excited about this for several reasons. One, it's vindication to me that I've taught someone something over the last two years. Two, even though the olympiad material is going to be more advanced than Oleh's used to, it'll do him good to try and shoot high. Three, Nelya decided on her own without any imput from me to enter him as a participant...after she'd been considering more "academic" students. We've all come a long way in the last two years.

~On Saturday, I went to Barabashova, the largest bazaar in Ukraine (and one of the largest in Europe) to buy Kate's Christmas present. I found what I wanted at the price I wanted, and I didn't get lost. Go me!

~I didn't teach today, but instead spent the day at home typing up a lesson plan. Nelya and I are hosting a district seminar on the topic of debate at the end of November (the debate topic is the dangers of television), and we're also going to submit our lesson plan to an English-language newspaper for Ukrainian teachers. So I spent the day typing up affirmative and negative arguments about TV. Once I accept that it's simply not like it would be in the US, I feel better about it all, and I was able to work in information about AIDS and domestic violence, two huge problems in Ukraine. According to Amnesty International, 50-70% of Ukrainian women have suffered from domestic violence. Wow. I try and think about that, and my brain just refuses to comprehend, especially when I realize that means that 50-70% of women I know have dealt with abuse of some sort.

~Tomorrow I take the overnight train to Kyiv. From there, I'm going to be a mentor for a group of new trainees, do my COS medical, have a day or two unplanned, and then (hopefully) go to Zgurivka one last time to see the Malkos. So I won't be home for the next week and a half, but I'll still have Internet access at the office, so I'll try and post.