Winter

It is snowing outside, Peter has taught his last class for the semester, and I am writing the final exams for my classes to take next week. It is definitely feeling like winter. The city looks pretty, covered in white. The streets and sidewalks are quite icy, and it’s not unusual to see folks slip or even fall as they make their way along. The women look elegant wearing fur or fur-trimmed coats and stiletto-heeled boots, and both men and women can be seen wearing those warm, boxy traditional fur hats.

Modest holiday decorations went up only this week inside major stores here. The city’s big 40-foot tree now resides in a local square, with a group of kids’ amusement rides beside it. We heard our first Christmas music in the local grocery store, familiar pop ones like “Santa Baby” and McCartney’s “Simply having a wonderful Christmas time.” Christmas isn’t celebrated here until January 7th; December 25 is just another day. And gift exchanging apparently happens on New Year’s Day, while Christmas is a holiday for enjoying a special family meal and honoring older relatives. There are two New Year’s days: new New Year, on January 1, and old New Year, on January 14, a remnant from a previous calendar, though it’s the new one that is primarily celebrated.

The restaurant square footage in our city has shrunk by more than half since the summer. When we arrived here in late spring there were dozens of “beer tents”, either stand-alone or extensions of regular cafes and restaurants, that provided shade from the intense sunlight, breezes through the open-air sides, and always at least a cold local beer or soft drink and some kind of snack, if not a whole meal. We enjoyed exploring our town – beer tent to beer tent. It was well into fall before we ate inside a restaurant. All of those restaurant extensions have now been taken down and put away. We had the initial impression that there were not many smokers in Ukraine. Now we think there are lots, because any venture into a café or restaurant leaves one reeking of cigarette smoke. The change in perception is due to all being forced inside.

We’re excited to welcome our sons here this week for their vacations from school. Our daughter will arrive two weeks later, just in time for Ukrainian Christmas, which will be our family’s official holiday. While they’re here we’ll introduce them to our city and local friends, and do some exploring within Ukraine. The boys have been invited to visit English classes at my university, and will also join our English Clubs at the libraries.

We send our heartfelt wishes to all for Happy Holidays!