…I’d now be eligible for pension payments from the government.
Ukrainian women may become pensioners at the age of 55, men at 60. The minimum amount paid monthly is about 600 UAH, today worth about $100. As one local friend put it, “It’s enough not to die.” Military, police, and other public servants’ pension payments are higher, and may begin earlier. When we’ve told our Ukrainian friends that the retirement age in the US for both men and women is 65, often their response includes some joke about how the typical Ukrainian would never receive such a pension because they wouldn’t make it to 65. Indeed, current life expectancy at birth for Ukrainians is 62 years for men and 74 years for women (CIA Factbook). For Americans those numbers are 75 years for men and 80 years for women.
We had a low-key and perfect celebration for my birthday, eschewing the local tradition of hosting a big dinner for all your family and friends. We opted instead for a quiet, delicious two-person late lunch out followed by a walk in the crisp clear weather.
Monday, November 17, was International Students Day, which was celebrated here in different ways by different universities. One gave students the Friday before off; another offered an afternoon performance and recognition ceremony on the day of. The university at which both of us now teach arranged a party at a local discothèque in honor of the students last night, which both students and faculty attended, and gave all the day off today, Friday. We went to the disco, stayed dancing until midnight, and are happy to have this morning off to recover! As we left the apartment last night at 7:30, we told the delightful 65-ish woman who would need to let us back into the building later that we were going off to dance with the students at a disco. She lit up and said “Maladets!” which means something like “Good for you!” and then did a smiley little jig before sending us on our way.
Thanksgiving Day for us here will be a normal work day. We enjoyed a weekend visit earlier this month from six Peace Corps friends, who came together because half of us have November birthdays and another was headed home a week later. We celebrated by putting together a local approximation of Thanksgiving dinner. We party-hat-wearing celebrants enjoyed Peter's signature grapefruit martinis with cheese and crackers, followed by chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, salads, pumpkin pie and Boston cream pie. All was homemade and delicious, and we were thankful to be together.
Ukrainian women may become pensioners at the age of 55, men at 60. The minimum amount paid monthly is about 600 UAH, today worth about $100. As one local friend put it, “It’s enough not to die.” Military, police, and other public servants’ pension payments are higher, and may begin earlier. When we’ve told our Ukrainian friends that the retirement age in the US for both men and women is 65, often their response includes some joke about how the typical Ukrainian would never receive such a pension because they wouldn’t make it to 65. Indeed, current life expectancy at birth for Ukrainians is 62 years for men and 74 years for women (CIA Factbook). For Americans those numbers are 75 years for men and 80 years for women.
We had a low-key and perfect celebration for my birthday, eschewing the local tradition of hosting a big dinner for all your family and friends. We opted instead for a quiet, delicious two-person late lunch out followed by a walk in the crisp clear weather.
Monday, November 17, was International Students Day, which was celebrated here in different ways by different universities. One gave students the Friday before off; another offered an afternoon performance and recognition ceremony on the day of. The university at which both of us now teach arranged a party at a local discothèque in honor of the students last night, which both students and faculty attended, and gave all the day off today, Friday. We went to the disco, stayed dancing until midnight, and are happy to have this morning off to recover! As we left the apartment last night at 7:30, we told the delightful 65-ish woman who would need to let us back into the building later that we were going off to dance with the students at a disco. She lit up and said “Maladets!” which means something like “Good for you!” and then did a smiley little jig before sending us on our way.
Thanksgiving Day for us here will be a normal work day. We enjoyed a weekend visit earlier this month from six Peace Corps friends, who came together because half of us have November birthdays and another was headed home a week later. We celebrated by putting together a local approximation of Thanksgiving dinner. We party-hat-wearing celebrants enjoyed Peter's signature grapefruit martinis with cheese and crackers, followed by chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, salads, pumpkin pie and Boston cream pie. All was homemade and delicious, and we were thankful to be together.
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