I guess that one of the first questions that might arise is "how did I get here?" Here in Kiev. Especially since I have no family heritage from this part of the world. There just aren't that many native English speakers here, especially ones who cannot find their way around the Russian or Ukrainian languages all that well. But there certainly are some! And oh yes, then there's that Cyrillic thing. The local alphabet.
So how? Or why? Marriage is often a factor when one finds oneself in another part of the world. And I am no exception. I moved over here 22 months ago, and have been married about 17 months. The culture shock between here and my former life in the states is large, as one might imagine. But then there are times it's not that large at all. And once one graduates into their second year in a new culture, a sense of normalcy returns, and while not all things go well, things are, well, better.
In this journal, I hope to highlight some of the pluses and minuses of my move, life in Kiev (Kyiv) and Ukraine, and comment in general about life behind the former iron curtain.
Oh, about "Kyiv". This is how the Ukrainians prefer the name of their capital city be spelled and pronounced in the Latin alphabet. But since it has not yet been widely adapted, I will continue to use the more familiar form, Kiev.
Technorati Tags: Kyiv, Kiev, new beginning
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