Victory Day - May 9th 2008

May 9th is the day the people in East Europe celebrate their victory over fascism and Nazi Germany. Being from the states, I figured it would be more than just a Memorial Day or Veterans Day, but didn't quite know what to expect. Here then are a few of my photos of Victory Day, with a bit of commentary on the side.

Larger versions of these photos will be posted over the next few days at my photoblog. http://mattsh.aminus3.com/

Arrival of Political Parties - I saw a number of the political parties arrive to pay their respects, but did not see representatives of the three largest parties. Not to say they were not there. They may have arrived and left before I got there.



An Officer and a Priest - The juxtaposition between the military and the clergy struck me, but then, there was enough suffering going around during WW2 for everybody to honor.



A Wall of Flowers - I have never seen so many flowers in one place in my life. By the end of the day, they were 4 feet high and 4 feet deep in some areas. There were at least several hundred thousand flowers left around town, if not a million or more.



A Female Veteran - The young man at the left of the picture was reading something to her from that slip of paper, but not being too terribly fluent in the language, I don't know what was said. I do know she started crying afterwards.



A New Friend - My wife and I were going to check on our son, when this veteran stopped us and offered us a drink. My wife wanted to continue on, but I thought it was a good idea to stop and have a shot of cognac and some chocolate with him and a few friends. After a brief conversation, my wife found out that a relative of her late grandfather may be eligible for additional pension benefits. Lesson Learned. Don't waste an opportunity to have a drink and converse with a veteran. You might learn something valuable.



More pictures here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattsh/

Technorati Tags: History, Photoblog, Photos, Victory Day

Life at the End of the World - Photoblog.

I've made several photo postings to My Kiev Journal in the past, but getting photos on to this site and positioned correctly is just a pain sometimes. Even then, they're usually too small for my liking, and surrounded by text and all the other stuff normally found on a blog. So, I've created a photoblog as a showcase for my photos. It's just a better way to post and show photos, in my opinion. There are shortcomings to the photoblog though. The biggest being that I can only post one photo per day. Oh well.

"Life at the End of the World" is the name of my photoblog. Since "Ukraine" loosely means "borderland," I felt the name appropriate. And, in the context of the late "Cold War," Ukraine was quite literally "beyond the end of the world." At least for most Americans it was.

If a photo is related to a post here on My Kiev Journal, then the photo will continue to be posted along with the post. However, if it's just photography for photography's sake, then these pictures will be posted to the photoblog.

My photoblog will highlight my Kiev and Ukraine photography, but will also include photos taken long before I came to Kiev.

Click here to visit, or click the link under "Must See Blogging" or the "My Photoblog" link on the top of the page.

Technorati Tags: Kiev, Kiev Photos, Kyiv, Photos, Photoblog

The Lone Worker.

Just wanted to put up one photo quickly from last weekend. There will be more to follow.

Although my wife has lived down the street from this for many years, she doesn't know anything about it. In fact, she asked me "where did you find that"?

Technorati Tags: autumn, Kiev Photos

Chernihiv trip photos, Part I.

Ever since the summer, I've been looking for a chance to get to Chernihiv (Chernigov in Russian). Chernihiv was a major historical, cultural, and religious center for hundreds of years, at time competing with Kiev in prominence. Last Saturday, my wife and I had an opportunity to go on an excursion, and we jumped at the chance. After waking at 5:30 in the morning, getting ready and having breakfast, we hopped in her father's car for the trip to Public School #8 in the Obolon district of Kiev, the starting point for our trip.

The trip was an organized excursion for the teachers of this school, in honor of Teachers Day on Friday. An excursion like this is not something the teachers of the school can afford on their own, since teachers here are near the bottom of the pay scale, along with doctors, the police, and any other public sector employee. But the word we heard was that this excursion was paid for by one of the most important politicians in the country, because one of the trip organizers had worked on this politician's recent election campaign.

Although neither my wife nor I are employed by the school, my wife's father worked for said trip organizer on this politician's campaign. There were two busses, on for the teachers, and one for the VIP's. My wife and I got the VIP treatment.

Around 7:30 AM, our trip took off, and we had the obligatory vodka toast, the first of many this day. Then, about 40 minutes out of Kiev, our bus turned off the road to Chernihiv for what I assumed would be a slight detour, but after an hour it was apparent we were going somewhere else. It seems our excursion was not to the city of Chernihiv; rather it was to lesser known destinations in the Chernihiv Oblast (administrative district). But being the adventurous sort, I made the best of the day. As you can see from the pictures, I hope you'll agree it was worth the detour.

Later in the day, at our third and final stop for the day, we had the obligatory feast, with vodka, cognac, and wine for all (except the drivers, of course). Later we returned to Kiev, arriving home at 9:30 PM.

Technorati Tags: autumn, Chernihiv, Ukraine Photos

Chernigov trip photos, Part II.

September 1 Holiday - "Day of Learning".

September 1st here in Kiev is "unofficially" a holiday. My wife refers to it as "The Day of Learning". What is "The Day of Learning"? It's the day when schools begin again for the fall session. Unlike in the states, here the first day of school is marked by pomp and ceremony. Weather permitting, the whole school gathers outside, where students greet their teachers with flowers, and students starting their first year or entering their last year are greeted. There's the national anthem, lighting the torch of learning, the raising of the flag, and the Procession of Students into their new classrooms.
Clearly, we're no longer in the states.

Before the ceremony: Yes, the flowers are for the teachers.

Carry the Torch and the School Flag:

Ringing in the new year:

The Processional:

Technorati Tags: Kyiv, Day of Learning, Kiev Life, Kiev Photos, Kiev

End of Summer at Pechers'k Landscape Park.

Traditionally, the last week of August brings the end of summer botanical displays at Pechers'k Landscape Park. This year was no different, and like last year, was spectacular.

Here are a few random images:

Technorati Tags: Kiev, Kiev Life, Kiev Photos, Kyiv, Pechers'k Landscape Park, summer