I think I figured out how to solve all the problems in the world — make more pysanky.
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Since moving back from Ukraine in July 2018 (wow, nearly two years ago!), that country has been a part of about every second conversation I’ve had. Friends, family, and other people I’d run into would ask me about my year there, how that year changed my life in Canada, when I’m moving back, and so on.
Though Ukraine has been in every second conversation, it’s been in every single thought of mine, and every thought of my friend, Hannah Picklyk, who also lived and danced in Ukraine.
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The kitchen is a magical place.
It’s where food is cooked up, where everyone seems to gather — no matter how many people there are and no matter how much space outside of the kitchen there is — and it’s also where, at least in my house, I review classic Ukrainian polkas with family.
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Lately, Ukraine has been in the headlines every day in the Western world, many of the stories focusing on Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings, and others reporting from the front lines in Ukraine. If you’re looking for a bit more insight into Ukraine, here are some podcasts to help get you started.
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The new year is almost here.
And if you believe in the magic of repeating numbers, 2020 is going to be a good one.
And if you don’t, 2020 is still going to be a good one.
At the start of this year, I put up the post “Why I glare at you when you whistle indoors: A guide to Ukrainian superstitions.” And it’s time for round two.
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Six months ago, a mysterious Instagram and Facebook account started popping up on my feed: Rodovid Academy of Ukrainian Dance.
“Do you want to be a better Ukrainian dancer?”
“Do you want to take your dance career to the next level?”
“Do you want to improve your dance lexicon?”
Yes, yes, and yes.
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The Google rabbit hole is one of my favourite places.
A few months back, I was looking for information about the lizhnyk, a traditional wool blanket from the Hutsulshchyna region of Ukraine. In January 2018, I was in Yavoriv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and visited the home of a craftswoman who makes these blankets, and though I took some notes, I still wanted more info (and also was probably procrastinating doing something).
So I searched around online a bit, and I came across an article with video and photos on a website called Ukraïner. After learning more about the lizhnyk, I dove deeper into Ukrainer’s site—I was hooked. And you will be too.
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One year ago I flew from Ukraine to Canada. I purposely don’t say “flew home” because I don’t necessarily see Canada as my home. Well, it is one of my homes — it’s just not the only one, and saying “I flew home” implies that Ukraine wasn’t my home, which it most certainly was.
When I moved to Ukraine, I’d get these flashes of feelings from Canada, the most common instigator being when I saw someone in Ukraine who looked like a Canadian friend.
Maybe I was still adjusting to being so far from what I had known as home for all my life, and so I was looking for something to bring me comfort. This lasted a month, maybe two. And before you knew it, I would see Ukrainians who looked like other Ukrainians I had met in the city before.
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