Stardate: 4/12/2008 Busy on the Road

Well, loyal readers, I hope you are all doing well. We have been very busy and traveling the last two weeks or so. Just before TESOL, I had two presentations. One for a job training office affiliated with the Fulbright. I spoke to about 100 students on how to conduct a job search. The next day, March 28th, I did a writing workshop about writing Fulbright essays for the applications here in Kharkiv at Karazin University for about 30 students.

NYC for Int'l TESOL
First, I went to NYC for the International TESOL conference, which was great as usual. It was a whirlwind though. Antonia and I had a 10 hour flight from Kyiv to NYC, then I had to present the next day from 9am to 4pm an intensive CBI workshop at the conference. The workshop was full (about 30 people), but it was situated next to the registration desk, so people just kept walking in the whole day. That was annoying since it was a closed session.

I did get to see Deirdre Quinn! It was great to hang out with her. She made NYC feel like home to me. We went to the WITESOL Gathering together where we chatted with some WI colleagues like Sheila, Sheryl and Tolu. I also went with Deirdre to breakfast with my cousin, Jesse. It was nice to see him and we had some laughs.

I didn't get to do much else than the conference: no Broadway musical, no Ellis Island or Statue of Liberty, etc. Mainly, I worked and ate at delis- sounds just like a New Yorker's life, doesn't it?

The Crimea for the Fulbright
Once I returned, I went from Kyiv by train to Simferople in the Crimea (14 hours) while Pat and Maddy traveled by train from Kharkiv to Simferople to meet me. They met up and took a cab (yeah, crazy) an hour onto Yalta. Yes, you are right if you think for some strange reason that you remember that name; it was a summit site post WWII and during the Cold War. It was the most beautiful and luxurious place the Soviets could offer. It is now run down a bit although the weather is still a welcoming attraction. It looks so much like the rest of Ukraine though. Some modern buildings, some old classics with interesting architectural features (wrought iron balconies, art deco flourishes, or classical sculptures, bas reliefs or Medusa heads in concrete), some partially built structures that sit as a testament to embezzlement and bureaucracy, and some old deteriorating-before-your-eyes structures that seem unfit for its inhabitants to live in... Yalta did have a great promenade near the port. We spent our free time, between presentations on essay writing for the Fulbright, down at the port walking, collecting sea glass, throwing rocks into the sea and putting Maddy in carny rides. She particularly loved this one that was a trampoline with a 3-point harness on bungee ropes which propelled her into the air about 8-10 feet. It sounds unsafe, but it was quite safe. She did it like 4 times. We stayed at the Hotel Yalta with a gorgeous, sweeping view of the Black Sea (in Russian 'Choria Moria'). The Black Sea, although heavily polluted, was beautiful in deep blues and light aquas. The waves rocked and thrashed against the rounded stone beaches. We had a nice break in the soothing warm temps and enfolding breezes, but we had to return to move onto Simferople on the 3rd day. I had another presentation for the Fulbright that afternoon. That evening, after a lovely dinner in town with Inna and Natalia of the Kyiv Fulbright office (which included an excellent Georgian white wine), we jumped our Kharkiv bound train together for our 14 hour return journey. Thankfully, Maddy loves trains and sleeps on them!!!

Poltava for Ukraine-TESOL and the State Dept
It may seem that we settled down for a bit after that, but this story doesn't end so soon.
I had 2 days/1 night to prep for the Ukraine-TESOL conference. Thanks to a colleague who is the current RELO (Regional English Language Officer for the State Department) for this part of Eastern Europe and who I know from International TESOL, I was invited to be a plenary speaker at the conference. I was very honored to do this, of course! Prior to the conference, the organizers also asked me to do a workshop for them as well. Next, I was asked to do the same workshop a second time. Therefore, just before the conference, I was prepping the plenary and putting the finishing touches on a 2-hour workshop. The topic of the plenary was, "Easy Development of Interactive Activities OR 'They didn't give me a textbook!'" The workshop was more "academic" about instructional conversation in the ESL/EFL classroom. I was quickly on a train bound for a neighboring city, Poltava; Site of a famous battle between Peter 1 of Russia and the Swedes. Poltava turned out to be a really pretty mid-sized city with excellent walks. There were pedestrian streets, and mid-street parks for pleasant inner city strolls which I loved extremely. The conference was really pleasant as well. I had been wanting to see other ESL/EFL teachers here in Ukraine and this was the perfect opportunity to meet the best, most forward thinking of the bunch. They were knowledgeable, receptive, interested and full of praise. Basically, they were the best audience ever. I was so satisfied that my plenary that was about their real work experiences here was well received. They understood that I recognized the challenges they have to grapple with and I was glad to offer them some quick and useful solutions that I had experimented with in my practice here. They were wonderful individuals as well. Jeff took me to a Salsa/Cha-cha-cha lesson one night. Kristina gave me some useful materials. Oksana and I are meeting up tomorrow here in Kharkiv. Julia gave me postcards from Kerch. Another shy, but sweet teacher, gave me a poem she wrote. At the end of the 3 day conference, the conference organizers had a city tour scheduled that took us to the Poltava battle museum and a Ukrainian village museum. It was great!

Odessa for the Fulbright
I was home 5 days, then we went to Odessa for the Fulbright. Again, I was helping them recruit grad students and faculty for the Fulbright grants by doing a workshop on essay writing. Many people here are unsure of themselves and untrained in essay writing, so when or if they apply the applications are weak. Many just don't apply. The Kyiv Fulbright office wants a healthy competition, so during the academic year they send their recruiters all over the country to stir up interest and garner applications. The recruiters, Inna and Natalia, asked me to do this after my Kharkiv workshop was so successful.

So, off we went to Odessa, a city known as a Greek-fishing village originally that was developed by Potemkin/Katherine the Great and then by Richelieu (nephew of the French Cardinal). It is a Black Sea side city with a French flair. When we arrived at 8am after our 18 hour train journey, the bells in the Eastern Orthodox Church were being drummed by a monk. It was the coolest sound. You could see him up there with the ringing bells hammering out a complementary, but more intricate, percussive sequence. It was Palm Sunday and folks were lined up outside of the bright yellow, onion domed church to have willow branches blessed (not palms-don't know why). We walked 2 blocks to our hotel-Choria Moria- and checked into a Soviet-era hotel in terms of service and room quality. The room was awful! The shower leaked onto the floor, but the floor drain didn't work. The twin beds were cots. The blankets were itchy wool (not atypical here). It was about 10 x 8 feet in size not including the bathroom. Water ran down between the walls and you could hear it in the room all the time. It felt as though the ceiling was going to collapse.

The city was cool though. We walked in the centre down a pedestrian street with French-style cafes and bars. There were people out everywhere on this Sunday. There was even entertainment of local musicians, dance troupes, and singers on a stage at one end. There were street vendors with animals, like a crocodile and bunnies that you could have your pic taken with. At the parks, there were ice cream vendors, art and craft vendors, children's rides and games, etc. Maddy went on a pony ride and trampoline. I bought a cool nesting doll that is in the shape of a Christmas tree, but it has carved wooden ornaments inside. Corny, but I liked it. Then, we took a cab to a beach that turned out to be a lot farther away than we had anticipated, so we basically ended up taking a walk through Odessa's Shevchenko Park, which is not nearly as beautiful as Kharkiv's. There was a large loading platform full-sized semi containers from ships-not so attractive. Next, we high-tailed it back to the centre to meet with Bob and Carol, Fulbrighters "stationed" in Odessa. They hosted a nice wine and cheese party for us as well as Dan and Ruth, Fulbrighters also visiting Odessa that weekend. It was great to see them and somehow very comfortable and familiar because of the cultural similarities. I felt very at home with them and enjoyed the afternoon immensely.

The next afternoon, I presented the essay writing workshop to a large, unruly group of 50 international relations students. It was stuffy in the old fashioned auditorium. They talked non-stop while I did, even when I asked them to stop several times. It was typical for here.

The next afternoon, I presented at another university, but everything went super smoothly. They had the computer and projector set up. There were 20 people who were respectful and very interested in the Fulbright. It went well, but I had to boogie to the train station as soon as I could wrap up; our 4:23pm return train was coming and we had to be on it. We slept like the dead for most of the trip.

Kharkiv for Earth Day
We came back on Wednesday morning (April 23rd) at 9am. I had a class meeting to watch "An Inconvenient Truth" with freshmen, sophomores, and juniors of English Translation/Interpretation (this was the second viewing for the sophomores who had seen it in class). We watched the film and discussed it a bit. Yesterday, we all met at the U and trudged chilled to the bone to the University's sports complex park where we picked up trash and planted grass seed. It was a fun time for those of us interested in giving back/doing something productive to honor the Earth and those of us "not allergic to work" in the immortal words of my mentor, Dick Gunn. Those who were less motivated or who wore high heels and light weight coats, well, let's say it was a difficult day for them. I was surprised that the complainers kept saying, "What are we supposed to do?" I kept saying, "See the trash. Bend down. Pick it up. Put it in your garbage bag. What don't you understand about that?" What they were really saying was, "I want to be a pain so you tell me I can leave." After a couple of muddy hours digging bottle caps out of the mud while 20 19-year-old females stood with bright blue garbage bags in their hands while they huddled on the pavement, I got frustrated and started following them around barking orders every time they stopped! The complainers, I cut loose at about noon.

Of course, there was the "Hard Core Crew" who made it all worth it. This core of 12 kids were truly inspired by the movie and really wanted to make a difference. They worked their a---- off. They cleaned up and then turned the soil in a large area, so that the grass seeds could take root. Then, they spread the seeds and fertilizer. It took them about 4 hours of pretty hard labor. I was proud of them. I treated them to some drinks at the end; I wanted to treat to lunch, but they wouldn't let me.

It's interesting. I nominated 4 students for a leadership conference in Lviv, Ukraine at the end of May. One of those nominated, it turns out, was a complainer. She was one of the lead complainers, too! I hadn't told her yet about the conference. Now, I know that she doesn't deserve it and she is all talk anyway. If people only knew how their actions speak volumes about them...

That leads us to today. I'm exhausted, but the Dragon Landlady had to come to inspect the apartment in anticipation of our departure next month. It was all about our security deposit. She just wants to find any excuse to hold onto it. So, we cleaned all last night and today...

On Monday, I'm off to Morocco for some work projects. I'll visit Casablanca, Rabat and Tangiers!! I'm so looking forward to this trip; I've always wanted to go there. I'll write about it soon.