picking up the pieces

picking up the pieces
beauty in the small things

Monday, May 21, 2012

100 Things


This will probably be my last blog I’ll post in Ukraine—not that I’ve posted very many or anything. But this one will be a little more—personal? Is that what I’m writing? Shoot, I don’t know. But I do know one thing for sure; I will miss Ukraine. So I’ve been thinkin’ long and hard about the things I will miss about this place. Here are 100.

1.       The Temple

2.       My branch

3.       Senior missionaries

4.       Super attractive regular missionaries

5.       SISTER MISSIONARIES!!

6.       How cheap groceries are

7.       Walking EVERYWHERE

8.       Borsch

9.       Cheap public transportation

10.   Men in European-style outfits

11.   Women in their ridiculous stilettos

12.   Cops riding the metro

13.   The metro

14.   Soccer games!

15.   The ballet

16.   Being ‘entitled’ to ignore everyone

17.   Early Spring

18.   L’viv Chocolate

19.   Milka Chocolate

20.   Roshen Chocolate

21.   ANY chocolate!

22.   Making buck-wheat jokes with Devin Kreutz

23.   Everyone wearing perfume

24.   Fancy McDonald’s

25.   Petting strangers’ fur coats

26.   Street vendors

27.   BABUSCHKAS!

28.   Being called “dyevichka”

29.   The winking game on the escalator

30.   Cheap phone bills

31.   Missing home

32.   Guessing who is married

33.   Guessing who is male or female

34.   Flash floods

35.   Playing ‘the banker’ on the marshrutka!

36.   Hot towel racks

37.   My bedroom smelling like laundry detergent because we hang-dry everything!

38.   People asking if I speak Russian because of my name

39.   People insisting I have Russian roots because of my name

40.   Washing my hands after touching ANYTHING!

41.   My freedom

42.   My students

43.   Having less responsibility

44.   All the free-time I have

45.   Being a tourist

46.   Touristy places like Maidan Nezalezhnosti and Poshtova Plosha

47.   Cops with no guns

48.   Lack of speed limits

49.   Lack of laws

50.   Aggressive yet cautious drivers

51.   Wi-fi everywhere!

52.   Inexpensive musical instruments

53.   Taking a million photos

54.   Getting yelled at for taking someone’s photo

55.   Having to pay someone for taking their photo

56.   New York Bagel guy

57.   Fancy cars

58.   The people I’ve taught with!

59.   My coordinators

60.   Guessing who is a tourist

61.   Pointing people in the wrong direction

62.   Bumble-bee candies!

63.   Laughing when I don’t understand being totally normal.

64.   Telling drunk old men to leave me alone

65.   Playing charades all day, every day!

66.   The toilet being separated from the rest of the washroom

67.   Complaining about the heat

68.   Writing postcards

69.   Skyping everyone

70.   Being so excited when I hear people speak English

71.   Being cautious with my money

72.   How cheap it is to travel to surrounding countries

73.   Cultural diversity

74.   Challenging myself

75.   A new adventure everyday

76.   FIREWORKS!

77.   Enjoying Domino’s pizza

78.   The endless amounts of people I meet

79.   Being allowed to take just about anything on the bus!

80.   Having someone drive me around

81.   Randomly speaking Russian words throughout my sentences

82.   Making fun of people in English and no one understanding

83.   Getting caught by an English speaker while making fun of someone

84.   Numerous beautiful parks

85.   Taking a stroll on a warm sunny day and having nothing better to do

86.   Men carrying their girlfriend’s/wife’s purse

87.   Men carrying their own ‘murse’

88.   People thinking I talk funny

89.   DELICIOUS baked goods

90.   People back home missing me

91.   Realizing, every day, how lucky I am to be from North America

92.   The funny looks I get when I whistle indoors

93.   Getting yelled at for sitting on the floor

94.   The death glare I get when I pay my bus fare in petty change

95.   The fruit-stand guy whistling at me every morning—creep! haha

96.   How easy it is to lose weight here!

97.   Complaining about Ukraine

98.   The endless temptation to buy ANOTHER Dynamo soccer scarf

99.   Not living my life on my cellphone

100.  CHIVALRY!!!

I trust that this list will grow more and more as I am home--but as for now, there are 100 things I will miss about Ukraine and I will miss them very much.

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