First impressions and musings

Day One in Kyiv.

After the usual, tedious trans-Atlantic flight and a Ukrainian feast too extravagant to be fully appreciated by myself and fellow weary partners, we settled into sleep at the Hotel Rus, and awoke to a fully planned

Day Two - and the start of discovering Ukraine, along with exploring my essential question of:

     “How is the landscape (political, economic, geographic, historic) reflected in the character of Ukrainians?”

Today, my inquiry was partially answered during a lecture at the IREX office on Ukrainian History and Culture, given by Iryna, our local consultant and guide. This is partially what I learned: This multi-cultural state, populated by Europeans, Asians, and numerous multi-ethnic groups, has only been an independent state since 1991, when it left the former Soviet Union to start its existence as an autonomous state. People speak Ukrainian and Russian, along with 40 other languages and dialects. Post-independent growing pains included economic struggles with a change to a market economy from the former communist regime. But even before the current challenges, Ukrainians suffered greatly. The Great Famine of 1932-1933 claimed between 6 and 7 million lives; in World War II about seven million more lives were lost, including 100,000 at Babi Yar and 450,000 soldiers killed during the 1943 Kyiv liberation from German occupation. Of course, more recently, the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear accident caused and is still causing death and ill-health. Today, the Ukrainians struggle in other ways. The average gross salary is $319 per month and the average life span is only between 60 and 75 years old.

So, perhaps this is translated into the stoic, serious faces, and the enormous variety and amount of foods we’ve had at our two group dinners.

Iryna also shared that Urkainians are emotional, not punctual, and believe that life is pre-determined. Their culture is oriented towards the common good; relations are all important and they are very concerned with how others think of them. Like a bee-hive, the group is of great importance. Maybe that’s why personal space is minimal, and that critical thinking skills are secondary to rote learning. Communication is authoritarian and seniority and rank is respected. Finally, avoiding direct conflict is stressed while indirect communication is the norm for conflict resolution.

I experienced much of this today during our tour-guide, bus trip of Kyiv. Like students with short-attention spans, we did not pay heed to our earlier lecture. Ludmilla, our broad-faced, stern tour guide was well prepared for our tour. We stopped to view the historical, educational, cultural and governmental buildings of importance, but her scripted lecture became a string of facts, a blur. “Look left; look right”, “19^th century” this and “1610” that became factual overload. Often, especially when the bus rattled over cobblestones, her lecture became completely inaudible. And so, like bad school children, we chatted amongst ourselves and asked for more time to walk and wonder. Ludmilla was not amused. Hadn’t we just learned that communication was authoritarian and that seniority and rank trumped all? And when we wandered too long at stops, they waited patiently, albeit with stern expressions and I wondered why specific time limits hadn't been given.. Ah, yes - now I understand: Avoid conflict and use indirect communication for conflict resolution. Check.
　
My bus partner reminded me of how focused attention can be an ally. And, I gleaned a teachable moment. I lost my focus in listening to Ludmilla, but my bus partner shared how listening intently would reap rewards. So, I did. Here are some of the gems I heard: There is, in Kyiv, “The Park of Eternal Glory” dedicated to unknown soldiers and victims of The Great Famine, “The Statue of the Motherland”, a gleaming, steel-faced lady towering higher than The Statue of Liberty as another monument to World War 2 victims; and my favorites - “The Institue for the Resolution of Dangerous Situations” (Ukraine’s version of FEMA) and Independence Square, the site of protests during The Orange Revolution and “several other small, inside revolutions.” I’m glad I didn’t let mild boredom let those names and places and phrases slip away.

                                                          The Statue of the Motherland


　
A Philosophical Aside:
During the tour I thought a lot about the quality of beauty because this over-used, difficult to qualify term is often the adjective of choice when describing places. Ludmilla used it a lot. "You must now look to the left. This very interesting place is very beautiful" or "This is a very beautiful, interesting and very rare example of 'Stalin Baroque Style'. Kyiv isn't a beautiful city. Beautiful architecture - yes: many pastel blue, pink, and yellow, Easter-egg shaded, baroque buildings; beautiful, Chestnut-lined boulevards; numerous beautiful, golden-domed Orthodox churches which help to ameliorate the grey-laden skies. But, beautiful is too trite of a word to describe this heavily-somber city. It has Parisian elements; in fact, one area is called "The Latin" area after Paris, but a beautiful city perhaps has a lighter temperament and exudes a quality of energetic hope. And, although a very old city, Kyiv is still forging its identity in, I believe, an attempt to slough off its' somber history. I can’t think of another generic concept to label Kyiv but perhaps that’s the point. Maybe places, like people, shouldn’t be labeled at all. I’ll try to keep that idea close to my heart - and thoughts - in the days to come.

Questions for you to ponder:
1. How is your personal sense of self formed by your landscape?
2. What is beauty?