March 8th was International Women's Day. Traditionally men, and women, give women flowers, candy, and (in my case) champagne. My boss, John, gave each woman on staff a beautiful pink rose. In years past, bosses have given out carnations and chocolates. I have one Ukrainian male colleague whom I really like. He presented me with a bottle of tasty champagne. His words of advice were to not drink it at school!
Landon, on the other hand, does not believe in celebrating communist holidays! He was pressured into sending me virtual flowers, virtual chocolates and a e-card! Nothing says, Happy International Women's Day like virtual goodies. I have enjoyed giving him a hard time about his lack of celebratory spirit. To be fair to him he did buy me a plane ticket to Bucharest the day before the holiday. In his mind, that counts!
Because the holiday fell on a Thursday, the Ukrainian government gave employers the opportunity to work last Saturday instead of today (Friday) so they could make a nice four day weekend. I was able to drive to school this morning in record time. Traffic was so light I HAD to run a red light! There was no on coming traffic, so it was a safe running! I felt so naughty!
Spring is trying to spring in Kyiv. The weather has been very mild. We are to the point of wearing short sleeves and a lighter coat. Laura wants to shed the coat all together, but I have cautioned her against that. It can still be kind of chilly! When the sun shines and the skies are blue, life is good! I can deal with just about anything when the sun shines and there are blue skies.
That is all for now. It is time to watch American Idol! It is so great having Armed Forces Network (AFN). We get many of our favorite shows with in days of their airing in the US. I don't know how we survived our first 10 years in the service without AFN!
We are off to Prague, Czech Republic next week. I am presenting a workshop at a teacher's conference. I love opportunities to teach others what I have learned!
Keep in touch!
Love from Kyiv, Christina
Natalya, Courtney, Trishi, Kata and Gabi joined Laura for her birthday luncheon.
