Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Just for Fun... Part 2

You may be asking yourself, "Part 2, what happened to part 1?" You can find Part 1 in the Peru blog post in 2007. While we were in Peru I received an email from a friend that asked questions to get to know me better. I changed the questions a bit to make it pertain to Peru. This time, I am answering the questions regarding to our experience in Ukraine.


1. What is your occupation? Adam and I currently work at Kiev International School (KIS) in Kiev, Ukraine. Kris is a Physical Education teacher and Adam is the High School Counselor. We have been employed since August 2009. This is the first time in our six years of marriage that we are earning two incomes! With the extra pay check, using public transportation ($0.32 a day), housing paid by KIS, and our great central location in Eastern Europe traveling to other countries has become our favorite hobby.


2. Who was the last person you spoke with on the phone? My sister and mom to announce that Baby Runyan is a girl!


3. What color are your socks right now? Oh thank you God, that I do not need socks now! After surviving a harsh, cold, and dark winter it is now spring time and beautiful outside. To prevent frostbite to my toes in winter I had to get a pair of UGGS and wear heating pads in them.


4. What are you listening to right now? I am in parent teacher conferences right now, obviously working really hard. Our conferences are held in a large room with several tables. At the moment I am listening to a teacher speak Ukrainian, and yet another in French, and a family speaking to each other in an Indian dialect. I am surrounded by people all over the globe. This is the International culture. At KIS there are over 56 nationalities and currently sitting in the same room as me are Canadians, Ukrainians, Americans, Russians, Italians, and Indians.

5. What is the strangest thing you've ate? The strangest thing I've eaten in Ukraine so far has been salo. Salo is raw bacon fat. It actually tastes like butter. No chicken feet on this trip.

6. What is your favorite sport? That is a hard one. Rock climbing is definitely my favorite, but Kiev is a flat concrete jungle. There are no rocks to climb around here. However, being a PE teacher has broadened my sports skills and interests. Since August I have learned how to throw a perfect spiral in football, perfected the backhand swing in tennis, started to shoot hoops during breaks, and have become good at catching baseballs.

7. Pets? We brought our Australian Shepherd, Riley, to Ukraine. He has not enjoyed adjusting to apartment and city life, but we are still glad he is with us. When we first moved here he was most apprehensive about the elevator we take to the 16th floor. He would just spin in circles the whole way up and the whole way back down. He did this for about a month. Although we are in the city, we have found some good alternatives to the mountains. We take Riley to the dog park by our house where dog owners enjoy champagne, chocolates, and grapes while dogs play.

Took Riley for a walk in the forest and within seconds clouds came in and we were soaked! We ran home in the rain! I laughed the whole way!
This is our friend Katie. She is awesome and very special to us. Riley loves her too!

8. Favorite food? I am not crazy about the Ukrainian cuisine, other than Borscht (a very tasty beet and cabbage soup). My favorite food is Mexican food made by Americans (us) in Ukraine and shared with our Ukrainian and Canadian friends! Quite the International dish.


9. If you where a crayon, what color would you be? A crayon.....? We work at a very wealthy private school where all students have laptops, iPhones, iPads, and all the latest coolest gadgets. Crayons are a thing of the past. Do they even know what a crayon is?

10. Last movie you watched? Everything is Illuminated with Elijah Wood. It is a well done movie about a young man in the States who travels to Ukraine to find out about his family history. It was a good movie the first time we saw it, but now that we have lived in Ukraine, we appreciate the humor so much more! 'It is premium movie'.

11. What is your favorite thing to do in Kiev? I cannot get tired of walking downtown at Kreshadik. I love spending time with friends and Adam downtown. On weekends they close the main street down to cars and is only for pedestrian use. The architecture is outstanding and there is often music or cultural entertainment as well.
Walking downtown Kreshadik with our friends.
12. Favorite day while in Ukraine? I have many favorite days, like when we first moved here and Adam and I spent an evening putting our new home in order, making dinner and then he danced with me in the kitchen. Other favorite days include our 24 hour trip to beach town Odessa, Ukraine with our good friends Ken and Alyssa, and trip to Krivoy Rog to love children at a boys rehab center.
Adam getting some fresh air out the window of the trian to Odessa.

13. Living arrangements? We live in a luxurious apartment on the 16th floor. Our apartment is provided by KIS and is elaborately furnished. We are rustic mountain, earthy colored type people, however our Kiev apartment is adorned with red velvety couches, pink light fixtures, and Ukrainian-Victorian style furniture. Our dining table seats 12 and you feel like a king/queen when you sit in the living room chairs. It really is very nice and somehow we got extremely fortunate with our new home. Many other teachers do not have as nice of accommodations.

14. What are you afraid of? Although I know God has a plan and I have found peace with being pregnant and giving birth in Ukraine, I still fear being so far from home and family.


15. When was the last time you cried? Last night. Every Wednesday we have a Bible study small group with our closest friends. They've become our close family here. January-March I have to say there were many tears. I had tears of sadness, homesickness, and worry about what to do with a baby on the way while in Ukraine. Now I am happy to say last night were tears of happiness, I laughed so hard I cried. The real hard laugh that makes your cheeks hurt and gives you quite an abdominal workout! What a great group of friends we have.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm back on track with reading your blog. I forgot how much I liked reading your Peru blog. Also you are a good writer! I'm glad you had a happy cry. It sounds like such an adventure. Someday I hope to see the ocean. Seth says we will. We are just waiting to see what the next year brings us. I hope you'll be home soon! I miss you and I can't wait to meet the baby!
Carla

Carolyn said...

Another great read....thank you so much Kristen! I love reading about you, adam and riley. Your adventures, new friends and baby girl runyon!

mom and dad said...

The best part of your fantastic story is sad tears turned into happy ones. You look absolute beautiful and I love your baby bump!!

Thiruppathy Raja said...

My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!

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