A walk in the park

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand- and melting like a snowflake. - Marie Beyon Ray

The break week is almost over, and it was sweet, sweet, sweet. What did I do? Why, laze around, of course! What did you expect- something more noble? :p This week was perfect after all the rushing about of last semester. And I'm really excited to start teaching again, especially since I have a heads up of what to expect this time. I'll be teaching a new (for me) business course this time, based on an American-reality TV show. Seriously, is there anyone here better suited than I for this task? I think not! This means as part of my class prep I watch the reality TV show too, yeah. (Now I just need to find a Russian/Ukrainian teacher who will teach me based on episodes of the Ukrainian reality show Холостяк.) D is not very thrilled: "I hate that show! And you know whatever you watch, I end up watching too." Poor D!

I've been waiting a long time to use this picture in my blog!

So, I'm psyched for that class to get rolling. It's an advanced course and while I like learners of all levels, it's especially pleasant to work with the more fluent speakers. I'll be teaching a full load of other courses too, more "regular" classes. And I heard there are two new teachers.....ah, fresh blood. I can't wait to meet them.

Anyways, one lazy afternoon this week we took a walk to the forest/park. Please join us-

Do you have one of these in your city?

Yes, I am still stealthily photographing weddings.

Near the 23rd of August metro stop

I love you too, Ukraine!

These are pretty sweet new apartment buildings. It'd be cool to live there.

Mural on an apartment building...something about going into the bright future?

Time for an introduction to a very important subject: sausage kiosks. They're everywhere. And they tend to be three in a row (three different companies?) And wherever you see a sausage kiosk, you usually see a line. Do people really eat that much sausage? Or do they only buy a little at a time?
Anyways, this is like the kingpin of sausage kiosks...more of a store, really. Quite regal looking. If there was a tsar, this is where he would buy his sausage.

Sausage promotion

Royal portrait of a sausage

That chair looks so real... I always wanted to do this.

More sausage glamour

For some reason, I don't think these kinds of pics would go over well in the states

Again, you're not making me want to buy sausage, you guys! The royal sausage portrait was a better idea.

Onward, towards the park.....

Churches here are so pretty

Dedication to a Soviet war hero. This is on the corner of the apartment building across the street from the church.

Definitely not summer anymore

I went horseback riding here with an awesome Kharkovian. It was a couple of weeks ago, when the forest was an explosion of yellow and orange leaves.

As always, our thoughts were not far from our next meal:

Mushroom and sour cream flavored potato chips. Me: gross! D: delicious! What can I say, opposites attract!

Dessert thingy

After lunch, headed out

The sky is this color pretty much every day!

At the entrance to the park/forest

Some sights we saw on the way home:

Premium card for a sushi restaurant: "Cool!" Sushi is by far the most trendy food here.

Lenin

Ad for a choir performance

This guy parked his truck by a bunch of apartment buildings and was selling massive quantities of cabbage and carrots.

That's all!