Summer fun in Portland

These are the colors of January in Portland. Exciting, huh? ;)

But rewind 6 months and take a look at the Willamette River in August. Blue waters, clear skies, and- best of all- there was booze!

A Peace Corps Ukraine podruga (and author of this acclaimed potluck dish) flew into town for 2 days with her best friend. After an active Saturday- fun run in the morning, Kachka carousing in the evening- Sunday needed something more tranquil. Enter BrewBarge PDX: 1.5 hours of floating through downtown Portland.

7 highlights of Ukrainian winters

I love, love, love a snowy day and Ukraine was full of them. There was nothing better than waking up to a window obscured by white, even if that day was a long one of trekking around town to get from one student to the next.

Here are 7 things that I looked forward to every winter...

A Portland winter (is one day long)

About 500 days into living in Portland and it finally, finally happened-

Sunday, January 3rd, 2016

Kinda real winter-ish stuff!

Snapshots of A Quiet Few Months

So, January 12th already.

I'm not really feeling any of the good old New Year's resolve yet. Are you? Are you twelve days into some Super-Awesome-Life-changing-Goals-for-2016? I'm hoping you are :)

This year I've got a few big goals, the kind that require you to go light and get rid of old things. This week I've been going though old Kharkiv momentos- business cards, ancient scribbled notes, pictures- trying to clear them out and make space for new experiences. Between that and teaching English, here's what else has been happening here in Portland over the past few months...

NYE

When I ask people here in Oregon about their plans for New Year's Eve, the answer is usually something like:

"I'm just going to stay home."

or

"I dunno, probably go to bed early."

The New Year's game is not strong among us, I guess ;) But I didn't want to stay home this year. Or go to bed early. And we spent last the last New Year's Eve with D's family (still haven't finished watching Ирония судьбы!) so we didn't have plans to see them this time. We ended up catching a ride with my parents- we squeezed into the back seat next to their panting, anxious golden retriever, the only dog I know who gets car sick- as they drove out to the coast.

Test yourself on Kharkiv

Okay, Kharkiv friends and друзья, here it is-

Are you a true Kharkovian?   

(Тест на Харьковчанина)

The original test can be found in Russian here. Here's a translation (any errors most definitely mine): 

 

Answer the questions to find out if you're a true Kharkovian:


1. Do you give up your space for the elderly on public transportation?

Via an awkward inquiry in Russian, yep.

2. Do you throw trash and cigarette butts in the trash can?

I did.

3. Do you follow the rules of go-with-the-flow in the metro? (don't go against the flow at Radianska's crossing, keep to the right on the elevator, allow those in a hurry to pass you.) 

Um, yes. Out of fear of being crushed to death by the crowd at Radianska or beaten by a babushka with a handbag.