A walk in the winter

D and I had a nice walk around our neighborhood this afternoon. We left at 2 PM which gave us a solid 3 hours before darkness set. It was so pleasant to be out and not thinking about work...or physically at work....I almost forgot a Kharkov existed outside of the Kharkov I work in.

Almost overnight Christmas trees have appeared on the streets to be sold. There are usually about 30 fresh trees being guarded by an old woman or young man, then another 30 trees and another old woman or young guy ten meters or so down the street. (Oh, the meter! So European :p) There are also little tables selling Christmas lights, year of the dragon accessories, and ornaments. We had previously spent forever and a day searching for Christmas lights that didn't blink obnoxiously but were unable to find any. D thought this may have been because anything on continuously would be a fire hazard, so I settled for flashing lights.

Kids these days

On the street tonight I saw an intoxicated 13-year-old boy take the bottle cap off a beer bottle.
With his teeth.
Possibly his baby teeth.

Word.

Out and About in Kharkov 4- Шато Ледо

 We whiled away the afternoon ice-skating at шато ледо with a friend. I'd spent all morning grousing over my conversation classes tomorrow (topic: expressing sympathy) so it was nice to get out and forget my worries. I must say, Ukraine has brought back the coolness of ice-skating and bowling. I'd forgotten how fun those activities are!

"Chateau de ice" is a cool place to hang out. You can see several photos of the ice rink by clicking on the above link. It's a little smaller than the rinks at Caravan and Daffy, but it's also cheaper. Additionally there is a giant ice-skating penguin who poses for photos with kids and chases pretty girls around the rink :p You can get pizza, visit the gaming arcade, play ping pong, compete in laser tag, or catch an IMAX film. There was even a hip hop dance-off taking place in the roller-skating rink this afternoon!

Trying to catch up

Go Team Janeway!

My precious weekend! Where have you gone?? Speaking of which, these past couple of weeks have shot by like a rocket...which at least brings us closer to the (eagerly-anticipated) end of the semester. First D was sick, then I was sick, then D was sick again the next week with food poisoning. Somehow my life began to consist solely of such fascinating and exotic events as: get up, spend several hours lesson planning, go to work, return home near midnight, watch Star Trek, sleep, repeat. That's all, seriously.
Not exactly what I had in mind when we planned our move here, but I guess it's a consequence of working so much. Today was my day off. I taught extra corporate classes this morning (took from 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM) to make up for the day I was sick, then came home and slept from 3 PM to 10 PM because of a bad night's sleep on Wednesday. Now here I am online, ta-da, trying to make up for neglecting this blog.

Out and About in Kharkov 3- Печка Лавочки

Our lovely and most generous friends took us to dinner at Печка Лавочки this week.

Yeah, that about sums it up! Except I don't have a mustache

Told you I wasn't making this up!

Normal Ukrainian Footwear: Exhibit A. Because what else would you wear to hang out at the mall? Sveta's got style!

down for the count...but recovering

Arbidol. Pricey, but this is the best thing to take if you're starting to get sick. Got to take it within the first 24-48 hours though!

Came down with an icky cold, which is giving me a chance to evaluate Ukraine's pharmaceutical industry and drug stores. Here's a hint:

Strepsils (Стрепсилс). Good stuff.

This appears to work...if you wait like 4 hours!

Pharmasitron: looks a little sketchy when you open the package but wow, it's effective!

I was kind of excited to check out the drug stores, thinking "I bet they have some really good stuff here!" But I was mistaken. They may have some good stuff, but it's hard to get past the guardians of the sacred shelves. In fact, it was rather like this conversation about pizza.
Me: Do you have any Pharmasitron?
Pharmacist: Here.
Me: Will this help me sleep? (Это помогает спать?)
Pharmacist: looks at me like I'm an idiot. It's cold medicine.
Me. If I take it in the morning, will I feel sleepy? (Если я принимаю это утром, буду я сонная?)
Pharmacist: gives me the same look. It's cold medicine.
Me: sigh. Okay. I'll take it.

what an average Ukrainian pharmacy looks like