Party Party Party !!!

This is a strange place! Christina and I were doing a spot of retail therapy after 13 or 14 days of work without a day off, when I decided I needed some fruit & veg! Too far from Billa (the big supermarket) Christina suggest a little kiosk on Pushkinskya up from Mishka's apartment. I had seen it before, but being a kiosk (with the tiny window opening), its a lot harder to point to what you want, so I had never used it. I told Christina that I wanted tomatoes and apples, "no problem" she said. I can say those two words in Russian. Christina does the ordering and the lady behind the counter says something and lifts an abacus up to show us the amount!!! An Abacus!! Now I know this is mostly a cash society and not many places have cash registers, they usually use calculators, but an abacus in Ukraine!!  LOL! Christina and I just looked at each other & laughed!

Sasha has since said the use
of Abacus is common in Russia





Local sights that we are now use to....

The trams! Finally
got a pic!











They really look like they have been in an accident and the panel beater hasnt done a good job.



A tram that waters
the tracks.


Why?








Cause they have water to waste and it keeps people employed and keeps the dust down.

Kharkiv also cleans the streets every morning in spring and summer with water! The water truck sprays the dirt and dust up onto the footpaths at 5am then the council workers come out at 7am & sweep the dust from the footpaths onto the street !

The bus with no
open windows
and people
crammed in








Now..... Everyone thinks that we have lots of kreepy crawly snakes, spiders, sharkes & things, But look what I found at the enterance to the factory at Kharkiv........... and look at the pincers on this thing!!




He is about the size
of a packet of twenty's
cigarettes! Click on
the pics to enlarge





I put my ID badge on the ground to try and give you an estimate of the size of this thing. I also tried to goolge it but I couldnt find anything like it, not this size anyway! I was going to pick him up & put him on my shoulder...... but Eee, I thought better of it.... Im not that stupid!!!!

The pic doesnt do him
any justice, he was huge!



Australia V's Germany in the world cup! No more be said, but if Australia bows out, I will be supporting Germany as far as they can go! Sorry Mishka, no Poland to support. Here are some pics from the night in the pub that we went to. You will notice it wasnt busy!

 Pre dinner drinks

Friendly Rivalry 

 Not happy Mishka!











Ok, so we lost badly... very badly, but as I reminded Christina, we beat them in the Hockey! So we are even. Maybe we should watch the swimming next as we have a bit of rivarly in the pool as well. A fun night, but I think we finsihed at 1am in the morning & I had to be up at 4am !!!!  No wonder I am tired!!

Christina and I did a spot of walking last Sunday to Gorky park. It was a lovely day but we walked for ages & we were exhausted afterwards.

Monument from
the street

The enterance to
Gorky Park

Gorky park in
early Spring







And during winter











We are into the final countdown and parties are being organised left right and centre. We started last Tuesday night when on the way home from work, Mishka got word that Marsha and Anya were having a celebratory drink at Stargogod (pub), so we dropped in to meet them. A huge feast was had of good tasty meat and a few soothing ales. On the way home, I mentioned that my second ever half bottle of VODKA in my apartment needed to be finished before I left Ukraine, so Marsha and Mishka came back and helped me finish it! I honestly hate the stuff but totally understand why it is so popular here when it is -27 degrees! This weekend is huge! Starting Friday night, a bit of a get together at Dima's new apartment, followed by a trip to a restaurant to eat and watch Switzerland vs Honduras play in the world cup. Saturday is free to recover (I think... but you never know), then Sunday we are going to the country side for a BBQ, kick the footy and throw the boomerang, via Mini bus (so we can all drink), then Monday, we are going to Stargorod so the STA's can officially say farewell and thank you to our Ukraine friends. Tuesday night we have our official "GO LIVE" party hosted by Uncle Phil. Somewhere in between all this , I have to pack up the apartment, clean it and get organised to come home! From Wednesday.... we all start to go home ! :-(

Agh! Mad panic! Today, Friday 25th, 8.30 am I was informed that the movers would be here today to pack up all my stuff to send home! I was expecting them to come on the 29th June! First we all had to go to the bank to get all our money out (that took 3 hours) then the notiary office to get power of attorney for customs clearance of our goods. I got home around 3pm and madly started emptying my cupboards and tring to decide what to keep for the last few days. Its quite warm here so I need some summer clothes, but I need to take some winter clothes with me in my luggage for when I hit Melbourne. Its now 5.30 pm and the movers are in Christina's apartment & about to hit mine! What a day & I haven't eaten a thing all day!

Ok, 6.15 and the movers have gone! My life is in one box 79 kg. I hope it makes it back to Australia, getting out of Ukraine is almost as hard as getting in, with all sorts of paperwork required! The apartment is empty and not homely at all. My laptop and TV( in Russian and hardly works) are the only amusments I have.

Reality is setting in. I really to have to leave Ukraine and my friends...... I think it is going to be an emotional few days until the 1st of July. I almost had a moment in the notiary office today with Sasha and Michal, but I managed to suck it up & control myself........ after all the hard work of late, we are all so tired & I dont think it will take much to tip us over the edge emotionally.

This time next week, I will be one flight away (KL to Melbourne) from the land and people I love.

Final blog is nearly written! .... might squeeze on more in before I post the final one on July 1st.

The first female Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard...... well done.

xm

Summer in Kharkiv

Its Summer in Ukraine! Yep lovely and warm with an expected top of 36 degrees today.... That's PLUS 36 folks. I am in my element! Spring just vanished & Summer is here with a bang! The heat is very similar to Melbourne in summer. Unfortunately, We are working 7 days a week 24 hours to cover the factory hours, so we don't get to see much of the good weather! One thing I am a bit worried about is that I said at one point in time that if it ever got to + 35 in Kharkiv, I would run naked down Pushkinskya street.....Hmmm, I should have kept my mouth shut! It will be fun going home in the VOLGA tonight, In most of the VOLGA's you can't wind down the windows.... they either don't have handles or they just wont wind down!  And No... VOLGA's dont have air conditioning!  I logged onto the Herald Sun online today & I see that you have good snow in the Victorian ski fields for the start of the ski season!....Ugh.... I have to come back to the cold although maximum of +11 to +15 is not cold!!!


I want you to meet my new friend........

Do you recognise
the face?







This is the new
Sasha, with
very little
hair!




Wow, things are happening here. Removalists being organised...... very slowly...... bank accounts being converted to USD so we can withdraw $,  etc, etc.... but all very slowly and I'm wondering if I will get everything done in time, but Im sure it will fall into place as it did when I departed from Australia.

I am in two minds at the moment. I desperately want to come home to my family, friends and babies....  on the other hand,  I have developed some special bonds with  people that I will soon have to say goodbye to. This I am not looking forward to!  This period is especially hard as we have just gone live with the new software and we are all tired & a bit grumpy. I hope we can relax a bit on Sunday night when Australia play Germany in the world cup soccer, (Football for Gordon) match. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi......I think we are going to a pub in Freedom square to watch it, I might get another blog out of it.
 
My Angel (Inna) appeared the other day at PMU

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She was delivering something to Anya & while I was waiting for the VOLGA, we had a bit of a chat in broken English & Russian & she asked when I would have time to go somewhere with her? I suggested that maybe the last weekend I am in Ukraine, I would be free. I said somthing about not even being to Kiev yet, & she suggested she would drive me to Kiev! Wow, what an offer. Of course, it really depends on how work goes, but what a nice thought! I will let you know how the schedule is my friend & then we can make some definite plans

Anyway, we were chatting away & I had a bit of a coughing fit (still trying to get rid of the yucky aftermath of a cold) ! Ah, she said, your not well... & trots off to the back of her car. She comes back with bronchitis cough mixture, & special tea to also help with clearing bronchitis... her husband is CEO of a pharmaceutical company & she happened to have a whole lot of supplies in her boot!! So I now have something for the cough! Then she said, come back to my place for a swim! If only I had the energy.
 
I really hope we can do the Kiev trip as we really haven't seen much of Ukraine since being here because of the timing of the project  Kiev being the capital of Ukraine should be a treat to see and of course, what better  tour leader than Inna!!  

Finished my second jigsaw puzzle this week.... here tis!

 










Now I really have no excuses not to study! I have watched all my DVD's, many times over, I cant watch TV(only Foreighn language channels), I have nearly finished my last book, (the only other thing to read is the Lonely Planet guide to Eastern Europe), so I will have to get this assignmnet finished so I can submit it when I go home !

 Mishka &  Mashka

enjoying the Baileys

& helping me to

update the blog

header pics

Bye the way ... to all my Ukraine mates. I will be pulling down the Ukraine flag from the office wall soon. It needs to be decorated with your messages and signatures..... Very important to me that this task is completed so I can take the flag home and add it to my collection.. I will start moving the flag around soon. Please write a meaingful message using a permanentt black marker on it and then pass it to the next department, keep it in the third floor for now.. Inna, Andrey and Princess, I will get the flag to you somehow so you can write your message.

That all for now folks

xm