I’ve arrived at a new milestone in my life.  I am now Sister Melanchuk.  I didn’t really consider myself “Sister Melanchuk” in the past.  Of course, in Primary the kids did call me Sister Melanchuk (or Sister Watermelanchuk), but that was different because they were like 6 years old.

I’ve mentioned several times the ILP teachers.  ILP stands for International Language Program.  It is a program that sends native English speakers to Ukraine, Russia, and China to teach children English.  It seems that for the most part, the teachers are members of the Church.  I remember seeing their booth at BYU all the time and really wanting to go to China, but that’s another story.

Each semester a batch of ILP teachers comes, and they attend our branch for church.  Since they are mostly girls, that means they are in Relief Society and I have some sort of stewardship over them.  In January a group arrived with 22 girls (and 4 boys).  As the Relief Society president, I wanted to be able to get to know them, but trying to visit all of them was quite daunting.  Not just visiting, but finding the places since they live all over the city with host families, and traveling with Kathryn and Amelia or getting a babysitter, etc. 

Then I had the bright idea to have them over to dinner in small groups.  I’ve now had all but one (she was sick when her “group” was coming) in our home for dinner.  It has been a truly wonderful experience.  First of all, they rave about the food, which makes me feel really good!  And they eat a lot!  We try to make something that they probably aren’t getting at their host family, like taco soup.  I have had a great time getting to know them better, and have been truly impressed.  They are very bright, intelligent, articulate, spiritual, just wonderful girls.  “Sparkly”, as one of our former bishops would have said.  Kathryn loves the extra attention, and several have returned to babysit. 

So now to my point.  It is always interesting to me, because half of the time I feel like I am “one of them”.  It was only four short years ago that I was in singles wards, going to all those activities, dreaming of my future husband, etc (okay four years ago, Darryl and I were officially dating, but only since March 19th).  The other half of the time I feel extremely old, which to them I surely am – at least ten years older than most of them. 

The clincher was when I heard some of them at church telling some others, “We’re going to Sister Melanchuk’s house tonight.”  Sister Melanchuk?!  At first I thought it was so weird, but I quickly latched onto the idea.  I felt respected, and like I had become a real adult.  I am very happy being Sister Melanchuk, and it reminds me of others who will always be “Sister” to me.  Even though I am now an adult, I just can’t seem to use their first names, and I think it is not only because I knew them when I was a child (or at least not an adult) and they were adults with their own children, but because of the respect that I have for them.  Sister Wyler, Sister Drennan, Sister Lee, Sister Conner, Sister Kriser, Sister Toolson . . .

Amanda, Kyiv Adventures | 4 Comments »

  No, I’m not trying to be politically correct.  But we’re not celebrating Easter today, because in Ukraine they celebrate the Orthodox Easter, which happens to be April 27th this year, and we wanted to celebrate with them.  I do feel a little like an Easter Scrooge today, but it just seemed like we should celebrate with the rest of Ukraine.  I know it will be a huge holiday and I want to have the festive atmosphere, Ukrainian Easter eggs, etc. 

 However, we have been celebrating spring.  On Thursday night a friend of mine taught me and another friend about cake decorating.  I was a little hesitant because I haven’t really even frosted cakes successfully in the past.  But it was a lot of fun and my cake turned out way better than I would have expected.  I do feel it necessary to say that I did not do the flowers on the cake.  It was especially nice just to have time to do something like decorate a cake – to be able to concentrate and take my time on something. 

In thinking about the first day of spring I realized there aren’t any flowers or blossoms in bloom yet that I can see.  So I had the brilliant idea (at least I thought it was) to make some out of my scrapbook paper.  I am so pleased with how they turned out.  Darryl knew right away some were tulips.  I don’t consider myself to be very artistic or crafty, so these flowers and the cake are pretty exciting.

Here is also Amelia in what I thought was a really cute spring outfit.  So Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Family, Kyiv Adventures | 4 Comments »

  I thought I would provide updates on a few things.

 I am ironing regularly, and its not too bad.  I have to say I don’t mind it that much, just the sleeves!  The only hard thing is if Amelia is awake, because the ironing board is in our bedroom which is not really a play area.  Amelia goes straight for the alarm clock cord, unplugs it, and then carries it around – dragging the clock of course.  Sometimes she gets tangled up in it.  Amelia also likes to search through drawers that have all sorts of things a baby should not put in her mouth.

Potty training - Kathryn is doing very well, in my opinion.  She usually needs me to make her go to the potty, but she’s only had a couple accidents in the past couple of weeks.  I have nothing to compare to, except my own former dread.  Of  course she wears a diaper for naptime and nighttime, so we still have a long ways to go.  But we have less dirty diapers and our wipes are lasting much longer already.

I am still a winter wimp .  I met a girl at the park yesterday (who had lived in the States for several years) who said this was the warmest winter in a very long time.  Some days it looks a little like spring outside, but it doesn’t feel like it to me.  Its the wind.  I don’t like it and neither does Amelia.  Well, now it actually started snowing, so we went outside to catch some snowflakes to eat.  They were enormous flakes!

Our door was taken away from the hallway one day. 

Luckily we haven’t had any more raisin ice cream .  Darryl’s missionary favorite, plombir, is a definite winner.  Plus, the plastic containers double as tupperware for our leftovers. 

Amanda, Family | 4 Comments »

 We had a great day Saturday, although unfortunately I have no pictures to document it.  We forgot to take the camera.  You can see the new photo gallery Darryl added on the left sidebar.  If you click on photo gallery, it may not work the first time, but it will work the second time.

I brought a couple of babysitters home with me from enrichment on Saturday morning.  At their recommendation, Darryl and I went to the Chernobyl Museum.  First we walked around that area of the city for an hour.  Not intentionally, we just couldn’t find it!  But we finally did, and now we’re not sure how we missed it in the first place.  It cost a whopping $1 to get in for each of us.  There was a tour that had just started, with a guide in Russian (or it could have been Ukrainian) and English.

It was very interesting, but I’m sure I won’t be able to write or remember everything.  So here are a couple of particular things I remember. 

In order to cover the reactor, they brought 15,000 young men to each give 2 minutes of work.  In exchange they would not have to serve the regular 2 year requirement in the army.  However, they weren’t told what exactly they were doing, that they would get radiation, etc.  So there were pictures of these guys joking and having fun. 

No one was told what happend until a few days after, in a very short, very vague statement that appeared in the newspaper, in small print at the bottom of the page.  Contrast that to the front page headline in the NY Times.

The government finally made a statement (the same found later in the newspaper), after Scandinavian countries reported abnormally high levels of radiation in their air. 

In the hallway of the musuem were many signs hanging from the ceiling.  They looked like big road signs or something.  I asked what they represented and the guide said they were all the names of towns and villages that no longer exist because of Chernobyl.  There were 76 in total.

Two or three days after the accident, people were told to evacuate.  There was a picture of an old woman carrying what she could with her:  an Easter cake and a cat. 

 I enjoyed seeing and hearing everything, and it made me eager to learn more about the subject. 

We went for hot chocolate afterwards.  I believe I have mentioned hot chocolate before, but I hadn’t had the real thing until now.  It is literally hot chocolate – like melted chocolate.  It is served in a glass with a spoon, and also a glass of water.  It was SO good!  I couldn’t even eat my whole thing, it was so rich (and things are rarely rich to me).  Darryl got dark and white chocolate, and I got mint chocolate.  Oh, chocolate will never be the same after living here.  Even the hot chocolate mix is richer, and I even mix it with more milk than the package says.

Amanda, Darryl, Kyiv Adventures | 2 Comments »

Amelia loves Daddy!  When she is excited she says, “Dada!”  She runs (yes, she is practically running now) to greet him when he comes home from work with her arms wide open for a hug.  When I get her out of the crib in the morning, she says, “Dada!”  I’m not sure if she thinks that also means “mama” – (I have heard her say mama, but it is when she is in distress, or really wants me, not squealing with delight the way she says “dada”).  One of Amelia’s other “words” is “baba”, which she whispers and we’re not sure what she means by it.  However, “baba” does mean dad in Mandarin.

The other night she woke up and I got up to give her some milk.  Darryl also got up to go to the bathroom.  When Amelia saw Darryl, she was so excited she reached for him and only let “dada” feed her the bottle.  This is what happens every morning when she sees Daddy get up. 

I don’t feel bad.  I think it is adorable.  Plus, Kathryn has only wanted me lately!

The first picture is one morning when Kathryn put bibs on everyone – I’m wearing one too, but of course you can’t see it.  Those baby bibs are a tight fit around an adult neck! 

Amelia, Darryl, Family, Kathryn | 3 Comments »

Part II of Language Acquisition is about learning Canadian.  Both Darryl and I grew up speaking English, but I love to find out the differences in how we say things that come from American or Canadian cultures.

Touque (or toque) – I think this is the most classic.  I guess I would call this a knit hat, the thing is there is no direct translation.  I’m trying to use the word touque more, because I think its cool.

Holiday – I’m pretty sure it means vacation.  Yes, you are on a “holiday” from your job, but to me holidays and vacations are different.  Its fun to say you’re on holiday, though.

Kraft dinner – It means macaroni and cheese, any brand, even if it is for lunch.  And you put ketchup on it.

Brown bread – Wheat bread.  And brown toast is wheat toast.  It does perfectly describe wheat bread, but it cracks me up.

Night Hawk - This is a night owl for me.  The first time I sayd night owl to Darryl, he thought I was crazy.  I thought night hawk was crazy.  However, I will admit that all owls are night owls, but not all hawks are night hawks.  So the phrase “night owl” is a little redundant.

Running on the spot – We just discovered this one.  A Wiggles song on the internet had “running on the spot” in it.  I laughed and said, “That must mean running in place in Australia.”  Darryl claimed to have never heard the phrase “running in place”, which was hard for me to believe.

Chesterfield – couch/sofa.  I wasn’t going to put this one on, because Darryl doesn’t really use it.  But I just asked him and he said the reason is I would laugh at him.  That’s true.

Skates – It means ice skates.  Darryl says skates (for ice skates) and roller skates (for regular skates).  I say skates (for regular skates) and ice skates.  It makes sense if you live in a place with so much ice.

Homo Milk – This is whole milk. 

Canadian Bacon – This doesn’t seem to exist in Canada!  I think it is hilarious that we call it “Canadian” bacon, but its just ham (I think) in Canada.

I found this website with “Canadianisms”.

Amanda, Darryl | 4 Comments »

A senior missionary couple lives near us, and attends the local branch.  We saw them last week, and Sister Lackey invited me to come to the branch’s Women’s Day celebration on Saturday.  I avidly agreed.

I met them at the metro stop one away from our stop, and we walked 5 minutes to the building.  That was the first thing that made me want to attend this branch – it is so close!  We walked into the kitchen and I saw little slices of bread with mayonaise (or some kind of spread) and large, orange caviar eggs.  Later, the plate that was served to each woman also included a slice of bread with raw fish on it.  I never planned to eat it (and didn’t have to because I left early to entertain some dinner guests we were having), but I was actually delighted that it was served to me – what culture!

As we waited for things to get started, Sister Lackey showed me around the building and we met the members coming.  So many women – at least 20!  It was so fun to see all the Ukrainian members.  A couple of them spoke very good English, and many others could say a few words.  I tried to talk to some of them, and it was so much fun.  That is the kind of thing I need to really be able to learn Russian. 

Then the program started.  All the men filed in (there were 5 Ukrainians, 4 young missionaries, and one senior missionary).  The branch president talked about how wonderful women are (at least that’s what I was told), and then they sang some songs.  They gave each sister a flower.  Three of the men sang a song that to me seemed to be with different words they had written, appropriate for the occasion.  The women really got into this one – clapping to the beat, laughing, etc.  I couldn’t hardly understand a thing, but it was a lot of fun to watch everything. 

Then the children came out – 4 girls.  Each said a little poem or something, then they all sang a song together.  One girl (about 10 years old) did a belly dance!  I’m not really into that sort of thing, but I could tell she was very good.  Someone had painted pictures of 6 women (members of the branch), and we had to guess who they were.  They had a great time guessing, and again, it was so much fun to see everyone enjoying themselves so much.

 I was sad to have to leave before the activity was over.  I realized the experience I have had so far in Ukraine has not been exactly what I envisioned culturally.  Now that I’ve had a little taste, I want more!

Amanda, Kyiv Adventures | 3 Comments »

March 8th is Women’s Day in many countries, including Ukraine.  I didn’t realize what a big holiday it is until Katya told me she had school off both Friday and Monday, and we found out Darryl has work off Monday! 

One might think this holiday is kind of like Mother’s Day, or Valentine’s Day.  But Darryl’s coworker pointed out that it is actually much more.  This coworker said besides his mother and wife, he needs to recognize sisters, aunts, female cousins, coworkers, basically any woman that you know on this holiday. 

I went outside shopping on Friday and there was such a festive mood at the market.  I had a great time just walking around.  Usually there are people selling flowers right at the metro entrance.  Well, this day (and for the rest of the weekend) there many times more people selling flowers.  They lined the walkway the whole way from the metro to the end of the market.  Men were lined up buying flowers!  And everyone was buying cakes.  It was just so fun to watch.

It seems to me that holidays are such a big deal here.  Not that they aren’t back home, but it is different.  There isn’t as much buildup (at least that I can see – so I think that means less commercialization).  But there is such a feeling of celebration on the holiday, and it is really a big deal. 

Amanda, Kyiv Adventures | 3 Comments »

I have been wanting a haircut for quite awhile, but was a little nervous not knowing how to communicate.  I didn’t want to end up with a pink mullet.  Luckily one of the ILP teachers knows how to cut hair, so I asked her.  A few other girls wanted haircuts, too, so we had a little salon in our apartment last weekend.

Amanda | 4 Comments »

Since we are studying the Book of Mormon in Sunday school this year, murmuring has been mentioned a few times already, refering of course to Laman and Lemuel.

I realized that I murmur/complain just about every Sunday morning when we are leaving for church.  First getting everybody in their tights (except Darryl) and coats and hats, and getting Amelia in the baby bjorn with her snow suit over it.  And carrying the diaper bag, Kathryn’s bag, my church bag, and my shoes if I needed to wear boots to church.  Then walking in the cold carrying everything to and from the metro.  Of course all the packing and leaving comes after making sure I brought enough food for the girls, milk for Amelia, toys, books, etc.  Darryl always calls me a sherpa on the way to church.  I have longed for my 2 door Accord, and to just have to load things from the car to the church.  Of course back home I always wished for a 4 door car…

In the midst of all this murmuring, we found out the stake was moving us to a different building for church.  Last Sunday was our first week there.  It is technically a shorter distance from our apartment, but for pretty much everyone else in the branch, it is much further, so that kind of riles me up because it doesn’t seem to make sense.  We take a bus instead of the metro, and I believe it takes the same amount of time.  I’m not sure, because we got a little lost on Sunday.  Also, the new building has no foyer area to sit with/feed a baby, no microwave to warm their milk, no fridge (I never used the fridge in the other building, but I thought I’d throw that in), and no carpet.  Only a very slippery floor on which Amelia couldn’t even walk.

Sometimes it just really gets me riled up.  There are so many things to do or to remember that I feel like I don’t have a chance to actually think about where we are going and why.  So when we had Sunday School lessons on murmuring, I realized I was doing it.  So now I am trying (trying is the key word, and will try harder) to not murmur.  It is so easy to see the broader perspective of why Laman and Lemuel shouldn’t murmur.  It is much harder to see that perspective for myself.  I also realize that there are plenty of people all over the world that travel this way, and this distance (or much further) to go to church. 

Amanda, Kyiv Adventures | 3 Comments »

Today is Kathryn’s half-birthday.  Before I had children, I really didn’t know anything about them.  I never would have known a 2 1/2 year old could do so many things.  We went outside today and I let Kathryn play at the park.  We came home once for her to go potty, then back outside for more play.  Some other kids came and shared their toys with Kathryn.  She enjoyed swinging this truck.  Last week Kathryn painted and had a great time painting faces and rainbows.  She is a great helper with Amelia.

Kathryn | 3 Comments »

On Saturday Darryl and I went to Costco, I mean Metro Cash and Carry.  It is just like Costco!!!  We had a babysitter come watch Kathryn and Amelia, and our friend Tom (an embassy person) took us to the store.  You need a card/membership to get in (which Tom has), and you also need a car to get all the food/stuff home (which Tom also has).  So we are very grateful for his assistance!

We are trying to actually have some food storage (our food storage is currently in storage).  I am so funny!  In fact, let me write something I said the other day that was really funny.  Darryl was looking on iTunes at the movies you can rent.  He was looking at Westerns.  He said, “Maybe we can watch a Western tonight.”  I looked at the computer screen and saw “The Hunt for Red October” and said, “That must be an Eastern.”  Anyway, we bought lots of food and it feels so good to have it.  We also love that we have a storage closet in our apartment.  Next to the puree (instant mashed potatoes!) in this picture are some jars of peanut butter.  There are different flavors of peanut butter!  One is sweet – very tasty, one is dessert (different than the sweet one), and one is regular.  I like the sweet one, and it is good for baking.  Darryl likes the regular.  All are creamy, no nuts.  I think that’s for the best.  We also bought four folding chairs.  Now we don’t have to use the computer chair and arm chair when we have people over for dinner.

Kyiv Adventures | 5 Comments »