You Know Mine, But I Don't Know Yours...

I had another blog post in the works, but I figured I would tweak that one before posting and take this opportunity to do something else. I was invited to attend an English class last night. There were 8 students and all of them plus the teacher were really happy to see me there. I think the main reason for this is that, besides Peace Corps people, the people around here get very little opportunity to speak to native English speakers. No matter what their level is, they seem happy to practice what they have learned. This class was only 1 ½ hours and it was mostly them asking me about my family and where I live in the U.S. At one point I mentioned that at group sessions we discuss the differences between Americans and Ukrainians. I gave them some examples. Then one student raised his hand and asked me what I thought of the President of Ukraine. I responded by asking who knew the name of the President of the U.S.? They all raised their hands and said “Obama”. I countered that they had just proven one of the differences between Americans and Ukrainians is that almost every Ukrainian knows the name of our president, but almost no Americans know the name of the Ukrainian president. I promised the class that since, unfortunately, I count myself among the underinformed, I would learn the name of the president. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I am not allowed to have an opinion on local politics, but this seemed like a perfectly reasonable time to introduce to all of the readers of this blog, the current President of the Country of Ukraine…Viktor Yanukovych [ВикторЯнукович]. His official website is here for anyone interested: http://www.president.gov.ua/en/content/president_biography.html
I told the class that Americans are generally deficient in geography, world history and current events. I try to stay above the bar which I think I am able to maintain, but these days I feel less informed than ever with the lack of news. I am completely cut off from any current events. I learned something new this week, and now you have too.