tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65799923119077158502024-03-13T04:58:43.473-07:00Søren's Ukraine BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-81221737568421656102008-02-19T23:19:00.003-08:002008-03-20T14:39:35.890-07:00Kiev vibrationsI decided to spend my Orthodox Christian Christmas in Kiev so I took the train January 6 in the morning, before flying back to Denmark on January 7. That was my third time in Kiev, but my impression of the city did not change so much for the better.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXiBGKDOI/AAAAAAAABI4/LWTo6PNyYcI/s1600-h/SP_A0838.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXiBGKDOI/AAAAAAAABI4/LWTo6PNyYcI/s320/SP_A0838.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961976747560162" /></a><br /><br />I came directly from the gay club to the train station and I thought I could just have a rest in the train, but I was wrong. Next to where I was sitting there was a sort of restaurant where three Russian guys where listening to reggae on a cell phone, drinking vodka and talking very loudly. So I gave up on sleeping and ended up drinking with them. They did not speak English but there was a Danish guy from Herning and his Ukrainian - but danish speaking - wife who translated what the guys had to say.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXiRGKDPI/AAAAAAAABJA/eQb7OdJSHhw/s1600-h/SP_A0841.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXiRGKDPI/AAAAAAAABJA/eQb7OdJSHhw/s320/SP_A0841.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961981042527474" /></a><br /><br />These are two of the Russian guys. I did not notice at first but the guy to the left was actually a real rastaman, with the sun tattooed on his back and a pocket full of marijuana. They were going to enjoy that in a special club in Kiev and they invited me to come and meet their families and celebrate Christmas the Russian way. The rasta promised to pay everything for us and he was throwing his hands up in the air to illustrate the way he would be treating his money. But when we left the train and came to the metro entrance we were stopped by some policemen and they took us to a small room and started going through all our luggage. I think the room was about 6 m^2 and besides the three of us there were 6 policemen, a desk and a small cage. They took the marijuana from the rasta and put him into the cage to enjoy his Christmas, and when they let me go that was the last place I saw him. It was the first time I saw him not smiling.<br /><br />It was also about the same time that I lost my good vibrations. I have to say I am still not very fond of Kiev. I feel funny walking in the pompous streets of the centre, and I don't like the looks given by people who hang out by the metro entrances and, generally, what capitalism seems to have done to the city and it's people.<br /><br />The centre of Kiev seems to be void of any real life. Like in certain areas of Copenhagen I guess the prices there have become so high that only big companies and institutions can afford to use the space. And on that Ukrainian Christmas night - when there were not even people shopping or hurrying home from work - Kiev was quiet as the grave. That night I walked passed the J-Lo flagship store to a place which a German speaking guy had recommended to me. He told me that you can determine which places have good people by how many big cars are parked outside. And that place he would give a five star rating. So I went there but was completely ignored and had to wait for more than half an hour before someone would serve me. I suspect it was because I don't look wealthy and that that was also the reason why they would not even let me in at another place. Anyway I had a lot of time to study a Jennifer Lopez 'concert' on the restaurant's T.V. screens, and the food was not so bad.<br /><br />As a foreigner in Kiev I kind of feel that I am seen primarily as someone to be hustled for money. I guess I don't even have to mention the beggars/police. Here some policemen have optimized their business by learning a few English words. Late at night I met two of them and they were so insisting and kept embarrassing themselves to a point where the only polite way to end the situation was for me to give in. After paying them I felt like an idiot, but they probably felt clever.<br /><br />The point where I finally had enough of Kiev was when I met a guy who very insistingly offered me to drink vodka with him and his friend. I have experienced that many times in Kharkov but never in Kharkov has someone then expected me to pay for it. This person even kept ordering, thinking I would pay. But I did not, I went home to the hotel and ate the muraveynik which I brought from Kharkov.<br /><br />They say business in Kharkov is not going so well. You can see that by the number of International flights to the city. I think even Donetsk have 5 flights every day, yet Kharkov has one per day. They once planned to bring Kharkov airport up to international standards, but it is said that the project failed because the people in charge of hiring a company to do the construction was mainly concerned with how to get the money into their own pockets, and so chose a some incompetent local company. Somehow I kind of hope these egoistic capitalists of Kharkov will keep ruining it for themselves.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXihGKDQI/AAAAAAAABJI/IXNae1FmkVY/s1600-h/SP_A0846.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXihGKDQI/AAAAAAAABJI/IXNae1FmkVY/s320/SP_A0846.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961985337494786" /></a><br /><br />I decided to try out an old Soviet hotel in the suburbs of Kiev. This was were the guy from Herning stayed when he came to Kiev to meet his new wife for the first time, and the manager is actually related to his wife. The price of the room was about the same as a similarly situated room in Denmark, but the standard was more like some student dorm.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXihGKDRI/AAAAAAAABJQ/B9LMB9xeOJs/s1600-h/SP_A0846b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXihGKDRI/AAAAAAAABJQ/B9LMB9xeOJs/s320/SP_A0846b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961985337494802" /></a><br /><br />In the area of the hotel most of the metro stations have a McDonalds and some ugly casinos.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXixGKDSI/AAAAAAAABJY/8BNU-0aoqIo/s1600-h/SP_A0846c.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vXixGKDSI/AAAAAAAABJY/8BNU-0aoqIo/s320/SP_A0846c.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961989632462114" /></a><br /><br />The suburbs of Kiev are different from the suburbs of Kharkov and, to me, less charming. The buildings don't have the personality that comes with the many homemade balconies you see in Kharkov. There also are no cozy back yards between the buildings. Instead buildings are placed like such tall silos which - as you can also experience in some sad new areas of Copenhagen - creates perfect conditions for the wind to blow freely, and in turn discourages natural human outside life. Besides the wind blowing there was just the sound of a lonely crow (seriously).<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vX2BGKDTI/AAAAAAAABJg/PxDhBvUrfbU/s1600-h/SP_A0846d.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vX2BGKDTI/AAAAAAAABJg/PxDhBvUrfbU/s320/SP_A0846d.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168962320344943922" /></a><br /><br />I met one nice person but he was an Afghan. He is studying building engineering in Kiev and when he finishes his studies he will go back to Afghanistan and start an NGO with his father and cousin. They want to be around a hundred people working in construction and health security. He told me a lot about the political stuff down there, and until I forgot it all again I was quite well-informed. But I remember he told me that very unlike in Ukraine around 80 - soon close to a hundred - percent of the people in Afghanistan speak English, and they like foreign countries.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vX2RGKDUI/AAAAAAAABJo/5F0k4lyDqhQ/s1600-h/SP_A0863.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vX2RGKDUI/AAAAAAAABJo/5F0k4lyDqhQ/s320/SP_A0863.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168962324639911234" /></a><br /><br />Kiev does actually have a bit of the stuff I like about Ukraine, such as insane architects and rich people with no sense of aesthetics and a lack of regulations to stop them. I just wish Copenhagen could have a building like this right on Christianshavn.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vX2RGKDVI/AAAAAAAABJw/uCRFJHbd5LU/s1600-h/SP_A0867.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vX2RGKDVI/AAAAAAAABJw/uCRFJHbd5LU/s320/SP_A0867.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168962324639911250" /></a><br /><br />I had a nice walk on the water which was frozen. There were many people sitting with their bags to the wind, fishing. That made me feel good, and cold.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-11930786114137909992008-02-19T23:19:00.001-08:002008-03-20T14:41:38.359-07:00New Year partyFor New Year's eve we were invited to a party with some people who had rented a quite big two floor apartment.I was personally very excited about that because I thought Ukrainians are usually too anarchistic to actually plan something. But the girls who invited us were very busy because of that party and were discussing secretively a lot of time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWcBGKDFI/AAAAAAAABHw/lpKrI2olsj8/s1600-h/08.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWcBGKDFI/AAAAAAAABHw/lpKrI2olsj8/s320/08.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960774156717138" /></a><br /><br />Party time. It turned out that the concept of planning a party is in fact more of a Danish thing. I think what must have kept the girls busy was mainly the concern of how to dress themselves up. At 8 in the evening we arrived at the apartment with our 'hostess presents' (another Danish-only concept, apparently) and besides that t.v., the sofa and three non-English speaking guys there was nothing. Of course we knew that in Ukraine 8 o'clock usually means 9 but we thought that on this special night special rules might apply. Actually we were right because there were no people until 10.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWcRGKDGI/AAAAAAAABH4/y0Zj1J65sUU/s1600-h/09.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWcRGKDGI/AAAAAAAABH4/y0Zj1J65sUU/s320/09.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960778451684450" /></a><br /><br />Like in Denmark girls are usually the last to arrive at a party, but in Ukraine they still have to make the food. Jeppe does not seem to have a problem with that.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWchGKDHI/AAAAAAAABIA/C5UdS9Hf_NE/s1600-h/10.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWchGKDHI/AAAAAAAABIA/C5UdS9Hf_NE/s320/10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960782746651762" /></a><br /><br />Ukrainian delights. With a bit of cooperation you can make all that in a snap.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWchGKDII/AAAAAAAABII/vY1waVskS2A/s1600-h/11.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWchGKDII/AAAAAAAABII/vY1waVskS2A/s320/11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960782746651778" /></a><br /><br />I kind of fish sandwich.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWcxGKDJI/AAAAAAAABIQ/yNfa5K0Yp2k/s1600-h/11b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWcxGKDJI/AAAAAAAABIQ/yNfa5K0Yp2k/s320/11b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960787041619090" /></a><br /><br />This is the room which later functioned as a dance floor. I have noticed that Ukrainian girls very much like to have their pictures taken next to flowers, apparently a plastic tree can also be used.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyRGKDKI/AAAAAAAABIY/J3in7cEFd8c/s1600-h/12.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyRGKDKI/AAAAAAAABIY/J3in7cEFd8c/s320/12.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961156408806562" /></a><br /><br />At 11 all the people were listening to Putin's New Year speech and there was the Ukrainian speech at 12.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyRGKDLI/AAAAAAAABIg/SrduyIgGiXQ/s1600-h/SP_A0776.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyRGKDLI/AAAAAAAABIg/SrduyIgGiXQ/s320/SP_A0776.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961156408806578" /></a><br /><br />At 12 we lit the 'kransekage' which I had brought from Denmark.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyhGKDMI/AAAAAAAABIo/TMLx6vQPlPQ/s1600-h/SP_A0781.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyhGKDMI/AAAAAAAABIo/TMLx6vQPlPQ/s320/SP_A0781.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961160703773890" /></a><br /><br />All the food was eaten.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyxGKDNI/AAAAAAAABIw/7XiUWlmobJ0/s1600-h/SP_A0790.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWyxGKDNI/AAAAAAAABIw/7XiUWlmobJ0/s320/SP_A0790.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168961164998741202" /></a><br /><br />Later many people went to Misto but I went to see Roman and Marina who had also arranged a small party. This is the University metro station early in the morning where people were waiting for the first metro.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-86177067889923757522008-02-19T23:18:00.002-08:002008-02-19T23:51:52.092-08:00New Year/ChristmasUkrainians don't seem to distinguish so much between New Year and Christmas. I think that must be because during the Soviet times they were not allowed to celebrate Christmas, and to keep some of the traditions they relabeled them as 'New Year traditions'.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVxxGKC-I/AAAAAAAABG4/1aT3Qln2fk0/s1600-h/01b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVxxGKC-I/AAAAAAAABG4/1aT3Qln2fk0/s320/01b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960048307244002" /></a><br /><br />On the square there was this enormous 'New Year tree' with an ever changing light show going round the surface of the tree. There were also a lot of ice sculptures on which children where playing.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyBGKC_I/AAAAAAAABHA/hiBPNbyuZeI/s1600-h/03.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyBGKC_I/AAAAAAAABHA/hiBPNbyuZeI/s320/03.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960052602211314" /></a><br /><br />Andrey brought a New Year tree for the office.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyBGKDAI/AAAAAAAABHI/-m0wmpQ8Pv8/s1600-h/04.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyBGKDAI/AAAAAAAABHI/-m0wmpQ8Pv8/s320/04.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960052602211330" /></a><br /><br />They don't have such decorations at Illums Bolighus.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyRGKDBI/AAAAAAAABHQ/8EVo-ox3Zz4/s1600-h/05.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyRGKDBI/AAAAAAAABHQ/8EVo-ox3Zz4/s320/05.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960056897178642" /></a><br /><br />Santa cake. The Ukrainian/Russian Santa Clause is actually called Father Frost, who is a guy from an old Russian fairy tale. During Stalin they had to make his clothes blue, but now it seems red is back in.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyhGKDCI/AAAAAAAABHY/xMBW5NRB23Y/s1600-h/06.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVyhGKDCI/AAAAAAAABHY/xMBW5NRB23Y/s320/06.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960061192145954" /></a><br /><br />On the balcony of that building DJ Santa was spinning records and in the front these grown up men dressed as mice were making a kind of entertainment.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWLhGKDDI/AAAAAAAABHg/sGqv3DJ71pA/s1600-h/07a.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWLhGKDDI/AAAAAAAABHg/sGqv3DJ71pA/s320/07a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960490688875570" /></a><br /><br />There were actually not a lot of fireworks around, I guess it is hard to compete with what they show at the square. But anyway you could buy yourself a 'widow maker' (the box with a scull on it).<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWLxGKDEI/AAAAAAAABHo/6Ve7ZKuT78s/s1600-h/07b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vWLxGKDEI/AAAAAAAABHo/6Ve7ZKuT78s/s320/07b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168960494983842882" /></a><br /><br />Sassy New Year's dress, has a lock with a key hole on the front.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-92009856765175178342008-02-19T23:18:00.001-08:002008-03-07T01:50:44.574-08:003 months laterI went to Ukraine for ten days around New Year. In the three months since I left a few things changed and I also got to see some new stuff.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUxxGKC3I/AAAAAAAABGA/rJaHM5R6BVc/s1600-h/SP_A0709.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUxxGKC3I/AAAAAAAABGA/rJaHM5R6BVc/s320/SP_A0709.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168958948795616114" /></a><br /><br />I landed in Kiev and met my friend who had bought us some train tickets for Kharkov the same night. We had to go by metro to her place and there were extremely many people there because of New Year/Christmas. One place a lot of people had to get through a single small door and the crowd was like a 'mosh pit' at a heavy concert and the women were screaming.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyBGKC4I/AAAAAAAABGI/3NrAktxnJ9w/s1600-h/SP_A0799.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyBGKC4I/AAAAAAAABGI/3NrAktxnJ9w/s320/SP_A0799.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168958953090583426" /></a><br /><br />For all the time I was in Kharkov the construction of the 'Platinum Plaza' next to our office in Sumskaya did not seem to move forward, but now the cold probably encouraged the workers to put up some walls and windows.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyhGKC5I/AAAAAAAABGQ/4cWDIMztijc/s1600-h/SP_A0799b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyhGKC5I/AAAAAAAABGQ/4cWDIMztijc/s320/SP_A0799b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168958961680518034" /></a><br /><br />The University metro station got new electronic signs.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyhGKC6I/AAAAAAAABGY/NNcwFQi-7Cg/s1600-h/SP_A0818.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyhGKC6I/AAAAAAAABGY/NNcwFQi-7Cg/s320/SP_A0818.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168958961680518050" /></a><br /><br />Jacob and I discovered a new restaurant near one of the suburban metro stations.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyxGKC7I/AAAAAAAABGg/W2HRFXjPGhM/s1600-h/SP_A0818b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vUyxGKC7I/AAAAAAAABGg/W2HRFXjPGhM/s320/SP_A0818b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168958965975485362" /></a><br /><br />Restaurant had a cossack theme going on, the pillar was made like a big drinking cup (notice the handle). In Denmark I really miss these surreal dining experiences.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVNBGKC8I/AAAAAAAABGo/PqcpK1tDBOI/s1600-h/SP_A0826.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVNBGKC8I/AAAAAAAABGo/PqcpK1tDBOI/s320/SP_A0826.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168959416947051458" /></a><br /><br />I went to visit Sasha and Vika who had bought a new cat and their own apartment (2 rooms for $60k). Officially Sasha does not earn as much as he really does so at first he was not able to make the loan. But the apartment company had a procedure for such, he just had to pay something extra to get some fake documents. Roman and Marina also bought an apartment but they still live with Marina's grandmother because the building of the apartment is still under construction. I think also Alex from the office bought an apartment. And they all want to make their apartment interiors 'Euro style', which is probably something like the apartment in Kharkov I rented.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVNRGKC9I/AAAAAAAABGw/gO-pi9Ybtdg/s1600-h/SP_A0837.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/R7vVNRGKC9I/AAAAAAAABGw/gO-pi9Ybtdg/s320/SP_A0837.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168959421242018770" /></a><br /><br />This was also the first time I visited Kharkov's gay club where this drag queen was making a small performance. I was not allowed to make pictures there because being gay in Ukraine is still a bit of a taboo. Jeppe and I had to kiss before they would open the steel gates and let us in, and then we were going 'atrivaitsa' all night.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-22198560398421696122007-09-28T07:25:00.000-07:002007-09-28T07:45:36.096-07:00The EndThis is the end. On Monday I will go back to Denmark. I hope you have not been too embarrassed for me or offended by the things I write. Thanks for reading, whoever you are.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-8136401004140108142007-09-27T05:55:00.001-07:002007-09-29T01:12:41.557-07:00Wrap upThese are some miscellaneous pictures which I did not find a good reason to post.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17NZb0BI/AAAAAAAABAc/GOU_bJ3aeHc/s1600-h/Billede048.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881830622580754" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17NZb0BI/AAAAAAAABAc/GOU_bJ3aeHc/s320/Billede048.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The drinking building. Probably not the most safe place to be waltzing about drunk, but if you survive all the way to the top there is a beautiful view of Kharkov's city lights.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17dZb0CI/AAAAAAAABAk/UYQjogL8yuY/s1600-h/Billede057.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881834917548066" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17dZb0CI/AAAAAAAABAk/UYQjogL8yuY/s320/Billede057.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A party at Misto. Martin is rapping and no-one has an idea what he is rapping about.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17tZb0DI/AAAAAAAABAs/Wr5ie90z04I/s1600-h/Billede061.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881839212515378" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17tZb0DI/AAAAAAAABAs/Wr5ie90z04I/s320/Billede061.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Kyryl walking on dead people. The Youth Park used to be a cemetery but the Soviet people - who were not too fond of religious stuff - decided to make a park instead and they left the grave stones of some famous people. This park is not very popular.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17tZb0EI/AAAAAAAABA0/l2Dj9c2-ZmM/s1600-h/CIMG0001.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881839212515394" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu17tZb0EI/AAAAAAAABA0/l2Dj9c2-ZmM/s320/CIMG0001.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Russian Jeep, Lada Niva. If I needed a car I would buy one of these.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1dtZbz8I/AAAAAAAAA_0/pG9i0KpBWcE/s1600-h/Billede065.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881323816439746" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1dtZbz8I/AAAAAAAAA_0/pG9i0KpBWcE/s320/Billede065.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In the back you can see a half naked man with a baseball bat. He parked his big car across the track of the tram and he was somehow infuriated by the fact that some people would like to have the tram pass. Maybe it was some strange way for him to show off for his girlfriend in the car.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1edZbz-I/AAAAAAAABAE/6gqu-RY6rlo/s1600-h/CIMG0003.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881336701341666" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1edZbz-I/AAAAAAAABAE/6gqu-RY6rlo/s320/CIMG0003.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The Shevchenko theater where I went to see a play of Kharkovian Andrey Zholdak. He makes some very modern sort of 'picturesque' theater without speech (but a lot of screaming and strange sounds), quite cool actually and theater itself is also nice.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1etZbz_I/AAAAAAAABAM/YXB91TIpWu8/s1600-h/CIMG0009.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881340996308978" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1etZbz_I/AAAAAAAABAM/YXB91TIpWu8/s320/CIMG0009.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is the equipment they use to fix the pavements, no wonder they are so uneven.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1e9Zb0AI/AAAAAAAABAU/SgaXuKbJE74/s1600-h/CIMG0028.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114881345291276290" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1e9Zb0AI/AAAAAAAABAU/SgaXuKbJE74/s320/CIMG0028.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The old Soviet 'shopping universe', has a quite special atmosphere.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1JdZbz3I/AAAAAAAAA_M/XDTYC2u0jeU/s1600-h/CIMG0032.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880975924088690" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1JdZbz3I/AAAAAAAAA_M/XDTYC2u0jeU/s320/CIMG0032.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />"Napoleon called me one day and said that he's missing Kharkov. So I invited him, of course, for a couple cups of tea." This is part of a very long wall with some graffiti which was probably requested, they also painted pictures from post cards showing tourist attractions of European cities. Of the more technically advanced graffiti in Kharkov I think all of it was requested, with so many police men around you online have time to write your name illegally.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1JtZbz4I/AAAAAAAAA_U/sajQM49-zdE/s1600-h/CIMG0077.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880980219056002" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1JtZbz4I/AAAAAAAAA_U/sajQM49-zdE/s320/CIMG0077.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The Hi-Fi Club which has good loud speakers but no guests.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1KNZbz5I/AAAAAAAAA_c/GZ8g_aJpeuE/s1600-h/CIMG0081.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880988808990610" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1KNZbz5I/AAAAAAAAA_c/GZ8g_aJpeuE/s320/CIMG0081.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The children's institute of puppet theater..<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1KdZbz6I/AAAAAAAAA_k/g4eXYPftrAA/s1600-h/CIMG0118.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880993103957922" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1KdZbz6I/AAAAAAAAA_k/g4eXYPftrAA/s320/CIMG0118.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One more demonstration beneath my apartment, when they are not making noise there are some loud speakers constantly playing Russian chanson (the equivalent of American gangsta rap, one popular chanson singer is Michael Klug). All the people around the edges are police people.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1KtZbz7I/AAAAAAAAA_s/LM4XOg-4V4I/s1600-h/CIMG0173.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880997398925234" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu1KtZbz7I/AAAAAAAAA_s/LM4XOg-4V4I/s320/CIMG0173.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Gorky park in the evening, a cosy place to go roller skating.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu08dZbz2I/AAAAAAAAA_E/J8zQ2zA6wKc/s1600-h/CIMG0190.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880752585789282" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu08dZbz2I/AAAAAAAAA_E/J8zQ2zA6wKc/s320/CIMG0190.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Some buses, a church and a meat commercial.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0nNZbzxI/AAAAAAAAA-c/ez-QuTDEdzk/s1600-h/CIMG0178.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880387513569042" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0nNZbzxI/AAAAAAAAA-c/ez-QuTDEdzk/s320/CIMG0178.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is a cool old Soviet lunch cafe which Semen showed me.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0n9ZbzzI/AAAAAAAAA-s/PaEbtovAHD8/s1600-h/CIMG0197.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880400398470962" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0n9ZbzzI/AAAAAAAAA-s/PaEbtovAHD8/s320/CIMG0197.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One of my favorite pictures, from the meat hall at the central market. I use it as a wallpaper on my computer desktop.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0oNZbz0I/AAAAAAAAA-0/OgxxagyItq8/s1600-h/CIMG0328.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880404693438274" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0oNZbz0I/AAAAAAAAA-0/OgxxagyItq8/s320/CIMG0328.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />At one super market you can buy various sorts of weapons.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0tdZbz1I/AAAAAAAAA-8/3ZhmKyOnwf8/s1600-h/CIMG0651.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114880494887751506" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvu0tdZbz1I/AAAAAAAAA-8/3ZhmKyOnwf8/s320/CIMG0651.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The market of used books, it is open every weekend. I was told that this street is packed with homeless people in the night, but I never normally see homeless people, I think.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz4dZbzrI/AAAAAAAAA9w/TAd62wS5xyM/s1600-h/CIMG0669.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879584354684594" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz4dZbzrI/AAAAAAAAA9w/TAd62wS5xyM/s320/CIMG0669.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is a sort of sports center, the front of the building looks very good.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz7NZbzsI/AAAAAAAAA94/6ZzFgoGcOXM/s1600-h/CIMG0675.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879631599324866" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz7NZbzsI/AAAAAAAAA94/6ZzFgoGcOXM/s320/CIMG0675.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here the circuses don't travel around with their tents, every city has a building like this and so they just travel between buildings. Very convenient I guess. I regret that I did not go to see a circus performance there. I also regret that I did not go see a match at the football stadium.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz7dZbztI/AAAAAAAAA-A/FESppIFRt0o/s1600-h/CIMG0676.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879635894292178" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz7dZbztI/AAAAAAAAA-A/FESppIFRt0o/s320/CIMG0676.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You don't have to go far from the center before houses start looking like this, actually it reminds me of many back yards in the center.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz9NZbzuI/AAAAAAAAA-I/uJywnl1Rpek/s1600-h/SP_A0111.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879665959063266" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz9NZbzuI/AAAAAAAAA-I/uJywnl1Rpek/s320/SP_A0111.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Some old arcade machines in the gaming hall at the zoo.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz9dZbzvI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/zXkO9VR4aqQ/s1600-h/SP_A0172.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879670254030578" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuz9dZbzvI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/zXkO9VR4aqQ/s320/SP_A0172.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is close to where Roman and Marina live, at that time there were these tents with people selling water melons everywhere.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzndZbzmI/AAAAAAAAA9I/-kUWykmcjxQ/s1600-h/SP_A0173.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879292296908386" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzndZbzmI/AAAAAAAAA9I/-kUWykmcjxQ/s320/SP_A0173.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Water delivery service. This is a place next to our new office where they sometimes also sell vegetables, delivered by Lada directly from some one's dacha.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuzn9ZbznI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/Jdxkqu1CaFE/s1600-h/SP_A0181.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879300886842994" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuzn9ZbznI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/Jdxkqu1CaFE/s320/SP_A0181.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Ice cream. In Ukraine you can use as a sales argument that something contains 19 percents of fat, in Denmark that would be like saying "don't buy this".<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzoNZbzoI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/lBz5QVjPAas/s1600-h/SP_A0189.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879305181810306" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzoNZbzoI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/lBz5QVjPAas/s320/SP_A0189.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One weekend I was playing basket with Sasha and his friends near the place where he and Vika lives.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvzKh9Zb0II/AAAAAAAABBU/mCzElJaQ0oM/s1600-h/IMG_6646.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115185961551777922" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvzKh9Zb0II/AAAAAAAABBU/mCzElJaQ0oM/s320/IMG_6646.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sasha and Vika also got married recently.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzoNZbzpI/AAAAAAAAA9g/ar6iGABQbjU/s1600-h/SP_A0231.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879305181810322" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzoNZbzpI/AAAAAAAAA9g/ar6iGABQbjU/s320/SP_A0231.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is from the giant Barabashova 'clothes-and-everything-else market'.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzodZbzqI/AAAAAAAAA9o/H4UgS8IMOF4/s1600-h/SP_A0239.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114879309476777634" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuzodZbzqI/AAAAAAAAA9o/H4UgS8IMOF4/s320/SP_A0239.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Barabashova also.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvy2KtZb0GI/AAAAAAAABBE/u_SfBd05TTo/s1600-h/CIMG0031.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115163571887263842" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvy2KtZb0GI/AAAAAAAABBE/u_SfBd05TTo/s320/CIMG0031.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is where the very important people go.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuphNZbzfI/AAAAAAAAA8U/QaCIlOe91OE/s1600-h/SP_A0340.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114868189806448114" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuphNZbzfI/AAAAAAAAA8U/QaCIlOe91OE/s320/SP_A0340.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Kyryl going for water. This was the day of Ivan and Natasha's wedding.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupldZbzhI/AAAAAAAAA8k/-ZEDpxOhmXs/s1600-h/SP_A0325.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114868262820892178" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupldZbzhI/AAAAAAAAA8k/-ZEDpxOhmXs/s320/SP_A0325.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Lots of drunk teenagers. Jakob made this picture from the big square on one of the many celebration days. Several meters behind him there were even more people and then the stage where I think a guy from Talking Heads was performing.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuplNZbzgI/AAAAAAAAA8c/z0AhxtJlFRQ/s1600-h/SP_A0328.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114868258525924866" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuplNZbzgI/AAAAAAAAA8c/z0AhxtJlFRQ/s320/SP_A0328.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The big square after a celebration. They always start cleaning right away.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupltZbziI/AAAAAAAAA8s/T_E5gvaHCP0/s1600-h/SP_A0252.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114868267115859490" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupltZbziI/AAAAAAAAA8s/T_E5gvaHCP0/s320/SP_A0252.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When going to a sauna here you have to wear funny hats (I also did that at the dacha with Roman and Marina).<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuppNZbzjI/AAAAAAAAA80/2uw1lsW9AQU/s1600-h/SP_A0250.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114868327245401650" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuppNZbzjI/AAAAAAAAA80/2uw1lsW9AQU/s320/SP_A0250.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />That's the opera again. I am still wondering what these architects where thinking/drinking.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupK9ZbzaI/AAAAAAAAA7s/hn3y8x69zCk/s1600-h/SP_A0384.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867807554358690" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupK9ZbzaI/AAAAAAAAA7s/hn3y8x69zCk/s320/SP_A0384.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One of the omnipresent shooting tents. At this tent you are shooting at a screen showing a movie with a lightly dressed woman.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupLdZbzbI/AAAAAAAAA70/KltYBKlANtE/s1600-h/SP_A0390.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867816144293298" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupLdZbzbI/AAAAAAAAA70/KltYBKlANtE/s320/SP_A0390.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Scary children mannequins at the very big children's accessories store in the center of Kharkov.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupLtZbzcI/AAAAAAAAA78/7HDzUFIpPVU/s1600-h/SP_A0395.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867820439260610" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupLtZbzcI/AAAAAAAAA78/7HDzUFIpPVU/s320/SP_A0395.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The military school near our new office. Every day we can here them marching by, shouting 'one, to, three'.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupL9ZbzdI/AAAAAAAAA8E/ww6CyMjnhrI/s1600-h/SP_A0403.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867824734227922" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupL9ZbzdI/AAAAAAAAA8E/ww6CyMjnhrI/s320/SP_A0403.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One typical, very cosy back yard.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupMNZbzeI/AAAAAAAAA8M/mZ5Bg48U8Nc/s1600-h/SP_A0408.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867829029195234" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvupMNZbzeI/AAAAAAAAA8M/mZ5Bg48U8Nc/s320/SP_A0408.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Bottle hunters.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuo1dZbzZI/AAAAAAAAA7k/yAyZiIrys7E/s1600-h/SP_A0409.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867438187171218" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuo1dZbzZI/AAAAAAAAA7k/yAyZiIrys7E/s320/SP_A0409.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Pimped up Lada.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuowNZbzYI/AAAAAAAAA7c/nnCL2y4IxY4/s1600-h/SP_A0412.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867347992857986" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuowNZbzYI/AAAAAAAAA7c/nnCL2y4IxY4/s320/SP_A0412.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Beautiful cakes, I am going to miss you.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuoqdZbzXI/AAAAAAAAA7U/pC97qum9TXA/s1600-h/SP_A0440.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867249208610162" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuoqdZbzXI/AAAAAAAAA7U/pC97qum9TXA/s320/SP_A0440.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Funny little car.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuomdZbzWI/AAAAAAAAA7M/M9dVTmfw-zg/s1600-h/SP_A0456.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867180489133410" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuomdZbzWI/AAAAAAAAA7M/M9dVTmfw-zg/s320/SP_A0456.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A weekend at the cascade, meaning lots of wedding photo sessions.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuoiNZbzVI/AAAAAAAAA7E/zO4BG4kkhnE/s1600-h/SP_A0462.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867107474689362" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuoiNZbzVI/AAAAAAAAA7E/zO4BG4kkhnE/s320/SP_A0462.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This building also looks pretty from the front.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuod9ZbzUI/AAAAAAAAA68/05tGb7zIEf4/s1600-h/SP_A0463.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114867034460245314" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvuod9ZbzUI/AAAAAAAAA68/05tGb7zIEf4/s320/SP_A0463.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Scruffy little dogs, never touch them.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuoW9ZbzTI/AAAAAAAAA60/Z7sqBZDBQY0/s1600-h/SP_A0526.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114866914201161010" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvuoW9ZbzTI/AAAAAAAAA60/Z7sqBZDBQY0/s320/SP_A0526.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Stargorod. Yet another place where the entertainment is provided by lightly dressed women. It is a cool place because you can get Czech knödel and home brewn beer.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvy2JdZb0FI/AAAAAAAABA8/ocrjKy7EXrY/s1600-h/SP_A0537.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115163550412427346" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rvy2JdZb0FI/AAAAAAAABA8/ocrjKy7EXrY/s320/SP_A0537.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This weekend they have a new election and so for some days these kids have been standing all the way up Sumskaya promoting one of the parties. I wonder if this is a good picture for the voters, to show how many people they can buy to do stupid work for a cause they really don't seem to care about.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-56017890197934544072007-09-26T23:07:00.003-07:002007-10-02T15:33:30.711-07:00Ukrainian girlsFor many people who come to Ukraine the girls are actually one of the main attractions. I admit the subject has also caught my attention a few times. I know a girl who gets in contact with many of the (few) Americans and Italians who visit Kharkov for pleasure and they tell her that they come for 'cheap prices and beautiful girls'. I am not to judge what is beautiful but many girls in the streets are definitely dressing in a very feminine way. Even though Kharkov's sidewalks can be quite 'uneven' - not to say full of holes - and even though surprisingly many girls work with computers (keyboards), the standard outfit of these girls include high heels and long nails, and often also a very short skirt and a lot of make up. To an American like Tom this is especially unusual, he says that some clothes which are normal here no-one in America would be wearing but prostitutes. So for some foreigners it may seem that Ukrainian girls are very promiscuous but for what I can judge it is not the case, like many things in Ukraine the way girls are treated and act is in fact a bit old fashioned. Like in Denmark some years ago men and women have each their specific roles. I guess women have to be good cooks because practically none of the Ukrainian guys I have met have any idea about cooking (which especially shows when I am discussing with my colleagues the quality of cooking in the various cafes we are visiting). However, all money issues are for the guys to handle. I remember one time we were in a taxi with a girl in front and (old) Jeppe handed the girl some money to pay the driver, the Ukrainians found this quite peculiar.<br /><br />One thing I found hard to get used to is that even though Ukrainian guys are very fond of shaking hands you will usually never shake hands with a girl. And some times I have seen Ukrainian guys almost blush if someone mistakenly (or some dumb foreigner) is swearing when a woman is overhearing. One other thing I find somewhat old fashioned is the way that many guys and even girls are often talking/dreaming about cars. I think a nice car and some flowers from one of Kharkov's very numerous flower shops can considerably increase one's popularity with some Ukrainian girls.<br /><br />As for the way Ukrainian girls dress I guess it is also somewhat similar to the way girls used to be dressing in Denmark 30-40 years ago. However I don't think it has ever been so sexually explicit as here. I think only ever will it be normal in Ukraine to have half naked girls dancing on the stages in regular clubs. And I think it could only be here that I would work in an IT company where several of the female employees practise strip tease as a hobby. I wonder why that is, if it has anything to do with the main Western cultural influence on Ukraine being soft porn R&B music videos.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtSE9ZbzQI/AAAAAAAAA6c/-8ygoPfQvq0/s1600-h/SP_A0233.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtSE9ZbzQI/AAAAAAAAA6c/-8ygoPfQvq0/s320/SP_A0233.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114772046963526914" /></a><br /><br />There is one girl with an interesting outfit.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtSH9ZbzRI/AAAAAAAAA6k/oJZEUF96lAM/s1600-h/SP_A0240.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtSH9ZbzRI/AAAAAAAAA6k/oJZEUF96lAM/s320/SP_A0240.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114772098503134482" /></a><br /><br />I would have liked to show more pictures of Ukrainian girls, but it is rude to make pictures of strangers. So instead this is a picture from the giant Barabashova 'clothes-and-everything-else market', it shows the different lengths of skirts the girls can choose from, not much of a selection really.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtSKtZbzSI/AAAAAAAAA6s/isZrWteM5D0/s1600-h/SP_A0243.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtSKtZbzSI/AAAAAAAAA6s/isZrWteM5D0/s320/SP_A0243.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114772145747774754" /></a><br /><br />Shoes seem to be a good place to apply some bling bling.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-38772136049892687682007-09-26T23:07:00.001-07:002007-09-29T01:25:33.108-07:00Fine diningAs I have told Kharkov is not rich on more refined culture, as goes for the more artistic forms of cooking. I once made a small survey and found that terms like 'haute cuisine', the Michelin guide and even the word 'gourmet' are completely unknown to my colleagues. The terms even seem to be more or less unknown in places where they pretend to know. One funny place is an allegedly French restaurant in Kharkov. The menu states that the chef has been making food for several unspecified foreign movie stars and that the food he is making is 'exactly like in France, except the portions are bigger and prices smaller'. At this place we ordered foie gras as the main dish. I did wonder how come they served foie gras as a 300 grams main dish but I wondered more when they brought the actual dish. What they called foie gras was actually the usual flat steak with cheese on top and a lot of ketchup based sauce around it. The final artistic touch came from some croutons which they lit on fire. One time later I did actually find a restaurant with real foie gras, but the chef did not seem to know which wonders ought to be created from that.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtQ1tZbzPI/AAAAAAAAA6U/_um6jUNstKY/s1600-h/CIMG0096.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtQ1tZbzPI/AAAAAAAAA6U/_um6jUNstKY/s320/CIMG0096.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114770685458894066" /></a><br /><br />This is the best restaurant in Kharkov, or at least the most expensive, Italian of course. As in all other of Kharkov's restaurants (literally) we could not avoid big TV screens showing music videos and fashion shows, but they were so kind as to turn it off. The service in that restaurant was actually good. As for the food I was surprised to find a bit of (misunderstood) 'molecular gastronomy' on the menu, I had a celery soup which was made to look like a big cup of cappuccino. The soup however was not particularly tasty and since I knew that I had ordered a soup the dish really lacked the element of surprise and wonder, the 'foie gras' actually gave me more of that.<br /><br />While I have been here I have seen quite a few new restaurants pop up. They look very fancy but there are never any people at all. They say these places are used for money laundering.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-6300063262921050732007-09-26T23:06:00.000-07:002007-09-29T01:06:02.629-07:00The Russian languageAs I have told in Kharkov they don't speak Ukrainian, but Russian. Even though all signs and university lectures are in Ukrainian I don't think this part of Ukraine ever spoke Ukrainian. They say Russian is a rich language, that there are about 50.000 words compared to 25.000 in English, and for sure I know there are a lot of cuss words. But I wonder how many are actively used, the few Russian words I have learned tend to pop up extremely often. And actually the way they construct sentences in Russian often reminds me of the way Tarzan is speaking. They don't use a lot of filling words, like 'is/am/are' or 'the/a'. In Russian you wouldn't say 'my name is Tarzan' or 'I am Tarzan', but rather something like 'me Tarzan'. If you mean to say 'how do I get to the metro' you simply say 'how get to metro' (kak braidji k'metro). When my colleagues mean to suggest that we go to lunch, they would never say 'hey! shall we maybe go for lunch now, or something..?', but more likely 'go, eat!' ('paidjum yiest'). And when we have had our lunch and want the waiter to take the money we have put, I have heard them say 'girl, take!' ('diervoschka vaizmi'). I don't think they mean to be rude, I guess they just like to cut to the chase.<br /><br />I regret a bit that I have not had time to study some more Russian because it can teach you a lot about the country and culture. For example I find it interesting that people here most often don't ask 'how are you doing?' and when they do the standard answer is not 'fine' or 'good', but rather 'normal'. I guess it is more honest because if you are always 'good', 'good' becomes 'normal'. To me it is also interesting the way all Russians like to use short forms of each others' names. If for example your name is Alexander, people will more often call you names like Sasha, Sania, Sucha, Ljosha, Ljolik or numerous others. Some times the short forms aren't really shorter, girls called Olga are often called 'Ole' which is funny for me because my brother Ole has also been called Olga for fun. What has also caught my Danishly vain interest is that people here - when something goes wrong - like to use a quote from Shakespeare, 'not everything is good in the kingdom of Denmark'.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-55289885755669102582007-09-26T23:05:00.000-07:002007-09-29T01:26:20.616-07:00Brand new officeThis is actually old news, we moved to the new office about two months ago. But when it was new news it was also old news because for three months before moving we were promised that we would be moving 'next week'. But I guess the workers hadn't finished just yet and in fact they still really haven't.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP0NZbzLI/AAAAAAAAA50/wgexRnUXFM0/s1600-h/a.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP0NZbzLI/AAAAAAAAA50/wgexRnUXFM0/s320/a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114769560177462450" /></a><br /><br />Our office is in the 'second' floor (in Denmark first) of this building where they added three extra floors. I don't know what is up with the tape on the windows. They started putting mortar on the sides of the window holes and over the sides of the tape and they removed the scaffolds so I assume the tape is never going to be taken off. I guess now we are just waiting for the tape to dry up and start falling off to create that special Ukrainian half run-down/half built-up look.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP3dZbzMI/AAAAAAAAA58/Dh3ySjoj7Cw/s1600-h/SP_A0148b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP3dZbzMI/AAAAAAAAA58/Dh3ySjoj7Cw/s320/SP_A0148b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114769616012037314" /></a><br /><br />Every now and then some guys will come by and fix some of the things they forgot in the first rounds. First some of the air condition machines, then some curtains, then a hand dryer in the toilet, then the rest of the tables, and so on. When they are not drilling wholes on a ladder above my head I don't mind so much.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP6NZbzNI/AAAAAAAAA6E/UvOl_Blk45I/s1600-h/SP_A0197.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP6NZbzNI/AAAAAAAAA6E/UvOl_Blk45I/s320/SP_A0197.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114769663256677586" /></a><br /><br />They hired some old people to look after the building and create a homely atmosphere. I think they sort of live here, I came by late one evening and the man let me in but he did not look to pleased to be woken up.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP8NZbzOI/AAAAAAAAA6M/E8mSxHO9ApE/s1600-h/SP_A0197b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RvtP8NZbzOI/AAAAAAAAA6M/E8mSxHO9ApE/s320/SP_A0197b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114769697616415970" /></a><br /><br />Now we also have a peace of professional gym gear. One time when our female colleague had left Max 'gave it the whole arm', as we say in Denmark.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-37026758031881840962007-09-10T23:56:00.003-07:002007-09-29T01:21:31.870-07:00MoralitySemen told me an interesting story about what happened to his girlfriend. She works in one of the biggest banks in Ukraine and recently she mistakenly took some fake money from a customer. Then she had a serious talk with the director of the bank and the idiot made her buy back the fake money from the bank, using her own real money. I don't know what she did with her fake money.<br /><br />I am beginning to understand why Ukrainians can have a hard time trusting each other. Morality does not seem to be a major concern here. I have now met several people who have either cheated or helped someone cheat with their university assignments. One time it was even a student's supervisor who advised the student to pay a friend of mine to make her assignment.<br /><br />I also heard some rumours about strange stuff happening around government people. Some time ago some official was killed while on a wolf hunt with his colleagues, the strange thing being that in the area in which they where hunting no one has seen wolves for the past fifteen years. Alex also told me about strange stuff such as when the Ukrainian government were privatizing and everyone were allowed to have a piece of land for free, but the government people made sure to get the good pieces of land for themselves and their friends. They say many of the rich people here got rich that way.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-87887029615175356202007-09-10T23:56:00.001-07:002007-09-11T07:52:27.562-07:00Wednesday campLast Wednesday I went camping/shashliking with Andrey and Max and their friend and Max' girlfriend. We came directly from work and had to get back there the next morning, so it was quite hard for this old guy. Andrey and Max decided to pretend that Wednesday was a day for having a rest because they used all they vacation days to prepare for exams. They are working full time and studying full time at the same time, and they even get straight 'A's.<br /><br /><A href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDpZTLYyI/AAAAAAAAA44/h-l0kmuGLLU/s1600-h/SP_A0427.jpg"><IMG id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108845205743428386 style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDpZTLYyI/AAAAAAAAA44/h-l0kmuGLLU/s320/SP_A0427.jpg" border=0></A><br /><br />I borrowed Jakob's new mountain bike and we drove to a place a bit outside of town. Max thought we drove 20 kilometers but I am sure it was only around 5, which was lucky for me. From the place we had a view of a big part of the city, in the evening it was quite beautiful with all the lights. We had our camp just to the right.<br /><br /><br /><A href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDsJTLYzI/AAAAAAAAA5A/wbV7ob1FSNQ/s1600-h/SP_A0427b.jpg"><IMG id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108845252988068658 style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDsJTLYzI/AAAAAAAAA5A/wbV7ob1FSNQ/s320/SP_A0427b.jpg" border=0></A><br /><br />I am always amazed at how easily all Ukrainians can make a fire from branches they find lying around. The shashlik spears they put between two big pieces of wood. <br /><br /><br /><OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-babfbadf54882d60 height=280 width=320 contentId="babfbadf54882d60"></OBJECT><br /><br />This is a video! Not much to see though, but you can hear Andrey playing guitar and singing with the other guys. Andrey is one of the best camp fire guitarists I know.<br /><br /><br /><A href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDvpTLY0I/AAAAAAAAA5I/5Nfw2xt4Y7g/s1600-h/SP_A0427c.jpg"><IMG id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108845313117610818 style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDvpTLY0I/AAAAAAAAA5I/5Nfw2xt4Y7g/s320/SP_A0427c.jpg" border=0></A><br /><br />That's me waking up. Andrey made the photo. Actually I was the only one sleeping in a tent, the other guys were sleeping under the open sky.<br /><br /><br /><A href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDyJTLY1I/AAAAAAAAA5Q/xyJbecSRy-U/s1600-h/SP_A0432.jpg"><IMG id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108845356067283794 style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZDyJTLY1I/AAAAAAAAA5Q/xyJbecSRy-U/s320/SP_A0432.jpg" border=0></A><br /><br />Recently Andrey bought an extremely fancy camera and ever since he has been making a million photos. On the trip he brought all his hobbies, which are mountain bike, guitar and the camera.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-46811177879797308122007-09-10T23:55:00.002-07:002007-09-11T07:44:29.140-07:00The ghettoBy now we are four Danish people living in Kharkov and together with Tom we are forming a little foreigner ghetto.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBWJTLYsI/AAAAAAAAA4I/fXwv6PvU3Rs/s1600-h/01.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBWJTLYsI/AAAAAAAAA4I/fXwv6PvU3Rs/s320/01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108842676007690946" /></a><br /><br />One Saturday we all met at Tom's apartment. From the right is Rasmus who is working for another Danish company who has a team in our offices, then Jeppe and Jacob who came to replace me and the old Jeppe, who already went back to Denmark. Tom also invited Vika and Elena who work at our offices.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBqJTLYtI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/TurT_9aaE4o/s1600-h/02.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBqJTLYtI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/TurT_9aaE4o/s320/02.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108843019605074642" /></a><br /><br />Tom rented this very cheap apartment far out of town. It is functional but the owners would have done good to watch some of our Danish DIY TV shows. Even I know that you should always clean a surface before painting it but I could see that they had not because the doors were quite sticky.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBtJTLYuI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/0ciRJdG4Fag/s1600-h/03.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBtJTLYuI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/0ciRJdG4Fag/s320/03.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108843071144682210" /></a><br /><br />One thing Americans have in common with Ukrainians is a love of party games. Tom showed us a game which even involved a lot of Vodka.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBw5TLYvI/AAAAAAAAA4g/G6mYlK3gbU8/s1600-h/04.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZBw5TLYvI/AAAAAAAAA4g/G6mYlK3gbU8/s320/04.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108843135569191666" /></a><br /><br />Other place, same scheme. That time we were only Danish people so we did not have to play with the food.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZB1JTLYwI/AAAAAAAAA4o/n9-z5rtPCEo/s1600-h/05.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZB1JTLYwI/AAAAAAAAA4o/n9-z5rtPCEo/s320/05.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108843208583635714" /></a><br /><br />Jeppe and Jacob took over old Jeppe's apartment, which is big enough for many people.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZB4ZTLYxI/AAAAAAAAA4w/ZUoaoFrPlGg/s1600-h/SP_A0140.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZB4ZTLYxI/AAAAAAAAA4w/ZUoaoFrPlGg/s320/SP_A0140.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108843264418210578" /></a><br /><br />This is Rasmus' apartment which also has some interesting decorations.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-60663785598881403552007-09-10T23:55:00.001-07:002007-09-11T07:43:37.181-07:00The metroIt is about time I post some pictures of Kharkov's metro, which is quite excellent. Unlike the toy metro of Copenhagen this metro really makes a difference for the city. It is extremely cheap (about twenty to thirty times cheaper than the Danish) and for one price you can quickly get to any part of the city. That way the city really feels smaller, it makes no difference in which part of the city you are. Besides that the metro stations have some very interesting architecture.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9mZTLYgI/AAAAAAAAA2o/M2ORrWSRHsc/s1600-h/0.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9mZTLYgI/AAAAAAAAA2o/M2ORrWSRHsc/s320/0.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838557134053890" /></a><br /><br />Many of the stations have cool space age retro chandeliers like this one.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9qpTLYhI/AAAAAAAAA2w/29aPDwYYQTI/s1600-h/b.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9qpTLYhI/AAAAAAAAA2w/29aPDwYYQTI/s320/b.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838630148497938" /></a><br /><br />This is one of the main stations, close to our old office.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9t5TLYiI/AAAAAAAAA24/-dG-tqqNzqA/s1600-h/c1.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9t5TLYiI/AAAAAAAAA24/-dG-tqqNzqA/s320/c1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838685983072802" /></a><br /><br />Close-up on the chandelier.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9xJTLYjI/AAAAAAAAA3A/psMstqRTHU0/s1600-h/c2.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9xJTLYjI/AAAAAAAAA3A/psMstqRTHU0/s320/c2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838741817647666" /></a><br /><br />The passage ways remind me of something from Star Wars.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY90ZTLYkI/AAAAAAAAA3I/_zhKG9tw5YA/s1600-h/c3.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY90ZTLYkI/AAAAAAAAA3I/_zhKG9tw5YA/s320/c3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838797652222530" /></a><br /><br />This is where the metro trains take off, also very retro futuristic I think. At the end there is a digital clock telling you how much time has passed since the last train - unlike in Denmark where they try to make some hopeless guess about when the next train will arrive.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY94ZTLYlI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/95xIvyVj6Ck/s1600-h/c3b.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY94ZTLYlI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/95xIvyVj6Ck/s320/c3b.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838866371699282" /></a><br /><br />In the rush hours there are a lot of people. With some Kharkov people the metro is actually not so popular, I guess the crowds can be too much sometimes.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY98pTLYmI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/KJSuQvIN280/s1600-h/c4.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY98pTLYmI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/KJSuQvIN280/s320/c4.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838939386143330" /></a><br /><br />On a higher level of the station there are small shops selling practically everything. There are even pharmacists selling 'entertainment medicine' without a prescription, I was told.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9_pTLYnI/AAAAAAAAA3g/v4Zdu0FLvt8/s1600-h/c5.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY9_pTLYnI/AAAAAAAAA3g/v4Zdu0FLvt8/s320/c5.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108838990925750898" /></a><br /><br />This is another of my favorite stations.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY-DZTLYoI/AAAAAAAAA3o/CZxOyP4jn0Q/s1600-h/CIMG0056.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY-DZTLYoI/AAAAAAAAA3o/CZxOyP4jn0Q/s320/CIMG0056.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108839055350260354" /></a><br /><br />This station has special torch lamps.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY-IZTLYpI/AAAAAAAAA3w/rdi61dGmtIc/s1600-h/CIMG0253.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuY-IZTLYpI/AAAAAAAAA3w/rdi61dGmtIc/s320/CIMG0253.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108839141249606290" /></a><br /><br />And another of the central stations, like in some kind of castle.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZAg5TLYrI/AAAAAAAAA4A/dleWp4M5VjI/s1600-h/CIMG0255.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuZAg5TLYrI/AAAAAAAAA4A/dleWp4M5VjI/s320/CIMG0255.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108841761179656882" /></a><br /><br />The further you get away from the centre the less fancy the stations get but this one is still quite interesting I think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-10306632195796295592007-09-07T06:44:00.001-07:002007-09-07T07:08:02.560-07:00Ivan and Natasha's weddingIn Ukraine it is normal to get married in your early twenties and so did Ivan and Natasha. Ivan I know through Kyryl. Like Kyryl and many people at the wedding party they are both system developers. The wedding was held at the house of Ivan's parents which is a lot like the dachas I visited, but it is situated almost at the city centre.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWI5TLYTI/AAAAAAAAA0k/IUGYTw-op_8/s1600-h/01.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWI5TLYTI/AAAAAAAAA0k/IUGYTw-op_8/s320/01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458163235053874" /></a><br /><br />Wedding band rehearsals at the house of Ivan's parents. For some Sundays we had entertained the neighbours, trying to get some songs together. It was quite hard to organize anything and a week before the wedding the group I played with did not have a drummer or even some songs that we could all play. They all took it very calmly though, I guess stuff like this is not enough to worry Ukrainians.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWL5TLYUI/AAAAAAAAA0s/6AqzhTQP84s/s1600-h/02.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWL5TLYUI/AAAAAAAAA0s/6AqzhTQP84s/s320/02.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458214774661442" /></a><br /><br />Preparations. To the left is Alex who told me a lot of interesting stuff. He is a games designer and he has been working for big distributors like EA and Infogrames and he also writes books and drinks a lot. To the right is his wife Olga and just behind him Natasha, Ivan's wife-to-be.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWPZTLYVI/AAAAAAAAA00/InajtWGsILc/s1600-h/CIMG0184.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWPZTLYVI/AAAAAAAAA00/InajtWGsILc/s320/CIMG0184.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458274904203602" /></a><br /><br />The big day. Ivan and Natasha are not religious so they got married at the Palace of Wedding to the music of Elvis Presley, played by two violins and a piano. The palace has four rooms which work like a sort of assembly line, every time one company goes to the next room a new company will fill the room they left. Very efficient, actually, but the palace people messed up the wedding contract and wrote the wrong year. Then they made a new contract and wrote the wrong month.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWTJTLYWI/AAAAAAAAA08/RDVqshGQpUA/s1600-h/CIMG0197.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWTJTLYWI/AAAAAAAAA08/RDVqshGQpUA/s320/CIMG0197.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458339328713058" /></a><br /><br />After the ceremony the couple and some other unlucky people had to drive around the city for five hours in the baking heat and make photos by all Kharkov's war monuments. This is when they got home and we 'surprised' them with some champagne and some bread.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWXJTLYXI/AAAAAAAAA1E/UdVoszHMPlI/s1600-h/CIMG0199.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWXJTLYXI/AAAAAAAAA1E/UdVoszHMPlI/s320/CIMG0199.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458408048189810" /></a><br /><br />Some bread. According to tradition the bride and groom will take a piece each, dip it in the salt and eat.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWaJTLYYI/AAAAAAAAA1M/o95Cu2e-grg/s1600-h/CIMG0200.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWaJTLYYI/AAAAAAAAA1M/o95Cu2e-grg/s320/CIMG0200.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458459587797378" /></a><br /><br />Ivan's sister and two other girls were dressed up as angels when they walked around to all the guests. People had to make a speech about their presents and I let Kyryl use his lyrical skills. We came with some knives and according to some traditional illogic they had to give us one 1 grivna, something about presenting a weapon and not being enemies.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWdpTLYZI/AAAAAAAAA1U/Ktdeckd8dg0/s1600-h/CIMG0200b.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWdpTLYZI/AAAAAAAAA1U/Ktdeckd8dg0/s320/CIMG0200b.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458519717339538" /></a><br /><br />One more toast. After each toast some people would start shouting GORKY, GORKY, GORKY, .. and the couple would be tongue kissing until they stopped, or maybe opposite. 'Gorky' means bitter and it refers to the vodka that a lot of people were drinking, the point being that sweet kisses should be able to take away the bitterness. I am sure they could not taste anything after an hour of toasting and kissing. The people to the right are Ivan's parents and best man Alex.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWiJTLYaI/AAAAAAAAA1c/UzyemW5wam8/s1600-h/CIMG0202.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWiJTLYaI/AAAAAAAAA1c/UzyemW5wam8/s320/CIMG0202.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458597026750882" /></a><br /><br />When the music started the couple had the first dance alone, a very beautiful moment. Ann was screaming 'Still got the blues'. That 'scene' I saw Ivan's father build some weeks before.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWlpTLYbI/AAAAAAAAA1k/BoPCDTcBEkU/s1600-h/CIMG0208.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWlpTLYbI/AAAAAAAAA1k/BoPCDTcBEkU/s320/CIMG0208.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458657156293042" /></a><br /><br />After that all other people started dancing, including many elderly people. We played some terrible music but it was just perfect. They were dancing through some sloppy jams and even when we were not playing anything.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWo5TLYcI/AAAAAAAAA1s/TWa3GX3Lgr0/s1600-h/CIMG0211.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWo5TLYcI/AAAAAAAAA1s/TWa3GX3Lgr0/s320/CIMG0211.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458712990867906" /></a><br /><br />This is the tradition of kidnapping the bride and/or her shoes. To get her back the groom usually has to make some bribes, but I don't think Ivan gave in to their enormous demands. Instead the best man and best woman had to do 'something extraordinary'.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWs5TLYdI/AAAAAAAAA10/dagyrrcGm7Y/s1600-h/CIMG0212.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWs5TLYdI/AAAAAAAAA10/dagyrrcGm7Y/s320/CIMG0212.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458781710344658" /></a><br /><br />Unfortunately it was the best man who had to make a strip tease, the best woman sang an extraordinary song.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWvZTLYeI/AAAAAAAAA18/nEUiVE_4QLI/s1600-h/CIMG0213.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWvZTLYeI/AAAAAAAAA18/nEUiVE_4QLI/s320/CIMG0213.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458824660017634" /></a><br /><br />Wedding cake with smoked prunes. Ivan told us to play 'Rape me' by Nirvana, I guess he also does not like smoked prunes.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWypTLYfI/AAAAAAAAA2E/Xjv_uuXyF2E/s1600-h/SP_A0378.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RuFWypTLYfI/AAAAAAAAA2E/Xjv_uuXyF2E/s320/SP_A0378.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458880494592498" /></a><br /><br />The party continued the day after at the 'Hydro Park'. We had some shashlik and went swimming in the river. I think collectively we must have had around 300 mosquito bites, I got at least 20.<br /><br />At the shashlik party I also got to talk with Ivan's uncle who had a big scar around the top of his head because someone tried to take his scalp. He told me that 15 years ago Kharkov had two gangs of around 300 teenagers who used to try to kill each other every weekend. He said it started in the Soviet times because they thought they had nothing to do because they were not allowed to drink alcohol or have sex.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-25424443598611367122007-08-28T22:27:00.003-07:002007-08-28T23:39:40.643-07:00The eliteI think usually 'the elite' means people who are good at something but in Ukraine it just means 'the rich'. For these 'elite' people they sell 'elite houses', 'elite jeans', 'elite tea' and so on. There is one street in Kharkov where some extremely 'elite' people are living and it is quite a bizarre place.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUKxpTLYKI/AAAAAAAAAzA/gBMLnDjfDao/s1600-h/CIMG0142.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUKxpTLYKI/AAAAAAAAAzA/gBMLnDjfDao/s320/CIMG0142.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103997600710484130" /></a><br /><br />Just around the corner to the left is the street of the elite.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUK15TLYLI/AAAAAAAAAzI/sOBFnyxj50M/s1600-h/CIMG0145.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUK15TLYLI/AAAAAAAAAzI/sOBFnyxj50M/s320/CIMG0145.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103997673724928178" /></a><br /><br />I think this must be one of the biggest house in Kharkov, still under construction.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUK8ZTLYMI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/ww7uQskUh0Q/s1600-h/CIMG0150.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUK8ZTLYMI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/ww7uQskUh0Q/s320/CIMG0150.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103997785394077890" /></a><br /><br />Another big house. I was told that in one of these houses the chief of police lives. He actually does not have a very big salary so he must have a good deal of 'unofficial income'.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUK_5TLYNI/AAAAAAAAAzY/9xqUy9zl48o/s1600-h/CIMG0152.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUK_5TLYNI/AAAAAAAAAzY/9xqUy9zl48o/s320/CIMG0152.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103997845523620050" /></a><br /><br />A house just across the street.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULDpTLYOI/AAAAAAAAAzg/bAylxFCxhdY/s1600-h/CIMG0167.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULDpTLYOI/AAAAAAAAAzg/bAylxFCxhdY/s320/CIMG0167.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103997909948129506" /></a><br /><br />On that balcony you can enjoy the view of your neighbour's grass which in this case is not greener than yours.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULHZTLYPI/AAAAAAAAAzo/4-4Dy39EBFQ/s1600-h/CIMG0176.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULHZTLYPI/AAAAAAAAAzo/4-4Dy39EBFQ/s320/CIMG0176.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103997974372638962" /></a><br /><br />In Sumskaya they have been working on some big buildings for a long time. For this one they found a very exclusive name. They say these building are funded by the Kharkov's richest man who is Jewish, not that I have anything against that.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULKZTLYQI/AAAAAAAAAzw/UYGLuxeaZZI/s1600-h/SP_A0202.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULKZTLYQI/AAAAAAAAAzw/UYGLuxeaZZI/s320/SP_A0202.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103998025912246530" /></a><br /><br />Club Misto, where the elite and some scruffy Danish people like to go.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULMpTLYRI/AAAAAAAAAz4/Ku7EchSjzw8/s1600-h/SP_A0213.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULMpTLYRI/AAAAAAAAAz4/Ku7EchSjzw8/s320/SP_A0213.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103998064566952210" /></a><br /><br />Other side of the street.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULO5TLYSI/AAAAAAAAA0A/PV8Ll0IyV2E/s1600-h/SP_A0214.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtULO5TLYSI/AAAAAAAAA0A/PV8Ll0IyV2E/s320/SP_A0214.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103998103221657890" /></a><br /><br />By a casino. Sometimes they need to demark the line between regular people and the elite.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-87559698217624921922007-08-28T22:27:00.001-07:002007-08-30T00:45:43.564-07:00Poor peopleUkraine is a poor country but generally people do have roofs over their heads and stuff to eat. And even though many things are very old and primitive there are also a lot of expensive cars - probably even more than in Denmark - and some somewhat extravagant places. But it seems the price of these things may be partly paid by some other extremely poor people. My Ukrainian colleagues are not the ones driving Mercedes cars but I guess they are relatively well off, yet they pay practically no taxes. This is a trick they pull off in cooperation with the outsourcing company with which my Danish company cooperates, which I think also does not put any tax money into Ukraine. Given some government people who are said to make a lot of personal benefit from the few taxes which are actually paid it leaves very little means to support people who cannot support themselves.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHSZTLYBI/AAAAAAAAAx4/XOEI3qhjdhs/s1600-h/CIMG0032.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHSZTLYBI/AAAAAAAAAx4/XOEI3qhjdhs/s320/CIMG0032.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103993765304688658" /></a><br /><br />Ukrainian beer companies have a bottle recycling system which works in a bit unusual way. The deposit you pay is so small that no normal people would ever consider returning bottles. So instead they just throw bottles into the trash and then homeless people will take the bottles and return them. That way the system supports both the nature and the homeless - sort of clever, but I am not sure if I should like the system or not.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHaZTLYDI/AAAAAAAAAyI/hq4KqXjLzmo/s1600-h/CIMG0139.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHaZTLYDI/AAAAAAAAAyI/hq4KqXjLzmo/s320/CIMG0139.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103993902743642162" /></a><br /><br />The last resort before bottle hunting I guess are these walls. If you have good physics you can get some very hard yet very badly paid job.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUI2pTLYJI/AAAAAAAAAy4/nvVlfbD77qI/s1600-h/CIMG0667.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUI2pTLYJI/AAAAAAAAAy4/nvVlfbD77qI/s320/CIMG0667.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103995487586574482" /></a><br /><br />In Denmark we also have beggars but seeing beggars in Ukraine just make Danish people seem even more like some spoiled babies. Here it is only people who are really completely unable to support themselves, like some old ladies. I was told that old people here get around 300 dollars each month which is not quite enough to live for but actually more than what is earned by Kyryl's mother who has a PhD and teaches German. If you don't have a well-paid husband or some position where you are able to make some 'unofficial income' you are in trouble.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHnJTLYGI/AAAAAAAAAyg/yoWvBngBHfM/s1600-h/CIMG0668.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHnJTLYGI/AAAAAAAAAyg/yoWvBngBHfM/s320/CIMG0668.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103994121786974306" /></a><br /><br />No tax money also means bad pavements, they are often even worse than this one. Another way the governments seems to try to save money is by cutting street lights and the supply of warm water for about one third of the city. I have met some people who have had no warm water for the whole summer. I wonder how much is really saved by that, because people will just heat the water themselves.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHq5TLYHI/AAAAAAAAAyo/1ALaCe1gSxg/s1600-h/SP_A0321.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUHq5TLYHI/AAAAAAAAAyo/1ALaCe1gSxg/s320/SP_A0321.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103994186211483762" /></a><br /><br />These 'Dadesi' sneakers also taught me some things about what poor people must go through. At first I thought it was cool that I could get a pair of sneakers for about 4 dollars but they ended up causing me quite some trouble. The first time I wore them playing football the inlay sole somehow crumbled up which caused my feet to get some big blisters torturing me for a week. And as the shoes are made completely from plastic my feet quickly get extremely warm and smelly. And often when I have been walking along asphalt paving for some time they have contributed to some big headaches, because the soles are completely non-absorbing. Anyway, I still think these sneakers are sort of cool and I wear them all the time. I guess you can say I am suffering for beauty.<br /><br />Apart from the extremely poor people I would not say that people here live a poor life. A normal monthly salary of about 400 or 500 dollars (maybe including some 'unofficial income') may seem crazy but considering what you spend to live here it does make a kind of sense. Many people own their apartments and so do not have to pay rent and they pay practically nothing for electricity and gas. And most food products cost at least half of what they cost in Denmark, and often even less than one tenth. I once thought that if everything costs half you will only need half the money to live. But using my mathematical skills I soon saw that if I buy two things at half the price I will actually only have used one fourth of the money, and similarly when I buy the hundred things I need every month. So actually in Ukraine you need exponentially less money to live, or something.<br /><br />In some aspects I also find the quality of normal Ukrainian living quite better than in many so called rich countries I have visited. For example, in Japan an apartment like the one Kyryl owns would be a place for a whole family to rent. And I don't think many Ukrainians would believe some of the lousy food people in Northern countries eat. Especially in a country like Iceland you can get stuff which just should not be called 'pizza', 'sausages', 'jam' or whatever they call it. And even in Denmark going to a bakery is usually a very depressing experience. In the name of efficiency and profit maximization the beautiful cakes we might also once have had have been reduced to some 98% prefabricated quite sad stuff.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUH7JTLYII/AAAAAAAAAyw/QSnd9kHQSEg/s1600-h/SP_A0343.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RtUH7JTLYII/AAAAAAAAAyw/QSnd9kHQSEg/s320/SP_A0343.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103994465384358018" /></a><br /><br />This is what cakes should look like. In Denmark no one would bother to make such cakes for other people without taking some exorbitant pay, but Ukrainians can eat these cakes all the time.<br /><br />What makes Ukraine appear more poor - apart from the broken pavements - I think may be the relative lack of some more refined culture. Kharkov does have it's old theaters and the opera where you can watch classic plays, ballet and concerts for less than 2 dollars a ticket. But this is culture 'for the people', not 'by the people'. When it comes to more current art which should reflect how people are living right now I have come across very few things that I find interesting and yet nothing truly original. Compared even to Copenhagen there is really a lot less happening. And I guess this somehow just reflects the taste of many Ukrainians who seem to be more interested in whatever is flashy and (looks) expensive, I guess nothing can makes a country seem poor like this glamour and materialism.<br /><br />But still, I think Ukraine has something which is a more valuable than all the fancy junk Danish people like to drag into their designer homes, which is a sort of warmth between people. Of course people may treat me welcoming because I am foreigner, but it is also a fact that many foreigners who come to Denmark find the Danish people to be cold, or even self-absorbed. There are some cliche sayings about these things and I guess they are true.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-2038047765620313192007-08-23T01:20:00.001-07:002007-08-23T01:52:02.388-07:00NationalismThere is sort of a global counterculture were people are against anything popular, whether wrong or right. In most European countries these people are strongly against nationalism but interestingly in Ukraine these same people usually seem very nationalist. If you go to Churchill's or meet Kyryl and his friends you will see people using Ukrainian words and occasionally wearing traditional Ukrainian clothing.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1FnpTLX9I/AAAAAAAAAxY/hWYV8o8ENWw/s1600-h/SP_A0074.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1FnpTLX9I/AAAAAAAAAxY/hWYV8o8ENWw/s320/SP_A0074.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101810500284145618" /></a><br /><br />This is Kharkov's House of Ukrainian Culture. There was a concert where this young guy was singing and playing his 'bandura' very nicely. It is a quite geeky place and besides lectures on Ukrainian culture they have courses where you can learn how to use Linux, which will really teach those Microsoft bastards.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1FqJTLX-I/AAAAAAAAAxg/kmYIsTo3n8A/s1600-h/SP_A0082.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1FqJTLX-I/AAAAAAAAAxg/kmYIsTo3n8A/s320/SP_A0082.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101810543233818594" /></a><br /><br />This guy we met at the Ukrainian house. He grew up in Kharkov speaking only Russian, but one day he decided to only speak Ukrainian. So when he goes around Kharkov he uses Ukrainian and actually it is not problem because everybody learn it in school and it is also quite similar to Russian.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1FvJTLX_I/AAAAAAAAAxo/gZO6iQLRCrE/s1600-h/ZCIMG0035.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1FvJTLX_I/AAAAAAAAAxo/gZO6iQLRCrE/s320/ZCIMG0035.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101810629133164530" /></a><br /><br />In Kiev they have this place which looks and works pretty much exactly like a McDonald's but they only sell traditional Ukrainian food, Borsch, Variniki, etc. I think this may be the one place in Ukraine where they do not sell Coca Cola.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-43210762060614633652007-08-23T01:19:00.000-07:002007-08-28T23:18:32.505-07:00Trip to LvivOne long weekend I went with Kyryl on a trip to Lviv. Lviv is in the western part of Ukraine which is a lot different than the Eastern part. As I have told that part was somehow more influenced by western countries. So in Lviv all people speak Ukrainian and the architecture is more like in old cities like Prague. As in Prague they also have a lot of tourists who are attracted by this 'history romanticism' and you can buy all the tourist knick knack you need.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EDZTLX2I/AAAAAAAAAwg/7zydq5ex7rg/s1600-h/CIMG0051.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EDZTLX2I/AAAAAAAAAwg/7zydq5ex7rg/s320/CIMG0051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101808778002259810" /></a><br /><br />The train was a bit more comfortable than the one I were in to Crimea but still very intimate. It takes about 20 hours to Lviv so we split the trip in two and spent one day in Kiev.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EJJTLX3I/AAAAAAAAAwo/nK_05sDdgAI/s1600-h/CIMG0052.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EJJTLX3I/AAAAAAAAAwo/nK_05sDdgAI/s320/CIMG0052.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101808876786507634" /></a><br /><br />In Kiev we spent some time for finding presents because after Lviv Kyryl would go to Prague to meet his girlfriend, she is a photo model and lives in Denmark and he brought her many gifts. Kyryl is always very generous and one time he spent his entire salary to buy her some bling-bling. I guess I could be glad that this stuff is not modern in Denmark (his girlfriend is actually Russian).<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EQpTLX4I/AAAAAAAAAww/YjCzsletP68/s1600-h/CIMG0054.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EQpTLX4I/AAAAAAAAAww/YjCzsletP68/s320/CIMG0054.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101809005635526530" /></a><br /><br />This is Lviv, the road from the station. All the streets have this brick paving. A bit like in Prague but still with a particular Ukrainian touch.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EVZTLX5I/AAAAAAAAAw4/eDppPc2UGFM/s1600-h/CIMG0070.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EVZTLX5I/AAAAAAAAAw4/eDppPc2UGFM/s320/CIMG0070.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101809087239905170" /></a><br /><br />We stayed with Kyryl's friends. They were not at home when we came so Kyryl picked the lock. This guy owns the apartment which used to be his mother's atelier and I think he is kind of a slacker, but he was nice.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EaJTLX6I/AAAAAAAAAxA/SXzJ6iz4jck/s1600-h/CIMG0070b.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EaJTLX6I/AAAAAAAAAxA/SXzJ6iz4jck/s320/CIMG0070b.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101809168844283810" /></a><br /><br />One typical street in Lviv, but this is actually the Armenian quarter where they have an Armenian church. Lviv has more than 1 million people but it does not have a metro, they say they did not build a metro out of fear from ruining the architecture. One effect of this I think is that people are not as afraid of walking as in Kharkov, at least Kyryl's Lvivian friends did not mind dragging us several kilometers through the city.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EeJTLX7I/AAAAAAAAAxI/XzEW44Rx4Hw/s1600-h/CIMG0080.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EeJTLX7I/AAAAAAAAAxI/XzEW44Rx4Hw/s320/CIMG0080.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101809237563760562" /></a><br /><br />In Lviv there are also geeks who dress up in glamourized historical outfits and pound away on each other. In the battle we watched later they where using these big metal swords (not sharp though) so I guess the armour was quite justified. They call it 'historical recreations' and it also seemsto be popular in Kharkov. I once went to a 'backyard party' in Kharkov where all the people were this kind of people and they invited me to come to Moscow next year to watch thousands of people reenact a battle from Lord Of The Rings. I don't know what is so historical about that though.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EiZTLX8I/AAAAAAAAAxQ/GdQtyaA7qlE/s1600-h/CIMG0081.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1EiZTLX8I/AAAAAAAAAxQ/GdQtyaA7qlE/s320/CIMG0081.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101809310578204610" /></a><br /><br />We met up with Kyryl's ex-girlfriend, bought some chocolate and cognac (but no cigars) and went to this nice view point. Then we had a crazy night. We went deep inside a dark forest to met a group of girls who were making pearls by a fire and smoking Kalian and then we went to a strange apartment of one of their friends and her parents rented us an apartment for 10 dollars. Then we went for several kilometers to that other apartment to find out that there were already some people there who had rented it. So in the early morning we ended up eating variniki in yet another apartment of one of the kalian girls.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1Jd5TLYAI/AAAAAAAAAxw/L87I_mBxrhQ/s1600-h/CIMG0101.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rs1Jd5TLYAI/AAAAAAAAAxw/L87I_mBxrhQ/s320/CIMG0101.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101814730826932226" /></a><br /><br />This is the last place we ended up. She is an artist painter and her father is a carpenter and he made all the funny decorations.<br /><br />The second day we were in Lviv my legs were quite sore (we had also been walking a lot in Kiev) and it was raining a lot so we were also just slacking. Then I caught the train alone all the way back to Kharkov and had time to read a nice book by Henry James.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-73907412783935224882007-07-27T00:52:00.002-07:002007-07-27T01:24:22.927-07:00Dacha weekendThese pictures are actually some weeks old. They are from a weekend when I went to the dacha of Marina's grandmother. Her grandmother lives there alone with her two big dogs all summer and then Roman and Marina has her apartment in the city alone. I think in the winter time they all live in the apartment together with the dogs.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmGsYL9XI/AAAAAAAAAvk/kdmEd331cU0/s1600-h/01.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmGsYL9XI/AAAAAAAAAvk/kdmEd331cU0/s320/01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091783487641089394" /></a><br /><br />Marina's grandfather built this whole dacha in 5 years and there actually is a third building. In this small field Marina's grandmother grows vegetables.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmQMYL9YI/AAAAAAAAAvs/-PpLoDLeO70/s1600-h/CIMG0343.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmQMYL9YI/AAAAAAAAAvs/-PpLoDLeO70/s320/CIMG0343.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091783650849846658" /></a><br /><br />Lovely little cucumbers. Actually they never use the big tasteless ones we have in Denmark.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmW8YL9ZI/AAAAAAAAAv0/6yhYWHfUdUQ/s1600-h/CIMG0345.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmW8YL9ZI/AAAAAAAAAv0/6yhYWHfUdUQ/s320/CIMG0345.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091783766813963666" /></a><br /><br />Chilling in the garden, eating cherries and Karakul and drinking tea. The guy is Marina's friend Dmitri, he is a softare engineer in a former Soviet hydro-energy tech company which sells stuff for China and Korea and countries like that.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmdMYL9aI/AAAAAAAAAv8/qX4p1fZz6QE/s1600-h/CIMG0352.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmdMYL9aI/AAAAAAAAAv8/qX4p1fZz6QE/s320/CIMG0352.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091783874188146082" /></a><br /><br />That is the third house which they primarily use as a kitchen. Marina's grandmother is sitting in front of it.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmjMYL9bI/AAAAAAAAAwE/Slybwulq6Ck/s1600-h/CIMG0353.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmmjMYL9bI/AAAAAAAAAwE/Slybwulq6Ck/s320/CIMG0353.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091783977267361202" /></a><br /><br />Preparing the shashlik.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmms8YL9cI/AAAAAAAAAwM/QkU5aUMdgoY/s1600-h/CIMG0353b.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmms8YL9cI/AAAAAAAAAwM/QkU5aUMdgoY/s320/CIMG0353b.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091784144771085762" /></a><br /><br />Preparing the fire for shashlik.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmmy8YL9dI/AAAAAAAAAwU/5jedGjTDvMk/s1600-h/CIMG0354.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmmy8YL9dI/AAAAAAAAAwU/5jedGjTDvMk/s320/CIMG0354.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091784247850300882" /></a><br /><br />There was also a little sauna which we used. The technique they use is to go in and out three times or more. First you sit there for some time then you take a cold shower and then you go to the kitchen and drink some tea, and this is just repeated.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-16418337549117669472007-07-27T00:52:00.001-07:002007-07-27T01:19:52.308-07:00Post cardWhen my parents were here they bought some quite nice post cards. I guess the pictures on the post cards were quite old because the places look a lot different today.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmlz8YL9VI/AAAAAAAAAvU/0mKGCzLwHu4/s1600-h/Billede046.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmlz8YL9VI/AAAAAAAAAvU/0mKGCzLwHu4/s320/Billede046.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091783165518542162" /></a><br /><br />This is the post card. The yellow bus is actually an old Danish HT bus. I assume the picture is from the Soviet period because there a no commercials.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqml4cYL9WI/AAAAAAAAAvc/UyH-aje678M/s1600-h/Billede046c.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqml4cYL9WI/AAAAAAAAAvc/UyH-aje678M/s320/Billede046c.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091783242827953506" /></a><br /><br />Today there are some big commercial signs. The buildings look quite old now and the sun beams went away but the trees do not seem to have grown much. Today the area has both buses - though not the old Danish ones - and trolley buses (note the wires in the air). I guess the trolley buses are only here still to serve very poor people because they are quite trashed but they are even cheaper to use than the buses. I don't know if the metro had reached this area at the time of the post card, but today there is a metro station under the crossroad.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-25017558499518483532007-07-27T00:51:00.004-07:002007-07-27T01:19:45.838-07:00WhistlingIt was not until recently I noticed that people here never whistle. They actually don't know how to do it. I asked what people here then do when they are happy but I did not really get an answer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-81183560358082846852007-07-27T00:51:00.003-07:002007-07-27T01:19:40.456-07:00The market, part 3I can never stop making pictures at the markets, I keep discovering new stuff.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlUMYL9QI/AAAAAAAAAus/UC6PrEAg3dM/s1600-h/SP_A0034.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlUMYL9QI/AAAAAAAAAus/UC6PrEAg3dM/s320/SP_A0034.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091782620057695490" /></a><br /><br />This is a flea market section of the central market.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlYcYL9RI/AAAAAAAAAu0/ssOJXEEuG9A/s1600-h/SP_A0039.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlYcYL9RI/AAAAAAAAAu0/ssOJXEEuG9A/s320/SP_A0039.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091782693072139538" /></a><br /><br />I love this picture. He is selling food for animals but actually one of the buckets contain the same kind of Ukrainian snacks they sell for people, I guess that is not wise marketing.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlcsYL9SI/AAAAAAAAAu8/yweUk0qDwIY/s1600-h/SP_A0041.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlcsYL9SI/AAAAAAAAAu8/yweUk0qDwIY/s320/SP_A0041.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091782766086583586" /></a><br /><br />At the central market you can also buy yourself a wedding dress.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmljMYL9TI/AAAAAAAAAvE/WlE1n5e01SU/s1600-h/SP_A0042.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmljMYL9TI/AAAAAAAAAvE/WlE1n5e01SU/s320/SP_A0042.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091782877755733298" /></a><br /><br />These people are selling pets and if you don't want a whole pet you can buy just the skin. The building in the back is actually where our offices used to be situated, but that was before my company joined.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmln8YL9UI/AAAAAAAAAvM/S5TZsUwbBoE/s1600-h/SP_A0044.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmln8YL9UI/AAAAAAAAAvM/S5TZsUwbBoE/s320/SP_A0044.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091782959360111938" /></a><br /><br />She is selling 'Kvas', the special beer-like beverage which is sometimes used in Okroshka.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-42842257787742635042007-07-27T00:51:00.001-07:002007-07-27T01:47:31.189-07:00The PimpLast week I met a real pimp. I was going home from a club early in the morning and I needed a taxi. Already when I met the driver it was a bit strange because he said the price was 'whatever I wanted to pay him' and he had an unusually big and nice car. When I got into the car he started driving slowly in the wrong direction and when I notified him of that he said something like 'just a minute' and 'we will turn around soon'. All the time he was laughing in a kind of nasty way and he was asking me personal questions using some quite rude language. And in between laughing he was calling someone on the phone many times and shouting like a madman. Then he stopped in front of an apartment and a young quite good looking girl came out and into the back seat. She asked me if I liked her and she told me she was a student of economics. The driver had told me that she was not a prostitute but when we finally arrived at my apartment he asked for a lot more money than the usual taxi ride. At that time I thought it would be interesting to talk with a real prostitute so I gave him some money but then they just drove away. I guess that makes me quite a big sucker. What is more dumb though is that he somehow got my number and now he calls me every day and asks if I 'need a lady'. I have to say that this is the first time I met a really unpleasant person and I think I may be sort of happy that he was not actually Ukrainian.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlH8YL9PI/AAAAAAAAAuk/lq7JElM48fo/s1600-h/SP_A0178.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmlH8YL9PI/AAAAAAAAAuk/lq7JElM48fo/s320/SP_A0178.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091782409604297970" /></a><br /><br />The driver showed me these pictures of him together with a lot of different lightly dressed women.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579992311907715850.post-28164446346031259772007-07-27T00:45:00.000-07:002007-07-27T01:19:28.219-07:00Secrets of KharkovThere are some things only known to the people of Kharkov, for example the whereabouts of some bus stops. When I first came to Kharkov I often wondered why there where a lot of people standing in the streets for no apparent reason. Only later did I found out that those people are actually waiting for the buses. But you have to know where to wait because most often there are no signs. Similarly a lot of shops have very minimal advertising, you have to know that these shops exist. In a city where practically no people speak English it also is not so convenient for me when they keep the stuff I need under the counter.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmkf8YL9LI/AAAAAAAAAuE/e2ZNIJt-a_U/s1600-h/CIMG0052.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/Rqmkf8YL9LI/AAAAAAAAAuE/e2ZNIJt-a_U/s320/CIMG0052.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091781722409530546" /></a><br /><br />You may wonder why these people are just standing there.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmksMYL9NI/AAAAAAAAAuU/lgVFhdx1_z4/s1600-h/CIMG0408.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmksMYL9NI/AAAAAAAAAuU/lgVFhdx1_z4/s320/CIMG0408.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091781932862928082" /></a><br /><br />I was told that somewhere behind those doors you can buy instruments.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmklcYL9MI/AAAAAAAAAuM/UC000omrIl8/s1600-h/CIMG0177.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmklcYL9MI/AAAAAAAAAuM/UC000omrIl8/s320/CIMG0177.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091781816898811074" /></a><br /><br />Behind the door to the right is a nice little cafe.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmkysYL9OI/AAAAAAAAAuc/9g2tIPZFXOU/s1600-h/CIMG0412.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1wU4l60Qm70/RqmkysYL9OI/AAAAAAAAAuc/9g2tIPZFXOU/s320/CIMG0412.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091782044532077794" /></a><br /><br />When you don't know Russian even stuff like this is a small mystery. I have no idea what these people are doing except I can see that they are filling out some paper forms and on the building there are pictures of a train accident. Actually, I guess this might be somehow connected to the recent accident in Lviv.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0