One of the nice remainders from former Soviet Union is the annual "Professional Day".
In the communist days there was a special day for each profession - the accountants, the policemen, the secret service, the railway worker, and so forth. On this day, all people belonging to this group of professionals were celebrated. That meant of course - they did not work, instead they received some presents from all those who want to make sure that the good relations are being preserved for another year.
November 16 is the day of the people working in telecommunications.
Nowadays this does not mean for all peope working at Ericsson, that we don't work. But some of our partners in Ukraine - the more administraive the more they remember - never forget to send cards with their appreciation and some of them also bring presents and use this day as a good reason to care about fostering the good relations.
So on November 16 Peter received a bunch of nice cards from various organizations, had interesting meetings with these business partners and felt that this is definitely one of the nice things when working here in Ukraine.
The unsolved question: Where is the calendar in which you can read about all those days?
20091126
20091122
Time for Vitamines !!
Peter got the possibility to buy fruits from the local wholesaler. So before the whole family came back from Vienna, the first order was made and delivered home by Peter.
It's meant to be buying for something else than normal households - buying by the crate.
This time we got Avocados and Ananas, and they really came in great quality, much better than in the super market! After 3 days enjoying the idea to have almost endless supply of these fruits at home now, we have been successful in eating at least 3 Ananas & 3 Avocados.
Now we will visit www. Chefkoch.de much more often to make sure we don't only eat Curry and Guacamole every day ...
20091104
Swine Flu - the Austrian Perspective
Stuck in Vienna, the 3 girls try to make the best of it.
We have done the vaccination against the normal flue (influenza) and will do the one against swine flue next week, as soon as it is available. The vaccine against H1N1 is not available in Ukraine, so we prepare ourselves before our return.
Our landlord confirmed yesterday, that we can prolongue our stay.
Peter managed to rebook our flights for later in November.
Now we are only waiting for the OK from the French School in Vienna that the kids may attend school here as long as our school is closed.
Yesterday, as we were listening to the news on the radio, the first 2 headlines had an Austria-Ukraine context: the first one was about the upcoming gas-crisis (Putin warned the EU yesterday, that Ukraine was not fullfilling its obligations) and the second one was about mouth covers (leftover respiratory masks from last winter are donated to Ukraine by Austria).
The girls are in Baden with Oma for 2 days and meanwhile Sylvie is working on her new project (yupeeh!).
Snow fall began yesterday, so we had to go shopping for snow boots because of our unexpected extension of stay. A friend also helped us out with kids' clothes - that we hadn't brough in sufficient quantity.
Feeling like fugitives, but in a very priviliged situation. Improvisation rules!
We have done the vaccination against the normal flue (influenza) and will do the one against swine flue next week, as soon as it is available. The vaccine against H1N1 is not available in Ukraine, so we prepare ourselves before our return.
Our landlord confirmed yesterday, that we can prolongue our stay.
Peter managed to rebook our flights for later in November.
Now we are only waiting for the OK from the French School in Vienna that the kids may attend school here as long as our school is closed.
Yesterday, as we were listening to the news on the radio, the first 2 headlines had an Austria-Ukraine context: the first one was about the upcoming gas-crisis (Putin warned the EU yesterday, that Ukraine was not fullfilling its obligations) and the second one was about mouth covers (leftover respiratory masks from last winter are donated to Ukraine by Austria).
The girls are in Baden with Oma for 2 days and meanwhile Sylvie is working on her new project (yupeeh!).
Snow fall began yesterday, so we had to go shopping for snow boots because of our unexpected extension of stay. A friend also helped us out with kids' clothes - that we hadn't brough in sufficient quantity.
Feeling like fugitives, but in a very priviliged situation. Improvisation rules!
20091101
The Swine Flu - Ukrainian Reactions & Thoughts
Since earlier this week, there were several cases of deaths in the Western parts of Ukraine - Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil. About 20 of the deaths have been attributed to the so-called swine flu. For more details, see below.
The government and the President have acted with all force and decisiveness, as they all want to save the country in their possibly last days of power.
Schools, Universities and other places, where people get education are closed for the next 3 weeks. Why so long? Bad mouths say that's because 2 or 3 weeks holiday in Egypt are so much cheaper than 1 week and then a prolongation.
All other places, where you maybe meet many people, but your brain is not used as much continue to work normally - metro, busses, offices, ...
Cinemas, concerts and football matches (despite the fact that the latter normally doesn't cause high brain activity) will not happen, for some time.
The prime minister declared that the ongoing campaign for the presidential elections (by the way - did you forget that this is the over-arching theme here at the moment?) shall take a break. Some people say, that was declared on Friday because the president had planned a big event on Sunday, but that's of course not confirmed. Others say that's because politicians want to accompany their kids to Egypt.
What does it mean for us?
1) Sylvie and the kids will stay in Vienna until the dust is settled, the virus is frozen, the worst is over and school starts again
2) Life has changed for the one that's stuck in the chaos:
a) When Peter went to the big Halloween-party organized by the US-Marines, the most popular costumes were doctors, nurses and swine-flu-virus-carriers.
Small detail: the house of the Marines is a cool place. Behind the bar they have the flag of the US-marine corps side-by-side with a huge Lenin-sculpture. Spooky. Who of those who know the cold war would have thought that would become possible in our life time?
b) the safest place outside th apartment seems to be the golf course, as there are VERY few people there. Luckily the weather was good this week-end, so the afternoons were spent there. Spooky - where to go when they close next week-end?
c) When Peter goes to the supermarket, it's crowded and there are few people with masks (Peter hopes to get one next week). Spooky again, better to avoid these many people, so shopping will now happen only late in the evening or in the early morning.
d) Can Peter go to the upcoming match of the champions league on Wednesday ???? Will Dynamo Kyiv play in a spookily-empty stadium?
e) The office is still working normally - will there be any cases of flu? Then we have to close down the office and make it also a spooky place - empty for weeks of quaranteen.
For all those who don't understand what's going on - we recommend to read: "Die letzte Liebe des Praesidenten" (The last love of the president) by Andrey Kurkov. You will find some useful hints to what's going on.
If you need some objective information about the situation, please read the information from the German Embassy as of yesterday:
Informationsüberblick
29.10.2009, 16.00 Uhr, Auf der Homepage des ukr. Gesundheitsministeriums wurden folgende Zahlen (Stand: 29.10.2009) veröffentlicht:
In den drei westukrainischen Oblasten Ivano-Frankiwsk, Lemberg und Ternopil sind insgesamt 37923 Personen an Grippe erkrankt, davon sind 951 im Krankenhaus und 30 verstorben. Weiterhin hat das ukrainische Gesundheitsministerium auf seiner Homepage am 30.10.2009 folgende Angaben des Gesundheitsministers veröffentlicht: Das Institut für Epidimiologie und Infektionserkrankungen hat 22 Proben von Erkrankten untersucht. 11 Untersuchungsergebnisse ergaben Grippe Typ A und davon sieben A/H1N1-California. Die Experten des Viruslabors des Gesundheitsminsteriums haben 8 andere Proben untersucht. Vier davon ergaben Grippe A/H1N1-California (Eine Probe davon war von einem Verstorbenen). Anmerkung: "A/H1N1- wird auch als "Schweinegrippe" bezeichnet.
31.10.2009, Auf der Homepage des ukr. Gesundheitsministeriums wurden folgende Zahlen (Stand: 31.10.2009, 09.00 Uhr) veröffentlicht:
An Grippe erkrankt in der gesamten Ukraine:
164.000 Personen (davon 48.700 in Lemberg, 29.600 in Ternopil, 17.600 in Ivano-Frankiwsk, aber auch im Osten der Ukraine Donezk 15.000 und Charkow 10.200)
Davon im Krankenhaus: 5239
Davon verstorben: 39 (alle aus den westlichen Oblasten der Ukraine, so zB. 14 Verstorbene in Lemberg, 13 in Ternopil und 6 in Ivano-Frankiwsk)
Einschätzung der Krankheitsschwere
Auszug aus der Homepage des Robert Koch Instituts: "Nach Einschätzung der WHO vom 16.10.2009 verursacht die Neue Influenza nach wie vor in den meisten Fällen milde Krankheitsverläufe ohne Komplikationen und mit vollständiger Genesung. Besorgniserregend ist aber der schwere und bei der saisonalen Influenza so nicht bekannte Verlauf bei einer geringen Anzahl von Fällen, der zu beatmungspflichtiger, intensivmedizinischer Betreuung und zu Todesfällen insbesondere auch in jüngeren Altersgruppen führt. Obwohl das Risiko eines schweren Verlaufs für bestimmte Personengruppen deutlich erhöht ist, können auch gesunde junge Erwachsene sehr schwer erkranken."
30.10.2009, Beschluss des Ministerkabinetts der Ukraine hat die Nr. 1152 vom 30.10.2009. Dieser Beschluss besteht aus 18 Punkten von denen vier wesentlichen sind - sie lauten in deutscher Übersetzung:
"1. Ab 30.10.2009 wird im Hoheitsgebiet der Ukraine die höchste Stufe der Gefahr der Verbreitung der Grippe A/H1/N1/California/04/09 ausgerufen, und die Durchführung jeglicher Massenveranstaltungen wird verboten.
2. Ab 30.10.2009 wird für 3 Wochen die Quarantäne in den Gebieten Winnyzja, Wolhynien, Transkarpatien, Iwano-Frankiwsk, Lwiw, Riwne, Ternopil, Chmelnyzky und Czernowitz angeordnet.
3. Die Forderungen des Gesundheitsministeriums in den Bereichen Prophylaxe und Kampf gegen die Ausbreitung der pandemischen Grippe sind von allen Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens, Unternehmen, Institutionen und Organisationen unabhängig von deren Eigentumsform verbindlich umzusetzen.
4. Das Ministerium für Bildung und Wissenschaft und andere Behörden der Exekutive, die Bildungseinrichtungen verwalten; der Ministerrat der Autonomen Republik Krim, die Gebietsverwaltungen sowie die Stadtverwaltungen von Kiew und Sewastopol müssen ab dem 2. November 2009 für drei Wochen Ferien in allen Bildungseinrichtungen unabhängig von deren Eigentumsform anordnen und Vorschuleinrichtungen für Kinder schließen." Den vollständigen Text dieses Kabinettbeschlusses finden Sie in ukrainischer Sprache unter:
http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/uk/cardnpd
Der Botschaft liegt die Übersetzung des Erlasses Nr. 996 vom 30.10.2009 des Ministeriums für Bildung und Wissenschaft der Ukraine vor, der sich auf den o.a. Ministerkabinettsbeschluss Nr. 1152 bezieht. Im Erlass wird die Einstellung des Lehrbetriebs... an Bildungsstätten in der gesamten Ukraine für drei Wochen beginnend ab 31.10.2009 angeordnet.
Anmerkung zum Begriff Quarantäne:
Nach Kenntnisstand der Botschaft wird in der ukrainischen Sprache das Wort "Karantin", das ins Deutsche mit dem Wort "Quarantäne" übersetzt wird, bereits verwendet, wenn -wie im vorliegenden Fall geschehen- Bildungseinrichtungen für einen bestimmten Zeitraum geschlossen werden. Die Botschaft hat bisher keine offiziellen Hinweise erhalten, dass im vorliegenden Fall von den Behörden Maßnahmen im Sinne des deutschen Wortes "Quarantäne" - also z.B. Isolierung von Personen, Transportmitteln und Gebäuden oder Regionen ergriffen worden sind. Die deutsche Honorarkonsulin in Lemberg hat der Botschaft am 31.10.-9.30 Uhr mitgeteilt, dass von einer Quarantäne im deutschen Sinn keine Rede ist. Sie wird die Botschaft diesbezüglich auf dem Laufenden halten.
The government and the President have acted with all force and decisiveness, as they all want to save the country in their possibly last days of power.
Schools, Universities and other places, where people get education are closed for the next 3 weeks. Why so long? Bad mouths say that's because 2 or 3 weeks holiday in Egypt are so much cheaper than 1 week and then a prolongation.
All other places, where you maybe meet many people, but your brain is not used as much continue to work normally - metro, busses, offices, ...
Cinemas, concerts and football matches (despite the fact that the latter normally doesn't cause high brain activity) will not happen, for some time.
The prime minister declared that the ongoing campaign for the presidential elections (by the way - did you forget that this is the over-arching theme here at the moment?) shall take a break. Some people say, that was declared on Friday because the president had planned a big event on Sunday, but that's of course not confirmed. Others say that's because politicians want to accompany their kids to Egypt.
What does it mean for us?
1) Sylvie and the kids will stay in Vienna until the dust is settled, the virus is frozen, the worst is over and school starts again
2) Life has changed for the one that's stuck in the chaos:
a) When Peter went to the big Halloween-party organized by the US-Marines, the most popular costumes were doctors, nurses and swine-flu-virus-carriers.
Small detail: the house of the Marines is a cool place. Behind the bar they have the flag of the US-marine corps side-by-side with a huge Lenin-sculpture. Spooky. Who of those who know the cold war would have thought that would become possible in our life time?
b) the safest place outside th apartment seems to be the golf course, as there are VERY few people there. Luckily the weather was good this week-end, so the afternoons were spent there. Spooky - where to go when they close next week-end?
c) When Peter goes to the supermarket, it's crowded and there are few people with masks (Peter hopes to get one next week). Spooky again, better to avoid these many people, so shopping will now happen only late in the evening or in the early morning.
d) Can Peter go to the upcoming match of the champions league on Wednesday ???? Will Dynamo Kyiv play in a spookily-empty stadium?
e) The office is still working normally - will there be any cases of flu? Then we have to close down the office and make it also a spooky place - empty for weeks of quaranteen.
For all those who don't understand what's going on - we recommend to read: "Die letzte Liebe des Praesidenten" (The last love of the president) by Andrey Kurkov. You will find some useful hints to what's going on.
If you need some objective information about the situation, please read the information from the German Embassy as of yesterday:
Informationsüberblick
29.10.2009, 16.00 Uhr, Auf der Homepage des ukr. Gesundheitsministeriums wurden folgende Zahlen (Stand: 29.10.2009) veröffentlicht:
In den drei westukrainischen Oblasten Ivano-Frankiwsk, Lemberg und Ternopil sind insgesamt 37923 Personen an Grippe erkrankt, davon sind 951 im Krankenhaus und 30 verstorben. Weiterhin hat das ukrainische Gesundheitsministerium auf seiner Homepage am 30.10.2009 folgende Angaben des Gesundheitsministers veröffentlicht: Das Institut für Epidimiologie und Infektionserkrankungen hat 22 Proben von Erkrankten untersucht. 11 Untersuchungsergebnisse ergaben Grippe Typ A und davon sieben A/H1N1-California. Die Experten des Viruslabors des Gesundheitsminsteriums haben 8 andere Proben untersucht. Vier davon ergaben Grippe A/H1N1-California (Eine Probe davon war von einem Verstorbenen). Anmerkung: "A/H1N1- wird auch als "Schweinegrippe" bezeichnet.
31.10.2009, Auf der Homepage des ukr. Gesundheitsministeriums wurden folgende Zahlen (Stand: 31.10.2009, 09.00 Uhr) veröffentlicht:
An Grippe erkrankt in der gesamten Ukraine:
164.000 Personen (davon 48.700 in Lemberg, 29.600 in Ternopil, 17.600 in Ivano-Frankiwsk, aber auch im Osten der Ukraine Donezk 15.000 und Charkow 10.200)
Davon im Krankenhaus: 5239
Davon verstorben: 39 (alle aus den westlichen Oblasten der Ukraine, so zB. 14 Verstorbene in Lemberg, 13 in Ternopil und 6 in Ivano-Frankiwsk)
Einschätzung der Krankheitsschwere
Auszug aus der Homepage des Robert Koch Instituts: "Nach Einschätzung der WHO vom 16.10.2009 verursacht die Neue Influenza nach wie vor in den meisten Fällen milde Krankheitsverläufe ohne Komplikationen und mit vollständiger Genesung. Besorgniserregend ist aber der schwere und bei der saisonalen Influenza so nicht bekannte Verlauf bei einer geringen Anzahl von Fällen, der zu beatmungspflichtiger, intensivmedizinischer Betreuung und zu Todesfällen insbesondere auch in jüngeren Altersgruppen führt. Obwohl das Risiko eines schweren Verlaufs für bestimmte Personengruppen deutlich erhöht ist, können auch gesunde junge Erwachsene sehr schwer erkranken."
30.10.2009, Beschluss des Ministerkabinetts der Ukraine hat die Nr. 1152 vom 30.10.2009. Dieser Beschluss besteht aus 18 Punkten von denen vier wesentlichen sind - sie lauten in deutscher Übersetzung:
"1. Ab 30.10.2009 wird im Hoheitsgebiet der Ukraine die höchste Stufe der Gefahr der Verbreitung der Grippe A/H1/N1/California/04/09 ausgerufen, und die Durchführung jeglicher Massenveranstaltungen wird verboten.
2. Ab 30.10.2009 wird für 3 Wochen die Quarantäne in den Gebieten Winnyzja, Wolhynien, Transkarpatien, Iwano-Frankiwsk, Lwiw, Riwne, Ternopil, Chmelnyzky und Czernowitz angeordnet.
3. Die Forderungen des Gesundheitsministeriums in den Bereichen Prophylaxe und Kampf gegen die Ausbreitung der pandemischen Grippe sind von allen Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens, Unternehmen, Institutionen und Organisationen unabhängig von deren Eigentumsform verbindlich umzusetzen.
4. Das Ministerium für Bildung und Wissenschaft und andere Behörden der Exekutive, die Bildungseinrichtungen verwalten; der Ministerrat der Autonomen Republik Krim, die Gebietsverwaltungen sowie die Stadtverwaltungen von Kiew und Sewastopol müssen ab dem 2. November 2009 für drei Wochen Ferien in allen Bildungseinrichtungen unabhängig von deren Eigentumsform anordnen und Vorschuleinrichtungen für Kinder schließen." Den vollständigen Text dieses Kabinettbeschlusses finden Sie in ukrainischer Sprache unter:
http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/uk/cardnpd
Der Botschaft liegt die Übersetzung des Erlasses Nr. 996 vom 30.10.2009 des Ministeriums für Bildung und Wissenschaft der Ukraine vor, der sich auf den o.a. Ministerkabinettsbeschluss Nr. 1152 bezieht. Im Erlass wird die Einstellung des Lehrbetriebs... an Bildungsstätten in der gesamten Ukraine für drei Wochen beginnend ab 31.10.2009 angeordnet.
Anmerkung zum Begriff Quarantäne:
Nach Kenntnisstand der Botschaft wird in der ukrainischen Sprache das Wort "Karantin", das ins Deutsche mit dem Wort "Quarantäne" übersetzt wird, bereits verwendet, wenn -wie im vorliegenden Fall geschehen- Bildungseinrichtungen für einen bestimmten Zeitraum geschlossen werden. Die Botschaft hat bisher keine offiziellen Hinweise erhalten, dass im vorliegenden Fall von den Behörden Maßnahmen im Sinne des deutschen Wortes "Quarantäne" - also z.B. Isolierung von Personen, Transportmitteln und Gebäuden oder Regionen ergriffen worden sind. Die deutsche Honorarkonsulin in Lemberg hat der Botschaft am 31.10.-9.30 Uhr mitgeteilt, dass von einer Quarantäne im deutschen Sinn keine Rede ist. Sie wird die Botschaft diesbezüglich auf dem Laufenden halten.
20091018
Les 7 Ans de Nathalie
October 17 was birthday of Nahalie. As it was Saturday, the party was organized the same day.
The theme of the party - telephone - meant some trouble for parents who needed to equip their kids not only with their mobile phones, but some also came in phone dresses.
A series of games was played, and even the "Kasperl / Guignol" was looking for the phone that was lost by the princess.
Now let's see if the "age de raison" is not only an empty proverb.
Preparing for hard times
Winter is coming in, the heating season has started yesterday, October 16th.
So now it's time to reveal that we have passed the level 2 - survival training camp organized by EBA - European Business Agency
- for all those who are currently stationed in Ukraine and want to survive till 2010.
So here the story goes - we all leave in 5 ships to our training camp - a well known pirate island in the Dnjepr, about 1 hour away from Kiev center. We pass by hundreds of Ukrainians who pass time with their favorite sport - fishing in a little boat on the Dnjepr.
We are told to arrive in Pirate's costumes, so that the inhabitants of the island will not recognize us as foreigners and eat us straight away. Some of us do quite well ...
On the island we learn how it is when you are far away from civilization, and you still have to make a living - and most of all - how to keep on fighintg.
We learn fighting -
1) The Ukrainian way in the line waiting for lunch and dinner
2) The Japanese way as Sumo-ringers
3) The Swiss way with hi-tec-archery.
We did the trip after coming back from vacation from the warm and safe areas of Western Europe, this just to prepare any newcomers for the winter season!
So now it's time to reveal that we have passed the level 2 - survival training camp organized by EBA - European Business Agency
- for all those who are currently stationed in Ukraine and want to survive till 2010.So here the story goes - we all leave in 5 ships to our training camp - a well known pirate island in the Dnjepr, about 1 hour away from Kiev center. We pass by hundreds of Ukrainians who pass time with their favorite sport - fishing in a little boat on the Dnjepr.
We are told to arrive in Pirate's costumes, so that the inhabitants of the island will not recognize us as foreigners and eat us straight away. Some of us do quite well ...
On the island we learn how it is when you are far away from civilization, and you still have to make a living - and most of all - how to keep on fighintg.
We learn fighting -
1) The Ukrainian way in the line waiting for lunch and dinner
2) The Japanese way as Sumo-ringers
3) The Swiss way with hi-tec-archery.
We did the trip after coming back from vacation from the warm and safe areas of Western Europe, this just to prepare any newcomers for the winter season!
20091008
Deciphering the Political Landscape of Ukraine
Today, I listened to a very knowledgeable presentation on Ukrainian politics between the Orange Revolution and today.
Because of the language barrier, I had barely begun to decipher the various names and affiliations of politicians and was very thankful for this overview. I have decided to do my homework online, that is, to retell what I was told (with the help of Wikipedia for the gaps) on this blog.
The most urgent of all questions, that we keep asking ourselves almost daily: how and when will the country come out of this deep political and economic crisis?
The calendar
A glance at the calendar of upcoming political events is part of any answer:
The election campaign for the next presidential elections will officially start on October 19th 2009. The city has been covered with posters, counter-posters and mobile stands for some weeks already. The first round of the elections is scheduled for January 17th 2010. The second round is scheduled for February 7th. The results should be official by the end of February (including appeals and court decisions) and then the new president comes into office within one month.
Bear in mind: orthodox christmas is on January 6th, orthodox epiphany is on January 19th (2 days after the first round of elections). Normally, between Jan. 1st and January 19th, there is not much (business-) activity going on. People are with their families, in their datchas, etc.
So, with a new president in office by the end of March 2010, the municipal elections will take place simultaneously (in March 2010), followed by elections for the regional parliaments in April 2010.
The presidential candidates
The 5 main candidates will most likely be (they can declare their candidacy officially only on October 19th 2009):
Victor Yushchenko (born in 1954) is President today and his party is called "Nascha Ukraina" (Our Ukraine). He was an ally of Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko during the Orange Revolution of 2004. He is an economist, worked as a banker, as chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine he co-created the national currency "grivna". He was also Prime Minister under the previous President Leonid Kouchma. He wants closer ties with the Eu and NATO and would like to put more distance between Ukraine and Russia. He is popular in the West of the country. Current rates of approval are only at 6%.
Yulia Tymoshenko (born in 1960) is Prime Minister today and her party is called "Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko" BYut). She was an ally of President Victor Yushchenko during the Orange Revolution of 2004. She is an economist and made her money in the oil and gas industry, especially in gas-barter-trade in the early 1990s. From this time, she is considered to be one of the rich oligarchs of the country. She wants closer ties with Russia than Yushchenko but is also all for a membership both in NATO and the EU. Her logo is a heart and she has already rallied support from popular Ukrainian show people. Her campaign stresses that the others talk while she works.
Victor Yanukovich (born in 1950) was hand-picked by former President Kouchma to succeed him at the end of his term in 2004, but the whistle was blown by the orange revolution on the blatant election fraud that took place. His party is called "Party of Regions" and he wants to give the Russian language the status of second official language of the country (currently it is Ukrainian only). He served some time in prison on criminal charges (robbery, assault) and is popular in the east and south of the country.
Arsenyi Yatseniouk (born in 1974) was minister of Foreign Affairs and Speaker of Parliament and his party is called "Front Smin" (Front of Change). He is an economist and lawyer. His ongoing poster-campaign (and tents!) has a military look, but apparently that's just my mis-perception. He uses his first name in the campaign. It is supposed to attract young voters. He campaigns on "change" and that he can save the country.
The fifth not-yet-candidate chosen by our presenter this morning is Sergii Tihipko (born in 1960). He campaigns on "change" and is a former minister of economics.
Because of the language barrier, I had barely begun to decipher the various names and affiliations of politicians and was very thankful for this overview. I have decided to do my homework online, that is, to retell what I was told (with the help of Wikipedia for the gaps) on this blog.
The most urgent of all questions, that we keep asking ourselves almost daily: how and when will the country come out of this deep political and economic crisis?
The calendar
A glance at the calendar of upcoming political events is part of any answer:
The election campaign for the next presidential elections will officially start on October 19th 2009. The city has been covered with posters, counter-posters and mobile stands for some weeks already. The first round of the elections is scheduled for January 17th 2010. The second round is scheduled for February 7th. The results should be official by the end of February (including appeals and court decisions) and then the new president comes into office within one month.
Bear in mind: orthodox christmas is on January 6th, orthodox epiphany is on January 19th (2 days after the first round of elections). Normally, between Jan. 1st and January 19th, there is not much (business-) activity going on. People are with their families, in their datchas, etc.
So, with a new president in office by the end of March 2010, the municipal elections will take place simultaneously (in March 2010), followed by elections for the regional parliaments in April 2010.
The presidential candidates
The 5 main candidates will most likely be (they can declare their candidacy officially only on October 19th 2009):
Victor Yushchenko (born in 1954) is President today and his party is called "Nascha Ukraina" (Our Ukraine). He was an ally of Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko during the Orange Revolution of 2004. He is an economist, worked as a banker, as chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine he co-created the national currency "grivna". He was also Prime Minister under the previous President Leonid Kouchma. He wants closer ties with the Eu and NATO and would like to put more distance between Ukraine and Russia. He is popular in the West of the country. Current rates of approval are only at 6%.
Yulia Tymoshenko (born in 1960) is Prime Minister today and her party is called "Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko" BYut). She was an ally of President Victor Yushchenko during the Orange Revolution of 2004. She is an economist and made her money in the oil and gas industry, especially in gas-barter-trade in the early 1990s. From this time, she is considered to be one of the rich oligarchs of the country. She wants closer ties with Russia than Yushchenko but is also all for a membership both in NATO and the EU. Her logo is a heart and she has already rallied support from popular Ukrainian show people. Her campaign stresses that the others talk while she works.
Victor Yanukovich (born in 1950) was hand-picked by former President Kouchma to succeed him at the end of his term in 2004, but the whistle was blown by the orange revolution on the blatant election fraud that took place. His party is called "Party of Regions" and he wants to give the Russian language the status of second official language of the country (currently it is Ukrainian only). He served some time in prison on criminal charges (robbery, assault) and is popular in the east and south of the country.
Arsenyi Yatseniouk (born in 1974) was minister of Foreign Affairs and Speaker of Parliament and his party is called "Front Smin" (Front of Change). He is an economist and lawyer. His ongoing poster-campaign (and tents!) has a military look, but apparently that's just my mis-perception. He uses his first name in the campaign. It is supposed to attract young voters. He campaigns on "change" and that he can save the country.
The fifth not-yet-candidate chosen by our presenter this morning is Sergii Tihipko (born in 1960). He campaigns on "change" and is a former minister of economics.
20090629
Heading back home
Our flight home was scheduled for 12:15h on Monday.
Determined to take a more knowledgeable and local approach to our way home, we went to the central bus station of Yalta one day prior to our return trip. There we found a bus to Simferopol airport leaving at 9:20h and we were told that the bus would take approximately 2-2,5 hours. Brave as we were, we purchased two tickets for us and two tickets for our luggage and paid 48 UAH altogether (compare this with the 450 UAH for the taxi!).
The marshrutka took us back to the hotel for a nice last evening.
The next morning, we were surprised by the fantastic check-out routine performed by the overstaffed reception desk at our hotel: super quick, super efficient, super friendly and super correct. Most hotels in Austria could take a lesson here!
After breakfast, we headed to the marshrutka bus stop where we saw our last chance to try the legendary trolley bus linking Yalta with Simferopol....... because it stops on the way at the central bus station ;-) It worked well!
We were there way too early, but when we had identified our bus and the driver summoned everyone to get on board, he told us, that we had to go and buy new tickets for our luggage. So Peter ran off to the cash counter, they told him to pay directly at the driver's.... in the meantime the latter had realized his mistake (the ticket for the luggage was printed on our passenger tickets) and had hauled the suitcases into the bus.
Everyone waited for departure, but at 9:24h, the driver was still smoking. He was constantly looking at the public clock of the railway station that was running several minutes late! In the end, we got on board and took off. The bus was supposed to be a direct link with Simferopol central bus station (and onwards to the airport), but the driver wouldn't miss out on the chance to earn some extra money by letting passengers in and out on the way. Many of the other passengers on board were headed for a train or plane and didn't want to arrive late. Tension grew along the way. At some point, the driver stopped to let a group of four people in. The first newbe stepped in and asked, if there were 4 places left. The driver said "yes" and the rest of the passengers was quick to said "no" in chorus..... they were squeezed in anyway.
After the stop at the central bus station we were looking forward to arriving on time at the airport after all. The tension began to relax. People were looking forward to arriving to their planes on time. But a new surprise-move by our driver shook us out of our dreams: he pulls up at a car repair shop and steps out of the bus. He starts a discussion with the workers and shortly after, the air pressure in all four tires is meticulously checked. A lot of the passengers get out of the bus (no aircondition!) and wait in the shade. What else can you do?
Finally, the trip continues and we arrive at the airport at 11:30am. And - oh wonder! - our return tickets have not been cancelled! We may actually board.
And we return home safely.
Having landed at the domestic terminal, the pre-ordered taxi driver is not there. So we head off for the international terminal, find the driver with the sign of Peter's company and let him take us home. On the way, our phone rings and the taxi-boss asks us, where we are. We tell him, we sit in one of his taxis, but he says, that his driver is looking for us at the airport.......
One of Peter's colleagues had arrived at the same time and we had apparently taken his taxi (he found a guerilla way to town). Our driver then began wild discussions on the phone with our phone and his two phones, sometime in parallel. Surprisingly, we arrived home safely :-) and paid the pre-arranged price.
Determined to take a more knowledgeable and local approach to our way home, we went to the central bus station of Yalta one day prior to our return trip. There we found a bus to Simferopol airport leaving at 9:20h and we were told that the bus would take approximately 2-2,5 hours. Brave as we were, we purchased two tickets for us and two tickets for our luggage and paid 48 UAH altogether (compare this with the 450 UAH for the taxi!).
The marshrutka took us back to the hotel for a nice last evening.
The next morning, we were surprised by the fantastic check-out routine performed by the overstaffed reception desk at our hotel: super quick, super efficient, super friendly and super correct. Most hotels in Austria could take a lesson here!
After breakfast, we headed to the marshrutka bus stop where we saw our last chance to try the legendary trolley bus linking Yalta with Simferopol....... because it stops on the way at the central bus station ;-) It worked well!
We were there way too early, but when we had identified our bus and the driver summoned everyone to get on board, he told us, that we had to go and buy new tickets for our luggage. So Peter ran off to the cash counter, they told him to pay directly at the driver's.... in the meantime the latter had realized his mistake (the ticket for the luggage was printed on our passenger tickets) and had hauled the suitcases into the bus.
Everyone waited for departure, but at 9:24h, the driver was still smoking. He was constantly looking at the public clock of the railway station that was running several minutes late! In the end, we got on board and took off. The bus was supposed to be a direct link with Simferopol central bus station (and onwards to the airport), but the driver wouldn't miss out on the chance to earn some extra money by letting passengers in and out on the way. Many of the other passengers on board were headed for a train or plane and didn't want to arrive late. Tension grew along the way. At some point, the driver stopped to let a group of four people in. The first newbe stepped in and asked, if there were 4 places left. The driver said "yes" and the rest of the passengers was quick to said "no" in chorus..... they were squeezed in anyway.
After the stop at the central bus station we were looking forward to arriving on time at the airport after all. The tension began to relax. People were looking forward to arriving to their planes on time. But a new surprise-move by our driver shook us out of our dreams: he pulls up at a car repair shop and steps out of the bus. He starts a discussion with the workers and shortly after, the air pressure in all four tires is meticulously checked. A lot of the passengers get out of the bus (no aircondition!) and wait in the shade. What else can you do?
Finally, the trip continues and we arrive at the airport at 11:30am. And - oh wonder! - our return tickets have not been cancelled! We may actually board.
And we return home safely.
Having landed at the domestic terminal, the pre-ordered taxi driver is not there. So we head off for the international terminal, find the driver with the sign of Peter's company and let him take us home. On the way, our phone rings and the taxi-boss asks us, where we are. We tell him, we sit in one of his taxis, but he says, that his driver is looking for us at the airport.......
One of Peter's colleagues had arrived at the same time and we had apparently taken his taxi (he found a guerilla way to town). Our driver then began wild discussions on the phone with our phone and his two phones, sometime in parallel. Surprisingly, we arrived home safely :-) and paid the pre-arranged price.
Eating on Crimea
When travelling in Ukraine, don't expect gourmet-experiences (except if you run into a an exceptional run down joint in the Carpatian mountains on the way to Bukovel where they serve the best shashlik ever! "Café Kafka").
So we were not hoping for much.
But we discovered some places, where you take off your shoes to sit up high on cushions at a very short table, surrounded by water pipes and Tartar food. Such a new experience, we really enjoyed it.
The first such place was on Ai Petri mountain, just before boarding the gondola down to the valley. The camel toilet was our highlight. Food was OK.
The other one was at the western end of the beach front in Yalta. Food was almost OK.
The most overwhelming impression on Crimea was an overload of sound in every restaurant and pub and on the street. We actually left a place early, because another bad singer had activated his microphone.
Throughout the country, we find it hard to find a restaurant without a running TV. On Crimea, they have TVs plus very loud music. So just be prepared!
The travel guide said about eating on Crimea "be prepared for bad food at totally overboard prices". We cannot confirm this. Comning from our home base in Kyiv, the food was average, prices were surprisingly low and the service was delivered with more smiles than we were accustomed to.
So we were not hoping for much.
But we discovered some places, where you take off your shoes to sit up high on cushions at a very short table, surrounded by water pipes and Tartar food. Such a new experience, we really enjoyed it.
The first such place was on Ai Petri mountain, just before boarding the gondola down to the valley. The camel toilet was our highlight. Food was OK.
The other one was at the western end of the beach front in Yalta. Food was almost OK.
The most overwhelming impression on Crimea was an overload of sound in every restaurant and pub and on the street. We actually left a place early, because another bad singer had activated his microphone.
Throughout the country, we find it hard to find a restaurant without a running TV. On Crimea, they have TVs plus very loud music. So just be prepared!
The travel guide said about eating on Crimea "be prepared for bad food at totally overboard prices". We cannot confirm this. Comning from our home base in Kyiv, the food was average, prices were surprisingly low and the service was delivered with more smiles than we were accustomed to.
First evening in Yalta
Having arrived at the hotel, we quickly moved on to Yalta pier, where boats take off for longer and shorter excursions. We chose a short excursion along the shore line, but before we took off, we had a bite to eat right on the water front. We saw a colourful parade of people strolling along and having a good time. It is really worth the contemplation!
Then we boarded the boat (35 UAH per person) and paid another 10 UAH each on board to be allowed access to the upper deck......
There we sat and admired the coast line, past numerous castles (the one where Churchill stayed, the one where the conference took place, and the numerous ones that were built by good and very bad architects as you can see above).
The highlight of the trip was the swallow's nest, a curious fortress-like building hanging over a cliff, built by a romantic German in love for his adored Schatz.
We had heard that today it houses a bad pizzeria and is very disappointing on the inside, therefore we opted for this external approach only. Based on our experience, this boat trip is highly recommended by us to all visitors to Yalta as a first teaser.
Back on the shore, we strolled westward along the pier and saw a lot of eateries, people out in the water in th
e dark,
and street musicians at work. What a nice place.
e dark,
and street musicians at work. What a nice place.Crimea - a romantic trip for 2
After a couple of weekends that Peter spent in the office or on some business trips, it's time to relax. THE place to got this time of the year: Crimea, more precisely the city of Yalta. We pick hotel Bristol (http://www.hotel-bristol.com.ua/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=55&lang=en), directly at the harbour and supposedly the oldest hotel in town, but revently renovated (that's most important when traveling in Ukraine). The hotel is nice and worth the price (900 UAH for business class room with south-balcony), we can recommend it. It serves us well as basis for our trips scanning the area:
1) The highest waterfall in Ukraine, about 13 km from Yalta, according to the guide 100m high. We get a taxi (50 UAH) to get there, pay 20 UAH entrance fee and walk about 2 minutes from the street. In short - forget it, we spare you the picture.
2) The hidden lake Karagol: After this greatest laugh of the day, we walk about 1 hour uphill along the road, to find the next supposedly big attraction, a mountain lake called "Osera Karagol". Well, after 1 hour no lake is in sight. Remembering the vast quantities of water we just saw on the waterfall, we suspect the lake may have disappeared. When we venture into one path in the forest looking for the lake, an invisible, barking dog stops us soon, so we quickly head back to the main forest road.
3) The way: So we decide to try what we haven't done for more than 20 year - hitch-hiking! We know what to do to stop an ex-soviet car, and it works! Already the first car stops. It's a car that still has the printed letters on it from some Geman company that used it when it was (almost) new, before it was sold to the East. Now it's driven by a family coming from the Donbass-area. A typical Ukrainian family with father + mother + 1 kid + 2 grand parents (that's why the Ukrainian population is rapidly shrinking, from today's 46 million to forecasted 26-35 million in 2050). The trip is fantastic with them. We have some nice basic discussions and take a foto while stopping at a view-point high up in the mountain. They leave us at the pass close to the peak, as they continue to another place from there.
4) Ai Petri - the highest mountains close by, offers a magnificent view
of the complete area: We leave our newest friends and walk towards the summit & top station of the cable car. On the way we meet a couple of paragliders having fun (one of them shouting while flying past us: "I go home now!"). After about 30 min walk we end up at a rather touristic place run by Tatars selling almost home-made stuff. Peter's first encounter with them is disappoiting: they are real Muslims, the well-deserved beer has to wait some more hours. Anyway, the food is good and we finally see that their camels are very well educated. They even go to the toilet without a guide!
After this highlight, we buy Pakistani-made slippers for the girls and take the cable car (UAH 50 pP) down to Alupta. Great scenery on the way down from 1200 meters to 0 above sea level within 15 min.
5) The Yalta conference:
a) We start with the "Voroskin's palace" in Alupta. The crazy & rich governour of the region built this palace as a mixture of scottish & arabic design mid of the
19th century. That's why it hosted the British delegation during the Yalta conference. Churchill once said that he thought one of the lions in the garden looked like him. Make a bet.
c) The Russian Delegation: Next day we check out the place where Stalin and the Russian delegation stayed during the conference - Massandra palace, just east of Yalta. The former "Jagdschloss" of the Zar is built in French style, and in many respects resembles the "Hermes Villa" in Vienna, which was built for the same purpose - a hunting lodge for the emperor.
Important observation: Did Stalin prefer this place versus Livadia because the stone creatures here show more appetite than Churchill's lions before?
6) The Romantic Evening: starts in Gursuf, a village about 15 km east of Yalta. We have an aperitif at the beach and then dinner in the best restaurant close to the beach, called Meraba (thanks to our friend Anna for the recommendation!), including tasting of the famous "Krimsekt/Champagne from Crimea". Great view, happy faces & good food. Don't miss this place!
1) The highest waterfall in Ukraine, about 13 km from Yalta, according to the guide 100m high. We get a taxi (50 UAH) to get there, pay 20 UAH entrance fee and walk about 2 minutes from the street. In short - forget it, we spare you the picture.
2) The hidden lake Karagol: After this greatest laugh of the day, we walk about 1 hour uphill along the road, to find the next supposedly big attraction, a mountain lake called "Osera Karagol". Well, after 1 hour no lake is in sight. Remembering the vast quantities of water we just saw on the waterfall, we suspect the lake may have disappeared. When we venture into one path in the forest looking for the lake, an invisible, barking dog stops us soon, so we quickly head back to the main forest road.
3) The way: So we decide to try what we haven't done for more than 20 year - hitch-hiking! We know what to do to stop an ex-soviet car, and it works! Already the first car stops. It's a car that still has the printed letters on it from some Geman company that used it when it was (almost) new, before it was sold to the East. Now it's driven by a family coming from the Donbass-area. A typical Ukrainian family with father + mother + 1 kid + 2 grand parents (that's why the Ukrainian population is rapidly shrinking, from today's 46 million to forecasted 26-35 million in 2050). The trip is fantastic with them. We have some nice basic discussions and take a foto while stopping at a view-point high up in the mountain. They leave us at the pass close to the peak, as they continue to another place from there.
4) Ai Petri - the highest mountains close by, offers a magnificent view
of the complete area: We leave our newest friends and walk towards the summit & top station of the cable car. On the way we meet a couple of paragliders having fun (one of them shouting while flying past us: "I go home now!"). After about 30 min walk we end up at a rather touristic place run by Tatars selling almost home-made stuff. Peter's first encounter with them is disappoiting: they are real Muslims, the well-deserved beer has to wait some more hours. Anyway, the food is good and we finally see that their camels are very well educated. They even go to the toilet without a guide!After this highlight, we buy Pakistani-made slippers for the girls and take the cable car (UAH 50 pP) down to Alupta. Great scenery on the way down from 1200 meters to 0 above sea level within 15 min.
5) The Yalta conference:
a) We start with the "Voroskin's palace" in Alupta. The crazy & rich governour of the region built this palace as a mixture of scottish & arabic design mid of the
19th century. That's why it hosted the British delegation during the Yalta conference. Churchill once said that he thought one of the lions in the garden looked like him. Make a bet.
b) Next on the list: Livadia Palace in Yalta, the summer house of the Zars (Alexander III and Nikolai II are omni-present here). This is where the Yalta conference took place Feb 4-11, 1945, and the American delegation stayed during the conference. A big building that smells a lot of history. Visiting the inside is mandatory for anybody aware of history. Besides memories of the Yalta conference, the exhibition gives a good overview of the Romanovs' life in Yalta. From the palace 677 steps lead down to a semi-private beach. There we close the day with our first swim in the black sea - perfect water temperature, rather clean waters and hot gravel stones on the beach.
c) The Russian Delegation: Next day we check out the place where Stalin and the Russian delegation stayed during the conference - Massandra palace, just east of Yalta. The former "Jagdschloss" of the Zar is built in French style, and in many respects resembles the "Hermes Villa" in Vienna, which was built for the same purpose - a hunting lodge for the emperor.
Important observation: Did Stalin prefer this place versus Livadia because the stone creatures here show more appetite than Churchill's lions before?
6) The Romantic Evening: starts in Gursuf, a village about 15 km east of Yalta. We have an aperitif at the beach and then dinner in the best restaurant close to the beach, called Meraba (thanks to our friend Anna for the recommendation!), including tasting of the famous "Krimsekt/Champagne from Crimea". Great view, happy faces & good food. Don't miss this place!
Travelling with e-tickets....
.... can sometimes be a test for your nerves.
On Friday, we took off for our well deserved "parents-only" break to Crimea and left the happy kids behind in Kyiv with Vika.
At Borispol airport, we presented our passports as identification for our tickets. Peter had purchased them online (and over the phone) and our names were on a list that we had a glimpse at...... but a man who was constantly on two phones (sometimes in parallel) informed us, that our tickets had been cancelled that same morning. Cancelled?
Take off was scheduled for 13:20h and it was now 12:40h.
We did not even have the phone number of the booking agent, so Peter called his assistant for help. She was not in reach of any internet terminal and could not help. The well proven reception desk of his company's office in Vienna/Austria helped us out and soon after Peter was on the phone with the people that he had booked the tickets with.
They shared his amazement at the course of events and could not understand it either. They had neen informed via email in the morning, that our tickets had been annuled, but didn't know why.
So Peter hang up and hunted for 2 new tickets. He managed to get this organized. But the lady insisted on cash payment. The clock was ticking. The two ATMs in the departure hall did not work. In the meantime, Sylvie had been handed boarding passes. Peter and the ticket lady ran back to her booth, where she miraculously discovered a machine for processing credit cards...... but not on first attempts, of course!
In the end, we stood in line with the other passengers headed for Simferopol on Crimea. And we took off and landed safely :-)
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a cab driver with our name on a sign. We had asked the hotel to arrange this for us. He took us to the hotel for the agreed sum of 450 UAH, and the ride took 1:40h.
On Friday, we took off for our well deserved "parents-only" break to Crimea and left the happy kids behind in Kyiv with Vika.
At Borispol airport, we presented our passports as identification for our tickets. Peter had purchased them online (and over the phone) and our names were on a list that we had a glimpse at...... but a man who was constantly on two phones (sometimes in parallel) informed us, that our tickets had been cancelled that same morning. Cancelled?
Take off was scheduled for 13:20h and it was now 12:40h.
We did not even have the phone number of the booking agent, so Peter called his assistant for help. She was not in reach of any internet terminal and could not help. The well proven reception desk of his company's office in Vienna/Austria helped us out and soon after Peter was on the phone with the people that he had booked the tickets with.
They shared his amazement at the course of events and could not understand it either. They had neen informed via email in the morning, that our tickets had been annuled, but didn't know why.
So Peter hang up and hunted for 2 new tickets. He managed to get this organized. But the lady insisted on cash payment. The clock was ticking. The two ATMs in the departure hall did not work. In the meantime, Sylvie had been handed boarding passes. Peter and the ticket lady ran back to her booth, where she miraculously discovered a machine for processing credit cards...... but not on first attempts, of course!
In the end, we stood in line with the other passengers headed for Simferopol on Crimea. And we took off and landed safely :-)
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a cab driver with our name on a sign. We had asked the hotel to arrange this for us. He took us to the hotel for the agreed sum of 450 UAH, and the ride took 1:40h.
20090609
Gas for the People!
We took this picture in a village approximately 30km out of Kyiv. We have seen many more very similar installations throughout the region and we can confirm that all pipes are easily accessible for any interested party..... and just in case, there is uncertainty about the matter, the word "gas" is written in big cyrillic letters on the fence.
Getting ready for Easter
I know, Easter is long over, but I still want to share this observation with you.
People in Kyiv get ready for this very important religious day (or for the beginning of spring?) by applying a lot of (mostly) white paint on various parts of streets, sidewalks, fences and trees.
As a result, it all looks freshly cleaned.
The kids were told, that the paint contains some chemical ingredient, that keeps off unwanted insects, but this could not be verified so far.
The kids were told, that the paint contains some chemical ingredient, that keeps off unwanted insects, but this could not be verified so far.
20090531
The Treasures of the old "Seidenstrasse"
Who in Europe has not heard of Samarkand?
But where is it ? Does it still exist? What country does it belong to?
Peter is currently working in an organization called "EECA - Eastern Europe & Central Asia", which includes most of the territory of the former Soviet Union, i.e. today's CIS (GUS)-Countries. Uzbekistan is one of them. So the management team of this region had one of its regular meetings in Uzbekistan. A team building activity besides the usual management talk gave more possibilities to experience the country side, including the fabulous city of Samarkand.
Some history: Samarkand used to be a central trading point on the "silk road" over may centuries. Its roots go back to long before Christ, and in the islamic world its mausoleums for relatives of the prophet and mosques are well known as the ones with the "blue domes".
Cutting it short: If you ever find an opportunity to visit Samarkand, do so! We were visiting this city with a professional guide who tried to make us knowledgable about a city and country we had not known before. I will not repeat the numbers ... it were many! Such as the 1018 stars that Ulug Bek identified and registered in the 15th century.
Most impressive were not only the mausoleums that were built sometime between the 10th and the 17th century, with a peak round the 15th century when Samarkand was the capital of an empire reaching from India to Egypt, from Mongolia to Central Asia, Iran, Irak and even the European parts of Turkey. Some touristic highlights : Mausoleums of various chiefs (Tamerlan, Ulug Bek, and his decendants - there are at least 2 names for each of them, so don't worry about the names at all), the shrine of Ulug Bek(supposedly the biggest single piece of Jade around the world), the astronomical observatorium (Sextant) he built, the mosque that was devoted to Ulug Bek's most loved wife, the "City of the living King" and last but not least the 3 big mausoleums on the central square (see picture above).
In today's life Peter was impressed with people's positive approach to life, their ubiquitous drive for trading and most of all - the strong emphasis that the (seemingly straight forward authoritarian) government put on education in this remote place. Even a farmer whom Peter met in the mountains round Samarkand, spoke as "foreign" languages Russian and even some words German which he claimed he had learned at school. Almost everybody speaks Uzbeki, some sort of Farsi and in many cases Turkish as the basis of life.
Food in Uzbekistan: get ready for some basic, but fresh vegetables, followed by Pilaw and lots of grilled meat from lamb, beef and chicken. Those who know the tradition of shashlik in Ukraine will find the same also here, in similar quality but without pork. Peter and his colleagues had a fantastic evening when cooking Pilaw from lamb and beef at a semi-private house in Samarkand. An unforgettable experience!
Also unforgettable: the local currency "Soum" is only available in such small notes that if you want to pay for a dinner for a couple of people, you literally need ot bring a suitcase of cash with you (and they usually don't accept credit cards), and the Soum is not convertable. So before changing Dollars - think carefully how much money you might need, but also think about how much you can carry at a time!!
20090418
Spring has come !
When driving through the country side on the way to the Kiev-Golf-Club, we see that many birds have arrived:
Most of the nests of the storks are already taken and the storks are busy repairing them after the long winter.
One of the farmers sells something strange as you can see in front of his house: ostrich-feathers and eggs!
We stop and have a look into the backyard. There they are - we see about 5 ostriches.
We stop and have a look into the backyard. There they are - we see about 5 ostriches.
Maybe we should go there and ask for some meat next time we come by?
Golf will never take off in Kyiv !!
During the last months, we have had a couple of encounters with the Ukrainian "Golf scene", and it has become clear to us that Golf will never take off here. Some of the goodies:
1) there is a Ukrainian Golf association, and there is a German-Ukrainian Golf Association. At one of the local get-togethers we met its president, Michael Hamalij. He is a nice guy, full of energy and currently planning the next edition of the "Ukrainian World Golf Challenge". This bi-annual 1-week long event shall take place in Germany next time. See some pictures of the last event, that took place in Vancouver, Canada. Why did also all the other Ukrainian World Golf Challenges take place outside Kyiv? Maybe because of the attractive locations, such as Australia, Hawaii, ...
But most probably because given the attitude of Ukrainia golf clubs, it must be simply impossible to organize a proper golf tournament with more than 2 participants.
2) Sylvie's Birthday came up again, and the golf season was about to start. So what's better than to offer a day out on the golf course, with some pro to get us up to speed quickly? Kyiv-golf-center http://www.golf-center.com.ua/?tid=1&lng=en offers such a course April 18-19, pl
us an Easter party for the kids on April 19. So we must go. But registering is not so easy:
+ When you send an E-mail in English to the contact address you simply get no answer. When Peter called to follow-up, English speaking Olga complained: "but that's clear, if you write in English, nobody understands. You need to call me." After some conversation she promisses to change the contact address, now you can send a mail to her directly from the web site, if you correct the spelling mistake.
+ The web (and Olga) say you need to register via the internet-registraton form. Don't look for it- it's not there! So I sent another mail in english (copy to Olga).
As expected - no response
+ When Sylvie does her guided tour of House of Chimeara, Peter and the kids drive secretly to the golf center to register personally, so to say as last resort before Sylvie's birthday.
As expected - No registration forms available, we go home, worried.
+ After Sylvie's birthday, we go there again. From the site we call Olga. She confirms our registration which she had accepted over the phone when we had talked to her last time !!!!
But now the people want USDs in cash from us, 2 weeks in advance of the course.
Unacceptable for us, so we go home again, this time pissed off.
3) April 18 - perfect golf weather, all 4 of us are keen to hit the first balls in the season. We decide to try Kyiv Golf club, about 1 hour west o Kyiv. http://www.kievgolfclub.com/golfstream/en/main
When we get there, the guards won't open the door. They say - opening of the season next week. When we talk to the sales manager over the phone, she explains that this year they will only accept members (reportedly some 16 so far) and people who registered upfront (probably you have send Euros in cash before they let you in). We wish her good luck for commercial survival (she will need it) and drive off to the Kyiv Golf Centre.
4) finally, we make it! we can really buy 2 buckets of balls and play. All 4 Zehetners enjoy it, meet the local Pro and have a chat with this nice guy.
Given the difficulties for newcomers, he will have a lot time to talk to the few who really get there in the future!
Anyway - this time we drive home - happily!!
1) there is a Ukrainian Golf association, and there is a German-Ukrainian Golf Association. At one of the local get-togethers we met its president, Michael Hamalij. He is a nice guy, full of energy and currently planning the next edition of the "Ukrainian World Golf Challenge". This bi-annual 1-week long event shall take place in Germany next time. See some pictures of the last event, that took place in Vancouver, Canada. Why did also all the other Ukrainian World Golf Challenges take place outside Kyiv? Maybe because of the attractive locations, such as Australia, Hawaii, ...
But most probably because given the attitude of Ukrainia golf clubs, it must be simply impossible to organize a proper golf tournament with more than 2 participants.
2) Sylvie's Birthday came up again, and the golf season was about to start. So what's better than to offer a day out on the golf course, with some pro to get us up to speed quickly? Kyiv-golf-center http://www.golf-center.com.ua/?tid=1&lng=en offers such a course April 18-19, pl
us an Easter party for the kids on April 19. So we must go. But registering is not so easy:+ When you send an E-mail in English to the contact address you simply get no answer. When Peter called to follow-up, English speaking Olga complained: "but that's clear, if you write in English, nobody understands. You need to call me." After some conversation she promisses to change the contact address, now you can send a mail to her directly from the web site, if you correct the spelling mistake.
+ The web (and Olga) say you need to register via the internet-registraton form. Don't look for it- it's not there! So I sent another mail in english (copy to Olga).
As expected - no response
+ When Sylvie does her guided tour of House of Chimeara, Peter and the kids drive secretly to the golf center to register personally, so to say as last resort before Sylvie's birthday.
As expected - No registration forms available, we go home, worried.
+ After Sylvie's birthday, we go there again. From the site we call Olga. She confirms our registration which she had accepted over the phone when we had talked to her last time !!!!
But now the people want USDs in cash from us, 2 weeks in advance of the course.
Unacceptable for us, so we go home again, this time pissed off.
3) April 18 - perfect golf weather, all 4 of us are keen to hit the first balls in the season. We decide to try Kyiv Golf club, about 1 hour west o Kyiv. http://www.kievgolfclub.com/golfstream/en/main
When we get there, the guards won't open the door. They say - opening of the season next week. When we talk to the sales manager over the phone, she explains that this year they will only accept members (reportedly some 16 so far) and people who registered upfront (probably you have send Euros in cash before they let you in). We wish her good luck for commercial survival (she will need it) and drive off to the Kyiv Golf Centre.
4) finally, we make it! we can really buy 2 buckets of balls and play. All 4 Zehetners enjoy it, meet the local Pro and have a chat with this nice guy.
Given the difficulties for newcomers, he will have a lot time to talk to the few who really get there in the future!
Anyway - this time we drive home - happily!!
20090410
Heating period is ending
HEATING SEASON TO END ON APRIL 14 IN KYIV, SAYS FIRST VICE
MAYOR
Kyiv, April 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Kyiv's
central heating will be turned off on April 14 because of the favorable weather
conditions. This was announced by the Kyiv City
Council press service, referring to First Vice Mayor Anatoliy Holubchenko.
He said that a respective decree of the council is
currently being prepared. According to
Holubchenko, apartment houses will be the first to have their heat supply
switched off. Central heating will be cut in this sector by the end of next
week. Medical and education institutions will have
their heating switched off at the request of their directors.
The heating season in Ukraine traditionally starts
on October 15 and ends on April 15.
We will see, if this will cool off the heated towel racks in our bathrooms.
....... ;-)
20090331
Gorodetzky
Although the private house of Gorodetzky is also known as the monster house, this name is really not appropriate for this building. House with Chimaera is the real name. Sylvie had a chance to visit the inside of this house with a small and privileged group. Tours are only on Saturdays and all tours in 2009 are already fully booked.
The house is being used by the president for smaller meetings and he has his big office building right across the street.
All the facts about the house can be found on Wikipedia at (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_with_Chimaeras).
An interesting detail is that all the animals on the outside of the building are living animals and on the inside of the building, the hunter Gorodetzky used fur on the floors and stuffed animals for decoration that he brought from his hunting trips to Kenia. Also the other animal sculptures inside the house mainly show the wildlife as dead trophy.
Gorodetzky always tried the latest and newest and this is why his house (built from 1902-1904) featured electricity, an elevator, and many tile stoves.
Gorodettky also built the national Art Museum of Ukraine, that the whole family went to visit one Friday evening. The occasion was the vernissage of an exhibition by Anatoly Krivolap. His daughter, the painter Anna Krivolap, had invited us and we got to see many interesting paintings (non-figuartive). The kids discovered that the paintings had no titles, just great colour and structure, and so they went on to attribute a title to every oeuvre. Father and daughter share a website: http://www.akrivolap-akrivolap.com/.
The house is being used by the president for smaller meetings and he has his big office building right across the street.
All the facts about the house can be found on Wikipedia at (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_with_Chimaeras).
An interesting detail is that all the animals on the outside of the building are living animals and on the inside of the building, the hunter Gorodetzky used fur on the floors and stuffed animals for decoration that he brought from his hunting trips to Kenia. Also the other animal sculptures inside the house mainly show the wildlife as dead trophy.
Gorodetzky always tried the latest and newest and this is why his house (built from 1902-1904) featured electricity, an elevator, and many tile stoves.
Gorodettky also built the national Art Museum of Ukraine, that the whole family went to visit one Friday evening. The occasion was the vernissage of an exhibition by Anatoly Krivolap. His daughter, the painter Anna Krivolap, had invited us and we got to see many interesting paintings (non-figuartive). The kids discovered that the paintings had no titles, just great colour and structure, and so they went on to attribute a title to every oeuvre. Father and daughter share a website: http://www.akrivolap-akrivolap.com/.
20090317
Signs o' the Times
In the half year that we have been here, the world economy has radically changed and as well reported in global media coverage, Ukraine has been a little hit......
How do we feel it? In our daily life, we are spared direct impact, but we can see people around us being hit. The upward feeling that was there when we came (growth, ever-increasing variety of western goods, European perspective, etc.) has gradually changed to a feeling of disorientation.
Imported food is slowly disappearing from the shelves. Dried tomatoes (2 Euros per glass in Austria) cost 12 Euros per glass over here. Shredded cheese has gone. Nuernberger Bratwuerste (only at Auchan) are rarer. The Expat Magazines (Kyiv Post and Kyiv Weekly) that were formerly distributed free of charge are now for sale on news-stands. The concert hall is less full ...... or was it simply because we had chosen strange music for our last concert (Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Silvestrov' Symphony No. 5)? The ads along the metro-escalators are becoming less, the people offering their work with a cardboard around their neck are becoming more. People we know can't get their savings out of the bank and revert to massively purchasing tangible values via their credit cards (which boosts consumption at the moment). Expats with children are moving back to their country of origin in the middle of the school year because some investments are stalled or cancelled. But surprisingly, others came in the middle of the school year... so what do we make of this?
Some investements are scaled down to a minimum without total withdrawal. A lot of building sites (there are many here!) have stopped all activities. The house being built across the street from ours stopped all activities, then they hooked a diesel-generator to the tower crane they are using (apparently, their power supply had to be reorganized) and now............... they are attaching insulating panels to the outside walls! Very surprising move that we hadn't expected.
So we can report mixed symptoms to an unclear economical situation.
And people tell us: "this is nothing compared to our situation in the early nineties, so don't worry!"
The poltical situation seems to be clear:
A recent poll shows that 85% of the interviewed see the country going in the wrong direction. 42% are ready to go to the streets for political rallies and that number was only 26% 2 months ago.
The former speaker of parliament Yatsenyuk seems to be the man on the rise (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arseniy_Yatsenyuk. In recent polls (http://www.rb.com.ua/eng/), he comes in well ahead of the other candidates for the presidential elections due to take place in January 2010.
How do we feel it? In our daily life, we are spared direct impact, but we can see people around us being hit. The upward feeling that was there when we came (growth, ever-increasing variety of western goods, European perspective, etc.) has gradually changed to a feeling of disorientation.
Imported food is slowly disappearing from the shelves. Dried tomatoes (2 Euros per glass in Austria) cost 12 Euros per glass over here. Shredded cheese has gone. Nuernberger Bratwuerste (only at Auchan) are rarer. The Expat Magazines (Kyiv Post and Kyiv Weekly) that were formerly distributed free of charge are now for sale on news-stands. The concert hall is less full ...... or was it simply because we had chosen strange music for our last concert (Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Silvestrov' Symphony No. 5)? The ads along the metro-escalators are becoming less, the people offering their work with a cardboard around their neck are becoming more. People we know can't get their savings out of the bank and revert to massively purchasing tangible values via their credit cards (which boosts consumption at the moment). Expats with children are moving back to their country of origin in the middle of the school year because some investments are stalled or cancelled. But surprisingly, others came in the middle of the school year... so what do we make of this?
Some investements are scaled down to a minimum without total withdrawal. A lot of building sites (there are many here!) have stopped all activities. The house being built across the street from ours stopped all activities, then they hooked a diesel-generator to the tower crane they are using (apparently, their power supply had to be reorganized) and now............... they are attaching insulating panels to the outside walls! Very surprising move that we hadn't expected.
So we can report mixed symptoms to an unclear economical situation.
And people tell us: "this is nothing compared to our situation in the early nineties, so don't worry!"
The poltical situation seems to be clear:
A recent poll shows that 85% of the interviewed see the country going in the wrong direction. 42% are ready to go to the streets for political rallies and that number was only 26% 2 months ago.
The former speaker of parliament Yatsenyuk seems to be the man on the rise (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arseniy_Yatsenyuk. In recent polls (http://www.rb.com.ua/eng/), he comes in well ahead of the other candidates for the presidential elections due to take place in January 2010.
Bowling with a snake
Alioscha, the bowling pro, brought an unfoldable "snake" to be used on the childrens' lane only (unfortunately only there......). Result: the kids loved it!
The rest of us had a great time, trying to stay on the lane and making them cones tumble over.
Pirates in Kyiv
Isabelle's 8th birthday was duely celebrated with her friends after our vacation with a wild pirates' party.
Happy pirates, a few broken swords and a successful bounty hunt.
Visiting Essen
Directly from the ski slopes, the two younger girls took the plane on their own and stayed for a long weekend with their respective god-parents (and fiancé, in one case....). For Nathalie, this visit was happily extended for some days, because (when the girls were finally joined by their mother) we were all graciously invited to stay in the "granny-unit" of their flat for some days(thank you!).
One day, we were joined by Omimi and had a real city day including a visit to the movie theater (Hexe Lilli).
At the end of the week, we flew back home and were greeted by snow flakes on the runway.
One day, we were joined by Omimi and had a real city day including a visit to the movie theater (Hexe Lilli).
At the end of the week, we flew back home and were greeted by snow flakes on the runway.
Alpbach under the snow
Coming back to this fantastic ski vacation:
we went to Alpbach, close to Innsbruck. On the invitation of Inge and Anders, we stayed in their extra-flat, that was fully equipped and super convenient for us.
On our first day, we celebrated Isabelle's 8th birthday with a Sacher Torte and she proudly wore her pirates' costume. Pirates are THE thing at the moment!
There was so much snow (falling all the time, except one sunny day), that we always put on our skis in the driveway of the house and skied down to the first lift. What a luxury!
The kids went to a very good ski school (Alpbach Aktiv) and were happy with their groups and instructors. They learned how to ski in the deep snow and they now always look for the bumps to jump on. The race saw them take all the turns without missing a pole :-) The award ceremony shows the rightful reward for this feat.
20090303
Future is looking good!
On the way back to Kiev after a phantastic ski-vacation, Peter reads "Kyiv Weekly", the only remaining Ukrainian newspaper that's written in English.
Apart from all the crisis -talk, there are also 2 interesting articles about the "rules of the Game".
1) Ukrainians never give in, and whatever happens, it's not bad, so don't worry!
So when the article writes about when and how, not IF the government should declare bankruptcy, the conclusion is simple: The outcome will not be that bad. People might maybe even not realize something has happened.
2) Inflation will be tamed by strong measures taken:
There is a lot of discussion about the inflation effects coming from the devaluation of the UAH versus the USD. Since Summer last year, the UAH has lost about 50% of its value compared to the dollar, which is the main currency for selling big-ticket items or renting flats, housing and the likes. So the described measure which "limits" bribes to judges to below 10 kUSD (If they accept more, then they will maybe get punished) is really good news! Will this bring down real inflation by up to 1%, as well-informed sources say over a couple of Vodkas? 
20090210
Skiing in Ukraine and Shashlik for everybody!
It didn't take a lot of convincing to get most of the people in Peter's
team to leave the office for a long week-end and go skiing to the famous Carpathian mountains in the west of Ukraine together with their families. So on Thursday after lunch we leave in 4 cars and hit the road towards Bokuvel (http://www.bokuvel.com/), the most prestigious ski resort in Ukraine.
Friday & Saturday we go out to the slopes. The ski resort is actually quite nice, offers some 50km of slopes of all levels of difficulty. Isabelle and Nathalie who have become good skiers during our last vacation in Austria enjoy themselves skiing over every "Buckel und Sprung" they can find. Their proud parents get many questions from admiring locals about the kids' age.
team to leave the office for a long week-end and go skiing to the famous Carpathian mountains in the west of Ukraine together with their families. So on Thursday after lunch we leave in 4 cars and hit the road towards Bokuvel (http://www.bokuvel.com/), the most prestigious ski resort in Ukraine. The way proves to be a real adventure: we have to go approx. 650km over Ukrainian roads that offer lots of holes in the asphalt, no lights, no reflectors along the road, but in return a lot of police and horse-carriages. If you're on a main road, you might have 2 lanes of which one is used by the horse carriages, this adds considerably to your safety. Round midnight we have to make 1 hour detour because a bridge has just fallen into a river shortly before we arrived. We're lucky today!
The highlight of this day in the car is "Kafe Kaska", a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere. There we get the best Shashlik ever (a lot of grilled meat on a sword) for unbelievably low prices. The foundation is laid for a weekend during which we will eat almost only Shashlik, but Kafe Kaska proved to be Simply the Best!
We arrive in our hotel at 1:30 after 10 hours driving, but there is still time & power for a couple of beers, while we wait for our 4 snowboarders who had left Kiev later.
When you ever come to Bukovel, you'll understand why Yaroslav, who had organized everything
(many thanks again, Yarek!) dreams about another car for such occasions...
Friday & Saturday we go out to the slopes. The ski resort is actually quite nice, offers some 50km of slopes of all levels of difficulty. Isabelle and Nathalie who have become good skiers during our last vacation in Austria enjoy themselves skiing over every "Buckel und Sprung" they can find. Their proud parents get many questions from admiring locals about the kids' age.
Our friend Anders will love the pictures of all those snow canons (they are needed, the ski resort is quite low at 900-1400m height). The rumour has it that the Austrian Chamber of commerce has donated the first of all those Doppelmayr lifts that were installed during the last 5 or so years. Overall, we enjoy great skiing and a great company.
Saturday evening we finish a phantastic weekend with - yes, you're right! - a round of Shashlik. The hotel owners finish the open fire place for us and grill a couple of kilos of Shashlik. Our mood is great again, although Kafe Kaska remains unbeatable ... The kids have become friends and play cards all evening.
Sunday morning we hit the road to go back, and we make it 2 hours faster, with only 8 hours driving! So we almost get home in time to bring the kids to bed, they'll anyway be tired when school starts again on Monday morning.
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