Ukraine Trepidations: Getting ready for the trip

Ukraine Trepidations: getting ready for the trip

While reclining in a living room this Summer with Uncle Joe (a.k.a. Joseph Manelis), I listened to him musing about his own pending demise, as he was dying of cancer (now deceased), and when the subject of his death came up he was heard to say, “I’m not the least bit afraid of death, not one bit. But I am afraid of dying”. What he was trying to explain is that the process of dying is frightening to anyone, it’s scary business that we all must go through. But actually being dead shouldn’t provoke much emotion because you won’t be around to experience it. You won’t FEEL anything and human emotions don’t follow you into the afterlife, wherever and whatever that is.

So, in this light, thinking about my own fears and frights, this conversation reminded me to put any qualms or worries about this upcoming trip to Ukraine into a more rational perspective. What’s there to worry about? Not a damn thing, really, just the kind of worries we all get when we travel abroad (organizing and planning the trip and its various destination, what to pack, what to wear, how to exchange money, do I have an international electric outlet adapter, etc).

 And coming from the most violent, gun-toting country on the planet, I honestly have no reservations about “dangerous people” in Ukraine. As with any travel abroad, there’s always the fear of being a victim of theft, but that fear does not compare to the fear of daily gun violence in the States, where approximately 15-20,000 people die by gun-wielding criminals (this stat excludes gun deaths by suicide), compared to less than 600 annually in Ukraine (few people own or use guns there, let alone use them for accosting others).

 And, yes, there is an ongoing war along the Eastern border of Ukraine and Russia, in the Donesk/Donbas region, but its currently a stand-offish, less active scene where only 50 people have died in all of 2020. In fact, there were more gun homicides in America THIS YEAR than in the entire conflict in Ukraine (April, 2014-today) And we’re not getting closer than Zaporizhzhya, which is 140 miles away (or 8 hours by train) and no major threat to the city of Zaporizhzhya (see map here).

 Ukraine, by the way, has no organized gang activity like in the U.S., although they do have some organized crime, racketeering, etc., but nothing compared to American organized crime! And while it’s true that Ukraine has had a few political revolutions during the past decade or two (most recently the Maidan revolution in 2014), the U.S. just had an extremely violent, Redneck & white supremacist insurrection in this country this year, where about 600 violent rioters descending on the Capitol, killing five people -  at the White House – and where domestic terrorism annually kills hundreds in America, more if you include hate crimes. There were zero acts of international terrorism this year by comparison.  So, no, I’m not worried about that kind of trouble while we’re over there, especially since I experienced NONE while there the first two times.

 So now that I’m preparing for my third trip to Ukraine, I’m experiencing a different set of nervous ticks than before, this time being a 3 month sabbatical to teach a class for the Dept. of Sociology & Law at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, working with my contact, Pavlo Kutuev (Professor of Sociology/Political Science). This time, during a more immersive and long-term experience, I’ll also be doing some preliminary research on restorative justice involving qualitative interviews with professionals in the field, with groups like the Institute for Peace & Common Ground (Kyiv) and other professionals and academics in the field.

 The first time I visited Ukraine (2011) it was an experience of excited bewilderment as I had no idea really of what to expect. Everything was new and completely foreign to me. The second time (2014) I had been with Tetyana, and with my new stepson Mark for a few years and living in a (basically) Russian household at home, learning about Russian and Ukrainian cultures (and acquainting them with American lifestyles and culture), so my attitude was more curiosity and questioning about Ukrainian culture (similar to Russian culture but no time to delve into cultural comparisons today), and getting to know my new relatives in Zaporozhe better.

 This time is different. On the first two trips, I was unacquainted with the culture and was shocked to have to deal with, what really amounts to trivial things, like not having access to the media I’m accustomed to having (music, TV, Netflix, Amazon, etc), and not having things like cereal, peanut butter, air conditioning (used sparely there), microwaves and dryers (they have washers but most everyone hangs clothes on apartment balconies to dry them). And yes, they do have a McDonald’s in Kyiv, but I’ve never eaten there and don’t plan to! I also learned that in many ways Ukraine is culturally superior to the U.S., such as in their food culture, which functions to bring families and friends together, more so than Americans do. And lifestyles are healthier because you walk everywhere, or most everywhere, on a daily basis, and the food they eat is leaner. Lots of fish and seafood (which I don’t dig entirely, more on that as we go)! But the result is far less obesity, which is something any American will notice if they ever visit Kyiv. Just walk around the city and you’ll see so many beautiful – and beautifully dressed -  people. The first time there, I felt like we were at a glitzy Hollywood fashion runway while drinking espressos on outdoor patios in the city. The women you see here are just beautiful. And they dress to the nines, even to just go to the store (you’ll see women in high heels and dresses buying fruits and veggies at the grocery store, no joke!). These people work very hard and they look very stern (no public smiling, which fits the typical American stereotype of all Russians - think Drago in Rocky IV), but more intimately, in family settings, they smile, laugh, joke, poke fun, and really enjoy life in those moments, like people strive to do in ANY culture. It just appears different in public. Small differences in style and appearance, and awkward and uncomfortable interactions sometimes, but I’d say we have more in common with Ukrainians than differences, actually.

 The hardest adjustment was that I could not participate in most of the conversations I was around before, because I couldn’t speak or even understand what everyone was saying (still can’t!), so I felt lonely after a few weeks there, and even had to call mom on occasion just to hear an English speaker. So this time a goal is to become more attentive and involved in these conversations, something I plan to ruminate more about in this blog, where I will also share photos and videos of the places we visit.

Tetyana's family in Zaporozhia 2013

Tetyana, my Ukrainian wife of 12 years (no, I did not find her on a Russian Bride website, we met on a blind date in Roseburg, Oregon) will be working remotely for her U.S. company (ADM) while we are there, and I will also have Tety’s brother, Oleg, helping me with housing (we’re staying in one of his apartments in Kyiv), getting acclimated, and with interview translations and with students. But wait, there’s more! I’ll have my own private babushka (“grandmother” or in this case, mother-in-law) nearby to also help me with, well, everything, since she, Lyubov Butler, also hails from Zaporizhzhya and Kyiv and knows the differences between our two cultures very well since she resided in Oregon for years with her American husband (now deceased ☹ but who and lives with us in Decatur, Illinois from time to time. So I couldn’t have asked for more support while I’m there - family who know me well and who know where I’m going even better!

 This time I’ll be immersing myself more deeply than before, really focusing on my interactions with people and their lived experiences as individuals, as well as (hopefully) more profound interactions with the culture at large. I hope to leave Ukraine with a new confidence to be a public actor, able to exchange ideas with other Ukrainians more comfortably. To have meaningful conversations! And, although most Ukrainians are bilingual in English (I’ll teach in English, by the way, in case you were wondering!), I’d like to better understand them on their own terms, and that’ll mean more conversations in their language. Tetyana speaks Russian, like all Ukrainians can, because they were, of course, one country (insert political history of Ukraine and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 here), but it’s a very similar language (like the difference between Spanish and Portuguese) so I’ve learned a bunch of Russian/Ukrainian words and can speak semi-fluent “Ukrenglish” (that’s my made-up word for it 😊

 It’ll also mean taking lots of written notes and record keeping on the fly, especially for my research (which I won’t get into here and now).

 But I’m not at all confident that I’ll be able to have those meaningful conversations after 3 months there. So that’s my first trepidation about this trip this time. Also, my research will be my first attempt at an ethnography (rather than quantitative, statistical research), where I will be writing from the point of view of the respondent, in their terms and voices, which will require more extensive field notes and consideration for feelings, attitudes, etc., than my previous research. This is an exciting prospect for me, but I have some concern about doing it well, particularly because Ukraine is in the midst of Covid, where few have been vaccinated and where masks and social distancing are still expected or mandated in many places, which will likely hinder some of my ability to even meet and talk with the right people for this study. As it stands today, even my class (which is a Deviance Behavior class taught to undergraduates) is scheduled to be Zoom-only. Hopefully, the situation will improve and I can teach in a live classroom, we’ll see…

 Either way, I’m feeling good about this trip and I’m ready to take flight!

 Speaking of flight, I also plan to do a little birding in Ukraine. I’m bringing the bins and camera, and the Sibley’s Guide to Eastern European Birds, and looking at this page right here I can tell there are many new species I can add to my annual list and life list, so I’ll post any good pics I get. A birder birds. We cannot help it 😊 Definitely gonna have to check out this nature preserve near Kyiv and also this dam location where many types of waterfowl have been spotted.

 I’ve got my good camera so I’ll drop some random videos of places we visit along with regular pics.

 That was a lot, I promise to keep future ones much shorter. See ya in Ukraine!

 Ken

Pronouns: Kenny, Kent, or Kenneth 😊