Educators on the Edge: Longest Holiday Season Ever!

Longest Holiday Season Ever - October 12-January 11

"Znoveem Rokom!" (Happy New Year!)

If you consider the "holiday season" to be the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day (plus a few extra Christmas celebrations), then we have just celebrated the longest holiday season ever here in Ukraine.

Thanksgiving Celebrations

We started the season with a Canadian Thanksgiving celebration and feast on October 12 with some Canadian friends we met at school. We enjoyed a traditional turkey dinner with all the "fixin's" at the home of Morgan and Kristina Jones, our high school music and drama teachers at Kyiv International School. About 20 guests were present, and we each brought a dish to pass.

The next harvest event was on November 1st when our school celebrated a "Fall Festival", a combination of Halloween and Harvest Day. You can view a picture collage of this event in our school newsletter at http://kis.net.ua/site/images/newsletter/7Nov2013.pdf

Our next Thanksgiving meal was on Thursday, November 21 in the school cafeteria. It was a professional development day for teachers, so the students enjoyed the day off. Our cafeteria staff prepared the turkeys (17 of them!) plus the stuffing and a few salads, and the faculty and staff members all brought a dish to pass. It was like a big family reunion; lots of good food and noisy conversation!

Do you think there was enough food????

Lois and Michele certainly enjoyed themselves!
(notice the decorations in the background-the whole
school cafeteria was decorated)

Good food and good friends!

Thanksgiving Dinner #3 was just after the American Thanksgiving Day. Jay and I hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner at our apartment on November 30 for about 15 people. This time we did the turkey and stuffing, and our guests brought a dish to pass. Once again there was more food than necessary and everyone left with a full belly and a smile. (I didn't get very good pics; I was busy hosting :)

Just chillin' after the meal, but w/o football

(the back of me), Jess, Tim, Xin Yen, Galina, and Ambrose

Kristina, Traci, and Xin Yen

Christmas Celebrations

The week before break we enjoyed some Christmas festivities. I was able to "sneak" away from my office to watch the preschool Christmas concert, a combination of singing and dancing to traditional American Christmas songs. It was the cutest (funniest) performance. Actually, our music and dance teachers do an amazing job with 35-40 three, four, and five-year-old children. I loved watching them!

Our high school Western European Language classes also had a Christmas concert that week. They performed musical numbers in German, French, and Spanish. It was a great concert. I am so jealous of the students' fluency in languages other than their native language.

Before many of us headed out of town for Winter Break, the Paughs hosted a Christmas Cocktail Party at their apartment. They were staying in Kiev so they decorated their apartment. It was very festive and fun!

At the Paugh's apartment: Olga (a Ukrainian Spanish teacher), Jess Paugh, Tim Paugh, Audrey Paugh, and part of Morgan.

Then, school was closed from December 16 through January 7 and we celebrated Christmas and New Year's in Tanzania with very traditional (American) meals and festivities.

New Year's Eve

Tables were set for dinner out on the lawn at Tloma Lodge (Karatu, Tanzania)

Our O.A.T. travel group gathered around the salad bar.

The Amazing Chef!

At midnight we had champagne and grapes around the bonfire. It was our last night in Tanzania. We fell asleep listening to the local villagers drumming and singing. It was magical.

This cake was waiting for us back at the Olasiti Lodge in Arusha when we returned on New Year's Day. We would leave for the airport a few hours later.

More Celebrating

We returned to Kiev on January 2 and enjoyed 5 more days of vacation because Ukraine had not celebrated Christmas yet. Eastern Orthodox Christmas was on January 7. We didn't really do anything to celebrate on that day, but I did cook a big dinner for the two of us-roasted chicken, rice and gravy, cole slaw, and dessert-and we enjoyed the day relaxing and watching movies.

But we were still not finished celebrating! Our faculty Christmas party was originally scheduled for December 7 at a hotel in downtown Kiev, but because of the political demonstrations and possible violence in the area, the date was postponed until last night, Saturday, January 11. It was a very traditional Ukrainian meal, lots of pickled meat and vegetables, fish, salads loaded with mayonnaise, stuffed cabbage rolls, and of course, vodka. There was also lots of music and dancing.