Kyiv again :)

So then I went by train to Kyiv, it was quite hard to get sleep in the night train, I was of course also in the Platzkart coach, because it was cheaper, but unfortunately I got the place directly at the window, which was very inconvenient in the night, because the wind was blowing through the window from all sides and also some passengers thought it is a bad idea to sleep, why not to drink and being loud the whole night? But I survived that trip fortunately in good conditions and arrived in Kyiv safely at 7:00 am. I directly went to MC Flat, which I found thanks to Vova immediately without any problems. And Eugeniu from the current MC opened the door and then the MC flat life started. All members came out of their beds, taking showers (and by the way the washbowl broke down and is not usable anymore) and having quarrels about which bread belongs to girls and which one to the boys section. You have to know that there is special gender separation of food in the flat. That was really funny for me, I have not expected that. But okay, so life in MC started at 8 am and then we went to MC office, I was shown around and some MC member started to work as well as Ganna Soldatenko in her position as Manager of the great event in Kyiv – the 60th anniversary of AIESEC.

In between we went for breakfast/lunch means brunch in Пузата Хата (which I like very much, although it is also just type of Fast Food Restaurant, but a Ukrainian one and I really like the food. In my last evening I also went there and said ‘Good Bye’ to my lovely food.


Пузата Хата Restaurant in Kyiv











By the way The Grandma from Ira also gave me the recipe how to prepare and cook ‘Vareniki’. I just started preparing them straight after coming back to Germany and they had been perfect. Sometimes I feel that I’m getting more and more used to foreign meals, especially Russian and Ukrainian ones. Thanks to Grandma, who really made the most delicious ones I ever tried so far.


Around the City Centre of kyiv










Beautiful Buildings from Stalin Times










So then I started to get around again through the whole city centre I already knew because before coming to the IDS Conference in Mariupol I spend three days in Kyiv. So I was starting walking alone and I had really good luck, because it was warm, the sun was shining and I was taking so many nice and sunny pictures, it was really awesome. Then I went to the Hydropark (Гідропарк) on the small Island of the Dnepr (Дніпро) River and met Kolya (Nick) again, one guy from LC Kyiv who also had been in my home group in Mariupol. Sometimes it is not easy to describe someone in the right words, but this guy is more then great. He is one of the most hospitable persons I ever met in my life. He is so eager to get to know foreigners, to speak to them, to exchange ideas, to speak English in order to improve and he really likes to guide someone through the city just for his/her joy. It is not enough to say thanks to Nick for what he has done and I really appreciate it very much.


Beach in the Centre of Kyiv (Hydropark)

















Olaf on Hydropark Island









In general it is very amazing how many people are open minded towards foreigners, to meet them, to speak with them, I really have not made much experiences like this; especially when I take into consideration the German way of life. Of course we are also open, but not showing so much eagerness to get in touch with foreigners and different cultures. Maybe it is because we have it in our daily life and have to deal with multicultural environment, millions of foreigners are living in Germany, but still….















Майдан Незалежносты

So after the sightseeing tour we went to the LC Meeting which took place in one room nearby the office and I was attending just 30 minutes there, because it was my last evening in Kyiv and I had still some meetings with other people in front of me. But still I had the chance to thank the LC for an amazing time which I spent in Kyiv and to arrange final date in a pub in Kyiv afterwards for all who were interested in meeting me a last time.


The LC Meeting Room in the Univerity of Finances









In the later evening I met Dima Dotsenko – a guy whom I met already after the quest two weeks ago. We had a great conversation about differences of Culture, about History of Ukraine, how people are socialized etc., etc. I started to understand more, because Dima was able to explain more of the really deep Culture of Ukraine and its people. It really helped me a lot to understand more about Ukraine and why people mainly have different point of views or just behaving differently. This was a great end point of my travel around Ukraine and I know for sure that I have to come back soon to internalize Ukrainian Culture in a better way and by this understanding attitudes of people better. Dima of course also was worrying about my security and because there was no bus or Metro anymore (because it was late in the night) he decided to accompany me to the MC flat. This is also something which I really appreciate in Germany. Mainly in all cities all students who are going out for party in clubs or privately can rely on functioning public transportation system during the whole night. So e.g. in my city – Leipzig – there are 10 different busses every night at 1:11; 2:22 and 3:33 from a central point in the centre and then they just spread in the suburbs of Leipzig and coming back to the central point again. Additionally there are busses every Friday and Saturday night at 1:45 and 3:00 from the same place. So nobody had to take a taxi, because it is really expensive in Germany or has to walk alone through the streets, especially girls need not to be frightened and take the busses. This is a system I really love and I’m wondering why it is not possible to develop such system also in Kyiv or other cities in Ukraine or Russia. Maybe you all should think about it to force such idea.

So it was time to say Good Bye to everyone, to MC, to LC Member, to whole Kyiv and to Ukraine at all. And I thought okay, the next morning I have to take train from Kyiv to Berlin and nothing exciting would happen anymore. But I was wrong.