The Joys of Packing

Wow. I would like to start off by saying... AHHHHHHHHHHH! I LEAVE TOMORROW!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! Okay, now that I got that out of my system I can start. ;)
Packing to go the Ukraine was pretty hectic. First, I had to pack up my apartment in Utah to come to Virginia, which is where my family is currently living, just to unpack and start figuring out which clothes I would be bringing to the Ukraine. Thankfully, I was able to come home twice over the summer each time leaving way more clothes then I would take back. In May, I left all my winter clothes and then at the end of July when I came home for my sisters graduation I brought home a ton of clothes and brought very little back to Utah. However, I somehow managed to still have two over weight bags when I left Utah for the last time. Needless to say, I have a lot of clothes and stuff! 

Once I got "home" to Virginia, I unpacked my 2 big, heavy suitcases and started sorting through my clothes. A pile for clothes going back to Utah in January, a pile of clothes for the Ukraine, and a pile of stuff to go in the attic. The stuff that went in the attic was mostly some picture frames or books that I do not to use at this moment in time or in January when I get back out to school. After sorting through the suitcases I sorted through my closet and dressers and my pile of clothes for the Ukraine just kept getting bigger and bigger. I think the main reason it was so big is because I really do not know what I will be able to just buy in the Ukraine and I do/did not want to leave behind anything that I might need. After coming to the realization that I only should bring clothes that are absolutely necessary the narrowing down became easy. I packed all of my winter clothes, except my heavy jackets that take up a lot of space because, I am just going to buy a nice Ukraine coat when I get there that I will probably leave it with my Host Family. :) I also packed nice tops that I can teach in along with nice slacks and jeans that is also professional looking. Even though I will be teaching kids, I still need to look professional. 

The main thing that made packing difficult is the fact that I also had to pack supplies for the school that I will be teaching in. That means even less space in my suitcases for my clothes and shoes. Thankfully, a lot of the supplies that I ended up buying where lightweight, the only exception being construction paper. After shopping for all the supplies and for some clothes that I need, mainly dressy jeans, some shoes, and nice cardigans, the daunting task came to fit everything into 2, 50 pound suitcases, and a carry on. Thankfully someone invented airtight bags. I used those and everything. I suspect that my suitcases are under 50 pounds but I will find out for sure tomorrow in the airport. (I left space in my carry on in case they are a little overweight). 

I had a fun time this week shopping for my gifts to give my host family. I wanted the gifts to represent me in some way. My dad came up with the great idea to give them a nice throw blanket with an American Flag on it. I could not find any but when I was looking on the air force base I found some really cute Air Force bears that I bought for any siblings I may have in my Ukrainian family. For those of you who don't know my Dad is in the Air Force.  :) 

Now that I am officially packed up and ready to go! In which I owe a huge thank you to my mom for helping me this week. THANK YOU MOM!!! YOU'RE THE BEST, I LOVE YOU! I am super super super excited for this experience. I am not really nervous, but I am very anxious just to get there and experience all that the Ukraine and Eastern Europe has to offer. I cannot wait to meet my Host Family and the other girls that I will be working with. 

Oh, I also promise that my posts when I am in the Ukraine will have plenty of stories and will not be so.. oh i packed today, blah blah blah boring. :) 

This is what my schedule looked like this past week... and everyday ended up somehow busier.

This is the ADORABLE Air Force bear! 

Update on Departure

So, I feel like in every post I say something different about when I am leaving. First, I was suppose to leave the middle of August, then there were a few issues with getting my visa processed so I was going to leave September 6th. Well, a few days ago I got a phone call from ILP and they informed that me my visa went through earlier than expected and that the school wants me to get out there as soon as I can so I was asked if I could possibly leave between August 22-27. I am happy to inform y'all that I am officially leaving on August 27th and will arrive in Kiev, Ukraine on August 28th! I seriously cannot wait to get there and start teaching! I feel as though I have so much stuff to do before I leave and that makes it a little bit stressful, but I know that I will figure everything out and be prepared to leave on time. I SERIOUSLY CAN'T WAIT! UKRAINE HERE I COME!!

Training

This past week on July 12th and 13th I had ILP training. It was so much fun to be able to meet other girls who are also teaching abroad with this program. Jenna and I were only able to meet one other girl who is going to be teaching in Kiev school 1 with us, Samantha. I came to find out that Samantha is our Head Teacher. She seems like fun so I am sure that we will become even better friends when we are actually in the Ukraine and work together every day. In Training, I learned a ton of things. Unfortunately they are hard things to explain.

The Basics: I will be teaching around 15-20 hours a week. 3 hours a day is teaching level 1 and 2 children and the other extra couple of hours will be teaching kids who have been in the program for 3+ years. The older kids generally come to English class as an extra curricular activity, whereas the younger kids come to English class as part of their normal school day. 

Many people have asked me how I expect to teach children English, if I do not speak Russian. The ILP Teaching Methodology is very unique. The ILP website states: 

"Each child participates in activities in English for 3 hours a day. During this time they rotate to each of six different content areas taught by different teachers. Teachers do not teach translation or grammar rules. The learning environment is similar to that of a birthday party: children will play games, sing songs, hear and act out stories, or participate in creative expression in each of the teaching areas, using activities designed by ILP for teaching language. The teaching areas focus on what the children are familiar with from home. A child may make a cake in the kitchen, assemble a doll house in shop, do tumbling in the gym, act out “The Three Little Pigs” in drama and make a clay elephant in art all while speaking English. The social environment created by exciting activities, loving teachers, and a peer group is ideal for learning language."

At the training I learned how to teach the 6 different content areas. The 6 content areas are: Kitchen, Arts and Crafts, Gym (Sports), Drama, Games, and Shop. For the first couple of weeks that I am there I will only be teaching from one area, that way I will be able to get the teaching method down without having to switch areas. After the first couple of weeks of just teaching one area I will then rotate and teach a different area every week. 
I am not going to elaborate anymore about the teaching style or how I will be teaching because it is hard to explain, but if you have any specific questions feel free to ask and I will post answers. 

When I am living in the Ukraine I will be allowed to travel to many different countries. We will get a few long weekends and at least 1 week off from work that we can spend traveling. I actually also learned that I have to leave the Ukraine at least once with the visa that I am being issued. The countries I am allowed to visit are Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Romania. I also can visit Russia, but I would have to get a Russian Visa. I obviously will also be doing a lot of traveling within the Ukraine and especially in Kiev. If anyone has been to any of these countries and know of places that I MUST visit, please feel free to let me know so I can enjoy all the places this world had to offer. 

Another thing we learned about when during training is what to expect culturally in the Ukraine/Russia. This part was so great because I had all of my questions answered and I was put at ease... for the most part. I learned that the Ukraine is very different than the good ole United States. One thing that I am sure to have a hard time with is not smiling and making eye contact with people as I pass them in the street. In general, I am just a happy person and if I make contact with someone that I passing by then I will general smile at them. I can't help it. In the Ukraine, however, if I make eye contact with a male and smile at him he will take that as flirting and he WILL approach me and WILL try to pick me up. I was taught that if I just keep a straight face and walk pass men who may try to talk to me anyways then they will get the idea and stop bothering me. 

I also learned that a babushka will end up yelling at me in Russian at some point. Babushka's care, perhaps a little too much, about the younger generations and so they are always yelling at them with things such as, "Zip up your coat all the way or you'll die". I'm sure that when I come in contact with my first babushka she'll end up yelling at me.  :/ I don't remember the last time I was yelled at but I am prepared and know that it is more common for them to just yell at you instead of being polite with their comments. Very unlike my own Grandma who always tells me nicely and in a humorous was to "Keep those shoulders back." 

Training has made me even more excited to leave and start teaching and travelling all across Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, I was recently informed by ILP that they are having some issues with our visas, so I now won't be leaving to go to the Ukraine until the end of the first week of September.  

Going to the Ukraine! Sayy Whaaaa?!

“You’re going to the Ukraine?! What?? How did this happen?”  The answer is simple: Divine Revelation. :) 

Well, I’ll start from the beginning. I found out about ILP at first from google. One day, I was bored and started thinking about studying abroad. For those who know me, know that I LOVE traveling and learning about different cultures. So, studying abroad has definitely always been on my mind as something that I want to do when I get to college. As I was googling different programs, ILP really caught my eye because it was more of a “service abroad” than a “study abroad”. They focus on teaching english abroad, and the best part is that I didn’t need to know another language in order to go to a different country to teach. However, at the time that I first learned that ILP existed I brushed it off and thought that I would look into it more in a couple of years when I was actually ready to study abroad. 
Then in March 2012, my best friend Jenna Millington and I went to eat lunch at the Cougareat on BYU’s (Brigham Young University) campus. As we searched for a spot to sit and enjoy our lunch, only one table was open. As we sat down, we noticed a flyer that said “GIRLS NIGHT!” with a fondue fountain in the background. Obviously, the fondue fountain caught our attention, Jenna and I both have massive sweet tooths… I take after my mom in that factor. Anyways, The flyer told us that there would be a short information meeting and that we would get a free movie pass and get to enjoy a nice fondue fountain just for showing up! The meeting was that night, luckily after I got off work. Intrigued mainly because we are poor college students and anything free is awesome, Jenna and I decided to go to the meeting. The meeting was really informative and fun! I would actually get the chance to serve the people while living in and learning about their country. This was unlike any program I had ever heard of. Teaching abroad, living abroad, actually being able to live with a host family from that country… All these things really excited me and I knew that I was meant to see that flyer on the table at lunch that day. Hence, Divine Revelation. Not only did we learn so much that night about the ILP program, but we both immediately wanted to sign up. I was really nervous about telling my parents about the opportunity because I had been stressing them out about wanting to transfer back to USU (Utah State University) from BYU. However, that night when I talked to my mom I mentioned it to her. Instead of blowing me off and telling me to focus on school work, she was really intrigued by the things I told her. I gave her the website information and she became super interested. After talking to my Dad and of course praying about this opportunity, we all felt that I should apply and see if I get in. I was sooo excited that they gave me the OK to sign up. Jenna’s parents also told her that she could apply. I was thrilled that my best friend and I would be able to share in this experience together. Thankfully, ILP loves sending friends together so we didn’t have to worry about getting sent to different countries or cities. 
On April 4th, 2012 I was eating lunch when Jenna called me FREAKING out. She was celebrating telling me that she just received her acceptance email. I started freaking out and worrying… What if she got accepted but I didn’t?!.. After I calmed down I finally checked my email. And guess what? I got in! (big surprise seeing how this blog revolves around that fact). The email’s first line stated: “We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to participate in the ILP program during the Fall semester of 2012. We congratulate you on being qualified to volunteer during a semester abroad!” It seemed, and still seems, so unreal that I got accepted. After filling out some more paperwork, they finally told us on April 16th, 2012, that we were assigned to the Kiev 1 School in Ukraine. This came as a shock at first because Jenna and I both put Russia as our choice country but that we, of course, were willing to go anywhere. So instead of teaching in Russia, it would be the Ukraine. How awesome is that?! I have no idea when else in my life I would have such an opportunity like this to even make a trip to Russia or the Ukraine. I am most excited and nervous about living with a Host Family. It’s one thing to visit a country and stay in a hotel… and it’s a completely different situation to actually live with people from that country!! ahhhh! :)  So, that’s how I found out about ILP, decided to apply, ended up getting accepted and finding out that I will be living in the Ukraine from mid-August to the end of December. Wish me luck! :) 

For those of you who do not know where the Ukraine is:

Where Kiev is in the Ukraine: