An English Language group

Wednesday, Marina was back at work so I had the day to myself. I headed to an open-air market where there is a mixture of book sellers and art shops. I always buy a hand-full of Kolibri acrylic/oil brushes because they are super quality but much cheaper here than in Europe. I also bought some more Russian oil paints because I wanted to improve a portrait of Marina which I had brought with me. I brought two, she liked the other one. I never got close - not easy in a hotel room. 

By the way, I am writing this on the flight back from Kyiv to Barcelona. I gave Marina a small Acer One laptop for her translation work the last time I saw her in January but she said it was too small for her and she bought another laptop. So I took back the Acer One! I love it - it fits perfectly on the drop-down table. It is perfect for writing - too slow for most other applications. My new laptop which I described in my previous visit here is great for a hotel room but too big for using in a plane. The only snag is that the battery is running down rapidly with a warning to consider getting a new battery. I think I will do that. I also put Cyrillic letters on the keyboard so I can switch between Russian and Spanish - the keyboard native layout is Spanish. And it is very quiet so I am not disturbing the guy next to me who is sleeping maybe.

Wednesday evening I went to an English language group which operates under the Polyglot Club which operates in the whole of Ukraine and it also appears as a Meetup group so I joined the group before I came here. I arrived at  Korolinko Library a little before the scheduled 5pm start. The venue was a small classroom and, after a short while, there were about 8 of us waiting for Floud, the leader or teacher. And we waited... and waited. After about 15 minutes I suggested that I take the class because everyone was getting bored. This was welcomed so I got up, asked them to take seats near to the front and suggested that they took it in turns to introduce themselves. This would give me an opportunity to see what their level of English was like. But I was flattered to find that they wanted to know about me!

So I told them about my Meetup group, Catalunya and the people who want independence from Spain. They were especially interested when I told them about Catalan and Spanish languages both being used and that sometimes I am pressured into speaking Catalan. It makes an interesting comparison between Ukrainian and Russian. In Kharkiv, virtually everyone speaks Russian but as one goes east, especially in Kyiv, Ukrainian is more commonly used. But just because people here speak Russian, it doesn't mean that they are pro-Russia. Most young people I spoke to are very happy about closer ties with the European Union. More about that later!

After about 15 minutes with the group, this foreign-looking guy slipped into the back of the classroom. "Are you Floyd?"

We ran the group together for a few short moments and I went back to my seat. His technique was very different from mine. He talked about his wife, his problem with Ukrainian forms. And later he gave advice on different American accents. I thought his accent was Texan but he said that he came from the mid-west. So he was talking about "hey youall.." This was getting some blank looks!

Afterwards, Floyd and I went to a dingy little bar owned by an English couple. But they weren't there. He bought two large beers and I thanked him. He told me about his Ukrainian wife and her children.

I found this group through Meetup, it appears as a Meetup group. But Floyd was unaware of a Meetup group, he organised the event through his Facebook page. He said that he wouldn't be there the following week but the Meetup group shows him as being there. I wrote some time ago to Dominique who is the Organiser but he (or she?) never replied so I won't worry about it.

Back to Kharkiv!

Tuesday

After the excitement of Eurovision and with my ears ringing, we woke to a grey day. Not much happened during the morning. I had breakfast at 8am because I always wake up at the same time regardless of when I went to bed, which in this case was well after midnight. And Marina had her breakfast at 10.30 - I joined her with a cup of tea. We packed our gear and checked out of the hotel just after the allotted mid-day.

We walked to the station and Marina was looking for somewhere to buy an inexpensive snack to eat on the train. I said she should have stolen some food from the breakfast buffet but either she didn't hear me or maybe she didn't understand my strange English humour. She explained later that it was the latter.

We reached the station after a walk of 20 minutes down the hill from the hotel and found the platform easily. The train was larger than I am used to with large seats in first class which is what I had chosen. The difference between first and second class is not very great so it was an easy choice - I bought the tickets online about a week previously about the same time as I bought the Eurovision tickets.

The train service was described as "high-speed" but that was mainly on account of its having very few stops. In some cases, the track was very poor and the train never exceeded 140 km/hr. This was displayed on LCD screens together with advertising and other information about the journey. People are so happy that we can get from Girona to Barcelona in only 37 minutes but, in fact the speed is not very great, 200 km/hr. It doesn't stop! The TGVs in France regularly run at 300 km/hour because the track is especially designed for that.

The journey passed very pleasantly and towards the end, I bought some fruit tea and cakes from the buffet. We both took the Metro from Kharkiv Station, Marina went home and I went to check into the hotel. On the way, I stopped at Citrus which is computer gadget shop and bought a silicone cover for Marina's phone. I was alarmed to discover that she had dropped it and it had landed right on the edge which is normally fatal. I bought the phone, Samsung A7, for her so I would have been doubly sad. I had a meal in Abajour which is the hotel restaurant. The atmosphere is normally a fog from hubble-bubble pipes which are very popular here. I always used to associate them with Turkey but then I see many Turkish influences here, music for example.

A Eurovision Rehearsal

On Monday we made a late start as well. I think we chatted for a long time in my room before heading out into the city. I can't say too much here but one of my reasons for coming here was to talk to Marina about how best I can help her. I am often aware of the difference between our cultures so it is difficult at times but she is a good friend and that will not change!

We decided to go back to Postova Plosha where we saw the karaoke competition the previous evening and this time, we took a boat trip. It takes one hour and goes south past the enormous Motherland statue. This time, we were luckier with the weather, it was very warm in the morning but dark clouds were gathering. 

After the boat trip, we went back into the square and took the funicular up to the top of the hill. The impressive building is the ministry of external affairs.

There was also a small park of attractions and Marina won a prize throwing darts at balloons! There were food stalls and we had a quick meal in the open air! 

By this time, the weather was changing rapidly, it was getting squally with a drizzle of rain.

Needless to say, Marina posed for more photos. And I got into the act also.

We then walked to the church at the top of the hill. By now the weather was quite unpleasant, cold and windy with intermittent rain. We tried to phone for a taxi without success but, in fact, that proved to be a blessing. I saw one or two buses heading for Maidan so we walked down the same road little realising how close it was. And, better still, the weather front had passed and it had stopped raining. We walked through Maidan and took a Metro back to the hotel.

We had tickets for the rehearsal of the first semi-final of Eurovision and during the day, I had been receiving draconian warnings by email about turning up at the location between 6 and 7pm for reasons of security. This was ridiculous, the concert was due to start at 10pm and it was only a rehearsal. I guessed the arena would only be part-filled because it was very easy to pick seats a week previously.

We were cool dudes. After returning to the hotel, Marina took a rest and I wrote some of this blog. At 7pm, we had some food in the restaurant and left the hotel around 8.30 by taxi to go to the exhibition centre. Absolutely no problem. We waltzed through security and entered the centre. It is a huge empty space normally and the arena for Eurovision had been built in the centre of the space. This still left large areas around it where one could wander. And in the case of Marina, do some more poses. These are all on her phone and, since the light was not very good, I didn't bother to publish them here. Anyway, you've seen her posing now!

The arena was spectacular and the rehearsal was run "as live", so it was like the real thing. Being a sound man, two things struck me immediately. One was the volume of sound, especially in the very low frequencies - damaging to the ears, so I was very annoyed at my fellow sound guys of the 21st Century. When I covered my ears, I could still feel the  sound hitting my stomach. The other serious doubt was whether the artists were actually singing. I could see TV monitors and the movement of the singer's mouth was not in sync with the sound. Maybe for the grand final, they have to sing live. In any case, they were singing to backing tracks; there was no live band.

I didn't take my phone and Marina had been taking so many photos that the battery of her phone was flat by the end of the concert. So we had no way of calling a taxi. But I knew the Metro ran along-side the arena and that is how we got back home. It was even the same line. I suggested we left as soon as the main concert ended which was around midnight. But we missed Jamala singing her winning song from last year. Or the cynic in me suspected she may have been miming. Oh, how could you think such a thing!

Next day, Tuesday, we took the train back to Marina's home town of Kharkiv and I will write about that tomorrow!

 The formatting has all gone to centre justified and Blogger won't let me change it. Oh well, no matter, it looks quite nice!

Kyiv Beach!

To the beach!

We come to Kiev and what is the first thing we do? We go to the beach! Last time we were here, we went on a boat trip and, through the rain-swept windows of the boat, we saw a beach. And today, we went 5 stops on the Metro to Obolon in the north of the city. By the way, the fare for the Metro is 3 uah for all journeys. That is 10 centi­mos in euros. I've included a photo of an escalator in the Metro, I can't remember which station. I think I said in a previous post that they were built so deep in preparation for World War 3 which fortunately hasn't arrived yet. But the length of the journey on the escalator, with the low rumbling of the mechanism is impressive. One evening, coming back from the Eurovision concert, people were taking a seat (or a step!) Marina told me later that it was not permitted to take photos in the Metro!

We stopped on the way from the station to buy some food from a supermarket and we both used an ATM for some cash. It was unseasonably warm, I would guess upper 20s Centigrade. We took some photos when we arrived at the beach. There are wonderful views of the city and there are many blocks of expensive and modern-looking flats along the river-front. Very un-Russian looking. We took a seat on some car tyres and unpacked our lunch, smoked salmon and cheese wedged between slices of bread. We were both drinking water. Marina says I drink too much but, here, I drink in great moderation, never during the day. If she saw me back home in Spain, then she would be correct but not here.

We had left the hotel quite late, about 12pm, so very soon it was late afternoon and Marina wanted to go to the Red Carpet event at Eurovision but I hadn't bothered to check it out and in fact it was only open to pass-holders and I am not sure how they obtained those. We stopped at a bar near by to use the toilets and I bought an obligatory fruit tea. We called a taxi from the bar and took a wonderfully fast journey down past the river to the Mariyinski Palace. We arrived at around 5.30pm but our attempts to get anywhere near the event were futile with lots of police around. We walked up through the park, then back down to the road. Up the road. Marina cursing that she was just an ordinary person and these people are superior. I replied that it was slightly more prosaic than that; we hadn't bought tickets!

So, these two very ordinary people went to the club where we would be accepted as members, The Eurovision Village. After a very short distance I realised where we were, Maidan Nezalezhnosti (maidan is square). And about 200m beyond Maidan was a large enclosed space with a big screen showing celebs arriving and being interviewed. Toe-curling.. "I am so pleased to be here, I am looking forward to sharing my music with you..with diversity". But not diversity in language. The Times newspaper noted that 80% of the songs in Eurovision are in English.

I am sure you know by now that Marina likes to pose. I don't mean that she is a poseur! Show her a Eurovision backdrop and she is hanging her bag around my neck and leaping onto the stage. I have attached a few examples here. 

We stayed in the village for about an hour watching these awful interviews. But of course, many people take Eurovision seriously, all about national pride. I explained that the UK thought it was all one big joke, maybe because they don't win very often. Terry Wogan made an art of taking the mickey out of the performers and Graham Norton has followed on the tradition. Why the BBC uses Irish commentators, I guess it is just coincidence. For those who are not familiar with UK TV personalities, Terry Wogan, who died about a year ago, was considered a (UK) national treasure. He was not terribly old but, by then, I think Graham Norton had taken over. 

 

Marina remembered that there was an event at Poshtova Plosha so we walked back to Maiden and took the Metro one stop to the square. It is right by the river as you can see from the photos. There was a karaoke competition - some of the singers were very good. And some not so good. But I felt sorry for them because they obviously had good voices but were a little nervous and for a singer, that is fatal because the air supply from the diaphragm collapses and the voice goes with it. A voice needs a firm foundation. If that goes, all hell lets loose!

 

I thought about having a beer while Marina watched the singers but the service was so slow that I gave up and returned to her. We left at around 8pm and took the Metro back to the hotel.

We had a meal in the restaurant and retired to our individual rooms. It is a bit tough on us singles that hotels normally charge for rooms, not occupants. A single room does not exist, we could have shared a room for half the price but Marina wasn't very keen on that! Me neither actually.

Six Times in Ukraine

I guess I must like the place, this is my 6th time in Ukraine. Or maybe it is a certain person here. I wrote a lot here about my trip to Colombia and I was visiting another young friend, Nini, there. I am sure I explained in a previous post why I'm visiting young girls (or in the case of the Philippines, a young guy) with obviously nothing more than friendship on the cards. It keeps me young, is my answer. I have plenty of friends my own age... or any age. It doesn't really matter. 

And I have visited places which otherwise I would never have seen. But I have to confess that six times in one country while visiting my own country once is a little strange. Maybe I like the person in question, love her even. But like a parent loves a child. I was married a long time ago and I have no children (children?? They would be almost 50 by now!) So I have my little family of three young people in three far-flung parts of the world. But it is Marina who I take care of the most. Nini is getting married this year and Nomel in the Philippines is surrounded by his friends and family and despite being female in a male body, seems quite content in his life.

I'm writing this in the Ibis Hotel in Kyiv (I write Kiev like that because that is how it appears in Ukrainian in Cyrillic and how it is written in English here). I decided to come and talk to Marina how best I can help her and I said that we should meet in Kyiv. But she had long wanted to visit Eurovision (previously called the Eurovision Song Contest) so we arranged to meet at the same time and then go back together to Kharkiv where she lives (that is tomorrow, 9th May).

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a single air ticket for Marina to fly to Kyiv on Saturday (two days ago) and I booked a flight the same day from Barcelona which arrived in the evening. That meant that Marina had to check into the hotel well before I arrived, so I went to great lengths to make sure my bank card was pre-registered so that she could occuply her room without my being there.

I arrived at 6pm, on time, and took the Air Bus to the city-centre, phoning Marina to tell her that I was on my way. We met at the bus stop by the Cetral Railways Station and walked up to the hotel. The weather was very warm, upper 20s I would imagine, blue sky. Very unlike the last time I was here when the temperature was well below zero and the ground was covered by frozen snow.



I checked in and we had a meal in the restaurant and planned the next day.

Marina likes Abajour!