The Utterly Amazing Ukraine
And even if people are not fluent English, they are most likely to know enough to order water for me to find the bill or the way to the station without problems. While there were times in which I have ever had with non-verbal communication, to be creative, for the most part, communication is much easier than English-speakers for me, as there. For my friends from Germany or Portugal
At least until I went and visited this month Ukraine.
of all the countries I have visited, Ukraine ranked number one on the list of places where no one seems to speak English.
It may sound like an exaggeration to say. Sure some people have to speak a little English, right? Some do. Those who can interact with tourists or working at restaurants, to understand a few words. But every day Ukrainians? The ones I could not even met as understand the words "water", "train", "bill" or "thank you."
Well, I'm not asked my language one of those tourists who know the locals. I expect someone in English not to be truly fluent, like someone from another location would not expect me to be fluent in their language. But given how pervasive is English around the world, most people in the big cities can say something . So I am always surprised and intrigued when people do not speak English.
One night, I was a good Ukrainian restaurant recommended by my hostel owner in Kiev, and I asked the man if they speak English there. His answer? "You're in Ukraine, man. No one speaks English here."
But you know what? The lack of English did not turn me from Ukraine.
In fact, with an incomprehensible script (Cyrillic) and no one faced to speak English with, I was really thrilled by Ukraine. While it was almost impossible to get around and to ask for help, I saw as a challenge. I spent 20 minutes at a train schedule gazing to find out which train was mine. I have creative when they try to talk to people. I showed a lot of things that I wanted.
I loved the challenge. Although I was only there for a week, I think that's why I loved Ukraine so much. It was a challenge to travel. It was an adventure. And for me, the greater the adventure and the greater the challenge, the more I feel like I'm traveling to discover and learn about the world.
travel these days can be as simple, especially if you 're fluent in English. We are native really luckily, and it takes some of the challenge of the trip. But here I was dropped in a really strange place. I had "choo-choo" to a station, write numbers down to total his prices to pantomime, and very confused.
But Ukraine had much more to offer than just a language barrier. I only saw Lviv and Kiev, but they were very interesting cities (Lviv I liked more because of its old historic center). It was this mix of modern, old Soviet architecture and beautiful parks. If I can say something about the Communists, it is that they love to make real parks is. Small babushka grandmother walked beside girl wearing Prada. The Russian Orthodox churches contaminate the land, with its with its gilding and cone tops were both opulent and symbolic of a deep sense of faith. And I really loved Ukrainian food. I was surprised, was as flavorful. I had expected a hearty, mild cuisine of meat and potatoes. But the borscht, potato dumplings, the blintzes, the meat - it was all delicious. I especially liked the borscht. The sour cream adds they give a wonderful texture to the soup in it. (For cheap and good Ukrainian food, eating at Puzata Khata with locations across the country.)
While I was in Kiev, I met with a bunch of couch surfers took me to a Ukrainian university party. Unlike my CouchSurfer guide and one of her friends, no one spoke enough English to talk to. It was involved in a lot of definition. And a lot of vodka toasts. Ukrainians love their vodka. I think to avoid awkward silence, roasted just to make things caused by the language barrier. We pushed too much in fact, and if I start to slow down, she laughed and tried to feed more vodka. I can think of vodka and a Ukrainian.
The next year, the European football championship in Ukraine takes place, and I'll try not to keep visiting. It is a great reason to go back to a country I never would be so amazing and exciting to expect. I've barely scratched the surface of this vast country, do give me a lot of new things when I get there again. One week was not even to be close enough. I want to go mainly to Odessa to visit the east near Russia, and the head in the Crimea.
But given the language barrier, I think I might first have to learn some Ukrainian phrases.
"Na Zdorovye" ( "cheers") is me only get so far.
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