Have you ever been in the country without the knowledge of its alphabet? ;)
Have you ever been in the country without the knowledge of its alphabet? — It is an interesting experience!! — Ken managed the situation! 🙂
Professional computer specialist and photographer from Norway Kenneth Gjesdal published his feedback about his two weeks in Lviv, Ukraine studying Ukrainian.
http://gjesdal.org/blogg/
Read about Lviv and Ukrainians from the unbiased view!
And of course you’ll find there many beautiful photos of ancient Lviv and its citizens taken by the person with an professional eye!
It is really interesting to know about the travel from Moi, Norway to Lviv, Ukraine. What a monster of a plane!
Ken took 2-week intensive course of Ukrainian language and culture with learn-ukrainian.org.ua! «All the training was adapted to me in ways I didn’t foresee or demand» — he wrote!
Adventures with Cyrillic letters, kefir, borshch, Ukrainian keyboard etc.
Ken also shares his observation about the habits of Ukrainians to dress according to calendar, not temperature :)) — «This day I had to ask my teacher «do people in Ukraine dress according to calander or temperature?» I was the only one in the whole of Lviv that wasn’t wearing a jacket and it was warm and sunny… :-)»
So, here it is the story!
I recently traveled to Lviv, Ukraine to attend a 2-week intensive course of Ukrainian language and culture in Ukrainian.
Wrote a little about it before I went there, and here is some thoughts on how it was.
My goal for this trip was to learn the alphabet and to be able to go to somewhere to eat and do it without having to just point and grunt, but make myself understood in Ukrainian.
I was the only student at my level, the lowest possible :-), and cannot praise my teacher, Solomija Buk, high enough. What a skilled, and patient, teacher.
Our classroom were in one of the many cafes and restaurants in Lviv. We spend a lot of time reading the menu so I could try to order it in Ukrainian. Most of the time this went fairly well, with some bewildered and/or pleasant smiles from the waiter and waitresses. During my 2 week stay, I never had anything but positive interactions with anyone.
All the training was adapted to me in ways I didn’t foresee or demand. When I told my teacher I hope to be able to order from menus, I didn’t expect us to actually go to out the very next day and try it out. This way of taking care of me during school and a few practical issues from activities I had planned on my free time left me almost speechless at times. I just know I have to return.
Kenneth Gjesdal, Bryne, Norway
http://gjesdal.org
www.facebook.com/gjesdal
www.instagram.com/gjesdal
https://twitter.com/kennethgjesdal
One observation from the result of this trip was on my way home I made this observation:
What is the price difference between a bewildered Norwegian on a taxi from the airport vs one armed with the phrase “скільки в аеропорт” heading to the airport? Paid 1/3 🙂 — Posted by Kenneth Gjesdal on 20. februar 2016
Nothing bad with this trip to Ukraine at all?
Actually there were, one I anticipated and one was halfway expected.
On the return flight home I had to land in Oslo before heading for my final destination is always really, really annoying. Why they still haven’t managed to: a) fix it so you don’t have to go thru customs in with ones bags, then check in the bag again aaand yet another security check… or b) have a system when one book that says “avoid this this and that airport”…
I flew with Lufthansa from Oslo to Munich and then to Lviv. No Gluten free food on board, got a banana instead of a sandwich once, but rest… 🙁
