Sea, sea... and some more sea! :)

It's a lovely Sunday afternoon again... And yes, you've guessed it right, I'm at the seaside again ;) Since the weather is still really nice (actually, it's even nicer than during the summer, because it's not that hot anymore and you don't see crowds on beaches everyday), I try to go to the seaside everyday. Sometimes I even take my small (but growing) army of Minions with me ;)

This particular selfie was taken on Friday, today they're being lazy at home :) Honestly, I don't even know how I survived 24 years living far away from the seaside! It has such a positive impact on my mood and it's good for everything: working, studying, letter writing... Of course, I realize that after a couple of years of living hear I might feel less enthusiastic, but for now I see absolutely no reasons to limit myself :) And actually, I'm going to use this chance to tell you a bit more about the sea - and about my city at the same time. It feels so great to finally be able to say "my city"! As far as I can't remember, I'd never use this expression in Lviv, because it simply never felt this way... It only felt like a good hub to travel from. Being able to say that I love the city I live in is such a positive change for me, so I hope you don't mind my enthusiasm ;)

Railway station, Trains and steel mill in the background ;)

On Monday I went to the beach, which is just next to the railway station. When I first came to Mariupol, which was in 2009, I didn't realize that sea was so close, so I spent 2 hours looking for the sea together with my friend :P But in fact all you have to do is to walk over a pedestrian bridge, watch the lovely landscape with trains and a steel mill (I'm not sure which one of them is that though) and after a couple of minutes you're on a beach.

Sea and clouds on Monday

But usually I go to the central beach, which has no trains and no steel mill on it, simply because it's the closest to the city center, post office, university and other places that I visit everyday. And there's that nice cafe, in which you can drink tea sitting just next to the sea (and if the waves are big, you can also get a bit wet) :) I suppose you won't be surprised if I tell you I still swim in the sea, because I'm probably going to do it until December, when the sea is likely to get frozen. But so far I'm not the only one - the summer doesn't seem to be over yet here.

A rare chance to see me almost naked :P

And finally my favorite beach, which I rarely come to, because it's quite far away, but today I'm here for the first time this month :) Why is it my favorite one? Well, maybe because it was exactly here that I've seen Ukrainian seaside (that day in 2009... after 2 hours of searching for it around the city), maybe because it's totally unique? You don't see beaches with steel mills just next to them very often, right?

Unique seaside :D

In case you think it's some kind of a beautiful cliff on this picture... Well, I have to disappoint you: it's just a huge mountain of steel mill's garbage, which has been growing for several decades. The steel mill itself is a bit farther and can be seen from the beach. In fact, it's not a very good thing, because it pollutes the sea and spoils the landscape (from the normal people's point of view), but at least it's unusual. And actually, it's a very nice district, at some point I considered searching for a flat to rent here, so I could live in a block of flats and still see the sea from my window. The only problem is that this district is the closest to the front line, so I didn't want to risk. Now it's been totally calm for 3 weeks, so I'm not afraid to spend my Sunday here, and let's hope it'll stay this way.

The Sea of Azov is generally very shallow, but on this beach it's even more visible. I think you have to walk at least 300 m away from the shore if you want to swim. Today the level of water is even lower than usually, so there are a lot of small, sandy islands and seagulls walking around. Of course, there are more beaches in Mariupol, but sometimes I also have to study, so I haven't been to all of them this week ;) But you can be sure there will be more seaside pictures coming soon... No matter if you want it or not :P

Last but not least, this week's mail :) 

From Søren in Iceland

I've only received one letter this week, from my dear friend Søren in Iceland. He has also sent me a chocolate with salty liquorice, which I really love, but which is unfortunately unavailable in Ukraine :) It's so great to have friends, who remember about your weird tastes! ;)

For Erin in the USA

But there's been more outgoing mail, since I've been trying not to let my work dominate my life totally. I've sent a letter to Erin on Monday.

For Bahanur in South Korea

And on Thursday I've sent a letter to Bahanur, for the first time since she's moved to South Korea :) Just don't tell me I'm using too many stamps :P

For Evi in Greece

Today I've sent an intro letter to Evi in Greece. We've meet on FB by accident, when she had problems joining a penpalling group in which I'm an admin. The truth is that I've been very behind with this group, just as with everything else, but once we started chatting, we decided to start writing to each other :) Which is a great coincidence, because I really need someone to practice my Greek with, but I didn't want to start writing with any random Greek person. I've written 2 pages in Greek (okay, those were very small pages in very big handwriting...) before switching to English, which I think is quite a good result, if you consider that I started learning Greek just 1,5 month ago. Although I'm sure I've made at least 100 mistakes ;)

I hope you're all having a lovely Sunday too and I wish you a great beginning of the new week!

How to Make Yourself Feel Young and Stupid Again ;)

It's a lovely Sunday afternoon and I'm having a great time drinking tea at the seaside and writing letters :) It's a very rare occasion when I have no work left for the weekend, but I think I should do something in order to have such days more often, because I've definitely lost the life-work balance at some point. All I have to do is to learn to say "no" to some translations that I don't want and don't need, but I still have that stupid feeling that once I'm a beginner, I should take everything. Then I end up translating 40 pages a day (or maybe even more... I don't even want to calculate) and sleeping 3 hours. That's definitely not the way it should be, but I guess it always takes time to find the right balance. I've already made some progress though: I've refused to take a 30 pages long translation of a sewing machine instruction and they haven't even fired me, they just gave me 7 small certificates instead :P Oh, and I got my first Slovak-Ukrainian translation, as if I could speak Slovak :D Soon I'll be able to translate all the languages I know, as well as those which I don't know... You know, in Ukraine everything is possible! ;) Still, I really need to find the balance, because I need some time for studying, traveling, letter writing and just being lazy once in a while. Or I'll turn into a zombie, which might also be interesting...

But so far I'm still alive and enjoying the sea almost everyday. This particular photo was taken last weekend and I know I've been posting too many seaside photos, but the sea is still something really fascinating to me and I'm trying to come here as often as possible while the weather is still nice. Later I'll keep on coming anyway, but probably not for several hours a day :P

As I promised, I'm going to tell you more about my studies this time. I'm currently a 2nd year student of Greek + English (full time) and Polish + Ukrainian + Russian (distant), but the latter studies only require me to come to exams, so I tend to forget about them :) As for becoming a full-time student for the 2nd time, it was a bit of a challenge. First of all, due to famous Ukrainian bureaucracy, I wasn't allowed to start studying from the 1st year. If I wanted to do it, I'd have to take Ukrainian high school exams next year and then try to pretend that it's going to be my 1st higher education. If you already have a diploma, you can only start with the 2nd year. When I learnt about this rule, I had 10 days left until the interview and couldn't speak Greek at all, I only knew the alphabet and some very basic words. I thought of resigning, but I wasn't taking any risk by coming to the interview, so I'd take private Greek classes everyday for those 10 days and somehow I managed. Of course, they had the full right to fail me, if they only wanted, but apparently they decided to give me a chance, because I had made quite a big progress in such a short time. When we got close to the 1st of September, I was feeling very anxious, because I imagined that my groupmates would already speak at least intermediate Greek and of course the teachers would talk to us in Greek... but no, I'm not that much behind ;) I'm basically caught-up with the grammar, but of course I still have to work on the vocabulary. Actually, I think finding a Greek penpal (or a penpal, who can speak fluent Greek) would really help me... so if there are any Greek snail mailers reading this, please drop me a line ;) You'll have a chance to enjoy seeing your language being totally ruined by me :P As for English (if you study translation in Ukraine, you always have 2 languages), I mostly sleep in the classes, but I still hope they'll somehow help me to improve my skills.

I've been studying just for a month, so maybe it's too early to make any conclusions, but so far I think that there are a lot of advantages to becoming a student for the 2nd time, when you're already a bit more mature. Of course, I realize that not everyone can afford it, because not everyone has the chance to work remotely and combine your job with studies. Yet I think that even if you choose distant/ correspondence learning, it's still pretty good for a number of reasons. Those are just my thoughts and you may disagree - especially that things may be different abroad. But here are some reasons why I think it's worth it:

1. You already know (more or less) what you want. Most of people go to university at the age of 18-19 (or even 16, as it happens in Ukraine) and feel quite confused. Often those are their parents, who take the decision instead of them. Personally, I don't regret having chosen to study political science 5 years ago and would still like to do the PhD in it in the future. But now that I'm a bit more mature and am already working, I find it easier to tell what kind of education I'd indeed need for my career and how exactly could I use my diploma. 5 years ago I only knew I wanted to study, but had absolutely no idea, what could I use it for when I graduate.

2. You feel more relaxed. You're not so much afraid of failing an exam and don't think they'll kill you if you "forget" to do your homework, because you've already gone through the whole education cycle once and you've developed perfect laziness skills :P And you feel no pressure to finish your studies if you feel fed up with them at some point, because you already have a degree and what you're doing now it's an "extra".

3. You can feel young again. To be honest, the idea of being totally done with my studies and being an adult was a bit too scary for me. And while I'm just a 2nd year student again, I can sometimes forget that I'm 6 years older than my groupmates ;) Of course, this thing becomes a bit tricky if you only want to study instead of working... but I suppose in some countries it's possible as well ;)

4. They treat you a bit differently. Of course, you should still study and write tests like others do, but you can skip some classes (I don't know, whether it's the same abroad, but in Ukraine you're officially allowed to skip the subjects you had during your previous studies, so for instance I don't have to come to P.E. or philosophy classes anymore), especially if your teachers know you're also working. They're not trying to discipline you, because it's too late to change you ;) And also you have a different attitude to teachers when you're a bit older... You know that they're people just like you, who also don't know absolutely everything in their subjects. 5 years ago I was scared of my teachers and the power they had over me. Now I'm able to view them as partners, helping me to gain some new knowledge.

5. You get a student card and a 50% discount for Training ;) At least if you study in Ukraine ;)

If any of my Readers have the experience of studying at uni more than once, I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

And now... snail mail time :) Not too much since my last letter, but there is some progress.

From Dasha in Ukraine

From Antonina in Ukraine

For Arjen in Belgium

For Dasha in Ukraine

For Antonina in Ukraine

Today I've been working on a letter to Erin... And hopefully I'll manage to finish in today, before the new week starts. But really, I'll do my best not to let my work turn me into a zombie, I'd like to be able to write letters not only during the weekends. But it should be fine :)

A New Beginning

Has it really been 5 months since I've written anything on my blog?! Wow, I've been really behind with everything this year. I can't believe I still have some unanswered letters, which arrived back in March, which actually makes me feel really ashamed, but I believe we all go through some crises once in a while and I had to go through it in order to finally become motivated enough to make some changes in my life. I still find it hard to fully realize how many things have happened and changed just within a few months. But life is unpredictable and I like it this way! I actually think I'll have to write several blog entries to share all my thoughts with you, but I'll just start with a short one in order to revive this poor blog and to show you some proofs of me still writing letters! ;)

This doesn't look like Kyiv right? :P When I think of it now, I have no idea, how could I seriously consider moving to the capital city. Yeah, that would have been a reasonable solution and an easily acceptable one, but... that just wouldn't be me. To be honest, I thought I might wait move to Kyiv temporarily, wait until the war is definitely over and then move to Donbass region. I knew it would happen sooner or later anyway, but I was trying to be sensible and not to let it happen during the war. Kyiv was supposed to be some kind of a "bridge", but... I'm not the most patient person ever (and also not the most sensible one, in case you didn't know), so the bridge has been skipped and I went directly to the seaside ;) I kind of felt I'd end up in Mariupol already this year in April, when I came here "by accident" while visiting the nearby natural reserve. I had quite a hard time fighting myself and thinking of how should I tell everyone about my decisions, so at the moment I can't even tell you when exactly I've moved. The whole thing has been done very gradually and very chaotically, but I think the decision was made on May 4th, when I got myself a P.O. Box in Mariupol. It didn't oblige me to anything and it still took me a month to share my new address with my friends, but I knew that once I've taken this step, I would take the next ones as well. Why did I want to come here so much? I don't know. But I know I had been missing this region since 2010 and that it had become really hard for me to live in Lviv due to the current events in Ukraine, so I decided to take the risk.

My friends have been asking me, whether I'm not afraid to live here. Well, it's a difficult question. Of course, I realize there is some risk and that nobody knows how the situation might develop (although it seems to be much better than it was a year ago). Of course, I don't feel very comfortable when I hear some distant explosions at night. It hasn't happened for a while now, but I won't be surprised if it happens again, because such things are a part of living in the war zone. Yeah, I live in the war zone. I used to think that only the separatists' controlled area is considered the war zone, but it turns out that Mariupol also counts as the war zone, even if it's controlled by Ukraine. But I found out about it just recently while translating the full list of towns and villages in war zone from Ukrainian into Polish :D But no, it's not as scary as you imagine. Things usually aren't as scary as they describe them. Living here is pretty normal, people work, study, go to cafes and spend a lot of time at the seaside. I know it may sound weird, but I feel more calm while I'm here than when I'm away. When I had to go to Lviv for a couple of days, I was really worried that something bad would happen before I manage to come back. When I'm here... I just see that everything is alright, I'm busy with my own life and usually I don't even think about the war. I suppose it still sounds strange for those of you, who have never experienced any war-like events. I also used to think that staying far away from trouble is the best solution, but sometimes your views can change when you actually experience certain things. I'm afraid I still can't name any valid reason why Mariupol is better than Lviv. I won't even say it's actually better. If you're a tourist, I'd still advice you to visit Lviv, unless you're really interested in steel mills and shallow, dirty seas ;) But Mariupol is simply more suitable for me at this point of my life and that's enough. It's a very multicultural place and therefore people are so much more tolerant than in Lviv, I switch from one language to another some 100 days a day and nobody minds that. Another thing is that I like to search for beauty where most of people won't see it. For example, in steel mills and dirty seas :P

By the way, I've been asked for at least 5 times, what is it like to live in Donetsk. So I guess I should use this opportunity to make an official statement that I do NOT live in Donetsk and I can't even go there at the moment, because you need a special permission (or a big bribe) to go to the separatist republics. Mariupol isn't the same as Donetsk, those are two different cities and the distance between them is 120 km. "Donetska Oblast" in my address means "Donetsk Region". I couldn't live in Donetsk now... Do you know why? The post offices don't work there! :(

But they work in Mariupol, so I've been receiving and sending quite a few letters! :) Not as many as I used to, but I'll never give up on my hope to catch up with my mail. At some point in the future. Some unknown point in unforeseeable future... ;) My life has been quite a big mess, so I'll show you my mail also without any order... Incoming, outgoing.... I'm too lazy to put them in any particular order at the moment. Just a lot of mail :D

My crazy Finnish friend Essi has sent me a letter with lovely photos of me
that she had taken during our Ukrainian trip in 2014 :D

From Vanessa in the USA. It was really nice to finally hear from her again :)

From my dear Dasha in Kyiv

My letter to Martina in Slovenia

From Taši in Slovenia

To Olga in Belarus, who has survived spending 10 days in Belgium with me this summer :P

For Katka in Czech Republic

It wasn't actually me sending a letter to Tasha in England... :D

My Israeli friend Stav has sent me a great letter and a lot of postcards from her trip to Parius

Another letter from Dasha

From Anastasia in Ukraine

A literally GREAT postcard from Gdańsk sent by Essi... and someone hiding behind it :P

From Antonina in Ukraine

To Anastasia in Ukraine

For Dasha in Ukraine

For Søren in Iceland

For Anastasia in Ukraine

For Brigitta in Hungary

I think next time I'll have to tell you more about my new studies and how it happened that I've become a full-time student for the 2nd time, but for now I just want to publish this entry, which I've been planning to do for more than a month, but procrastinating all the time. It's always hard to start, right? I think you'll also see more mail from me both here and in your mailboxes, if I only manage to survive combining 3 jobs with 2 majors at university... But I'm not a normal person, so why shouldn't I survive it? :P