What I miss the most......

You know, then one thing I miss about Ukraine is the changing seasons.

Yes, Summer in Ukraine is damned hot. My first week in Ukraine was in August 2007 and it was +40 Celsius all week. I could not go out for more than 20 minutes or so and was stuck indoors for a week before I was aclimatised enough to go out without shrivelling up.... not that some would say that was a bad thing.....

And the winter was bloody freezing (yes, thanks, I know I shouldn't start a sentence with "And" but so what!!) -35 Celsius is cold. You think you are cold standing for a bus in zero in the UK. All wrapped in polyester lined coats and woolly gloves. Try waiting in packed snow, with the temperature at -20 or so, wrapped in a huge winter coat and black bear lined fur hat with thick gloves on, and still feeling the pinch....... that's cold.

But back to the reason I liked it so much. Here in England you get used to the NON changing seasons. Its invariably wet, the temperature really doesnt change that much (+20 in summer to zero in winter) and things never really change apart from a bit of red and yellow in autumn.... In Ukraine you SEE the seasons change.

Summer to Autumn was a blaze of different colours everywhere you looked. Golds, Reds, yellows. People putting on thicker and thicker layers of clothing, the first snowfalls in November etc etc.... It was a real spectacle for me to see things change and feel the drops in temperature from +40 to zero..... And to awaken that one night in early November to go to the outside toilet only to find two foot of snow on the floor.... awesome.... I went back inside and got dressed and stood in the doorway for ages just staring at the snow falling.... that was until the wife came out to see why the house was getting cold.... oops!!!...

Then Winter. Well, what do I say. It started snowing in November, and it stayed on the ground right through until March. Snow.... good honest to god thick heavy falls of snow. But, you know what..... nothing stopped. Here in England we get half a milimetre of snow and everything grinds to a halt. Year after year it happens and no-one seems to learn. There I was, the morning after the first snowfall. Living in a village an hour outside Dnepropetrovsk, thinking there was no way I would get to work. The wife assured me it was nothing, so I trudged through a foot or more of snow to the main road to wait for the bus..... and bugger me if nothing had changed. There were all the regulars waiting, cars and trucks tootling up and down the road. The shops all open and sure enough, bang on time, the bus turned up. No chains ro special equipment, just everything as normal. And that is how it was all winter long.... Nothing stops. The only things are if the temperature is -20 for a week the schools close for a couple of days while its all warmed up again... and I get back to England and we have a bit of snow in November. No more than a few inches, nothing at all in some parts and suddenly the busses stop and all the motorways are jammed with abandoned cars. Come on guys, get a grip.... :) The most surprising thing about winter was the extra feelings you get when its REALLY cold. I remember for the first few days of -20 and walking to the bus stop that my face was really painful, my nose to be exact. After 2 or 3 days of this I complained to the wife. She just laughed at me.... apparently the pain was caused by me breathing the cold air in through my nose and the moisture freezing as i breathed in. So I had to learn to breathe through a scarf wrapped around my face. Like some sort of middle aged gangster.... :) Now I know why Russians grow huge beards, its for the winter... :)

Spring was amazing. After months of snow, with everything getting all black and white I was getting tired of the cold and the grey. Then suddenly things start to warm up and the snows begin to melt. Yes, its wet and slushy, but to see outbreaks of green after months of snow is an amazing feeling. You watch as the weeks go by and see new growth, green shooting up everywhere. Spring flowers bloom in riots of colour and the world seems a better place again. It cheers everyone up and people are just so much happier. Contruction is probably the only thing that does stop in winter, and to see all the roads being fixed and cleared and other heavy work being done was also gratifying. It was like the whole country was waking up from some sort of long hibernation again. The temperature continued to climb towards the summer heat.

You just dont get that here in England. Ever.... ah well!! HEre has so much more going for it at the moment that it is still a better place to be. I do miss some stuff tho'......