A giggling girl took a photo of me while I was taking a photo of the cathedral. I've gotten many odd stares or people pointing at me since coming to Ukraine. There's nothing malicious or condescending in their stares or laughs, I apparently just amuse them. The people here really are fantastic, I do like it here.
I met two Americans, a Canadian and a Ukrainian for dinner. We ended up dining in the same place I had my lunch. Tyler, one of the Americans, had come from Krakow where he'd been teaching English. He was on holiday before packing up and moving somewhere new. Tracy, the Canadian, was a real sweetie. She'll be staying with my host in Kyiv the day after I leave. Nataliya, the Ukrainian, was incredible and super-intelligent.
Then there was Max, the other American. Max.... I don't know quite what to say about him. He was a total embarrassment to me as a fellow countryman. He claims to like Ukraine, but has nothing good to say about the country. He has nothing good to say about any of the Slavic countries, just that they recently "stopped eating rocks", and Ukraine would never go anywhere as long as "chess was a spectator sport." He insulted Nataliya's choice of degrees, saying that one of the problems with Ukraine is people are over-educated in worthless subjects. The night was a whole bunch of me burying my face in my hands and trying to steer the conversation into an area that Max couldn't insult.
I did pull a "John" a couple of times and snuck in a few questions I knew would betray his ignorance without him realizing it. I knew it would be pointless to argue with him, he'd only end up saying more things that would make me want to crawl under the table and start talking in an affected accent ("I'm really not American, I swear"). The next day I wrote an email to Nataliya apologizing for Max's appalling behaviour, assuring her that her degree was a good one, not all Americans are like that, and Max is an idiot.
My wish to disappear was partially granted when the power went out for about 30 mintues. Everyoe in the restaurant cheered when this happened. No one came to explain or apologize, the waitresses just brought candles to light the staircase and business went on as ususal. Welcome to Ukraine. As Klaudia says, "don't worry."
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1 comment:
What an excellent opportunity for you to have, to see how other people live in this world. I wish I'd been able to do so. . .I've always been fascinated by other cultures. It gives us great perspective on our own. Like, how embarrassing Max was. Ignorance is lack of information at some times, and lack of willingness to be curious at others.
Perhaps it is good for world travelers to see both you and Max, so they realize that the negative portrayal of Americans is limited to certain types. We are not all like Max, are we? Thank goodness! I often wonder what I'd see and do differently if I got to travel more and see other cultures, especially poorer ones.
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