Queen

Queen came to play in Kharkov the 12th of septemeber for free. It was paid for by the former president's, Mr. Kuchma, daughter. Apparently all the train tickets to come into kharkov that day were sold out as the whole country tried to come and see it. It was simply the largest concert i have ever seen, with over 300,000 people who attended. The show was in the 3rd largest square in europe which is approximately 690-750 meters long and 96-125 meters wide. They shut down almost the entire downtown to allow for pedestrian traffic and closed the nearest metro station to avoid people rushing to get on after the show. Although i am not a huge fan of queen's music it was impressive to see one of the worlds largest rock n roll acts. They have played some of the largest crowds in history and i feel lucky to have seen them. When they finally give up and go it will be the end of a Rock era. Queen chose to play in Kharkov first because Ukraine is currently the site of the worst AIDS epidemic in Europe. 400, 000 people were said to be suffering form the disease in 2006. Apparently, in Ukraine only 700 people were officially reciveing medical treatement for living with AIDS in 2004/5. Today that number is over 7000, still short of the amount infected. Seeing the one of the biggest rock bands in the world play in one of the biggest public squares in the world in a countury with the biggest ADIS epidemic in europe is one concert i will never forget, even if i was standing so far away from the band that they were no bigger than a fingernail.

You know Jim morrision nailed it when he said that people are strange when you are a stranger. In fact every line of that song rings truer for me now more than ever. Since ive got here i have found it hard to feel comfortable. Even though i look just like everybody else, minus the mullet (more on this later), i actually feel like a forienger. It would seem that Adapting to a new culture is not something you can plan out. Instead you can only express how strange a process it really is. I remeber in CWY they forced home this point. The idea is that cultural adaption is a matter of time and you can only manage your emotional ups and downs in getting through it.

The open mind was a good idea.

Good bye Canada I miss you already. Having no expectations has proved fruitful. I would just to share one little anecdote of cultural learning that i survived without losing face. The first breakfast i was offered was heavily peppered porridge, that was meant to be spiced with soya sauce. No sugar in this porridge, it was meant to be a salty pepper flavour. On the side was served fish" salo".  For those of you who don't know what "salo" is, it is a chunk of pure chewy fat that comes from the fattiest part of animals. (think REALLY chewy). But i ate it all, and I'm proud of that. 

begining trip begins

 Last night, or my last night, before i took off for Ukraine was restless. Nervous energy kept me in and out of sleep. I remember dreaming that me and John Harvey were hiking through the Sahara desert. We were camping in between the dunes, and we would wake with our tents half sunk in shifting sand. But when I awoke it was to the dark Edmonton morning and the anticipation of travel. As i began moving through the rituals of travel i kept thinking about flying. There is something about flying that makes going to another culture so easy. In the airports I did not have time to think over what Ukraine would or would not be for me, I only had time to think over what gate next to approach. It is my becoming philosophy that engaging a trip with no expectations is the best way to arrive. I spent my time flying clearing my mind from any expectations of what Ukraine would be like. That way i could just let it be when i got there. Only with a clear and open mind can you begin to settle in a new culture. I feel like building up expectations and then believing in them is a recipe for disaster. I did not even expect Ukraine to be fun. All I needed was time and money anything else that will be will be. So i got off the plane as i got on, with a relaxed vision.