The Power of the T-shirt

I've been meaning to write to you just how glad I am that I have the Ukraine shirt that I bought in Kiev. I distinctly remember the time and place. I had met Yana at the Peace Corps office and we were on our way to have dinner, walking east (?) on Khreshchatik from ulitsa Bohdana Khmelnitskoho, when I saw a woman selling Ukrainian memorabilia. This shirt, in case you haven't seen me wearing it, or haven't seen a picture, is dark blue with "UKRAINE" printed across the front in yellow letters outlined in a lighter blue closer to that of the Ukrainian flag. Next to that is the Ukrainian trident in the same colors. I bought this T-shirt during my last few days in Ukraine.

What makes my T-shirt so special is not that it reminds me of all of the places and wonderful people I know in Ukraine, though this is one reason why I like wearing it. What I'm amazed by is the responses I've gotten from other people.

One day, I was shopping in Target for some things for the apartment. I believe I was walking up one of the aisles near shower curtains, when a short man with a beard looked directly at me and asked if I was from Ukraine. It turned out that he was an American who had taught in Moscow for five years. Now he lives in the Chicago area and his wife is Russian. I assume he taught business, since he was trying to convince me that getting an MBA would be the best thing for my future, as opposed to a masters in public policy, for example.

Однажды я был в универмаге, шёл за покупками для квартиры. Вдруг мужчина с бородой посмотрел на меня прямо в глаза и спросил меня, родился ли я на Украине. Оказалось, что он американец, преподовал пять лет в университете в Москве. Теперь он живёт в Чикаго и его жена русская. Не уверен, но я думаю, что он проподовал какую-то предмедь связена с бизнесом, так как он пытался убеждить меня, что для моего будущего, мне лучше получить степень по бизнесу, чем по чему-то похожо больше на то, что меня интересует.

A few weeks later, I was in IKEA (a popular, Swedish furniture store), checking out, and a woman walked up to me and asked if I was from Ukraine. Again, I was wearing my T-shirt. I think she was a little disappointed when I said that I wasn't from Ukraine, though I did explain that I'd lived there for two years. I found out that she is from Poltava, just two hours from Krasnograd.

Пустя несколько недел я был в АйКИА (в популарном шведскем мебельном магазине). Я стоял у кассира, когда женщина спросила меня, приехал ли я с Украины. Опять, конечно, я был в любимой майке. Я чувствовал, что она была чуть разочерована, когда я ответил, что не с Украины. Однако я обеснил, что жил там два года. Она сказала мне, что она из Полтавы, только два часа на запад от Краснограда.

After these two meetings, the next morning that I found myself pulling the beloved T-shirt over my head, I remember thinking to myself, "Gosh, I'm so glad I decided to buy this." That day, I was in Columbus, Ohio with some friends, traveling from Ohio back to Chicago after a wedding. We decided to stop at a coffee shop, something reminiscent of Starbucks. A friend and I were ordering coffee, talking to the cashie, when another guy behind the counter walked up and told the cashier to put our coffees on his account. He looked at us and said, "Your coffee's free today because of that," and he pointed at my chest, to the word "UKRAINE." "That's where I'm from," he said. "My home country."

Ну, смотря на эти случайные встечы, следующий раз мне пришлось надеть свою майку, я говорил сам себе вслух -- Боже мой! Я так рад, что решил это купить. И в тот день, я был с друзями в городе Коломбусе, штать Огайо. Мы возврашались в Чикаго со свадбы. На дороге, мы останавились, чтобы купить себе кофе в маленькем кафе. Мы с другом заказывали кофе у прилавка, когда другой работник подошёл к кассиру и сказал, что она должна поставить наше кофе на его рабочный счёт. -- Сегодня Ваше кофе бесплатно благодаря тем. И тут он указал на мою грудь, где было написано слово жёлтами буквами «UKRAINE». -- Я с Украины. -- сказал он. -- Она моя родина.

I've also been asked if I speak Polish when I wear my "POLSKA" shirt, but somehow I think my response to that question is far less interesting.

Здесь иногда меня спрашиваю, говорю ли я по-польски, когда хожу в майке, где написано «POLSKA». Но наверное, в этих положениях, мой ответ как-то не так интересен.

S. B. Friedman & Company

All right. In keeping with my MO, that of "guy who is notoriously bad at writing about his life to other people," I have waited, what I think is, a sufficient amount of time to add anything new, let alone interesting, to my website. At this point, I think most of you have stopped checking this. But I will write on.

The big question on everyone's mind when they hear the name "Brian" is, "Has he found a job yet?" Brian knows this and has decided that he is tired of replying with the same old, embarassing and frustrating answer, "Uh, still looking." The truth of the matter is that I am working and, more importantly, earning rent money. My temp agency finally came through in its own uniquely joyous, yet somewhat disappointing, fashion. As you now know, I am working at S. B. Friedman & Company which is a Property Development Advisor. My reason for being there is that the receptionist has left for three months to have her first child. I say "receptionist," though apparently that is an outdated word. Nowadays, people are saying, "Office support," or something rather. Actually, I've pretty much been helping anyone with anything they feel comfortable throwing at me (filing, making copies, entering data, formatting documents, and, as you might have expected, ocassionally running out to buy lunch for the boss, though in all fairness he has expressed guilt about asking me to do such things).

As I said, working on this assignment has had its good and bad, though much more good. First, the bad. I'm not making as much money per hour as I should be due to a miscommunication between my representative at the agency and Mr. Friedman. Looking over that, there is in fact a great deal of good about this job. 1.) I'm in downtown Chicago. 2.) I'm working in an office, a professional setting. 3.) I'm closer to where my friend, John, works and can have lunch with him from time to time. 4.) There's apparently a gym in the building which I have access to, though in fact have yet to take advantage of. 5.) My co-workers are all good people. 6.) The office manager, Carolyn, and I get along wonderfully. 7.) There's a very nice, well-stocked breakroom , where I can supplement my own breakfast and lunch, thus shaving a bit off of my monthly expenses. 8.) There's a computer at my desk which I am not forbidden to use for my own Internet purposes.

I think that about covers all the good points.

As I'm sure you assume, I am continuing the larger job search. Right now, there are a few possibilities, one of which is an international advisor position at the University of Chicago. I'm feeling pretty good about this one, since my friend Karleigh works there, also in the Office of International Affairs, and she has apparently told the Director that I would be a very good person to have around. As I was taught in the Peace Corps, though, I am doing my best to have no expectations.

In the end, at this point, I'm simply grateful for having a place where I can work 40 hours per week. I can pay my bills, keep a few scraps in the kitchen for meals, and ocassionally entertain the idea that I have a social life.

Happy Fourth of July!! Independence Day!!!

С Праздником Четвёртого Июля!! Дня Независимости!!!

More to come...

Скоро будет больше...

Superman Returns (Супермэн возвращается)

I just want to acknowledge the fact that Superman Returns opened yesterday. It's supposed to pick up where the second Superman movie left off, with Superman having taken a "leave of absence" (i.e. choosing his love for Lois Lane and desire to be with her as a normal man over having the responsibility of super powers and confusion of a double existence.

Я хочу Вам сообщить, что вчера стали паказывать в кинотеатрах кино «Супермэн возвращается». В этом фильме продолжается история Супермэна, более или менее с того, где остановилась во втором фильме в серии (больше 20 лет назад). Во втором фильме, Супермэн решил жить как нормальный человек, с человеческей женщиной, без его необычной возможности, и без трудности житии с двумя именни, Супермэн и Кларк Кэнт.

This weekend, with my friend John, we'll have a mini movie marathon and watch the first two movies with Christopher Reeves as Superman. Then in the later afternoon we'll go see the new movie at the IMAX.

На эти выходные, я пойду к друзям, где будет маленкий фильмовый маратон, посмотрим первый и второй фильм Супермэна, а потом пойдём в кинотеатр посмотреть новый фильм на большем экране.

I know Hollywood has its tendencies and formulas which often disappoint, but I'll admit, put a superhero on screen and I'll watch it. :-)

Я хорошо понимаю, что в Голливуде есть формулы и тенденция снимать дрянь (такие фильмы, которие считают, что будут получать большие денги). Хотя и всё это правдо, признаваю, что если появится на экране кинотеатра "суперскего героя", то я туда побегу.

Christopher Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman, 1978.

Кристофер Ривз в роле Кларка Кэнта/Супермэна в 1978 году.

Brandon Routh as Superman, 2006.

Брэндон Роут в роле Супермэна в 2006 году.

Land and Sea: DoDo Jin Ming

On the 10 of June, the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association (CAPCA) had it's annual Founder's Day Dinner in one of the exhibition spaces at the Loyola University Museum of Art. I had the chance to eat a delicious meal, talk with other RPCV's, and be surrounded by the photographs of DoDo Jin Ming. She sounds fascinating, was born in Beijing and studied classical violin, later playing with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Her life changed after seeing an exhibition of Joseph Beuy's drawings, and she abandoned music, turning immediately to the art of photography.

In her seascapes, one wonders how it is she manages to make you feel as if you were in the midst of a great storm, about to be engulfed by waves. The answer: she ties herself to a boat so she herself isn't swept away. Her land photographs, featuring sunflowers on the plains of the Dakotas, were taken during a roadtrip Ming took, shortly after first arriving in the U.S. She happened across an experiment where scientists had placed white cloth over some of the flowers. Probably beautiful in itself, after Ming's process the scene takes on a completely different tone. I was just amazed by this exhibition and hope these photographs, scrounged from the Internet, will create some of the same emotions in you.

Ukrianian Village Restaurant

For some reason my blog isn't letting me put pictures and text in the same entry, something Blogger has apparently been working on for SEVERAL WEEKS!! My original intention was to have the picture below appear with the "Resolution" entry but was forced to work around this difficulty.

I ate at this restaurant a few weeks ago and was a little disappointed. I thought the food seemed too "American", meaning the holupsi I ate didn't taste like Nadya's holupsi. They were also out of Ukrainian and Russian beer that day! However, they had plenty of framed pictures of Kyiv, President Yushchenko, and the Orange Revolution. I at least felt a bit like I was standing on Maidan.

Ресторан Украинской Деревни

Resolution или зарок

Just a few days ago, I decided to make a promise to myself and to some of my friends in Ukraine. That is, you will never again read the phrase "sorry I haven't written in so long" or any other similar phrase in any of my e-mails. This means that I will reply quickly, within a day or two, to all e-mails sent to me. There! It's been said.

Несколько дней назад, я пообещал себе и друзьям в Украине, что я больше не буду писать по электронной почте фразу «извини за то, что давно не пишу». Это обещание значит, что на каждый имэйл, который мне посилают, я буду отвечать за один-два дня. Вот и всё!!

Now I'll write a little update on my situation here in Chicago. First of all, I'm no longer a plague to my friend Katie, and I've found my own place. I found a guy online who was looking for a new roommate. The price was good (not too high) and when I met Nate, he seemed like a decent fellow. He also said he was rarely home, a quality many people find highly desirable in a roommate, since it creates the illusion (most of the time) that you live by yourself, while paying only half the rent. Another thing that caught my eye was the apartment's location. It's in the part of Chicago known as Ukrainian Village. This interested me for obvious reasons. I'll admit, I'm probably in the northwest corner of Ukrainian Village, barely in it, though there are a number of Poles, Russians and Ukrainians on my street. However, I'd say the majority of people in my little area are Hispanic, either from Mexico or Puerto Rico. Overall, I'm very happy with my new home. I'm also closer to a good friend of mine, Ryan. I'll be happier when I have more steady income.

А сейчас я Вам расскажу какие у меня новости, как моя жизнь в Чикаго изменилась. Важнее всего то, что я больше не живу у друга, Кати, как будто я ей какая-то болезнь. Нет. Я нашёл через Интернет парнья, каторый искал нового товарища по квартире. Арендная плата, написана в рекламе, была не очень высокая. И когда познакомился с Нэйтом, я понял, что он славный человек. Кроме того, он сказал мне, что он редко дома. Понимаете, многие люди считают, что это хорошо потому, что такое положение позволует человеку думать, что он живёт один. Можно так думать, и платить поменьше. Также меня интересовал район, где квартира находится. Она находится в этой части Чикаго, которую знают как «Украинская деревня». Очевидно, почему меня это интересовало. Но лучше сказать, что я едва в Украинской деревне. Мой дом стоит в самом северно-западном углу деревни. Есть на моей улице несколько поляков, русских, и украинцев, но большинство жителей из Мексики или Пуэрто-Рико. Вообще я довольно счастлив с том, как всё получилось. Теперь я ближе к хорошой мне знакомой, Раян. Буду даже счастливее, когда я буду получать регулярно больше зарплаты. ;-)


As far as the job search goes, I'm still looking, though it's looked a little more hopeful recently. Since moving to Chicago, I've volunteered some at citizenship workshops, where immigrants can come and get assistants with starting the application process of becoming U.S. citizens. At one of these, I met a woman who works with the AssociationHouse of Chicago, an organization that does a lot of work with the Hispanic immigrant community in Chicago. It's also located just a few minutes from my apartment. Well, this woman told me that there was an opening there and that she thought I would be very good in it. To make a long story short, this, in the end, did not work out, but it was still exciting to actually make a useful contact and apply for the position. I think she had been a bit misinformed, because I'm pretty sure the position had already been filled when I sent over my application. Oh well. My other bright news is that I had an interview with Rotary International. The position I appliеd for is as a Grant Coordinator. If I were to get that job, I'd be reviewing grants and helping people around the world successfully complete the grant-submission process in the area of disaster relief. The woman I interviewed with was very straight-forward in saying that the position is pretty much a "desk job" where you're pushing paper from one side of the desk to the other. Basically, I wouldn't be directly involved in changing the world which would be much more exciting and rewarding. BUT, this job could be a good starting point, or entry position, for someone like me who just getting involved in the non-profit sector. There's also a pretty good benefits package, including tuition reimbursement. We'll see. And I'll keep you updated. I left the interview with the impression that they will probably call me to schedule a second interview. Again, we'll see. In the meantime, I've come across two more open positions that look interesting to me. One is connected to the Art Institute of Chicago and the other is with the National Breast Cancer Organization in Chicago.

I hope all of you are doing well. Happy Father's Day!! I promise to post more soon, and I'll put up a Russian language version of this entry. Пока!!

С Днём Победы!!

Я вчера говорил с хорошими своими друзьями в Краснограде, и когда Лана стала петь песьню, День Победы, я ни-как не мог помнить слова. Поэтому напишу тут первую часть текста той песни.

Кстати, отправил электроную открытку друзьям на Украине. К сожалению, не минуту после отправления, я нашёл открытку, которая, я так считаю, гораздо лучше той, что послал. Ну, так бывает.

С Праздником!!

День Победы, как он был от нас далек,
Как в костре потухшем таял уголек.
Были версты, обгорелые, в пыли,
-Этот день мы приближали как могли.

Этот День Победы
Порохом пропах,
Это праздник
С сединою на висках.
Это радость
Со слезами на глазах.

День Победы!
День Победы!
День Победы!

Representative of a few of my favorite painters

This entry is the result of me casually surfing the Internet. I couldn't find the paintings for Yeats and Benton that I really like (There is no night and Politics, Farming and Law in Missouri, respectively). If I do manage to come across them some day, I'll be sure to post them for your viewing pleasure.

Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937

Jack B. Yeats, The Singing Horseman, 1949

Thomas Hart Benton, The Ballad of the Jealous Lover, 1934

Jackson Pollock, Number 8, 1949 (detail)

Tony D'Souza Reading

Yesterday evening, at the Alliance Francaise de Chicago, RPCV Tony D'Souza read from his recently published debut novel, Whiteman, which is closely connected to his Peace Corps experience in Cote d'Ivoire from 2000 to 2002, though still a work of fiction.

What I think I enjoyed most were not the two passages he read from Whiteman, though they were very good. As usual, I was much more interested in what he had to say about his Peace Corps experience and the way he responded to questions. He's a good story teller, which I suppose you might expect from a writer. But not all writers are good oral story tellers. Often, rather than answer a question with an opinion or generalization, he would pull from his head a very specific moment from, in this case, his life as a volunteer. And this was so much more interesting.

He started by pre-emptively answering a question he's frequently asked. "Are you nervous to have to speak in front of so many people when you give readings?" "No. Now I'll explain why. In Cote d'Ivoire I was there to try and educate people about HIV/AIDS. Before speaking to the children in a village, I had to get the permission of the village's chief, and there are a whole host of social loops that you need to go through in order to that. When I did finally speak with him, out of respect, I would not look directly at him. Then, when I spoke to groups of children, there were often three or four hundred of them. We would all gather together and I would speak to them about sex. During every presentation, at some point, from my things, I would take out a wooden penis. Then I'd take out a condom and role it down the wooden penis. (pause) At readings? No, I'm not nervous."

Later, a woman asked whether or not missionaries were still working in Cote d'Ivoire; they had been when she was there over forty years ago. His answer was not "yes." He told of how he had known of some Christian missionaries working in a Muslim part of the country. They lived in the largest house in town. In the over twenty years this missionary couple had lived in Cote d'Ivoire, they had converted two muslims to Christianity, and one of these had made the switch in order to get an education. One day, Tony was invited over for lunch. Muslims are forbidden to eat pork.
"So," Tony asked, "do you know what was being served for lunch? (pause) Ham. (pause) I don't like to talk about missionaries."

In general, I was just really impressed at his ability to talk about his experience and to put me there in his village; to make me care about a place I have never seen. He also emphasized how each and every volunteer's experience is completely unique and unlike no one else's.

That said, here's a joke:

Queston: "How many Peace Corps Africa volunteers does it take to change a lightbulb?"

Answer: (very emotionally and defensively) "YOU DON'T KNOW!! YOU WEREN'T THERE!!!"

Tony D'Souza's Peace Corps service in Cote d'Ivoire ended abruptly with the start of a civil war. I asked him after the reading if he'd ever had the chance to say goodbye to the people and friends in his village. The answer is" no." He's been home for three years and has never received one word or been able to send one word there, mainly because his village lies deep in resistance territory where there is no postal service.

That's difficult to imagine.

You heard it hear first...

Life is All About Ass

your'e either covering it,
laughing it off,
kicking it,
kissing it,
busting it,
trying to get a piece of it,
behaving like one,
Or you live with one!

I found this, among other things, above the sink in Katie's kitchen when I first moved in.

6/21/2006
It's late and I probably shouldn't be writing this now, but it ocurred to me that I should explain some of the expressions Americans have incorporating the word "ass".

First of all, an ass can be defined literally as either a mule or a person's behind (bottom, butt, rump, etc.). In all of the following expressions, "ass" refers to a person's behind.

1) "to cover your ass" = to look out for your own interests and avoid getting into trouble
2) "to laugh your ass off" = to laugh long and hard about something
3) "to kick ass" = to do really well at something ("kick ass on an exam"), or to beat someone at something ("kick someone's ass at football"), or to actually beat them up ("kick someone's ass")
4) "to kiss ass" = to be overly helpful and polite with someone in an attempt to gain favor with them ("kiss the teacher's ass")
5) "to bust your ass" = to work really hard at something in order to do well
6) "to try to get a piece of ass" = to try to sleep with someone
7)"to behave like an ass" OR "to be an ass" = to be or behave like a jerk. Someone characterized as being an ass is probably being insensitive, ignorant, and/or intentionally hurtful. Don't be an ass!

Лиза Ромашка!!

С Днем Рождения!!

Сегодня родилась замечательная девушка!
Лиза, от всей души поздравляю тебя с Днем Рождения!
Всего тебе самого наилучшего да побольше!
Счастья, здоровья, исполнения всех желаний!
И чтобы рядом всегда были милые твоему сердцу люди!

Я был рад читать, что ты получила мою открытку. К сожалению, нет, еще не получил твое письмо. Но помни, что я читал ваши желания мне два месяца после моего дня рождения. Желаю, чтобы на занятиях сегодня было легко и особенно весело.

Remembering Chernobyl 20 years later

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, about 80 miles north of Kyiv. As I was driving in the car today, I was listening to NPR. Apparently, when President Yushchenko spoke today at a memorial service commemorating the disaster, he urged us not to dwell so much in the past and not to remember Chernobyl so much as a symbol of past tragedy; we should try to remember it also as a symbol of hope for the future.

Words by Wendell Berry

The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us that we need to be less greedy and less wasteful.

~~~

History simply affords too little evidence that anyone's individual protest is of any use. Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one's own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence.

~~~

There is a world of difference between the person who, believing that there is no use [in protest], says so to himself or to no one, and the person who says it aloud to someone else.

~~~

It was no thought or word that called culture into being, but a tool or weapon. After the stone axe we needed song and story to remember innocence, to record effect--and so to describe the limits, to say what can be done without damage.

The use only of our bodies for work or love or pleasure, or even for combat, sets us
free again in the wilderness, and we exult.

But a man with a machine and inadequate culture...is a pestilence. He shakes more than he can hold.

Hayden Carruth's "On Being Asked to Write a Poem Against the War in Vietnam"

Well I have in fact

more than one and I'll
tell you this too

I wrote one against
Algeria that nightmare
and another against

Korea and another
against the one
I was in

and I don't remember
how many against
the three

when I was a boy
Abyssinia Spain and
Harlan County

and not one
breath was restored
to one

shattered throat
mans womans or childs
not one not

one
but death went on and on
never looking aside

except now and then like a child
with a furtive half-smile
to make sure I was noticing.

Я иду на концерт Sigur Ros!!

That's right, I was (seemingly) wasting time on the Internet and decided to visit my dearest Icelandic band's website. There, I was astonished to learn that Sigur Ros are making a stop in Chicago on their current tour, something I wasn't even aware of. Sigur Ros released their latest album back in the Fall of 2005. At the time, I was living in Krasnograd and didn't have access to a store that would be selling the CD. I also didn't have the patience, or realy want to spend the money, to have amazon.com ship a package to me from the States. I mentioned my frustrations to my friend Dima while walking home one night from the computer club. Dima's response was, "Why don't I just look for it; maybe I can download it from someone else." To make a long story short, several days later, Dima gifted me with a beautifully burned copy of Takk.

To date, I've had the great fortune of seeing these guys play twice, first in Chicago (fall 2002), then in Cleveland (spring 2003). I could have seen them probably a third time, but was silly enough to figure that it was more important for me to write a review of a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (name escapes me) than see Sigur Ros play less than a week after having just heard them in Ohio. Looking back, I realize that I would have had a much better time at the concert in Loiusville, even if it had been the exact same performance. It was an awesome performance!

So, May 9th, at 7:30pm will be my third concert. They're playing at the Civic Opera House; not a bad way to introduce myself to that venue. My friend, Ryan, was generous enough to agree to come with me. One thing I love about Sigur Ros, is that they seem to have had me in mind when they went about deciding how to have a concert. I'm not terribly fond of dancing and acting up and pretending to be insane, so it was a great relief to me that being at a Sigur Ros concert is a bit like being at a recital, just a tad louder.

By the way, if anyone wants to listen to some of their music, watch a video, or even watch a 134-minute concert, you can do so at www.sigur-ros.co.uk The "glosoli" video is really good. I actually liked the song even more after watching the video.

Христос воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!


Представляю Вас
с праздником
светлого воскресения!

Кто хочет такую?

Сегодня друг рассказал мне о том, как она сидела в метро, видела, что рядом женщина, которая читает книгу. Книга называется «A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian» («Короткая история тракторов на украинском языке»). Она считала (и правильно), что это не история, а роман, так как название было написано по-английсски. Я искал книгу по Интернету и нашёл её на сайте, где я часто заказываю книги. Там тоже прадaют одежду. Вот какие футболки я видел.

1. Половина моего сердца на Украине
2. Если бы я не был украинец, я заплатил бы, чтобы стать таким

By Far My Most Optimistic Horoscope

from The Onion (6-12 April 2006)

Aquarius: (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
New and exciting experiences help to color one's life, which explains why yours is an insipid shade of cement grey.