the LT English Language School in Uzhgorod

Woke up monday morning; Paul Blanar, the psychiatrist at the Chaslivtsi Orphanage called me, wanting to meet some time soon. I learned that earlier this year Paul had had a heart attack.

Went into Uzhgorod to do some exploring. I came across my cousin Anatoly Sokolov and his friend Konstantine at the Mir Cafe. They said that this weekend they had been in Hungary, fishing at the Tisa River. I'll be returning sometime soon to Anatoly's restaurant, Egan's Irish Pub, for some photos. Anatole said that because of the war and the economy, his business was down a little, maybe 15%, mostly because of the exchange rate, but the restaurant is surviving.

Wandering around town there are plenty of sights: The Greek Catholic Cathedral:

The Philharmonic, originally a Jewish Synagogue. Unfortunately, I could not go in to photo.

I went exploring through some alleyways, and down old steep stairways. There were lots of little shops tucked away in out of the way places.

Some random street scenes in the Corzo:

There is a French restaurant in Uzhgorod, the "Fantan", founded in 1790. 

You can always find interesting statues and ornamentation throughout the city, like this globe, and the statue in honor of the lamplighter.

I stopped to listen to a street musician, Sasha; I thought he was playing Ukrainian folk songs, but I learned from his girlfriend Nastya that the first two songs I heard were the the theme's from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Game of Thrones!" Sasha did play a Ukrainian folk song for me, "Priekhali Kazaki", "Ride of the Cossacks"(??).  Nastya and Sasha were from Mukachevo. I wish I had a better recording, but here is link to YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUxmGQ8Yjso&feature=youtu.be

My last stop in Uzhgorod was to the LT English Language School on Petofi Square. I stopped in and talked with the director, Lesya, asking about the possibility of my getting a job in Ukraine teaching English, and what the requirements were. After talking with Lesya, I learned that there was an excellent chance of getting a job with them. She told me that they do not use books, they do not teach grammar, what they concentrate on is actually giving students conversational skills, and teaching them to speak the language. This approach makes sense to me; I had two years of Russian Grammar in college, but it did nothing to teach me to speak the language. Lesya told me that many of their teachers come from Pakistan, or India, or China, and these they require to have Certificates in Teaching English. But she said that they prefer a native American, Canadian, or English speaker such as myself. For some one like me, she said, there would be no requirement for any formal training, just a good command of the English language, and the ability to relate to students. She will be contacting me soon, to have me meet with a class, see how I relate, and if I like it.

When I returned to Klara's, Misha was there, and we drove to the supermarket together. The supermarket was similar to American supermarkets, but you knew it was also different. There were lots of products to choose from, a nice bakery, meat section, and fish section. Everything looked clean and sanitary - nothing Third World about it.

While I was in town, Ivan had been husking (?) the corn we had picked, and sorting it, laying the ears out to dry.

I helped Ivan finish husking the corn, then took the ears of corn to the corn crib. From the little work I did, I HURT!! My back hurts, my knees hurt, my shoulders ache. And Ivan and Klara have been working like this non-stop since they woke up.

Ivan cooked dinner. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, freshly made pickles, bread. After dinner, I decided to take a bike ride around the village, just for fun. Klara told me I should stop at a rose colored house, and ask for "Ira". Klara said Ira speaks English. I went to Ira's house, but the gate was locked. As I was riding away, an old woman shouted "Christopher!". I rode the bike up to her, and asked her how she knew me. She said she heard of me through Klara, that Ira was her granddaughter, and she offered to call Ira on her cell phone. She didn't get any answer, Ira must have been at work, but this just goes to show how friendly every one is!

At home, at Klara's, I got an email from Lesya at the Lt English school. We have a meeting set with one of her classes at 1 pm Friday! I'm excited!