Dear Daniel

Dear Daniel,

Spring is coming to Ukraine. Of course, it’s only March 10, so we could easily have more snow at any time in the next month, but today feels like spring . . .

Dear Daniel,

Spring is coming to Ukraine. Of course, it’s only March 10, so we could easily have more snow at any time in the next month, but today feels like spring. Yesterday I saw a bush that was covered in tiny pink blossoms. Even my houseplants seem to know the difference, because my rose bloomed for the first time in I don’t know how long, and my bamboo plant is putting out a bunch of new leaves.

I wonder if you have ever experienced a true spring. Probably not, because in order to fully appreciate the spring, you have to live through the winter. I remember my first real spring. It was when I lived in France. Although we didn’t get much snow during the winter, it was obvious that nature was dead, or at least in hibernation. The trees were bare, the grass looked almost gray and brittle, I never heard birds sining–there weren’t even insects! Then one day things felt different. When I went outside, I wanted to skip and sing! Birds were chirping everywhere; it was nearly deafening after the long silence of winter. The grass looked young and tender and was dotted with hundreds of bright yellow dandelions, and there were cute little black and red beetles scurring about their business all over the walkways of the campus where I lived. The trees looked different too, like a soft green mist had settled in the bare branches. When I got closer, I realized it was because each twig was covered with budding leaves. And as I strolled along I noticed something strange–I could see my shadow going along with me. We had gotten so little direct sunlight during the winter that for three months I hadn’t seen my shadow!

Enjoy your springtime, even if it’s not as dramatic as the one I just described!

Love,
Sharon

Dear Daniel,

Samuel is becoming a little monkey! He reminds me of you when you were his age . . .

Dear Daniel,

Samuel is becoming a little monkey! He reminds me of you when you were his age. He recently learned that by pushing smaller objects up against larger pieces of furniture, he can climb onto higher surfaces and get into things that used to be beyond his reach. Today he pushed an end table away from the couch, which gave him access to the violin case I store under that table. He used the case to climb onto the end table, and from the end table he crossed to the couch and quickly crawled to the other end of it to get at the space heater sitting on the opposite end table!

Sometimes I’ll watch him trying to climb onto something, and I’ll think, “He’ll never make it; it’s too high. He’ll get stuck halfway and start crying for me.” By he always proves me wrong. Sometimes, however, he won’t know how to get down again. A few days ago I heard him crying in another room, and when I found him, he was kneeling on top of a stool, unable to get down. An empty 6-liter water bottle was on its side next to the stool, and I assmue that’s what he used to climb up on his perch.

He isn’t walking yet, although he has demonstrated that he can stand without holding onto anything. Personally, I think the reason he doesn’t seem interested in walking is because he can crawl so fast and climb so high. What does he need with walking? George and I can walk, but we can’t climb like Samuel can!

Love,
Sharon

. . . Another problem with these windows is that they don’t seal shut. Even when you have them closed and latched, there are still significant cracks around the edges where cold air seeps in. Well, if you’re lucky, it only seeps in, but usually it kind of blows in instead . . .

Dear Daniel,

I’m excited! Do you want to know why? Because we no longer have cold draughts coming in around the edges of our living room windows! Let me explain.

In the countries of the former Soviet Union, many people live in multi-story apartment buildings that the Communist government constructed to make sure that everyone had a place to live. While these buildings did manage to put a roof over everyone’s head, they were very basic. The building materials and construction techniques were cheap, and the result was that everyone had to put up with certain inconveniences in their homes. Of course, everyone lived with the same inconveniences, so maybe it didn’t matter that much.

One of the inconveniences is poor electrical wiring. One American electrician who visited Kyiv said that if the buildings here were in the States, most of them would be condemned because their electrical wiring is so unsafe. (Of course, that may tell you more about how strict the American building code is than about how dangerous Soviet-Era apartments are, since millions of people still live in them, and you don’t really hear about horrible things happening to them because of the wiring in their homes.)

Another inconvenience is the style of windows that was used in these apartments. They have wooden frames and two panes of glass separated from each other by about three inches. The double panes of glass are a good feature, since they keep the apartments from losing too much heat in the winter. However, I can’t think of anything else about these windows that is good. First of all, instead of both panes of glass being mounted on a single frame, they each have a separate frame that is attached to the window frame by hinges, so that the windows open into the apartment like two little doors, one right behind the other. So in the summer when you have the windows open, the wind can make the two frames bang together, and sometimes this actually breaks the glass!

Another problem with these windows is that they don’t seal shut. Even when you have them closed and latched, there are still significant cracks around the edges where cold air seeps in. Well, if you’re lucky, it only seeps in, but usually it kind of blows in instead. Two days ago I was eating lunch in our main room (living room/dining room/office), and I was watching our lace curtains sway in the draght from our closed windows! Since it’s gotten cold now (in the 30s), I decided that it was time to seal our windows. So today I took adhesive rubber sealing strips and made our living room windows almost draught-proof! What makes me so excited is that we can still open and close them. Often the way people seal them is by glueing strips of old wallpaper over all the cracks. Not only is this ugly, but it’s lots of work to clean off in the spring, and you have to do it all over again the next autumn. What I did today is effective, semi-permanent, and virtually invisible when the windows are closed. Now I just have to do the windows in our bedroom, the kitchen, and our apartment mates’ bedroom!

 Love, Sharon 

. . . After removing their shoes at the door, most Ukrainians go straight to the bathroom to wash their hands. But when our guests went into our bathroom . . .

Dear Daniel,

We have a Bible study at our apartment every Tuesday night. I thought last night was really funny. After removing their shoes at the door, most Ukrainians go straight to the bathroom to wash their hands. But when our guests when into our bathroom to wash their hands, they found a Post-It note on the mirror above the sink that read, “The washbasin is not for washing! We ask that you use the tub instead.” If they went into the toilet, they found another Post-It that said, “The toilet is broken. Please don’t sit on it.” At first I thought it unfortunate that our plumbing was being so uncooperative on a day when we would have so many guests, but then I realized what an absurd situation it was, and I had to laugh out loud!

Love, Sharon

. . . I was thinking about what I call “unplugging etiquette” the other day. In the States, children are taught not to yank plugs out of the wall by pulling on the cord. Well, here the etiquette is totally different . . .

Dear Daniel,

I was thinking about what I call “unplugging etiquette” the other day. In the States, children are taught not to yank plugs out of the wall by pulling on the cord. Rather, they are to grasp the plug itself to remove it from the outlet. This idea is so ingrained that when one is vacuuming and accidentally pulls the plug out of the wall by trying to make the vacuum cleaner reach beyond the length of the cord, one immediately feels guilty of plug abuse. Well, here the etiquette it totally different. Children must be taught to steady the outlet with one hand while removing the plug with the other, otherwise, the entire outlet could come out of the wall! (I’m not kidding.) So trying to vacuum beyond the reach of the vacuum cleaner cord can have much more serious consequences than a guilty conscience. The first (and possibly) last time I allowed myself to do this here, I was punished by discovering an outlet dangling from the wall on live wires that produced a terrific spark when I gingerly tired to replace the outlet. I left it alone, and we called an electrician! (Don’t you want to come visit me now?) :))

Love, Sharon

. . . Have you heard about how cold it has been in Ukraine?? I was thinking about how you said you’d like to come visit during the winter so that you could make a snowman, but if your visit happened during the type of weather we’ve been having, you might change your mind! The temperature has gotten as low as -22F . . .

Dear Daniel,

Wow, I haven’t written to you in a long time! I’m sorry. We were really busy in December, and I think I got out of the habit of writing you during that time.

Have you heard about how cold it has been in Ukraine?? I was thinking about how you said you’d like to come visit during the winter so that you could make a snowman, but if your visit happened during the type of weather we’ve been having, you might change your mind! The temperature has gotten as low as -22F! Of course, those are just numbers to you, since you’ve never experienced anything that cold. This will give you an idea of what -22F is like: if you emptied out Mom’s freezer and sat inside it, it would feel warm compared to the weather we’ve been having. When it’s -22F and you breathe in through your nose, you can feel the moisture inside your nostrils turning instantly to ice, and the air burns in your windpipe. If you are dumb enough to step outside without gloves on, your fingers begin to ache almost immediately. If you wear glasses, when you come inside after being outside for a little bit, they immediately fog up because the lenses are so super cold. If you eat an ice cream cone, no matter how slowly you eat it, it never melts. In fact, the ice cream will actually get harder!

This weather is like an adventure. It’s not exactly enjoyable, but at the same time, I don’t really mind it for my own sake. However, I do feel sorry for homeless people and stray animals. (There are lots and lots of stray dogs and cats all over Ukraine.) Thankfully, I have the proper clothing to handle this kind of weather, but if I didn’t, being outside would not only be miserable, it could be dangerous. You could easily freeze to death in these temperatures, not to mention getting frostbite.

I haven’t been ill since the cold weather started. That’s unusual for me. Usually I get sick several times a month during the winter, so I’m very thankful to be healthy now. Dad told me that you often get sick when the weather gets cold in California, so it’s probably a good thing that you’re not visiting us this winter. You couldn’t make a snowman in this kind of weather anyway, because it’s too cold for the snow to stick together. (Did you know that snow acts differently depending on the temperature? The best weather for snowman making is when it’s right around freezing, which is +32F.)

What have you been doing lately? How’s your dog Max?

Love, Sharon

P.S. I’m posting some winter pictures. To see them, click the “Winter Pictures” link under “Albums” on the sidebar.

. . . Only after I had finished making all the open-faced sandwiches did I realize that this would seem like strange party food to Americans. And then I stopped to think, “Well, what would be normal food for an American party?” And you know what? I couldn’t immediately think of the answer . . .

Dear Daniel,

This week was officially my last week of work. So yesterday I took a bunch of food to the office for a goodbye party. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to throw your own goodbye parties here, but I wanted to do something nice for my coworkers.

As I was preparing the food for the party, I realized how much I’ve adapted to the culture in the last three years. It’s true that I still have much to learn, and I don’t feel at home in the culture yet. But so much that seemed odd to me at first now seems so natural that I don’t even pause to think about it. For example, when I was preparing the menu for the party, I immediately settled on open-faced sandwiches for the main dish. I decided that half of them would be butter, salami, and cucumber sandwiches, and for a really gourmet treat that I knew everyone would appreciate, I planned butter, salted fish, and lemon sandwiches.

Only after I had finished making all the open-faced sandwiches did I realize that this would seem like strange party food to Americans. And then I stopped to think, “Well, what would be normal food for an American party?” And you know what? I couldn’t immediately think of the answer. Now after having the question in the back of my mind for a day, I think I’ve figured it out: pizza, chips and dip, and soda. If it was a nicer party (I wanted to give my coworkers a nice party), then the American hostess would probably serve an assortment of hors d’oeuvres — like little quiches, little cubes of cheese on toothpicks, whole-grain crackers with some sort of spread, and a fruit and/or vegetable tray.

Well, the menu for my fancy Ukrainian party was as follows: two types of open-faced sandwiches, seedless grapes (a new thing here is that quite a hit), French chocolate truffles, chocolate-mint meringue cookies that I baked, two kinds of fruit juice (a special brand made from imported fruits), and two kinds of soda. Everyone loved everything, except that no one touched the soda.

Georgie came to the goodbye party, as did Cara, the woman from our church who will be replacing me. We all had a good time together, and I feel like I left on a positive note. Praise God for that!

Before the party yesterday, I went shopping for Georgie’s birthday present. The store were I went to buy it is next to our neighborhood, about a 20-minute walk from our apartment. It’s not a pleasant walk, because half of it is through the dirt on the side of a busy highway (there’s no sidewalk). But yesterday the walk was more enjoyable, because I was thinking of you. Here’s why: it has been above freezing ever since we had that thaw that I told you about. But yesterday when I left home to walk to the store to get Georgie’s gift, I was surprised at how cold it was. It was the type of day where the air seems to bite every square millimeter of bare skin; you probably don’t know what I mean. I’m almost sure that you don’t own any clothes that would have kept you warm on a day like this, because on top of the cold, the wind was blowing. I was very thankful for my heavy winter coat. It kept me so warm that I was actually sweating after my brisk walk to the store!

Anyway, as I walked in the dirt on the side of the road, I kept seeing muddy puddles that had frozen overnight. Some of them were deep enough that only the surface had frozen, leaving liquid water beneath. As I looked at them, I thought that if you were here, you would be so fascinated by them. I imagined how you would say, “Oh, cool!” and step on them to see if the ice would hold your weight. You would probably also be fascinated by how the ground freezes when it’s cold. One day everything will be all soft and muddy, and the next day it can be hard as rock — and the patterns made by car tires driving through the mud the day before will now be frozen solid.

After the cold day, yesterday evening it started to snow again. It snowed hard for several hours, and in those few hours, we got more snow than we’d gotten all season. Now the world outside looks like the front of a Christmas card! Every single twig on the bare trees is outlined in white from the snow that has collected on it. It’s beautiful. I wish you could see it.

Love, Sharon

. . . This morning my snow turned to sleet. In a few hours, it had covered our windows with bumpy sheets of ice. Then the sleet turned to rain. Living in Southern California, you probably wouldn’t know this, but snow and rain make a terrible combination . . .

Dear Daniel,

It has snowed several more times since my birthday, and the snow on the ground keeps getting deeper and deeper. So when I woke up this morning and saw that it was snowing again, I thought that the snow was here to stay. But then the snow changed to sleet.

I’m sure you’ve never seen sleet, so I’ll describe it. Sleet is rain that freezes on its way down. It looks like tiny balls of ice, only about a millimeter or two in diameter. Each one is a frozen raindrop. It’s not hail, which is larger and is formed by frozen raindrops being blown back up into the cloud and getting covered in another layer of ice. This process gets repeated until the hailstone is too heavy to get blown back up into the cloud again. At that point, it falls to the ground.

Sleet is not as potentially dangerous as hail, but it is far more annoying. If hailstones get big enough, they can kill you. But no one in their right mind goes outside in a hailstorm. When I lived in France, I once got stranded outside in a hailstorm. The hailstones weren’t very large, but they really hurt when they hit you! I was in the middle of Vichy’s main square, too far away from any building where I could get shelter. There were a few young trees in the square, and I rushed to one, pressed my face against its trunk, and held my backpack on top of my head, shielding my cheeks with my arms at the same time. I stayed like that until the hail let up for a bit, then I ran as fast as I could across the square to the nearest building. As soon as I got there, the hail started again. That’s what hail is like, but sleet is different.

I remember the first time I saw sleet after moving here. I was walking somewhere with George, and at first I thought it was snowing. Then I realized that the “snow” was falling much too quickly. Then I decided that it was rain, until I noticed that the “raindrops” were bouncing when they hit the ground! I was so puzzled. It was like nothing that I had ever seen before. It was most like hail, but the stones were much too small, and besides that, there was no thunderstorm, which is essential for making hail. With a thrill, I suddenly realized that it must be sleet, something that I had only read about in books. “George,” I bubbled, “it’s sleeting!” He raised his eyebrows in puzzled amusement, as if to say, “And what did you think it was doing? And why in the world are you so excited about it?” Now that I’ve experienced sleet a few times, I can better understand his lack of enthusiasm for it.

Sleet stings when it hits you, like tiny needles pricking your skin. Sleet collects on the ground and then somehow freezes together, turning sidewalks and roads into treacherous, icy nightmares. And unlike hail, sleet gives you no excuse to stay indoors, because although it is inconvenient, it is not dangerous.

So this morning my snow turned to sleet. In a few hours, it had covered our windows with bumpy sheets of ice. Then the sleet turned to rain. Living in Southern California, you probably wouldn’t know this, but snow and rain make a terrible combination. The air temperature can be just above freezing without melting the snow on the ground, but as soon as it starts to rain, all that beautiful snow starts to turn into muddy slush. That’s what happened in Kyiv this afternoon. It was still chilly (about 33F), but everywhere you looked, there was watery slush on the ground and water dripping off trees and buildings as the snow and ice melted in the rain. In weather like this, you have to be careful not to walk too close to the buildings. As the thaw continues, pieces of snow and ice detach from things and fall to the ground. And you don’t want to get hit by an icicle falling from sixteen stories up! As the saying goes, “You wouldn’t even know what hit you!”

This bad weather gave me a wonderful opportunity to test out my new winter boots. Because my feet were always getting cold, this year I looked for an especially heavy-duty pair. They look like a pair of Ukrainian farm boots, which is a bit awkward in a fashionable city like Kyiv. But I’ve never paid much attention to fashion: I have my own style, and at the moment, it includes a thick-soled pair of fleece-lined sheepskin boots. Not only did they keep my feet warm today (which didn’t surprise me, since it wasn’t very cold), but they also kept them DRY (which shocked me, given how deep some of the puddles I had to walk through were).

Besides giving you a chance to test if your shoes are waterproof, a partial thaw like this has another plus: it can create icicles! I love icicles. They’re beautiful, like fairy castles made of the purest crystal. Today I noticed that a row of icicles had grown overnight above our living-room window. They may have completely melted away by tomorrow, but at least I got to enjoy them today!

Love, Sharon

. . . I don’t feel like a real adult yet, but I’ll be 30 in 3 years. When I was your age, I thought that all grown-ups were in the same category. I assumed that all of them felt capable, confident, and that they never felt intimidated by other grown-ups . . .

Dear Daniel,

Today is my 27th birthday. Doesn’t that sound old? I don’t feel like a real adult yet, but I’ll be 30 in 3 years. When I was your age, I thought that all grown-ups were in the same category. I assumed that all of them felt capable, confident, and that they never felt intimidated by other grown-ups. But now I’m 27, which sounds old enough to be in the grown-up category, and you want to know a secret? I still lack confidence. I still feel shy and intimidated around certain people. And I still look up to people who are older than me. I guess that doesn’t mean that I’m not grown-up yet, it just means that there aren’t two simple categories of people like I thought when I was a kid.

I’m still sick. If I’m not better by tomorrow evening, I will have been sick for a full week. The last two mornings I’ve been awakened early by diarrhea. We finally called the doctor yesterday. He put me on a very strict diet (no protein, no fat, no fresh fruits, no vegetables — just hot cereal, rice, dry toast, and baked apples) and prescribed an antibiotic. I’m also drinking a Ukrainian electrolyte solution. (Things like sweating a lot or diarrhea destroy your body’s electrolyte balance.) In America, we have Gatorade and other sports drinks to do this job. Here in Ukraine, we have Regidron, a powder that you put in water. It tastes awful, so I added a packet of Kool-Aid and sugar to it. It still doesn’t taste good, but at least it’s drinkable! So as I type, I’m also sipping my Regidron.

Usually Georgie gets up early on my birthday and makes me breakfast in bed. So last night he asked me what I wanted for breakfast in the morning. I laughed. Oatmeal? Rice? Dry toast with no butter or jam? How exciting! In the end I decided on baked apples, but since my illness woke me up before him, I’ll probably make them myself. Another birthday tradition is going out to a nice restaurant for dinner; of course, that’s not happening this year!

So it sounds like a great birthday, doesn’t it? But you know what? God knew what a bummer of a day it would be for me, so He sent me a special gift. When I opened the living room curtains shortly after I got up, I couldn’t believe my eyes! You know what I saw? Snow! And not just falling through the air, but starting to cover everything in white! It must have been snowing most of the night to do that. It hasn’t snowed since the last time I wrote you because it’s been too warm. Two days ago, the temperature actually got up to 46 degrees Fahrenheit. But today, on my birthday, when I’m sick and unable to do the things I usually would, when I’m far away from many of my beloved family and friends — God sends me snow to remind me that He’s always with me, and He remembers that it’s my birthday.

The snow usually doesn’t stick this early. We’ll get some snowfall here and there, sometimes starting in October and through November and December. But we often don’t get enough snow to make the world turn white until just after the New Year. So the weather today really is special. It’s out of the ordinary. It’s God’s special message to me.

He did this for me once before. Remember when I lived in France? Well, that year also I was sick on my birthday. Besides that, it fell on a work day, so I was sick and teaching. Plus, no one knew it was my birthday, so no one even said “Happy Birthday” to me all day long. I had planned to attend a classical music concert in the evening, but after my last class, I felt too sick to go. I went home, prepared a sick person’s meal, and got into bed early. The only thing I had wanted from the day was snow. But though I had prayed for it, it hadn’t snowed. As I settled myself in bed for the night, I glanced out the window, and in the slanting rays of the setting sun, I saw the snow beginning to fall. Suddenly I could sense God’s presence with me in that lonely room; He put His arms around me and said, “Happy birthday, dearest Sharon. I love you so much.” I started to cry because I was so touched. And that’s how I feel about this snow today.

Don’t ever forget how much God loves you, Daniel. You know that He sent Jesus to die in your place. And even though that’s enough to prove His love to you for all time, it doesn’t end there. He wants to show you His love every day in a thousand small ways. Look for them and praise Him!

Love, Sharon

P.S. Of course, since I’m sick, we had to cancel the birthday party to which we were planning to invite all our Ukrainian friends. We’re going to try again in December for George’s birthday (12-05-75).

. . . For me, the weeks between the time when the weather turns cold and the first snowfall always seem very long. I’m like a little kid; I just can’t wait for the snow to come . . .

Dear Daniel,

It finally snowed today! Since I last wrote you, it “warmed up” a bit. (All that means is that the temperature didn’t drop below freezing for about a week, but it was still cold.) The last few days it has been really foggy, but there has been no snow. We live on the sixteenth floor of a sixteen-story apartment building, and when it’s foggy, we can’t see anything out the window. It’s like we’re in the middle of a cloud. It’s kind of fun, but it’s not snow, and snow is what I’ve really been wanting.

For me, the weeks between the time when the weather turns cold and the first snowfall always seem very long. I’m like a little kid; I just can’t wait for the snow to come! Most of the adults want there to be as little snow as possible, but not me! I get so excited when I see the first flakes start to come down. And all winter long, whenever it’s snowing, it makes my day. I guess that it’s because I grew up without snow, so I’m not tired of it yet.

Today was a very stressful, hectic day. I had a bunch of editing to do for my job in the morning, and I was so busy that I didn’t even have time to take a shower or eat lunch before I had to leave home at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. But when I glanced out the window just before running out the door (I was late), I saw that it had started to snow, and suddenly I felt so light and happy inside!

It snowed for about thirty minutes, and the flakes were big fluffy clumps of hundreds of snowflakes all stuck together. It looked like thousands of little pieces of lace drifting down to earth out of the sky. I don’t think the snow will stay on the ground, because the temperature is a few degrees above freezing right now, but maybe it will snow some more tonight. If the temperature drops overnight, the world could be all white in the morning!

Love, Sharon