Dear Daniel

. . . The first hard frost usually comes early - before the leaves have finished changing colors! This means that most of them fall off the trees while they’re still partially green, so you never get to see the hillsides covered in red and orange and yellow. This year was different . . .

Dear Daniel,

This year I got to see my first Ukrainian autumn. The weather here changes so quickly from warm to cold and back again that sometimes it seems like we only have two seasons: warm and cold. But this year was different.

I don’t know if you knew this about me, but I’ve always wanted to live in a place with the four traditional seasons. I wanted to enjoy snow and cozy winter evenings with a mug of hot chocolate, I wanted to see the explosion of blossoms that comes with the spring, I wanted the warmth of summer, and I wanted the crisp air and blue skies of autumn with the reds and golds of the changing leaves.

Ukraine definitely has the snow, and we’ve got enough blossoms in the spring (although sometimes the snow comes back after the flowers have already bloomed), and the summers can get pretty hot and humid, but I’ve never seen a colorful autumn before. The reason is that the first hard frost usually comes early - before the leaves have finished changing colors! This means that most of them fall off the trees while they’re still partially green, so you never get to see the hillsides covered in red and orange and yellow.

This year was different. We had warm weather for most of September, and even in October, it stayed above freezing! So the leaves have had time to change to their autumn colors. Most of them are yellow; I guess red leaves must be from different kinds of trees that aren’t very common in Kyiv. But it has been beautiful!

Now it’s starting to get really cold, with temperatures below freezing every night. I’ve switched from my autumn coat to my heavy winter coat. (It actually weighs somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds, if you can imagine that! Walking uphill in my winter coat is very good exercise!) If the weatherman knows what he’s talking about, we should get snow soon! I’ll be thinking of you when that happens. I’ve never made a snowman before, so this winter, we’ve decided to make one with Stepan and Olenka, a married couple who are good friends of ours.

Love, Sharon

To anyone who may be reading:

I have a little brother. His name is Daniel, and as I write this, he is 9 years old. He was only 6 years old when I moved to Ukraine, and he cried on the sidewalk at the Los Angeles International Airport the day I left. In fact, he almost cried the day he learned that I would be marrying the man I had been corresponding with over the internet, because, although Daniel was only in kindergarten, he understood enough to know that my marriage would take me far away.

Daniel is a fun-loving, rowdy little boy. He likes dogs, cats, fish, Legos, and playing computer games (when his parents will let him), and he’s not too fond of school or homework, although his grades are decent. Because his dad is Caucasian and his mom is Asian, he is one of the cutest kids you’ll ever see - plus, he’s completely bi-lingual (English and Japanese). A recent trip to see my family inspired me to keep in better contact with him, and the result is a series of e-mails describing interesting points about life here in Ukraine.

Enjoy!

. . . Traditionally, when someone has a birthday in Ukraine, they give chocolate to their friends and co-workers. And if they have a party at their home, they organize everything themselves; if the celebration is at a restaurant, they pay the bill for everyone . . .

Dear Daniel,

I guess you’re helping your classmates have a bigger view of the world, or at least learn a tiny bit about places they’ve never visited or heard of. (Now they know that Ukraine makes delicious candies!) What you did by sharing your candies with your classmates would have been very cultural here. Traditionally, when someone has a birthday in Ukraine, they give chocolate to their friends and co-workers. And if they have a party at their home, they organize everything themselves; if the celebration is at a restaurant, they pay the bill for everyone! (Kind of different from what we do in America.) However, in both countries, people give gifts to the birthday person.

I haven’t thrown a birthday party for myself since moving here, partly because I haven’t felt the need, since we usually celebrate birthdays with George’s family, and partly because a big social event where everyone else is speaking Ukrainian or Russian hasn’t sounded like the most pleasant way to spend my birthday. However, this year I think I may throw a party for myself in our apartment. I have a few good friends now, and it would be fun to celebrate with them. (Besides, I understand Ukrainian and Russian much better now and can communicate fairly well with people who know me.) I’ll let you know how it goes - although it’s still a long way off!

Love,

Sharon

. . . Today was the first day of school here in Ukraine. September 1 is always the first day of school here. It’s a really big celebration, and every school has a special ceremony first thing in the morning. It’s called the First Bell . . .

Dear Daniel,

I’m glad you are enjoying the candies I sent you for your birthday so much, and I’m glad you were able to share them with your class. Did you tell them they were from Ukraine? I bet half of them don’t even know where Ukraine is!

Today was the first day of school here in Ukraine. September 1 is always the first day of school here. It’s a really big celebration, and every school has a special ceremony first thing in the morning. It’s called the First Bell. One of my nieces, Anna, started first grade today, and that’s the really special year. The high school seniors escort all the first graders in at the beginning of the ceremony. So, of the three different First Bell ceremonies in the family today (all at different schools), George and I attended the one at Anna’s school. It’s on the same street as our apartment. The other First Bell ceremonies in the family were for Aaron and Kristen, George’s youngest brother and sister. Even though they live on the same street as us, they don’t go to the same school as Anna. Aaron goes to a special school that lets him do half of his work at home with tutors and the other half at school. This means that he only has to go to school about three days a week, which gives him more time for piano lessons and music classes at the music school in town. Kristen goes to a special school for children with learning disabilities.

Anyway, another thing that traditionally happens on September 1 is that the weather decides to turn cold. We had some cold weather in the middle of August, but then it warmed up again. But today it was cold enough that I officially got out my autumn coat and started wearing it! We even had hot chocolate with our breakfast!

I love you and miss you too. Write me more, and we can send messages back and forth.

Sharon