I returned today from Germany via Lviv, a beautiful city in western Ukraine. It didn't get bombed during WWII, and is a lot more "Ukrainian" than Kyiv, having been under Soviet domination for only about 50 years, from the war to 1991. So people there speak Ukrainian. It was a pleasant change. I didn't have to constantly guess "are they speaking Russian or Ukrainian?"--it was all Ukrainian. I got to use my 40-word vocabulary and be understood, for once.
People in Lviv seem much more friendly and relaxed than here in Kyiv; that could be because we were on vacation and were friendly and relaxed ourselves, or because of the distance from Moscow. Another teacher from my school was in Lviv at the same time, so I toured around with her. She's in her 20's and everyone probably thought I was her mother. She was a good traveling companion, someone with an excellent sense of direction, a big help for me, I who have none.
One of the quirky things about Lviv is that it's the birthplace of the original masochist, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Naturally, I had to go take a look at his house, which isn't marked by a plaque or anything! Now, why not?
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