Christmas Day 2012

It has been a long time since I have written anything in my blog. As much as I claim to be a writer, I have a difficult time writing on a regular basis. I know that it is my problem, but I don’t want to take this time to discuss such issues. It is neither here nor there. This blog entry is dedicated to the year 2012.

I’ll keep this simple. Christmas has brought about a pleasant mood that I was hoping to discover. Coming to Kiev this January was no easy decision to make. It was not chosen with a light-heart and carefree whimsy. But looking back on it all, the decision was necessary. The year of 2012 has been a time of change. The most important change being my wedding in October. Valeria and I have been enjoying our time together. Our first family Christmas has been wonderful thus far.

Maybe I'll be in a different nostalgic mood once New Year's Eve rolls around, but right now everything is great. This has been a transitional year, and even though I fear the changes sometimes, they surely have been good to me!

"Here we are as in olden days,

Happy golden days of yore.

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more.

Through the years

We all will be together,

If the Fates allow.

Hang a shining star up on the highest bough,

And have yourself a merry little Christmas now."

Meetings

This is a first for me as I am attempting to write this on my phone. A little strange; I'm still not very quick with this keyboard.

Even still, I just wanted to write a quick note about today. Today was a day of random meetings. It all started early this morning when I was going across town to work. I have to transfer each Tuesday between the Red Line and the Blue Line. Although it has happened before, I ran into one of Valeria's old friends /  my acquaintance. We were a little tangled in the stream of people who also needed to transfer. Still we were able to say hello before the masses forced us different ways.

After my morning class, I hung out at McDonald's for free WiFi. When it came time to leave for my next class, I packed up my books and booked it to the metro. I nearly missed the train as I ran furiously down the steps. Upon transferring back to the Red Line, I ended up (abnormally) waiting toward the front of the train. The doors opened and out came the swarm. One of the last was an OLD student of mine from way back in the old ELC days. We awkwardly looked at each other, and greeted one another. But she had to rush off, and I needed to try to swim into the metro. I turned back to the door, but the group had stalled their movements. I trotted quickly to the next door, and hopped on. Just then, I felt a little tug. When I looked, I saw Veronika's face and was shocked. It has been four years! We only rode together one stop, but the whole time I was flabbergasted. I couldn't think of anything to say. I just stared at her face in disbelief, and before you knew it, she was gone...

After my noon class, I headed back to the center for some food and to prepare for Green Forest classes. When I was coming to the steps of Metrograd, I met a YAPPI student that had sort of disappeared toward the end of our last term.

Once my very long day had finally ended, I started home. I just missed my train on the Green Line, so I waited about eight minutes for a twenty second ride to my transfer station. I was quick off the metro, because I wanted to get home. As I came down the transfer steps, Ruslan, a buddy from dancing, was just crossing in front of me. It was nice to chat a few seconds. He is great.

Sometimes I feel like I own this town. It was such a strange day. Amazing how a couple seconds, or a missed train, or a slight change in routine can bring such surprises. I spent the metro ride home looking around the wagon for someone else I may have known.