I feel I must apologise to the half-dozen people who pop onto this blog all the time, given that it's been around 6 weeks since I last updated, and a looot of stuff has happened since. Don't worry, I'll update you now, but it may take a little time. I can't honestly remember everything that's happened to me since I last spoke, but I'll begin where I left off...
The private lessons have been going fine (I'm not charging the guy a lot as I don't want to rip him off, given that the lessons are more chats than grammar-intensive workouts), and as I mentioned, I went to the party at the [other school]. It's in a very new part of the city, Pechersk - well, by 'new', I mean the buildings around the area are very new, including the [school] itself. There's a building site nearby, hinting at the ongoing development in the area. You could tell that the [school] was very new: it's a far cry from the old Soviet KPI building that I and my colleagues work in. It looks very modern - and Western, I suppose. Very warm inside, too: from my time in building services I can see that it was designed to building regulations, which clearly didn't exist when the freezing cold KPI rooms were constructed.
The party was a lot of fun, I met people from the other school and much drink was drunk. They have a Montessori room - look it up - which was very big and nice, too. I think some of us went to a shitty club afterwards, which I didn't enjoy: 33 UAH for a 330ml bottle of Heineken would be a lot in London, let along Kyiv.
I went back to the [school] not long after, for some seminars on teaching young learners (I definitely need help in that area). I felt a little lazy that I was encouraged to come on a Saturday only by the prospect of money and pizza, when a number of people made it from as far afield as Odessa and Donetsk (the other schools). That it took them many hours to get to the [school] for the seminars, when I had a 30 minute trip that was only made tolerable with cash and food, certainly gave me something to think about.
Anyway, enough of that. Let me mention something that happened more recently and that was of much greater interest: Chernobyl. A bunch of other teachers expressed interest in going, and since I knew that it was neither cheap nor easy to arrange a trip there, especially alone, I thought I'd never get a better chance to go there. So around 10 of us arranged a minibus with a few guides, one of whom spoke English, and set on our way at around 8.30am (ungodly early for me, given that I don't even leave for work until around 12.30pm).
We were greeted with this at the 30km mark from Reactor 4. This is the point of no return (well, not 'no return', but you know what I mean). Entry beyond this point is restricted, so it's a good thing we had some guides and our passports.
There's a nice map showing the area there, too, as you can see. Our be-Geiger-countered guide switched it on and revealed it to say 20 microröntgens, or 0.00002 röntgens (500 over 5 hours is fatal, FYI, so any Ukrainians who tell you going to Chernobyl is dangerous obviously don't know the reality).
Before the real meat of the journey, we were shown a few ancillary aspects of our tour. We were tested for radiation in Chernobyl city, which is actually quite far from the reactor, and radiation levels are not particularly high. Nevertheless, the soil is irradiated, so the pipes are all above ground, a truly bizarre sight as they loop over roads and the like. A few people live in Chernobyl city still, mainly administrative people, though in the 30km exclusion zone we were told that around 200 people, mostly pensioners, live in places here and there. We stopped off at this local church in Chernobyl. It looked very nice both inside and outside, as Orthodox churches often are, but I imagine it doesn't get a lot of business these days.
Next we headed off to a bit next to the river, where a bunch of ships were abandoned. I didn't take any pics of that, but I did take pictures of this mural thing next to it. No idea what it's on about, but it looked nice...
Finally, we got to our first big point of the day: Reactor 4, the one whose top blew off, sending out, in the worst-hit areas, 20,000 röntgens per hour (remember how I said 500 in 5 hours would kill you? Well, now you know what happened to the firefighters called to the scene, not knowing it was a nuclear accident). Fortunately, it's a little safer 22 years on: turning on the Geiger counter here resulted in a reading of around 150 mR. On the grass, it jumped to around 250 mR. "Oooh!" we all thought - though we had no idea what it was going to get to later.
This is the tourist's viewpoint of Reactor 4. It's a nice view, and with radiation levels of around 500 mR (oooh!) it's relatively safe, and even my crappy phone camera got a pretty good shot, as you can see. They instructed us not to take photos to the left and right of what you see here, which is a little weird - Ukraine is not known for government secrecy, unlike the Russians. Besides, I saw what was to the left and right of what you see here: bugger all.
After Reactor 4, the real deal: Pripyat(or Prypyat, maybe). This is the ghost town that's a stone's throw from Reactor 4, and it's quite an eye-opener to say the least. This is the "Hotel Policcya" (for those who don't read Cyrillic), and we went up there for a beautiful (and haunting) panoramic view of the small town, once home to around 50,000 people. Trees growing through the floors of the abandoned hotel are a stark reminder of what you're seeing.
Straight ahead is the "Energetik" gym. In front of that is obviously the town square - though it was only obvious when we went to the top floor of the hotel and looked down, removing the overgrown vegetation from our view. Only then could you really imagine what this Soviet town looked like 22 years ago.
Directly ahead from the last shot, this is the 'entrance' to the gym. It's pretty smashed up now, as you can see, but it looks a little better inside. You can see a hint of a mural in the distance...
...and here's a closer look. Surprisingly well preserved, there's obviously a few bits missing, but nevertheless interesting, especially in a world devoid of Soviet relics such as these. Such relics survive mostly in Kyiv's metro stations, as my pictures will show later.
Inside the gym itself. Not the best shot (and the white balance is off...) but you can see two of the three words written above the gym: possible translation, "strong, bold, cunning". Maybe a Soviet sporting slogan? I'll have to ask.
It's a little hard to make out, but you can just about see the hammer and sickel in this little poster I saw on the floor of the gym. There was quite a few discarded things around the place, mainly gym shoes and the odd springboard etc.
Nearby, we were shown a room full of old magazines. It'd be great to sift through them and have a browse, but time, radiation levels and a lack of competency in Russian stopped us.
I found this on the floor in a room somewhere: "Edison-2". It sounded somewhat significant, so I snapped a picture. It's so strange to see old stuff just lying around, untouched.
The cream of the crop: they were preparing for a parade before the accident struck, so all of this stuff was just left lying in a back room. There's pictures of Soviet leaders in here, and my dictionary lists "agitpunkt", as you see there, as meaning "agitation centre", though I'm sure there's a better translation than that (agitation and propaganda seem linked, cf English "agit-prop").
A quote from good old Lenin - he's widely quoted around these parts. I liked this because I understood it on the spot: "study, study, study!"
The big wheel in the fairground. Apparently this fairground was going to open several days after the accident. The radiation around Pripyat is somewhat higher than around Reactor 4, oddly: maybe it's the higher amount of vegetation, maybe it's the effectiveness of the cleanup of Reactor 4 compared to the evacuation of Pripyat. Whatever, the radiation here is much higher (though still safe). The moss near this wheel was the first time we saw our guide's Geiger counter break the ton: 1000 microröntgens, or 1 milliröntgen. Still a long way off death, but I'd avoid stepping on it (as we did).
This was quite a find, some Soviet signs with Soviet slogans. The top one rhymes, like a poem. Not 100% sure what it means, but I understand the odd word.
There's a block of flats with the Soviet emblem on the top, vegetation all around. Incidentally, after we left Pripyat, we stopped somewhere nearby and were shown a piece of lifting equipment used presumably in the clean-up of Reactor 4, simply abandoned. After seeing our Geiger counter reach levels of 1500 to 2000, it was quite a shock to put it on this piece of equipment and have it go
OVER NINE-THOUSAAAND.
We went into a primary school, which was the real 'highlight' of the tour. This is the first thing that caught my eye: the year on this notice board, reminding us of how long this place has been left alone.
Something left lying on the floor: a chart teaching you the Russian alphabet! (Russian, not Ukranian, mind) So A is for Avtobus... and I don't know most of the rest. There was also some alphabet blocks in a classroom and some big wall pictures of letters too, but I didn't snap those.
This made my jaw drop. Plasticine figures of little people, made by the kids before the accident. The idea that the kids made this, and it's just sat here for 22 years, untouched, is quite amazing. There were many toys lying around the school too: tanks, dolls, the cheap Soviet equivalent of Lego.
This is one of the cloakrooms, where many shoes have been left. There was some interesting pictures and text on the walls, so I felt I had to snap this.
A more perfect juxtaposition I don't think you'll find anywhere (it's almost too perfect, like somebody placed them there...): a tank, a doll, and a gas mask. We saw quite a few gas masks around the place, actually. Seems a little strange. Whether it was a Soviet-wide policy or just because of the proximity to a nuclear reactor I don't know.
A nice mural in the school. It's strange to see a mural like this, as there's no apparent connection to Soviet/Communist ideology at all, which is weird in this place. We found a scrapbook with the title "Lenin: Leader and Teacher", with pics and text of the Dear Leader (or whatever he was called: I'm using North Korean terminology there). Flicking through it was a reminder of what country this place used to be. The flags of the 15 Soviet states on the wall was another reminder, too.
And finally, after a hard day's travelling around radioactive Chernobyl (bear in mind we ate at McDonald's in Minsk, Kyiv at just before 8am, and this pic was taken at 4.45pm) we were treated to a meal within sight of Reactor 4. This would put most people off, I'm sure, but we were tested negative for radiation and were provided with a meal by the much-newer-looking canteen. Now this is what real Ukrainian cooking is about: similar to what you get in the self-service places, but much nicer, and plenty of it. That red stuff in the foreground is borsch, Ukrainian style. I've taken quite a fancy to it, actually. Maybe I can get it in a can.
All in all, a fantastically interesting day out, and one I'd recommend to anybody else. Don't listen to Ukrainians, though: they'll tell you you're crazy for going there. Only foreigners ever have an interest in it.
I have much more to tell but it's taken me long enough just to tell you all of this, so I'll leave it till another day. When that'll be is a mystery, but hopefully soon.
The view going up one of the endless escalators inside the Metro stations. Some of these stations (well, most of them) and very far underground, so the escalator rides really add to your journey time. For a first timer, they look quite pretty, but trust me, the ads for TV shows and the like get old pretty quick.
The end wall sculpture in Politechnichni Institut Metro. Some of the Metro stations are really quite nice, compared to the blank and purely functional look of Metro systems in London, New York or elsewhere.
This is one of my particular faves: our old pal Lenin, to be seen in Teatralna Metro. It seems so strange to still have this Communist relic sitting here, 17 years after independence, but it's a pretty marvellous bust, admittedly. The walls are also decorated with quotes from the big man himself, some in Russian, some Ukrainian. Unfortunately, the walls are now also decorated with Ani Lorak promoting some bloody heater. Anyway, this picture gives rise to a neat juxtaposition of the old heroes...
...and the new ones. Quantum of Solace was promoted heavily here for obvious reasons (the Bond Bird is a Ukrainian), though I forget which station this is (it's full of these ads for Sony stuff, though this vast end-wall poster made for a beautiful comparison between the old Communist idol, and the man who used to be its sworn enemy...).
One final end-wall thing, this time from Shuliavska Metro. Nothing like the image of a proud worker holding the atom in his hands to remind you of your recent trip to Chernobyl, and the nuclear disaster that preceded it...
We have our own single toilet in the KPI building we share with the polytechnic, but this is an example of the ones in the rest of the building. I just hope that stick isn't a replacement for toilet paper.
Most big cities have homeless guys. This city has homeless cats and dogs. They wander around hoping to get a bit of food, so naturally their lack of food energy makes them pretty docile. Cats can be a bit more pushy, but the dogs just walk around feeling sorry for themselves. This collection of sleeping dogs near the school had me reaching for the camera, obviously. I just could let them lie (sorry).
Now for more proper sightseeing: this is the Golden Gate, or Zoloti Vorota. Wikipedia and other places should be able to give you more info than I can, but FYI it's not an original, it's a reconstruction. Still rather pretty as you can see.
So now, as you walk from Zoloti Vorota, you see these few things: first, a statue of a guy on a horse. Answers on a postcard regarding what it represents...
Further down the road, the Hyatt hotel, arguably (well, unarguably I suppose) the nicest hotel in Kyiv, and obviously the most expensive. It's a nice-looking building so I had to snap it.
And at the end of the road, a church (there's a few around Kyiv, funnily enough). Don't know the name, but I'm sure you can find out. Turn right for O'Brien's Irish Pub, if you're ever in town. Not that I go there, mind. Never again.
This will be of limited interest, but it illustrates how legitimate software piracy is in Ukraine - and why people play games on their PC instead of wasting their money on consoles. Four Call of Duty games in one pack? FIFA 09 plus the Olympics game? Even better, though not in this shot, was FIFA 09 plus the latest PES, complete with Ukrainian league patch. As if the two games would ever be on the same disc. All that for just 35 UAH shows something.
Megamarket really does sell everything. If they have Marmite I might never come home.
Yes, I really did see Chesney Hawkes in concert on the 'Nostalgia' channel on cable.
And to quote our good friend Levi quoting somebody else: "If the barmaid gave me head like that, I'd send it back." And they evidently did. I drank it, though.
