Moving to Ukraine: a personal narrative of a dream fulfilled

by Bohdan Hodiak

CONCLUSION

There are signs of hope. Recently a fine newspaper called Young Ukraine listed a couple of hundred notable books that had been published in Ukrainian in the past 15 years. Many of the books were translations, and I was surprised at the quality of the books - many the cream of modern European thought. It was as if Ukrainians were catching up with the rest of the world.

A few days after this article appeared a book fair of Ukrainian books opened at the grand Ukrainian Home located at the end of the Kreschatyk. There were hundreds of books from a dozen publishers, and we bought a beautiful children's encyclopedia, an audio CD of Ukrainian tales, several beautiful children's books, two fine maps of Ukraine and the poetry of Vasyl Symonenko. The poetry book was specially prepared to teach Symonenko to high school students. One of the maps of Ukraine had illustrations of Symon Petliura, Stepan Bandera and some UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) soldiers. And, yes, there were people walking around in embroidered shirts.

But, despite all this, publishers of Ukrainian books are having a difficult time. The country is flooded with cheap Russian books, and the government, despite lip service to Ukrainian culture, gives almost no support to the publishers.

There seems to be a "University Press" mentality among Ukrainian publishers. Much of their readership is the Ukrainian intelligentsia, so they publish books of literary and scholarly quality. All well and good, but it does not pay the bills or reach the mass readership that can speak Ukrainian. After all, aren't these the people who are speaking Russian on the streets of Kyiv?

Perhaps as Ukrainians become more confident and increase their feeling of self-worth they will value their language more. After all, only 17 percent of the population is ethnically Russian, as reported recently in the Kyiv Post. It would be wonderful if more Ukrainian writers appeared whose work everyone wants to read. I am not talking about writers for the Ukrainian intellectual ghetto, but books for the tired shop girl who wants some romance and the auto mechanic who wants to get away from it all with a good detective story or thriller.

It is not so much that such novels do not exist in Ukrainian - Andrii Kokotiukha and others have written fine thrillers - but publishers don't have the money to advertise and market them so that Ukrainian readership grows. They can't even keep most good Ukrainian books in print.

Meanwhile, Russian publishers are assigning writers to churn out or translate romance, science-fiction and detective stories, and distributing such books all over Ukraine. I heard a Ukrainian author in a radio interview say she cannot find Ukrainian books for her teenage son. It also must be true for teenage daughters. I don't have any doubt that thousands of young people read Harry Potter in Ukrainian simply because it came out before the Russian translation and there was so little for the mid-teenagers.

At the book fair I also bought a magazine that began publishing this year called Terra Ukrainiana, with text in English and Ukrainian. It is a handsome magazine, beautifully designed. Its theme can be seen from the introductory words of its editor, Tamara Palyonko: "After one of his brilliant victories Garibaldi said: "We have created Italy. Now it is time to create Italians ..." This magazine also is struggling.

A few days later we went to the Lesia Ukrainka Theater to see a performance of "The Good Soldier Schweik," performed in Ukrainian, with the best seats at $14. The play was quite different from the novel and at one point Schweik was asked "Why do you speak Ukrainian all the time?" He answered: "Because I'm a Ukrainian," and the audience clapped.

That same night at this theater we also bought tickets for a play on the life of Vasyl Stus, which will have its premiere in October. There is now a street in Kyiv named after Stus. And, only last month, a plaque was unveiled in Poltava in honor of Symon Petliura.

You can find radio stations in Ukrainian, television stations and programs in Ukrainian and fine newspapers in Ukrainian, filled with interesting material. In fact, the Ukrainian press is having a revival. I confess that I am now reading 10 times more material in Ukrainian than I did living in the States.

So Ukrainian, in many facets, is available in abundance in Kyiv, but it must be admitted that the diaspora cares much more about this than many native Ukrainians. The teacher in my son's school told us that of her 17 students, she has only one family that speaks Ukrainian at home.

It seems that the parents send their children to the school because they feel it provides a better education and perhaps Ukrainian will be useful to their children later if they enter government service or tourism, but that may be all. They speak Russian because they spoke it all their lives and they feel comfortable with it. This is not a political statement. These same people would fiercely resist Ukraine becoming a satellite of Russia.

Happily, young Ukrainians are being reached through wonderful singers and songwriters such as Taras Petrynenko, Ruslana, the rapper Tartak, Maria Burmaka and others. Their songs and actions reflect pride in being Ukrainian, a wish for a national identity. They have taken rock music and added their own genius and interpretation, and often have produced songs that really reach the young.

We went to two Independence Day celebrations - one at our local Victory Park and the other, the big one in the "Big Chestnut" on Independence Square. Both were wonderful. The Kreshchatyk, closed to traffic, had a festive Christmas air to it. The city had hung decorative lights high across the boulevard with symbols of the city: hundreds of neon chestnut blossoms lighting up this grand boulevard. Independence Square that night was totally packed, almost exclusively with young people. And despite the crowding they would let you through and people were careful not to push. It was a civilized crowd of more than 15,000.

As a newcomer I was surprised at how patriotic the celebrations were. Now these were officially sponsored celebrations and yet their theme was love of Ukraine and pride in independence. It's as if many leading officials have finally understood that you cannot have a nation without real Ukrainians: citizens who love their country and its traditions.

Ukraine doesn't have to worry about losing its independence. The people, whether Russian-or Ukrainian-speaking, won't stand for it. They don't want Moscow's boot on their necks again.

The real challenge is, to paraphrase Garibaldi: "We have created Ukraine. Now it is time to create Ukrainians." And, really, you don't have to create Ukrainians because the Ukrainian soul is there, buried, encrusted and covered by the Soviet personae that face the world. It is the job of artists and journalists and teachers to water it and then step aside and let it grow. People need their myths and dreams. They help them feel connected. At the Independence Square celebration there was a huge banner that said: "It's Better United."

During the start of World War II the Communists were smart enough to understand this. Their propaganda to their citizens was not to fight to save the Soviet Union but to fight for the motherland. That is why that huge statue astride the war museum in Kyiv is of "Rodyna Mat," the nation's mother, rising up and holding a defiant sword.

When I first arrived in Kyiv I would sometimes needle the Russified store clerks - "I can't purchase a Ukrainian magazine at your newsstand? What is this, Moscow?" - but I have toned that down. The late James Mace once described Ukrainian society as a "post-genocidal society," and this is true. The traumas - the Great Famine, World War II, Communist criminality - may be generations old, but they still reside in the psyches of Ukrainians. The healing is still going on.

Living in Kyiv is never boring. I can imagine a young man, who has captured a good job in Kyiv, to be totally delighted with the city. It has a lively nightclub and music scene; it has wonderful restaurants. There are fascinating places to see and enjoy. It is a majestic city. And, as far as the interests of young men go, some of the women are sensational. They have a lovely femininity that is a delight to be near. If a man is lucky here he will find a woman with a warm and honest heart, as I did.

I don't know the statistics on crime in Kyiv but based on what I have seen and read, and on my intuition, I will be willing to walk alone on any Kyiv street in the middle of the night. This is something I wouldn't want to do in Washington.

Kyiv is also good for expatriates because it has those two marvelous inventions: cable TV and high-speed Internet. We can watch BBC and CNN news, the Bloomberg financial channel, Oprah's talk show, many Ukrainian-language channels and films from all over the world. Russian films are often subtitled into Ukrainian. We were able to watch live on TV the opening proceedings of the World Forum of Ukrainians.

With the Internet you can access your credit card and checking account, pay your bills online and e-mail anyone you want. Cellphones are easy to get, and the metro is fast and costs 10 cents a ride.

Financing your stay can be a bit of a problem because personal checks are not accepted and you can't pay for everything with your credit card. We found a German bank in Kyiv that said it would accept an American bank's cashier's check, but when I presented the check it was rejected. I had the check made out to the bank but they said I should have made it out from me to me because otherwise how did they know to whom it was supposed to go?

Social Security payments can also be sent to Ukraine, though the American citizen is supposed to report once a month to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to prove residence in the country. But the Embassy is not strict with this because they know that if someone lives in Lviv, for example, it is a hardship to make monthly trips to Kyiv. So they'll let you skip a few months.

Since I have been talking here about finances it's obvious that the cost of living is a lot lower in Ukraine. A pound of tasteless tomatoes was $3.95 in Bethesda, Md. Here good-tasting tomatoes cost the equivalent of 28 cents a pound. Summer fruits and vegetables are 20 percent or less of Bethesda prices. In the States, whenever I drank beer my prostate would protest. Here it keeps quiet because, I think, Ukrainian beer has fewer additives and preservatives - and it tastes a lot better.

A few months ago I had a root canal done in Bethesda for $1,400 and a filling replaced for $233. Competent dentists here, using modern equipment, will be glad to do it for one-fifth that cost. Borys, considered a first-rate private clinic which has doctors in every medical specialty, charges $28 for a consultation. I had my glasses repaired for $6 and my Minox camera for $10; my computer software problem was fixed for $12. I just signed up for Ukrainian emergency medical insurance at $60 for six months.

We sold or gave away all our furniture, except for two beds, and almost everything that had an electric plug, because the voltage here is 220. Even so, shipping our clothes, books, personal and household items cost $6,400 and would have been triple that with furniture. People moving to Ukraine will want to bring as much as they can on the airplane, since their household goods may not arrive for weeks. But, one warning: you may be allotted 100 pounds per person, but if any of your suitcases is more than 50 pounds you will be fined $50 per suitcase.

My plans are to finish my book about Christianity and Christ's teachings and publish it in Ukraine next year. I hope it will be useful to Ukrainians and even raise their spirits. My wife will teach economics, using her American experience. Our son is speaking better and better Ukrainian every day. We plan to adopt a little girl next year.

So, I am beginning to find my Ukraine. It is rising like the mythical Phoenix, and it cannot be stopped. It is an exciting time to be in Ukraine. We have come full circle and look forward to tomorrow.

Bohdan Hodiak was born in Slovakia and arrived in the United States with his parents when he was a pre-teen. He attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City and the City College of New York. For most of his professional life Mr. Hodiak was a reporter and an editor at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pennsylvania. He also worked for the Associated Press, was the editor-in-chief of two weeklies in Miami, and was senior editor at a boating magazine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

PART I

CONCLUSION

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 29, 2006, No. 44, Vol. LXXIV

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