A Linguistic No-Man's Land

I am going to keep this short, since it is a rant, but the linguistic issues in this country are increasingly irritating. The last week or so, I have had done a bit of traveling in the region, engaging with Kyivans, Odessans and various customs officials from Moldova and Transnisteria, making me realize how screwed up Ukraine is when it comes to its languages. When you speak Russian in Moldova or Transniesteria, people respond in pure, relatively unadulterated Russian. When you speak Russian in Ukraine, people think you're a Moskal, but, if you speak pure Ukrainian, they thing you're a nationalist or a snob or Polish. In other words, the official, expected language of Ukraine is Syrzhyk, the bastardization of both languages. Even at the Ukrainian Ethno-Disco, where I somewhat expected to hear pure(er) Ukrainian, I kept hearing a complete mess of languages: Russian verbs with Ukrainian cases; Ukrainian verbs with Russian cases; Russian forms of "to be" in otherwise Ukrainian sentences. ARGH! To me, it hardly matters whether folks speak Ukrainian or Russian, but my disdain for poor grammar forces me to insist that they speak one or the other, not a mixture of both. I guess you could argue over what is "true" Ukrainian, but I'm certain this had been disputed over the last 15 years and that an official consensus has been formed. Just pick one.

Thank you and goodnight.

It finally snows in Kyiv

Anyway, I really haven't gotten into this whole blog process, but I'm going to give it a shot again. It's been snowing in Kyiv the last week, so leaving the house isn't the most attractive option available. I booked my travel plans for a conference in Berlin the other day, and I'm stopping in Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Prague along the way. There is something about living out of a suitcase that has always appealed to me. Guess it was all the moving around as a kid.

In other news, not leaving the house makes excercise virtually impossible, while being in close proximity of the fridge makes not eating also unlikely. And when I do leave the house, I risk breaking my neck on icy sidewalks and slick, granite stairwells. Soviet realist architecture, for all of its proletarian amibitions is completely impractical. Watching the anorexic, bleached, stilettoed 20 somethings teeter up and down hills/steps is always somewhat amusing. Ukraine is still completely obsessed with "high" class, which means there is no appreciation of counter-culture; mercedes, gucci and dunhills rule, even if most everyone goes home to a crappy Soviet apartment where the entryway reeks of human urine. Even compared to Warsaw, Kyiv is still probably a decade behind. While Poland has developed a middle class, and Warsaw has established an intelligensia with it's own neighborhood, galleries, bars and restaurants, Ukraine remains predominantly poor and Kyiv hasn't gone far from the days when waiting in line for a pair of Levi 501s was common. The brands have changed, but attitudes have not and Ukrainians continue to have a love/hate relationship with the West. They can't get enough of expensive cars, clothes and gadgets, but resent our insistence on democratic processes, like free elections, and eliminating state sponsored corruption.

This is not to say all Ukrainians feel this way, but most Ukes are tremendously skeptical of Westerners and even resentful of diaspora, since they escaped the wrath. Young people in western and central Ukraine are generally pro-Western, but they all speak Russian which somewhat belies their poltical orientation. Those in eastern Ukraine are more politically apathetic, since the line between Ukraine and Russia is much more blurred; they still perceive the West as a threat to their cultural and intellectual identity and would rather be part of the formerly powerful Russian/Soviet empire than a 3rd world country in the EU, regardless of whether or not their future will benefit from this political orientation. Some things will only change as memories fade. Unfortunately, this may take generations.