You Can Get Anything at the Farmer's Market

And that's exactly where I found my temporary Russian teacher in the form of jewlery-maker, Marlina:

Who knew there were Russians in Hutchinson, Kansas, or that I would find one at the Farmer's Market!

Anyway, after nine one-hour lessons, I'm now armed with a few introductory phrases and words, as well as the newfound ability to read this:

Okay, so I don't know what any of it actually means, but in comparison to Japanese, Russian seems like a breeze! Yeah, yeah...I know I have a long road ahead of me, but at least I'm not heading to Ukraine totally illiterate!

Sayonara, Japan...Hola, Ukraine!

After three years of teaching English in Sapporo, Japan and having an incredible long-term overseas adventure with my fabulous hubby, it was time to heed the call of a new endeavor. This led me to apply for the English Language Fellowship sponsored through the U.S. Department of State and Georgetown University, and I felt that it was a way to hopefully get to my next coveted ex-pat destination: South America!

To make a long-ish story short, I did get interviewed for a job through the ELF in Venezuela, but ended up being placed in the Eastern European foothold of Ukraine instead! If that doesn't sound like a promising adventure, I don't know what does!

If you're new to the site, check out our Lonely Planet Travel recommended blog about our past three years of living in Japan here, then join me as I take on this new Ukrainian adventure solo (hubby is holding down the fort back in the States during my 10 months here) which begins September 3!