Tag: Ukraine
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Kharkiv, Ukraine: An Introduction
Kharkiv, an unpronounceable city just like Poland’s Rzeszów. Depending on your Cyrillic abilities, you’ll have trouble pronouncing this city’s name. KARkov, KHHHHHARkov, or, if you’re listening to a Ukrainian speaker (not Russian), KARkeev or KKHHAAARkeeev. The “kh” is a gutteral throat sound and the best way to get the pronunciation right is to take a…
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Russian Movies
The Slavic film industry, simply put, is in shambles. Although a re-emergence is beginning to take place, it’ll be a long time before it’s stable. The following movies were made either in Ukraine or Russia and by Ukes or Ruskies, though their themes and language are primarily Russian. 9th Company Great movie. Interesting to see…
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Ukraine: Second Impressions
After a couple of months in Ukraine I began to slowly accept the country as it is, for better and worse. I got used to some things, especially after living in Kharkiv for a few months, and yet just couldn’t understand some other aspects of the country and its culture. What follows are my second…
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Kyiv, Ukraine: The Divided Country and… Has Dave Lombardo Heard Me Play Drums?
If there’s one city where you can see the change of the Ukrainian West-East dichotomy, it’s Kyiv (Київ, pronounced K-yeev in Ukrainian, or Key-ev in Russian). Kyiv is modernity mixed with tradition: narrow, cobblestone streets like those found in L’viv intersect modern, paved streets. The huge roadways hum with traffic while the sidewalks are lined…
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Modern Ukrainian Music
If there’s one thing that is noticeably different from my mental image of Ukraine and the country as it is right now, it’s the music. Whereas in Canada “Ukrainian music” often means polka, in Ukraine “Ukrainian music” is an ambiguous term. So here is a list of Ukrainian music that I either discovered in the…