I have now lived in Europe for one week. After living in Asia for 6 months and Africa for 3, I have come to experience a bit of culture shock.
The first night we were in Ukraine, we stayed in Kiev before taking an overnight train to Odessa, our city for the month. Team dinner was at McDonald’s, naturally. This McDonald’s, however, was not your typical American McDonald’s where you show up in sweats to grab some nuggs & a coke on your way home from a ballgame.
Couples were on dates, and it was perfectly acceptable. Girls were dressed up as if going to a 5-star restaurant in the States. I felt completely underdressed in my one World Race “dress up” outfit.
White people were everywhere. I haven’t seen this many white people since leaving America. The problem? None of them spoke English. We had to use a special picture menu to let them know we wanted burgers & fries…
We all looked like we should share a language, but really, we don’t. This might be the toughest country yet in terms of communication. Not only can we not understand Russian, but we also cannot read it. Trust me, I’ve tried. I have even prayed for the spiritual gift of interpreting Russian. So far, nothing. Since the majority of us have the same skin color, we cannot even pull the “I’m white. It’s okay I don’t speak your language” card that we have been able to get away with over the past 9 months… It’s difficult, but we’re in Month 10 of this crazy trip & much more experienced than we probably would have admitted before.
Don’t worry. The story gets better. Ukraine has quickly become my favorite country overall. Between our awesome apartment, the amazing city of Odessa, our incredible new friends, and fantastic ministry, I do not think life on the World Race could get much better. [all of that will be described in the next blog I write].
Yep. I’m in Europe. We’re doing great. Love it.
