5 of My England Challenges

So, over the last 6 months of independent, adult (eek) life, I have faced different challenges. I have come face to face with some pretty scary stuff and have defeated each and every one after many hours of sweat-inducing procrastination. Here are 5 of them:

1. Completed a whole English language A-level in 6 months. I loved and hated every second of it. It was good character building and has broadened my use of vocabulary. Unfortunately it's a struggle to incorporated words such as ''lexis'' and ''anaphoric referencing'' into daily conversation, so my knowledge has been wasted on 2 very important exams
2. Youth work. When everyone in my church found out that I was staying on in England they got really excited and threw me into the youth team. I have never done youth work in my life and was a bit freaked out by it at first especially since I still kinda consider myself a youth but have had to come to terms with the idea that I am also an... adult? But I'm really glad I did it and that I'll carry it on in September. Here are some of the 3 things it taught me especially...
   1) To arrive (pretty much) on time. I don't do early. I barely do on time, but I made it to youth and church pretty much on time every week in the last 6 months... except not in quite time for setup (sorry, Jim).
   2)To love the people I made jokes about during childhood. I don't how to write this without sounding like a snob, so I'll just leave it as it is.
   3)To be responsible for people 2-4 years younger than me. Well, kinda. I give it my best shot. Hopefully after the summer my brain will have caught up with my position of power (Lol, I'm joking about the power part. I know that to be a leader you must be a servant first.)
   

   

   But again, as much as it scared me at first, I'm really glad to be part of the team and I look forward to growing in my role and becoming more and more responsible.

4. "Cakes or biscuits?" At my church the women love chatting and consuming tea/coffee whilst eating biscuits/cakes. Most times I have met up with one of these women I have been asked the hardest question of all time: cakes or biscuits? CAKES OR BISCUITS?! What about cakes AND biscuits?! How can you expect me to choose?! It's a cruel and unfair question and I always end up agreeing with what the person I'm talking with says. It's just no fair.
5. Doing my own laundry. There came a point during my time in England when the washing powder that the people I live with use caused my skin to itch like nothing else. MAN. So I had to start incorporating laundry into my highly-organised (ahem) schedule.

   I remember the first time I did the washing...It was a white wash. I had just bought myself some non-bio Fairy washing powder and vinegar to wash and soft my clothes. (I can't say I've noticed the effect of the vinegar.) Anyway, back to my narrative. The sun was probably not shining because this is England and I turned all my clothes inside out just as my mother and wikiHow had told me to. I opened the washing machine door, put my clothes in and  closed the door. I put in the washing powder. I turned it on. And the washing process was underway...

   
   

   The experience lasted for about a minute. It was most exhilarating.

5. Buying things. This is a weird one. The reason I list this as a challenge is because being in England made me realise the realistic price for many things. As a missionary kid from Ukraine, I don't expect to pay any more than £5 on a t-shirt, IF THAT. According to most people here £10-£15 is the reasonable price of a t-shirt. The thought of spending that much on t-shirt made me clutch my purse a little tighter when I first arrived. But I've come to accept it as a reality and now I am forced to save my money.

So there are 5 of my England challenges. I'll probably come up with some more soon... maybe even some Ukrainian challenges ;)

First time flying (literally) solo

So today I flew on an aeroplane for the first time by myself. My friends drove me up to the airport and after saying many many stupid things in the car (because I only had 3-4 hours sleep) such as, ''Why don't they say open peanut? Or open walnut?'' - this was reference to the phrase ''Open sesame'' - I finally checked in and got through security.

I felt like throwing up the whole I went through security and when my bag beeped and the guy told me I had a pair of scissors in my bag I was terrified. Luckily they weren't sharp or long enough to be dangerous and he let me keep them but I seriously kicked myself for leaving them in my bag.

I thought airports would be complicated, but they're not. Until I actually boarded my flight and the plane took, I was feeling sick to the core. I barely took my eyes off of the screen as I waited in departures in case I missed my flight or it was delayed or was blown up or didn't arrive or something.

Finally the time came to board the plane. The air hosts and hostesses all had cute little German accents and one of them was wearing some cool 60s glasses. If I could plait my hair like her I'd be... someone who can plait hair really well, I guess.

Taking off was the best part. I chewed away at 2 pieces of gum to stop my ears from popping (almost wrote pooping then LOL) and grinned like a moron as the plane left the ground. Aw man, there is nothing like taking off in a plane. I was disappointed that the people next to me didn't share my excitement. The view from an aeroplane window is like no other... it was so dynamic and 3D and awesome! (I haven't flown in a while...)

I had a hot turkey and cheese sandwich thing. It was amazing. The guy next to me was from South Carolina and his wife was from Austria. I told him my life story and he told me nothing about himself and so I landed in Munich, Germany. As we left the plane the hosts and hostesses said what sounded like

''Bye-bye! Juice! Bye-bye! Juice!''

So here I am in Munich... still got to wait 1.5 hours until I fly out to Kiev, Ukraine. I have discovered interesting things here. For instance, I think I witnessed typical German humour earlier when I got lost and tried to exit the terminal and the guy who checked my passport said to me, ''I just don't want to work! I am so tired!'' And I'm like...

Also, sesame seed bread-sticks are wonderful. Aeroplane toilets are pretty good too, only in Munich the sensory taps don't always turn on. So much so for technology.

All in all, it's been a good trip. Flying in the sky left me in awe of God and His creation. The sky is a beautiful place to be... it's amazing how no one before the 20^th century ever got to see Earth's face through the clouds... I am so grateful that we are able to fly around the world now and see amazing people and places.

Looking forward to landing in Kiev tonight! :)

These 6 months...

In 4 days I leave back home to Ukraine. When I realised I was staying in Folkestone for 6 months back around Christmas time people told me that God was really going to use this time to do some amazing things in my life. 

And He has, but not the way I expected.

I haven't become a super financially competent teenager with a steady job or independent wonder kid that 'don't need nobody's help' to get on in life. I haven't become the ultra disciplined distance-learning student with straight As and a raving social life to top it off. 

No, I'm not any of those things, although I have been able to gain snipplets of experience through different opportunities given to me. 

• I have a been able to provide for myself and am [in the process of] learning how to manage money the hard way: not having any
• I have learned to looked after myself. I can now do my own washing, make pelmini (Russian dumplings), food and essentials shopping (not just clothes/items for my room shopping) and get myself to places on time(ish). Having said that though, I hate the fact the I have to make myself a lunchbox for work. (I also often wish for one of my family to randomly wander into my room and interrupt me in the middle of my life. Through this experience I have learned that I should never rent a flat for just myself because I will go insane without another person breathing in the house.)
• My study skills have improved but they have a L-O-O-O-N-G way to go. Oftentimes when I tell people I am a distance learner they're like, ''Ooh, you must be so disciplined!'' And I'm sitting there like 

       I hope I pass my A-level English language AS and A2. That is all. 

• I have developed an interesting social life. It's been a very slow process, but then when you move country it's bound to take a while. God has put some very special people in my life and for that I am grateful. 
• I have learned to work better with kids. I am part of youth team at my church, work in a preschool and have done a lot of babysitting in the last few months. I was even a nanny for 2 weeks. Through youth work I have learned to communicate with people from different backgrounds to me and I have learned to be the 'responsible one' (in Ukraine I am still just ''one of the youth''). With working in preschool and babysitting I have learned to well, look after small kids! I have learned how facinating they are and how they each have their own personality.

I have found myself not have to have necessarily changed since leaving Ukraine, but become myself again - pick up where I left off and take it further. 

I look forward to reflecting on my time in England whilst chilling with my family in Ukraine. I look forward to resting my brain and speaking in Russian again. I look forward to not being busy. I look forward to writing again. 

Verse of the year (from Russian translation): 
''Even if I go through unhappiness, You revive me.'' - Psalm 138:7 
''Даже если пойду я среди несчастья, Ты оживишь меня.'' - Пс. 137:7