Инициатива

Давеча я была куратором твиттера @weareukraine. По примеру @sweden, каждую неделю его в свои руки берет новый человек, как-то связанный с нашей страной. Твитить о своей жизни, бытовых мелочах, делиться фото, рассказывать незнакомые и даже странные факты – все это целую неделю. В Украине этот проект конечно же держится на общественных началах благодаря Жене, который просто решил, что это прикольно. Трудности состоят в поисках человека, который одновременно знает английский и шарит в твиттере, поэтому кураторами часто оказываются люди, которые живут заграницей или даже иностранцы в Украине.

Процесс моего осмысления что же все-таки означает быть украинцем наиболее активно проходит заграницей.  Правда, этот процесс всегда спотыкается об осознание, что я –из меньшинства и что мои ценности и мой образ жизни далёк от моих одноклассников и одногруппников, так что скорее это все же осмысление себя.

Так или иначе, под катом – авторская выборка лучших твитов моей недели кураторства. 

Now I will teach you the most useful word in Ukrainian - "sho". It usually means 'Sorry, I didn't hear, can you please repeat it once more'.

Depending on the intonation it can also mean you are very surprised or deeply offended.

This is also how we are exposed to be Ukrainian when we are speaking in Russian. Very useful!

Definitely "@JaneLytv: @WeAreUkraine Can also be used as "What the f*ck did you just say?""

My life in #Kharkiv turns around metro. Unlike marshrutka it's warm and cosy. For 1/4 of euro you get anywhere. Very convinient.

Ukrainian babusi (babyshka in Russian) often use metro. Aren't they lovely?

You can also meet artist going through the crowd with his guitar. I have met my favourite one lately

And yes, smiling in metro is strictly forbidden

Quick guide on using smiles: ")"- i'm just polite, ")))" - haha, "))))))))))" - lol.

Q: "@ImmemorialMan: @WeAreUkraine Is Ukrainian similar to Russian, Czech, and Polish? Are you able to understand those languages at all?"

A: In terms of vocabulary Polish is the closest, then Russian and Czech after. Lots of people know Russian cos of Soviet legacy

After couple of days in #Poland I could understand people, czesc to them.

#Wordoftheday "Pryvit" which means hi. The hardest sound is "y", it sounds like you're pushing smt really hard, a broken train may be.

Do you remember Miranda's Ukrainian house keeper? The one that substituted vibrator on Bible in her bed stand. Let's talk about movies now.

My personal fav is "Everything Is Illuminated" with Elijah Wood. It's about travells in Ukraine and Jews in WWII, two in one.

The most funny moment is when it appears main hero is - oh, no! - vegetarian! Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um2p4GlEbKg …

Eugene Hutz @MAMADIASPORA is playing local guide, his accent is brilliant, very slavic: "My grandfather informs me that is not possible" hah

My next recommendation is "The Other Chelsea - A story from Donetsk", a documentary about miners, football, politics and social division.

It was filmed by German director Jakob Preuss during 2009 when FC Shakhtar Donetsk won UEFA Cup.
Goodnight fact: here in Ukraine we don't give a damn about Justin Bieber.

Our national Bergman is Oleksandr Dovzhenko. Watch "Earth" if you like b&w oldschool.

#Wordoftheday "Borsuk" - badger. That's what my surname means. There are a lot of animal surnames in Ukraine.

Cat, fox, mantis, pigeon, goose, roe, sandpiper, nightingale are just a couple of examples of my friends' surnames.

There are also funny ones: smash the nose (Perebeinis) and half of thigh (Polulyashenko).

Goodnight fact: Chuck Palahniuk is a son of Ukrainian emigrant. Did you watch #fightclub?

View feom window in residencial area #saltovka

Its where me and another 300 000 people are living. Which means whole city of #Newcastle where I used to live.

My grandma dreamed that my mother marries Yuri Gagarin. But my mom met my father.

My grandparents from father side were sent to Sakhalin island after studying. It's other side of the map, close to Japan.

My mother's parents were teachers and they were sent to Kamchatka, there's Alaska on the other bank of sea.

Me myself was born in Khabarovsk, about 60 km away from China.

People were sent all over the USSR, some by their own free will, others not really. They mixed with local people and started families.

My mom is Russian, my father is Ukrainian. My parents moved to Kharkiv in 1990, one year before the USSR collapsed. They never regret it.

Russian is my mother tongue but I speak Ukrainian with lots of my friends. Languages were always rather easy for me.

My grandma was speaking Ukrainian in her village ("selo") but had to switch to Russian after moving to the city ("misto").

#Wordofthday "Torba" - a bag. Can also mean hard times for smt, f.e. "torba pryrodi" - for nature.

It appeared "torba pryrodi" is also ecoligical campaign authored by@KryhitkaBand. They promote using of natural bags not plastic ones

The worst part of tweeting in English is always checking the spelling. I can hardly write "decision" right from the 1st time.

And once I wrote "Ukraine as hole" instead of whole. Wasn't fun for me.

I also confuse spy and spider. Knowing it doesn't help me not to.

I think a lot of us in #Ukraine speak bad English because of fear of making mistakes. We forget it can be very fun!

One of the best things of being Ukrainian is people. The concentration of nice people is just too high.

2nd best thing for me is food, especially on the street markets. Supermarkets s*ck, I tell you.

What I also like is the diversity in country. You can travel thousands of km and still find smt new.

Mountains, seaside, steppes, even desert - Ukraine has it all.

The worst part of being Ukrainian is the need of visas. There are only approx. 10 countries in the world we dont need them to enter.

To get visa we need invitations, certificates, bank statements, queues, copies of copies... So irritating. RT if you know what I mean.

My advice you for future: never ever say Ukraine with "the", it can turn me in your cruelest enemy.

Only naming us a part of Russia and forever alcoholics can be worse.