Jono's blog

HOW CAN WE LIVE WITHOUT LIFE!!

One of the mobile phone companies in Ukraine is called “Life”. It is the company I use and most of my friends also use it as it has free calls between users. But last week Life was broken in Rzh for about 4-5 days. It was almost a minor catastrophe. We wondered how people ever managed to live and accomplish their daily lives before mobile phones. I couldn’t call my workers when I needed to. Social gatherings were hard to organise. It was eye-opening to see how much of our lives we have made dependent upon a piece of technology. It was also wonderful to realise that meaningful time spent with people, uninterrupted by telephones, is a lost art worth rediscovering

UTSIM

A break! I am really glad to be having a one week break. I’m off to Poland later today and will drive to Hungary to visit Max and then back again via Vienna to take in the sights of a new city – a little rushed but something I am looking forward to.

Last week I finally made it to Chernihiv. I spent the time looking at available office space to feel the market there and had a really good chat with the owner of an English teaching school. They have been operating there for 15 years. Although I haven’t made a decision, we will probably not pursue a school there at this time; however I mean to keep in touch with the company I met there and maybe work together somehow in the future.

A REAL WINTER

My flat mate (house mate) Igor commented that he was very happy to have a real winter. That means lots of snow and lots of cold temperatures. When I asked him why, he said it felt right to have a cold winter, not a mild one. Weak answer!

Highlights of this ‘real winter’ include:

• Frozen pipes – mine and many of my friends
• Buying more thermal underwear – I now own a pair of ‘stockings for men without socks’
• My van hasn’t gone anywhere in well over a month
• Taking about 15 minutes to get ready to go
  

EXPECTATIONS

As a child I enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Narnia. Being from the southern hemisphere I never fully understood the terrible feeling the children felt knowing that the White Witch of Narnia made it always winter but never Christmas. We grow up with the expectation that certain things should always go hand in hand. Here people expect snow with winter. But we are yet to see snow this winter which is very unusual. We all have expectations for Christmas holidays. We have expectations for New Year. We have our own expectations in friendships, work situations, service in shops and restaurants. And we feel grieved when our expectations are not met. This is natural. Sometimes it is helpful. I have expectations of my workers and if they constantly fall short it is my job to draw their attention to their responsibilities. But often our expectations are unrealistic, selfish or both. We focus on what we expect from life and those around us rather than what we can give to others.

May I grow to give more and expect less. Ouch – that can be a hard lesson.