Hello from Kyiv!

I arrived in Kyiv this morning a little after 6 and decided to use the free internet and enjoy the quite of the PC Office before it gets flooded with Volunteers who are also in town. I'm in town (or I guess I should say big, big city) for the Group 41 Swearing-In Ceremony. Usually, there isn't an open invitation for Volunteers to come to Swearing-In, but this also has the 50th Celebration tied into it. A few of us were asked by the Office to dress up as Ukrainian Cossacks for the celebration, so leave it up to my school to send me with the costume of the famous Cossack from Kolky, Prince Roman. I'll dedicate a post to him in the near future, but he's pretty cool and has quite the costume, along with some heavy boots.

Yesterday was a big day for my 9A Form (I'm a Co-Homeroom teacher for them). They had their National English Exam that all 9th Formers must take at the end of the year. We worked very hard the last couple of months, and I was able to show some of the English Teachers ways to not only "teach to the test", but how to incorporate the test into everyday teaching. Here's a photo of (most) the class after they were finished. They are required to wear full suits to National Exams, but some brought a change of clothes so they could go to the river right after!

Most of my 9A form
Anastacia, other English Teacher in pink
and Ludmilla, other Homeroom Teacher, sitting down

I'll post stories from Swearing-In this weekend, along with photos Mr. Benjamin as Cossack Prince Roman. Leaving for my Cruise of the Baltic Sea next week, so I'll be sure to post before then!