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Please see the new link at the top of our site to find out about our new and exciting project, named “Our Sofievka!” You, too, can help us make life a little nicer in our town!

We had a great time tonight celebrating the New Year with my counterpart Olha, Emma’s director (Olha’s father), and their family.  New Year in Ukraine is roughly equivalent to our Christmas – it’s a big family holiday with lots of traditions.  So we were honored to be invited to prazdnovat (праздновать) with some of our favorite Ukrainians.

Now, as a New Year’s gift, I give you this wonderful multfilm (cartoon) classic called Yozhik v Tumanne (Ёжик в тумане) or Hedgehog in the Fog.  Ukrainians and Russians seem to love hedgehogs.  Make sure you click the second button from the bottom right and watch it fullscreen to immerse yourself in the fog with the yozhik.  Happy New Year!

Some time ago we got this old Russian cartoon from our language teacher called Жил-был пёс (zhil-buil pyos) – There Once Was a Dog. I found it lying around on the hard-drive again today and thought I’d share it.

It’s a great little story based on a Ukrainian folk tale.  Beyond being a fun little tale, I think it shows the “take care of your friends” ethic that Ukrainians have.  The human characters in the Russian-made cartoon also poke fun at Ukrainian peasants.

Here’s a nice English-subtitled version.