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Borys Kosarev: Modernist Kharkiv, 1915-1931 at The Ukrainian Museum thru May 2, 2012
Posted by Yash on August 30, 2000 at 17:24:56:
Bohdane, Bohdane a completely Khmilnitsky type of Bohdane you do not seem to me to be (Shevchenko I am not). I am also a first generation Ukrainian American (over 10 yrs. younger than you)and I have made two extended visits to Ukraine (over 30 days per visit in the mid 1990's). I have served in the U.S.Army and it was in the army (mid 1980's) that I came upon a group of soldiers (I assume officers/we were off base at an airport in civilian clothing)who were practicing Russian (psy ops, interception or something). I thought that they were funny and I began to tease/speak to them in Ukrainian. It was not long before they began to state that although they could not really understand what I was saying they thought that what I was speaking was the most beautiful Russian dialect that they had ever heard in two years of study. Of course I took the opportunity to give them a brief history of Ukraine under the Russian occupation disguised as some kind of Soviet Union. Unlike you I have encountered several Ukrainians with similar experiences of "mistaken language identity" where Ukrainian was mistaken to be a higher more sophisticated or more likeable version of Russian. Regarding the preference for the use of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine's schools and institutions: Like the old Nike sneakers comercial "JUST DO IT". I am not advocating extra cost payment incentives that Ukraine does not have. In fact it could be at a cost savings to pay less to those employees who can not function in the official language. It would also do wonders to instill pride in those Ukrainians that you say are lacking. Although I have met disappointed Ukrainians in Ukraine I have never met one who was not proud to be Ukrainian .