The Heart of Europe. Interesting Facts about Ukraine

Then in your own house you will see
True justice, strength, and liberty!
There is no other such Ukraine,
No other Dnieper on the plain.

Taras Shevchenko

1. The Ukrainian language is one of the most beautiful languages in the world

Ukrainian language is incredible beautiful to listen to. In linguistic contest held in Paris in 1934 the Ukrainian language was recognised as the second most melodic language in the world after Italian and the third most beautiful in phonetics, vocabulary, phraseology, and sentence structure after French and Persian. Among Ukrainian-speaking people Ukrainian is called 'the nightingale's language'. Gentle and colourful, it is very romantic:

Так ніхто не кохав. Через тисячі літ
лиш приходить подібне кохання.
В день такий розцвітає весна на землі
І земля убирається зрання…

(Volodymyr Sosyura)

2. Ukrainian women are rated as word's most beautiful

Women from Ukraine are recognizable throughout the entire world. Ani Lorak and Tina Karol, one of the most popular Ukrainian singers; Anna Bessonova, Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast; Milla Yovovich, American super model and actress, born in Ukraine; Olga Sumska, a famous Ukrainian actress... A lot of men are losing their heads as soon as they hear the voices and see the beauty of women from Ukraine. Some of them suppose that Ukrainian women are not only the most beautiful ones, but also they are the best possible wives that a person can ever find. Ukrainian women are sure how to steal men's hearts.  

3. Ukrainians are the fifth most-drinking nation in the world 

Only Moldavians, Russians, Hungarians and Czechs are ahead of them. An average Ukrainian older than 15 drinks 15.6 liters of alcohol a year. Among alcoholic beverages used are horilka; samohon (moonshine), including with infusions of fruit, spices or hot peppers; wine from Europe and Ukraine (particularly from Crimea); and mead (mid or medovukha), made from honey, water and yeast.

4. Top 5 countries by IT professionals 

Ukraine is at the 4th place worldwide (after the U.S., India and Russia) by the number of certified IT professionals, according to the Association "IT Ukraine" report. Today the number of certified professionals in the field of information technologies in Ukraine is about 25 thousand people, though the total number of IT professionals in Ukraine according to various estimates is ranging from 200 to 215 thousand people.
5. The world’s largest plane 

Ukrainians (Antonov Design Buerou) invented a plane with the largest freight-carrying capacity in the world (maximum takeoff weight is 640 tones) – the An-225 "Mriya". Originally, it was designed for spacecraft transportation. In 1988, when it debuted, the An-225 was 50 percent bigger than any airliner ever built before it. It remains the largest operational aircraft in terms of length and wingspan to this day.
6. The haviest silver coin in the world

It is a Ukrainian anniversary coin "10 years of hryvnia revival", issued in Ukraine in 2006. Its weight is 1000 grams.

7. The oldest shelters constructed by pre-historic man

At Mezhirich, a village in central Ukraine in 1965, a farmer dug up the lower jawbone of a mammoth while in the process of expanding his cellar. Further excavations revealed the presence of four huts, made up of a total of 149 mammoth bones. These dwellings, dating back some 15,000 years, were some of the oldest shelters determined to have been constructed by pre-historic man. 

8. World's strongest man

Vasyl Virastyuk took the first place in the World's Strongest Man competition in 2004. He became the first strongman in history to win both a World's Strongest Man title and an IFSA (International Federation of Strength Athletes) world title.

9. The tallest living man in the world

A Ukrainian man Leonid Stadnyk, born in 1971 in Zhytomyr Oblast, is the tallest person in the world at 8 feet 5 inches (2.57m). He is 20 centimetres taller than the former titleholder, China's Bao Xishun, according to Guinness World Records (August 20, 2008).

10. Great number of people singing a national anthem at the same time

'Ukraine Has Not Died Yet' − at least 100,000 Ukrainians sang the country's national anthem together on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv on 2014 New Year's Eve in a sign of support for integration with Europe.

Perfect Husband in a Nutshell

Love does not consist in gazing at each other,

but in looking outward together in the same direction

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Once being a girl I’ve been dreamt about a good husband. Now I have the best faithworthy friend and truelove spouse; a facetious companion and a clever fellow; my sure adviser and hundred-per-cent he-man − on the one hand, decisive, responsible, and brave, on the other hand, passionate, caring, and kindhearted. He is not a good husband. He is my PERFECT husband, my SOULMATE and a wonderful father to our daughter.

Strange sound though it may be, we got acquainted through social network site. Endless hours of frank conversation, unforgettable trips, incredible dating... These things haven't been stopped after getting married. The first page of our marriage was a poetry, but the others' prose was and still to be wonderful.

We just fall in love many times, always with each other. We can be ourselves with each other.

Actually, I'm not about to give some guidance like: "How To Make Your Wife Happy". For the simple reason that I don't know the special recipe. I just love my husband and try to do my best to make him happy, while being the happiest woman in the world. I'm confident that important ingredients of the "Happy-Marriage" salad are small things that we can do throughout a day. Whatever happens, the best cure is open communication when both of us win.

He provides landscape, and all I need to do is to provide climate. I just make him feel important.

Thank you, Honey, for being pleasantly enchained by your world of peace, love and understanding. Thank you for changing my lastname. Thank you for changing my life.

The Ocean of Dignity

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free 

that your very existence is an act of rebellion

Albert Camus

One Million March, Kiev, Ukraine, December, 2013

Peaceful protests started in Kiev as a gathering of a few thousand students expressing discontent at President Victor Yanukovych's decision to pull out of a deal that would bring Ukraine closer to joining the European Union, after the government had announced that work had been suspended on this agreement. After an initial brutal police crackdown, the protests had grown in size: hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian protesters had been flooding the streets of Kiev and occupying government buildings to put an end to corruption.

At least one hundred of people, Ukrainian heroes, were killed in just the few days of violence in the city which turned into a battlefield. More than 1,100 people were injured. Smouldering fires of barricades, streets covered in soot, a smell of burned tyres, heavy snowfall and beating frost; bottles and stones, people banging metal with sticks as a sort of signal, and men in helmets preparing Molotov's cocktails...

Tightened with a smokescreen, surrounded by fire and ice, flashbangs, teargase and water cannons from Berkut, protesters didn't pay attention to wet clothes, they didn't take care to be safe. Journalists and medic volunteers were at gunpoint of snipers on the roofs too.
There was an incredible atmosphere on Maidan: on one hand, weariness of the frustrated people, on the other hand, euphoria and expectation of victory. But the most remarkable were people who made this revolution. All social classes were presented on the squares. It was an unusual collection of characters from different worlds but with the common goal. Those who couldn't go to barricades supported the revolution by bringing food and dry warm clothes.

Maidan has become a big advocate of freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of thought. 

Ukrainians are passionate, dignified people fighting for what they beleive. We made Ukraine the heart of the revolution.

Responsibility is the price of freedom which is nothing but a chance to be better.

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Aikido. The Art of Harmony

  In your practice always keep in your thoughts the interaction 

of heaven and earth, water and fire, yin and yang

Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido

There is an engagement in everyone's life which reveals our identity. Our hobbies allow us to see the world not only as it is, but as we want it to be. The essential passion of mine is Aikido.

This Japanese martial art has been my hobby since 13 years. It was in 2000, and then my first Aikido classes were just an experiment, but it turned out much more important than I had predicted. 

Teenager's interest (ability to learn self-defense and to make new friends, Steven Seagal's great throws in films, Japanese count and terms, fascinating atmosphere of examinations, seminars and competitions) turned into new spiritual conception and growth. 

I've changed four dojos, three of them in my native town Zhytomyr, and the last is in Kyiv where I moved to before my marriage. I've been learning two styles of aikido: 'Aikikai' for 4,5 years with 3d kyu rate finally, and 'Yoshinkan' for 0,5 year.

The vibe of Aikido always inspires me. Due to it I can refine my spirit and train my body simultaneously. It is a marvellous art. Almost no effort is required to learn its techniques; the attacker's energy is used against him through the dynamics of movement. 

I appreciate my instructors, who always draw lively parallels with nature demonstrating techniques and speaking about harmony in Aikido; who keep pleasant and joyful atmosphere during our training, who help me to reveal my character, and who encourage my self-confidence.

"All the principles of heaven and earth are living inside you. Life itself is truth, and this will never change. Everything in heaven and earth breathes. Breath is the thread that ties creation together" (Morihei Ueshiba).

   

Sports Reveal Character

  The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination

Tommy Lasorda,

a former Major League baseball player

A lot of motivational speakers use sports as a metaphor for life. There are innumerable parallels between what it takes to be successful both at sport and in everyday life. The qualities of determination and hard work contribute to a man's chance of winning in both arenas. Leaders aren't born, they are made just like anything else through hard work, desire, and devotion − the price we'll have to pay to achieve any goal.

People don't go info sports just because it's fun. Most of sportsmen hate exercise, but they can't simply imagine their life without sport. It's part of them, it's what they live for − practice, cheer, integrity, competition, friends, long bus rides, invitations, countless trainings with members of their team who become a family, and coaches they appreciate.

We work hard to get good and then work to get better, because it's hard to stay on top. Winning in sport becomes the habit in life when we try to reach goals. All we should do is clear our mind of "can't".

Being engaged in sport activities we waste energy to renew it. We use our bodies in a marvellous and exciting ways. We undertake a kind of spiritual discipline that shapes our self-perception ("I'm a boxer", "I'm a runner", "I'm a rower", etc.), builds confidence, affects relationships and tests our will to endure trials. There are many obstacles in our everyday life that create adversity and cause stress. Sport is one of the greatest outlets for this stress, giving us something to get excited about, a sence of fulfillment and an escape from our everyday problems.

Sport makes us beleive that everything is possible. Trying to do our best, we can accomplish anything we want in life. The more you dream, the further you get.

A Sound Mind in a Sound Body

Medicines are not meant to live on

English proverb

Health is just the thing to be happy for huge number of people. It is above wealth, it is the vital principle of bliss. Though, it often happens that health is not valued till sickness comes because we often forget that prevention is better than cure. We can forget about initial principles of health trying to climb our personal Everest in education or at work. A lot of people neglect this principles consciously by their bad habits and even don't worry about losing of this habits because of despair, apathy, fears, lack of will-power. 

The sooner we understand self-control is the key to healthy life, the better. This means that not everything, but a lot depends on ourselves.

If the man has an opportunity to avoid spending money to medicines he can't loose a chance to spend time and effords to stay as fit as a fiddle. 

Our well-being lies in harmony of our body, mind and soul. The key of health is the balance in its essential interconnected aspects: physical health, emotional health and social health. 

To achieve and to support our physical health, we should make more nutritional and healthy food choices, engage in basic hygiene, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep and avoid self-medication applying to healthcare services to prevent, detect or treat illnesses.

The central place in our emotional health takes our energy. If it is strong, we feel a full range of emotions, including joy, contentment and peacefullness, and we are able to contribute to our relationships and society. Weak energy is the cause of negative feelings, depression and absence of interest in moving forward through life. As our emotions are connected with our body, it's important don't let it be exhausted when being tired, but give your body an opportunity to rest, to renew and to refresh. If you can't efford yourself some time to sleep, the temporary alternative may be the change of activity. One of the best relief of dark feelings is movement: it may be a long walk, going to the gym. Helping the energy inside your body move with your blood can relieve your experience of 'stagnant' emotions. A supportive idea of changing your emotions may be talking with the person you entrust. Also, as Philip Chesterfield said, good humor is the health of the soul, sadness is its poison.  

Social health refers to effective way a person performs his roles in life as a son/daughter, a spouse, a friend, a neighbour, a co-woker, a citizen, etc. Cooperating helps us to thrive in a busy and ever changing world. Relationships that work require skills and efforts, not luck or magic. Responsibility, giving love and respect to others are important factors of social health.

Summarize: generally, every man is the author of his own health. To save our treasure - health - we'd worry about our body, mind and soul. The best promoter of our health is cheerfulness. The way we eat, the way we think, the way we behave influence the quality and duration of our life. 

Thank you for reading, any comments would be greatly appreciated!