Like any good "telenovela" . . .

. . . my stay in Ukraine must come to an end. I can still remember the first time I actually became addicted to a Mexican soap opera - it was called "Sin Ti" (Without You). I didn't realize that unlike American soap operas that go on and on forever, Mexican soaps or "telenovelas" actually come to an end after a few months with all the loose ends getting neatly tied up. I feel kind of like that here in Ukraine these days. It has been so pleasant and challenging professionally, that I didn't really realize that time was passing so quickly.

In the "final episodes" the loose ends seem to be finding closure:

• One of the teachers just received the permission she has been waiting to get from a publisher to use a textbook excerpt in her article


• I just received a copy of a journal with an article I submitted for publication months ago
  
• Teachers I haven't seen for a while have been coming by to say goodbye, leave me thank you letters, stuffed animals, and flowers


• The last few boxes we shipped home (including "Quilty") that have been flying over Europe for weeks have found their way to my mom's house
  
• I gave my last interview to TESOL-Ukraine for inclusion in their newsletter
  
• My friends from Dnipropetrovsk just happened to to be in town for my last workshop and I was able to spend time with them
  
• Our two favorite channels on the satellite just went ka-put


• I finally the found the perfect Ukrainian souvenir I have been searching for for my mom
  
• I had a wonderful farewell party in which teachers sang, they shared teaching ideas, we had a raffle, people made speeches, drank champagne, and I got lots of sweet gifts.

Tomorrow morning early early we will fly out of Kyiv. Everyone asks me, "When are you coming back?" It is hard to say that I have a full-time job back in the States with both a Fall and Spring timetable already scheduled; I even know that I will be teaching Advanced and High-Intermediate students. But I always add that you never know . . . I will make every effort to stay a world citizen even though I'll be living in America.

On one last note, speaking of closure, the Ukrainian Observer, an English language magazine published here came out with a funny short piece called "Only in America." It made me laugh (and cry a little too!) to read it while I thought about once again having the things I haven't missed at all for the last year: a car, a clothes-dryer, an oven, a bathtub, a dishwasher, a disposal, and a mail-box full of catalogs.

I'll post again once I get home. . . stay tuned for impressions of my return!