Part of living in a culture other than the one you grew up in is learning how other people celebrate life. In Ukraine every day is cause for a celebration whether it is someone’s birthday or a national holiday. During the Soviet Union, groups of people, instead of individuals, were recognized on particular days for there contribution to their country. I always thought Hallmark was the one that invented special days.
So today, February 23rd is the day we celebrate Men! During the Soviet Union, it was the Soviet Army Day. All day the shops are filled with women buying small tokens of appreciation for the men in their lives whether they are their husbands, bosses or any significant male figure in their lives.
The International Faith Initiatives Ukraine office, home of Ukraine Medical Outreach and Ukraine Family Institute was no exception. At lunch time we all gathered to share a common meal. At the end of our meal the ladies came together behind Inna their spokeswomen and presented us guys with a scroll and a gift. The scroll unrolled and read by Artyom, our executive director said , we pray for the men we work with and for God to enable them to hit the bullseye in their lives as they lead their families and perform their work by following Christ.
Accompanying the scroll was a dartboard. I taught Artyom how to play baseball with darts. The ladies took turns too, tossing darts which had the American flag and the British Union Jack as fins. We now have a great way to relieve stress and do a little team building. Thank you ladies for helping us remember why and for whom we work and live.
Ya know, the game of darts — particularly the scoring — is much more complicated than I had originally thought. Leave it to Jeanne to fill me on the intricacies one night when we flipped the channel to Eurosport…
So, by the way, who won??
And, no Canadian flag darts? We’re going to have to do something about that!
Happy be-lated Day of the Soviet Army to you!