HERITAGE

As you can tell I have been doing lots of thinking recently. But yesterday and today were a couple of tough days. I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I thought about lots of things. And I feel very blessed to be honest. And I mean my life has not been particularly easy, but ... I feel lucky to be where I am, and to live the life I am living. As I go back and ponder, and look closer to what I have gotten, I realize how great of the heritage I have. And I do not want to sound prideful (even though, I am VERY prideful, haha), but I am very proud to be Ukrainian, I am very proud of my heritage. I am proud to come from the culture that appreciates people more than their income, that cares for others, and teaches us to be people of integrity. I can truly say that I have not had more dedicated and loyal friends than the ones from Ukraine or Russia. We value people more than we value "having fun". In relationships we do not think that much about "what am I getting out of this?", rather we think "how can contribute to this?" We treat each other nicely. We care. When we ask each other "How are you?", we ask because we care, and we want to know. And even if you had a crappy day, and you are down, we are there to comfort each other in every possible way. And I do not have to think much of an example. I have a friend from Russia, she is my best friend (we do not always get along perfectly, but we are best friends), she knew I was having tough couple of days. So, she took me out today. We went to the International Buffet, and we totally pigged out, haha. She did it not to look cool, but because she cares. I almost feel that Eastern Europeans bond better because we put our hearts into the relationships that we have even as friends. You would not find a more reliable, loyal, and affectionate friend / partner than an Eastern European. Our men still give flowers to their women, and treat them as their queens. Our women do not want to do guys' job and be equal with them. We do not have gender issues, we are more conservative when it comes to this, I guess. We also value education, arts, manners, we are more of a classier nation if that makes sense. Most of the Eastern Europeans speak a few (at least two) languages, and have a few degrees.
I also am absolutely proud to be a Mykho, to be from the family I am from. At times my parents seemed to be unreasonable and mean, but now as I look back ... I am SO grateful. I am grateful that my mom taught me how to use a million of knives and forks at the table, how to speak right, and how to study and work hard. I am absolutely grateful for my dad who taught me how to love and care for others, how to respect others, treat others. He taught me to appreciate arts, history, etc. My dad has taught me that there is nothing I cannot do, no limits to my abilities, and the more I live, the more I learn that this is how it is. They have been a great example to me. And I think both my sister and I have become everything our parents wanted us to become. My dad always wanted for my sister and I to be best friend, and we are not always nice to each other, but we absolutely love each other and care for each other, we are really close. My dad wanted us to be ambitious and have a good career path ... I feel like both of us have our educational priorities and goals straight. We are both motivated and result driven. I love my family!!!!!! I have learned SO much from them.
My family is amazing ... my mom, dad, and my sister are my favorite people. Because of them I am what I am, and I believe I turned out pretty well, haha. I still make mistakes and I still have lots of things to improve, but other than that ... things are great. My friends ofter refer to me as a girl with a VERY big heart, and I know that it is not because I am great, but because of the family and country I came from. Everything I am, I am because of my parents. Now, I gotta make them proud :)
Bottom line, I love my family AND my culture. I am a proud Ukrainian!!!!! And whatever happens I will always keep my identity.