WanderLearn Forum with Francis Tapon

Dear Francis,

It was very interesting to listen to your podcast on Ukraine. But I must admit that it was not Ukrainian as it announced. So much time was devoted to the post-soviet Eastern Europe and difficulties of learning Russian that so little attention was paid to Ukraine itself. And I was completely astonished to hear one RUSSIAN folk song and one RUSSIAN GYPSY song (so called romance song) in that podcast. I wonder what do they have to do with Ukraine?

Regarding the "russianization" of south-eastern Ukraine I must add, that after destruction of Zaporizka Sich (republic of Ukrainian Cossacks) by the Empress Catherine II in 1775 she needed to establish Russian authority over that indocile truly Ukrainian region. So thousands of Russians were brought to live and to work on newly built coal mines and manufactories there. Actually, it was Catherine who introduced serfdom de jure in Ukraine.

Regards,
Maryna Gudzevata
Welcome to Ukraine Magazine
Senior Editor
http://www.wumag.kiev.ua

Dear Maryna,

Thanks for your thoughtful reaction to the WanderLearn Podcast on Ukraine. I agree with you. I should have spent more time talking about Ukraine specifically, rather than mixing it up with Russia (including Russian music).

On the other hand, talking about Ukraine without talking about Russia is like talking about Canada and not talking about the United States. Like it or not, the Russian influence is deep in Ukraine.

Still, Ukraine is enormous and has many unique features. I'm sure your magazine is a good place to explore some of them.

Also, in my book, The Hidden Europe, I will devote one chapter to Ukraine and one chapter to Russia. I hope you'll enjoy the Ukraine chapter. I'll send it to you when it's ready to go.

Keep in touch!

Dear Francis,

I totally disagree with you - why you can't talk about Canada without talking about the United States? If talking about influences, you need to study history (DEEP!), geopolitics, etc. But - if I got it right, you try to tell people (those people who know nothing about Eastern Europe) about the country in simple words, about its tourist attractions, about people, their customs etc.
I did podcasts on the other countries I had visited - Greece, China, Malta, Switzerland etc and I talked about SWITZERLAND, not about France, Italy, Germany though their influence is huge.

And let me say once more - the music is disappointing as for Ukrainian podcast. I don't know the performer but it seems to me he is not even Russian. If you visited Ukraine and heard OUR music, you should have include it into your podcast ....

But, in spite of my criticism, I would like to interview you for our magazine. You wrote you planned to come to Eastern Europe again in 2009. If Kyiv is still among your destinations, I would be glad to meet you and make an interview. Otherwise we can talk via e-mail.

Maryna

Maryna,

Thank you again for your feedback. OK, you're right again. Yes, you can talk about Canada without mentioning the USA. What I should have said that is that it's natural to mention the USA when broadly talking about Canada. You don't have to talk about it, but it's not strange to mention it. Same goes for Russia and Ukraine. They're linked, like it or not.

Yes, I'm trying to study history and everything deep. However, considering that people can write a whole book on just Moldova, it's a bit tough to write 1 out 25 chapters on Ukraine. I highly recommend that you read the intro to my book to see what I saw about history. Download the PDF.

I was in Ukraine (mostly the Carpathians) this year. I climbed the tallest mountain in Ukraine. Fun!

However, I don't plan to go to Kyiv right now. I may change my mind if I get a great airfare. Do you know how long I can stay in Ukraine without a visa? 90 days? I have an EU and USA passport.

If not, feel free to contact me directly via email or Skype.

Thanks!

Dear Francis,

You're right, you can stay in Ukraine for 90 days without visa. As for airfares - the only budget airline connecting Europe and Ukraine is Wizzair. So what do you think about interview? I can send you questions or I can call you via Skype - we need only to fix the time.

Maryna

Thanks for the visa info. Email or Skype are both good options. Thanks!