I’ll tell ya–lately, there just hasn’t been enough time in the day to get ready for this trip. I’m awfully glad we have about four weeks to go because I just don’t feel like I’m getting everything done!

We’ve scored the house sitter, which was the most important…but we’ve yet to get presents for Klas and Koko and their children. I don’t want to get them something super-cheesy, but I also want to get them something that reflects “Seattle”. If anyone has any ideas, please pass them my way in the comments section.

I’ve been getting some great advice from readers about running in Ukraine–thanks everyone! A friend also suggested that I look for a running race in Kiev while I’m there. She’s a woman after my own heart, too, because what reeled me in was that she said, “Wouldn’t a Kiev race t-shirt be really cool to have?”

Speaking of cool t-shirts…I’m really hoping we can make it down to Donetsk during our trip (who knows, maybe that’ll be our destination). Not only do we want to show Mr. Na around his birthplace, but we also want to take him to his orphanage so that the director and nurse can see how big he’s gotten.

We also want to get Mr. Na a Donetsk Shakhtar t-shirt or jersey. The Shakhtar (means “Miner Country”) soccer team, from what we saw in Donetsk, is wildly popular among the people in Donetsk. Shops, notaries, and restaurants all displayed wall calendars featuring team players and game schedules. Pa and I were bummed because we had been walking all around Donetsk in the cold one day when we came upon the stadium. We wondered if there was a team shop somewhere nearby but we couldn’t find one. And so we went home without a jersey for Mr. Na and we’ve been lamenting over this ever since. Unfortunately, while the Shakhtar has an official team gear website, there’s no way to place an order from here in the states. So, we’ve vowed ourselves to try and get a jersey this time. Since Mr. Na and Pa love soccer, we figured a jersey would be a nice little piece of memorabilia for Mr. Na to keep.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS