Category Archives: Mostly Tourism

The impression of an American friend living in Kyiv

The impression of an American friend living in Kyiv:

“Ordinary people in this country are sweet. But every professional I encounter is a walking criminal enterprise.

Its like the french had their revolution so that they could act like effete totalitarians, and the Ukrainians got their independence so that they could act like fucking Boyars. 

You can take the peasant out of the manor but you cant take the peasant out of the peasant.

Its not that the governments is more corrupt than the american, its that the culture of the east remains a peasant culture. 

Its a purely predatory society. 

Argh.”

Lviv is nobler. But is there enough nobility? And will the youth aspire toward nobility or toward hooliganism.

BJJ & MMA in Lviv

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is exploding all over L’viv. A couple months ago, I started training again at my friend Oleh’s new club. We are now at capacity. I know of a second club that opened in L’viv. I trained there once to meet the guys. They haven’t even finished renovations and they’re also at capacity.

A few of my training partners compete in MMA. Here are some pictures from a recent fight:

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I love it. I love the culture, the competition, the toughness and pride that it gives to young people.

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Edit: Found this video of the fight —

[youtube]NtOiitW0skQ[/youtube]

Nov 1st Visit to Cemetery in Horodok

I went to Horodok on Friday to light candles by the graves of relatives, including my great grand-father Theodore Stec, who on his deathbed was still hoping to learn the fate of his son (my grandfather) and two grand daughters (including my mother) who had fled into the chaos of war-torn Europe to escape the Bolsheviks. “If he could have imagined that you’d be here,” my aunt said as I struggled with the matches.

Its a Nov 1st tradition apparently to light candles for the departed. The whole cemetery shimmered with candle light.

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Also, a gigantic rabbit:

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Great Days for Ukrainian Boxing

Phenom Lomachenko lives up to the hype, winning his pro debut by body-shot-KO.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2457356/Vasyl-Lomachenko-wins-professional-boxing-debut.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[youtube]lHzdrC04-H0[/youtube]

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Wladimir Klitschko defeats Russian Alexander Povetkin to retain heavyweight titles
http://www.newsday.com/sports/boxing/wladimir-klitschko-defeats-alexander-povetkin-to-retain-heavyweight-titles-1.6205344

Klitchko

Ten observations from the Crypto Currency Conference in Atlanta

1. Charlie Shrem is in the trenches of the regulatory fight. When he spoke on the panel of entrepreneurs he gave glimpses of a very ugly struggle for legality. He spoke quickly, in hurried detailed — big gushes of information. He spoke in terms of problems and solutions, the language of someone lost in the fight. There were banks closing the accounts of bitcoin businesses because they were competitors, because regulations were uncertain, for no reason whatsoever. There were impenetrable layers of bureaucracy and gatekeepers who say “that’s ridiculous” and hang up the phone. I’m rooting for you, Charlie.

2. BitPay’s Tony Gallippi says they’re going to start contrasting their service with that of credit cards, and the many hidden fees and burdens they impose. I can’t wait. Did you know that in the hospitality business, credit card companies can hold your money for four weeks before transferring it to you?

3. It was a big, diverse crowd. Bitcoin, as we should expect, impacts many sectors.

4. I know more than I think. Much more. This is a recurring problem for me. I always imagine the world full of logical, rational, hard working people who know more than me. But when I look more closely, where ever I look, I see trial and error, 60% solutions and dubious decision making. This is what entrepreneurship can look like. It’s a beautiful thing, really. It takes courage to blaze a new trail.

5. This relates to the previous point: Nobody is in charge, nobody completely knows what’s happening, and that’s awesome.

6. I hate streets named Peachtree, and high school parades that shut down large parts of a city, especially when I’m running late.

7. It was really cool to meet the people behind the Life on Bitcoin documentary. The couple has a great state presence. They offered a great idea for converting merchants: promise to organize a bitcoin bash at their restaurant, and leave a deposit to prove you’re serious.

8. When someone has a seizure, as happened during the conference, you mostly have to protect them from the good intentions of concerned bystanders. Don’t put anything in their mouth! (more) Cooler heads prevailed, and the unfortunate young man regained consciousness while waiting for first responders.

9. What the hell is this Russian hang-up with Ukraine? It came out of nowhere in the last place I expected, Atlanta. I had lunch with a seemingly nice guy who was both a libertarian and a bitcoin enthusiast. He should be an ally, right? As soon as I mentioned I was from Lviv, it started. That’s the poorest section of Ukraine. (It isn’t.) It’s the worst customer service in Europe. (My opinions vary.) Everyone who lives there wants to leave. (The population decline is actually the least dramatic in the west.) Ukraine’s economy isn’t even a fifth of Khazakstans. (Official numbers show them as close to equal, in fact.) Moscow, by contrast has had western style customer service for a long time. (I’ll take his word for it, because I have no desire to visit.) It’s a shit-hole. (Lviv rated #1 European city to visit.) His relatives are apparently burdened with occasionally having to visit the many apartments they own in Lviv — a consequence of their Soviet military past. The barbs kept coming. I politely disagreed, stated contrary impressions, failed several times to change the subject and restrained myself from escalating. Maybe I shouldn’t have. After lunch, he said goodbye with “nice meeting you, but I’m not sure I’d want to live in Lviv.” (I support that decision.) Maybe Muskovites like him fear Ukraine. They fear their own identity will be revealed as a hollow shell without the Ukrainian culture they claim as their own. I hope he watched the Klitschko – Povetkin fight.

10. Atlanta’s High Museum is awesome, and free for military veterans.

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[Show slideshow]
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I also managed to visit Atlanta’s wonderful High Museum:

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[Show slideshow]

A Friend’s Comparison of American and Ukrainian Women

Ukrainian women are the not only the most beautiful, but the most elegant and noble women in the world. Femininity is power. It is a power we men don’t have. This list doesn’t do the difference justice. It’s from a guy who wrote a book traveling here. But it’s a crass and humorous illustration of what is really a profound, gracious and elegant difference.

American girl: “What do you do?”
Ukrainian girl: “Why are you in Ukraine?”

American: Asks you to buy a drink
Ukrainian: Expects you to buy a drink

American: Flip flops because they’re comfortable
Ukrainian: High heels because men like them

American: 20 pounds overweight
Ukrainian: 5 pounds underweight

American: Looking for a stable career
Ukrainian: Looking for a stable husband

American: Won’t shut up
Ukrainian: Won’t open up

American: Hates makeup
Ukrainian: Qualified to be a makeup artist

American: Obsessed with celebrities
Ukrainian: Obsessed with money

American: Knows how to heat chicken nuggets
Ukrainian: Knows how to cook meals passed on from her grandmother

American: Pretends to be a porn star in bed
Ukrainian: Pretends to be a virgin in bed

American: Complains there are no good men
Ukrainian: Complains you didn’t buy her flowers

American: Feels uncomfortable with silence
Ukrainian: Feels uncomfortable with too much chatter

American: Treats you like a coworker
Ukrainian: Treats you like the master of her life

American: Relationship gets worse after first sex
Ukrainian: Relationship gets better after first sex

American: Never traveled but thinks she knows the world
Ukrainian: Never traveled and insecure about it

American: Obsessed with Apple
Ukrainian: Obsessed with Apple

American: Goes to supermarket in pajamas
Ukrainian: Goes to supermarket in mini skirt

American: Dresses like a bum even though she has money
Ukrainian: Dresses flashy even though she has no money

American: Sees men as misogynists who have institutional privilege
Ukrainian: Sees men as a bridge to a better life

American: Will believe anything you tell them
Ukrainian: Human lie detector

American: Pretend she’s strong and independent
Ukrainian: Knows she’s fragile and weak

American: Brags about dating multiple guys at the same time
Ukrainian: Brags about gifts that rich men bought her

American: Thinks lawyer are boring
Ukrainian: Thinks lawyers are accomplished men worthy of marriage

American: Goes out twice a week to clubs to get attention from men
Ukrainian: Goes out only once a month because she can’t afford it

American: Thinks casual sex and free birth control are essential to being happy
Ukrainian: Things marriage is essential to being happy

American: Fucks a guy who can make her vagina wet
Ukrainian: Fucks a guy who can improve her life in some way

American: Expert at taking webcam shots from magic angles
Ukrainian: Expert at posing sexy for photos in ugly park

American: Ideal man has to be witty, spontaneous, and interesting, with stand-up comedian level of humor
Ukrainian: Doesn’t care about a man’s personality as long as he has money

Training Jiu Jitsu Again

. . . after a six month layoff.

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My friend Oleh and our new training hall.

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Addendum:

Except for Oleh and another guy, both of whom usually out-muscle me, all the students are new. I taught a class today and then took on all comers. Some tried three or four times. The outcome was always the same: Them exhausted and submitted. Me asking “who’s next?.”

So I’m enjoying the aura while I can. The new students don’t understand how it’s possible. No matter what they do, no matter how hard they try, they can’t prevail. I get this aura around me — a reality distortion field.

It reminds me a little bit of being an officer — working to develop that aura of invincibility.

At the risk of sounding immodest, I’ll tell you that anyone who’s trained jiu jitsu knows how easily a blue belt can submit a white belt. I’m not a great athlete, but I’m a good blue-belt-level grappler.

See the Pleasures of Drowing for the best description of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from the new-student perspective I’ve ever read.

BJJ and other grappling arts [are] unique in two ways: BJJ can be safely practiced under conditions of 100 percent resistance and, therefore, any doubts or illusions about its effectiveness can be removed. . . . It is a remarkable property of grappling that the distance between theory and reality can be fully bridged.

I can now attest that the experience of grappling with an expert is akin to falling into deep water without knowing how to swim. You will make a furious effort to stay afloat—and you will fail. Once you learn how to swim, however, it becomes difficult to see what the problem is.

Sadly, I have to train all the students to kick my ass . . . and I will . . . and they will.

But that’s a good thing. It keeps me humble, for one. For another, good competition makes everyone better — just like in the free market.