September 16, 2003 - Personal Web Site: Robin Danek in the Ukraine
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September 16, 2003 - Personal Web Site: Robin Danek in the Ukraine
Robin Danek in the Ukraine
Robin Danek in the Ukraine
Welcome!
My name is Robin, I'm orginally from Cedar Rapids, Ia, and on October 2, 2003, I will begin my service in the United States Peace Corps as a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) volunteer in Ukraine. I hope to use this website as both a tool to help my friends and family back home keep up with my life overseas and as a way to educate Americans about Ukraine. Please feel free to explore this site and contact me if you have any questions or comments. Make sure to sign my guest book and check out the links section!
For those of you reading this weblog who already know me this is going to be redundant and unnecessary, but for those of you who don't, here's a quick introduction:
My name is Robin, I'm originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and I'm very anxiously awaiting to begin my 27 month Peace Corps service as a a TEFL volunteer (TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language) in Ukraine.
I first began playing around with the idea of joining the Peace Corps after I returned from Kazan, Russia, where I tortured myself with the Russian language for 10 months as a college senior. However, I didn't actually begin the application process until July 2001, after I had graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.
The Peace Corps was something I had dreamed about when I was in middle school, but, like a million other people I've met since beginning this process, I had never actually got around to investigating it further. Upon graduating I realized that the Peace Corps would be an excellent way to both engage in humanitarian work overseas and gain some solid professional experience in my field before applying to graduate school.
Since beginning the application process in July 2001, my reasons for joining the Peace Corps have changed entirely. While I'm still joining to gain work experience before grad school, and to do my part in helping others, since September 11th, and increasing hostilites towards Americans abroad, I believe that organizations like the Peace Corps play an ever increasingly important role in the international political landscape. I believe now it is even more important for the U.S. to have average Americans working and living overseas to counter-act some of the negative, and occasionally inaccurate, images of America overseas. Since I originally applied, I've become more concerned that as a whole, we, as a country, are portrayed abroad as overly aggressive and controlling towards other nations. I hope that by joining the Peace Corps I can represent the U.S. in a favorable light, and do my part in painting a more accurate picture of America.
Now that we've gotten some of my politics out of the way, I hope to use this website as a way to chart my journey through Ukraine; first as a trainee (I'll be an offical "trainee" when I head off to orientation, or "staging" on September 30), and then, later, as a volunteer (I'll be sworn in as a volunteer in December).
Please, if you have any questions, concerns or comments feel free to contact me at robin@soundchasers.com . I want to extend an especially hearty welcome to anyone who's either thinking about joining the Peace Corps or is currently in the application process. I would love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have regarding the Peace Corps or Ukraine.
Only 37 days left!!
Robin
07:06:00 AM - robin - No comments
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Story Source: Personal Web Site
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ukraine; PCVs in the Field - Ukraine
PCOL7790
20
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Hi Robin!
And congratulations! It looks like you're almost done with training! As of two days ago I sent in my medical application and am now eagerly awaiting a response. I do have a few questions for you. Is this a good time for you? Please let me know and good luck!
Rachael Schmidt
rachaelcs@yahoo.com
Robin,
congratulations, I hope you enjoy your time there. I would love to hear from you.
abra (Johnson) Pulley
Robin,
congratulations, I hope you enjoy your time there. I would love to hear from you.
abra (Johnson) Pulley
hey robin- i've been wondering how all is going with you and finally found your mom at barnes and noble. email me and let me know EVERYTHING (well, maybe we can go in installments!). anne
Hey Robin!
Tried to contact you several times! still not a word! would really like to hear from you!
remember me?
B
Robin,
I envy you for the opportunity to teach English with the Peace Corps in the Ukraine. After your two years you will be fluent in Russian and probably have a great working knowledge of Ukraine. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from 1976-1979. I had majored in French and Russian at Indiana University. In Morocco I taught English in a high school in a small Moroccan village called Kasba Tadla. As part of my training I had to learn Moroccan Arabic. At the end of my third year, (I was lucky and Peace Corps allowed me to extend my service one year at the same post)I was fluent in French and quite good in Moroccan Arabic. I thoroughly enjoyed my Peace Corps experience. I learned so much about languages, culture and about myself. Unfortunately, in the 70's there was no Peace Corps in the Soviet Union. I would have loved to have worked somewhere in Russia.
After 14 years in the aerospace industry and 5 years being a Stay At Home Dad to 3 teenagers, I have decided to go back to school and get a teaching certificate to teach elementary school kids. I still enjoy teaching and look forward to doing it again.
Good luck in your assignment. If you want to communicate, I would like to know how you are doing and how the students are performing.
Sincerely,
Robin Stetzler