Author: Mariya Klachynska
Article:
"If your wife is Ukrainian, you will not have the traditional
bachelor's bread with peanut butter, you will have a really good
restaurant at home, because Ukrainian women are some of the best
cooks in the world! They are able to cook something delicious
even from "nothing". But if a West Ukrainian woman arranges a
special reception (Christmas, Easter, New Year, wedding,
birthday, or simply just a meeting with friends or relatives),
she could actually stay up all night before the event preparing
for the festivity.
It is a quote of one my stories I wrote about the incredible
hospitality of Ukrainians. Now I would like to tell more,
actually, about Ukrainian women and some their features. Also I
want to say that I will tell mostly about West Ukrainian women.
As I grew up in West Ukraine, I know very well the life there,
also many experiences and stories from my family, friends and
other people of whom I met during my work in journalism.
When I was 16 years old, all my classmate girls already were
thinking seriously about marriage. Yes, I am not joking. It is
tradition in Ukraine, to get married at a very young age. This
tradition is especially strong in the West Ukrainian villages.
As I am a farm girl, I know it very well. I remember that even
20-year-old girls were called "old maids" in my village. I am
silent about myself at what age I got married :) .
Actually, a lot of such 30-40 years old are now searching for
husbands abroad because almost all the Ukrainian men are already
married before the age of 30. Well, everybody has own choice.
Perhaps, if I would think more about marriage when I was 16
years old, maybe, I already would be a grandmother, like many my
classmates are now. But at 16 years old I was thinking about
studying in University, about future work in newspaper and I did
not think how to bake a pie properly. I remember my classmate
Lyuba telling me about her first cooking experience and how she
burnt the pie. A young gentleman classmate overheard Lyuba and
said "What? You are 16 years old, and you are not able to bake a
pie?" Even at such a young age, it is expected by society to be
proficient in cooking.
So, this story can explain more why Ukrainian women become such
good cooks. It is because in their 30's, they already have had a
big experience of cooking.
OK, to know how to cook, it is just half of the story. The
second half it is that all the good West Ukrainian mothers are
to teach their daughters before their marriage, "When you are
cooking for the family, remember: the best pieces of meal must
be to your husband and children".
It is not just truth, but historical truth. To give you an
example, I will translate the words of one of the West Ukrainian
folk song "Otkel Sonechko Shodilo" ("Where the Sun Came From").
This is a song from the Lemky, region in the western part of
Ukraine, actually, now it is in the territory of Poland, where
the Lemky ethnic group used to live. So, this song is about a
girl who has an apple tree She sings "My apple-tree, please grow
up very high and a 100 branches wide, and give birth to an apple
or two, one for my beloved, one for me. A nice big red apple for
my beloved, and some little green ones for me".
Ok, but this is not the only Ukrainian folk song about this
subject of devotion. Another very popular folk song in Ukraine
is, "Porizala'm palchyk" ("I Cut My Finger"). So, here are some
words of this song, "What a nice guy here? What is his name? I
would like to marry him. I would not allow him to work, I would
just keeping him for the beauty".
Dear guys, this is not just a song... it is the truth! A truth
of modern Ukrainian life, in spite of fact, that this folk song
was created several centuries ago! Many West Ukrainian women are
holding their husbands just for beauty! Or just for "having a
husband". To be married, a woman in Ukraine has a higher social
status. Unmarried woman (single or divorced, but especially "old
maidens") don't have such respect in Ukrainian society like
married woman. I remember words of my auntie, when my cousin
Halya got married at 20 years old (in eyes of the village's
people she was "old maiden"). So, my auntie said about Halya,
"It does not matter, how she will live with her husband, good or
bad. The main thing, people will respect her and nobody will
count her years".
Wow, what a wild customs in this country, maybe, somebody will
say! The aunt doesn't think about happiness for her niece, just
about that people will not count the years of an unmarried girl!
No, I don't think that my auntie did not want happiness for
Halya. Simply our aunt was under very big influence of local
traditions and customs. Even under historical influence. It is
sad truth, but Ukraine lost a lot of men in the wars of last
centuries. And every man (even not very good) has a big respect
and big value in eyes of <a target="_new"
href="http://www.travelwestukraine.com/">Ukrainian woman</a>.
Well, just look at the statistic. The population of Ukraine is
47 millions people. 53,7% of them are women, 46,3% are men. So,
7,4% of Ukrainian women destined to be alone all their life.
By the way, I was one of these 7,4% still unmarried in 2006. Now
I am a happy woman, not only because I am finally married, but
also because I am very much in love with my husband.
Fortunately, he is from a country, where the proportion of
population is opposite that of Ukrainian. Thank God, we live in
epoch of Internet, so, to find a soul mate now is not big
problem. A person just needs to know where to look for a
reliable source of information
And next big miracle of my life is that my husband is from a
Ukrainian background (as many men are from his country)!
Unbelievably! So we have a real Ukrainian family, with real <a
target="_new" href="http://www.travelwestukraine.com/">Ukrainian
customs and traditions</a> in relations and everyday life. And
when I am cooking, I really save best pieces of meal for my
husband. It is because of my Ukrainian blood. And it is because
several generations of my family taught their daughters to do
it. And because I just love my husband. So simple reasons to
care about a person and to be devoted to!
More about Ukrainian life, culture, customs and traditions you
can find on <a target="_new"
href="http://www.travelwestukraine.com/">Travel West Ukraine</a>
About the author:
Mariya Klachynska is a freelance journalist. She worked for the
local Ukrainian newspapers and online news agencies for more
than 20 years (since 1984). Her hobby is matchmaking. With help
of online dating agency Mariya found a husbands for two her
friends-journalists. Mariya is married. She met her husband in
Internet too.
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