For this assignment, I was asked to explain what makes me special, using the items I have collected over my life.
Hey everyone,
My name is Megan Bennett, and I am recently returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
I mention this first and foremost as that is one of the most important thing that happened to me. I taught English as a foreign language to secondary education students at the Kirovograd Regional Educational Complex/Oleksandriya Gymnasium-Boarding School, Oleksandriya, Ukraine.
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| My vyshyvanka |
A Vyshyvanka is a traditional blouse of Ukraine. It can be hand embroidered, and the pattern often represents where the vyshyvanka was made. Mine has the red of central Ukraine; the geometric pattern is also from central Ukraine. Some embroidery represents other things, similar to what would be seen on a Pysanky. These can be worn at any time, although many people wear theirs the way someone would wear a nice set of clothes - birthdays, church, tests, and holidays. 19 May is considered Vyshyvanka Day, and people are encouraged to wear theirs. Many people also wear theirs on Ukrainian Independence Day (24 August). At my school in Ukraine, most of the students wore theirs to school, as the girls were required to wear white blouses, and the boys had to wear a tie otherwise.
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My Vynok. This is me just before I rang the COS Bell,
which ended my Peace Corps service. |
My Vynok. A Vynok is a traditional flower crown of Ukraine. They can be as simple as made with fresh dandelions or as complicated as the ones with ribbons attached. They are traditionally worn on birthdays, holidays, and weddings, but women are beginning to wear them all the time. This became much more common during and after the EuroMaidan protest movement, as the Vynok is one of the symbols of Ukraine. It has become fashionable for bride’s to wear a very nice Vynok at their wedding. Girls also wear Vynoks on the first and last day of school - First and Last Bell, respectively.
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| Pysanky |
Pysanky. Often called Ukrainian Easter Eggs. Pysanky can come in countless colors and patters, and each color and pattern have a traditional symbolism. These were bought either at the Craft’s Bazaar in Lviv or on St. Andrei’s Spoosk. The one with the flower motif is from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, while the others are all from western Ukraine. One of the ladies I bought some from told me that that pattern is common in Zakarpattia Oblast. Traditionally, Pysanky are made from eggshells, from which the inside egg has been blown out. These are as fragile as eggshells, and must be protected if being taking to the church for an Easter blessing. Nowadays, many Pysanky are made of hollowed wood, which allows them to be much more durable. This allows them to be sold to tourists, as well as ensures fewer break. Broken Pysanky must be very carefully collected, as witches can use the shells for evil.
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| Total nerd. Star Trek books, Doctor Who mugs, and Star Trek Uno. |
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Marvel movies, including X-Men movies. Not pictured:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (iTunes purchase) |
I am a total nerd. I have a collection of
Star Trek The Next Generation books,
Avengers’ DVDs, and
Doctor Who ceramic mugs. I have a combadge pin, and a copy of Entertainment Weekly with an article on
Doctor Who. There is an
Age of Ultron poster hiding somewhere in my room (a friend gave it to me when I babysat his kid when they saw it early). The Marvel movies are part of a shelf full of sci-fi/fantasy/action movies. They are all alphabetized by the name of the hero, followed by chronological order, which is why
X-Men First Class and
X-Men Days of Future Past are before
X-Men. This also means that
Casino Royale (not pictured) is filed under "B" for "Bond."
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| U2 books and DVDs |
I am a huge U2 fan, and I have a large collection of their materials. This photo doesn’t include the oversized materials, which includes a gigantic copy of
U2 by U2 and copy of
Time with an interview with Bono. I do not have
Live at Red Rocks, as that can be hard to find; same with the Songs of Innocence and Experience Tour filmed concert. The books are in the order that they were published. The DVDs are arranged by the concert date. This is because I have two Elevation Tour DVDs (
Live from Boston, and
U2 Go Home), and some concerts were released several years after the concert tour.
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| U2 CDs |
Theses CDs are mostly in order of their release date, with the exception of
The Best of: 1980-1990 (deluxe) (called
The B Sides in this image), which wasn’t released until 1998, after three more albums had been released. I intentionally put this when the material on the album was released, as the album has only material from pre-
Achtung Baby.
Achtung Baby was released in 1991. As you can see, I bought
Songs of Innocence, as I wanted a) to play it in my car, and b) to have the songs released with the deluxe editio
n. Edit: War and The Joshua Tree are downstairs, as they are my mother's. Forgot they weren't in the picture.
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| French langage reference materials |
I also have a large collection of foreign language materials, specifically in French and Russian. Some of the French materials I bought in France while I was studying abroad, and others I used while a university student. Others I bought since I graduated, as I do some creating writing in my spare time, and I want my French-speaking characters to use idioms and slang correctly. I have multiple translation dictionaries, as well as a thesaurus and two idiom guides.
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| Books in French |
Here are the novels I own in French. They are arranged in alphabetical order by author, and then alphabetical order by title, excusing any “Le,” “La,” “Les,” “L’,” or “Un(e)”s as that means “The” or “A” in French. The translated versions of
Prisoner of Azkaban and
Congo are filed in their language, not with their author.
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| Russian language reference materials |
I learned Russian while I was a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was given the little tiny pocket dictionary [far left] when I went to Ukraine the first time. I have since bought more language materials, as I hope to continue to improve my Russian language skills. I have a conjugation guide, and a book of Russian slang.
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| All reference materials for non-English language reference |
I have a few others, as they were interesting. I bought the Irish dictionary in Dublin’s Temple Bar District as a cool souvenir. I got the Haitian Creole dictionary for my creative writing. And I have several teaching guides for teaching English as a foreign language, including an American idiom guide and a British-American English guide. I can also use the latter with my creative writing.
