Dear family and friends,
Here is a copy of an e-mail I sent out about a week ago:
I’d like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It’s not enough to simply write that, though. I’ve recording a special holiday message for you using my built in web camera. Please look below to see a four-minute video, which combines my holiday greetings with some quick news. :-)
As for my Christmas plans, they are as follows: Tonight at midnight I’ll be able to attend a Catholic mass at the church on the corner! I hope it’ll be by candlelight and we’ll sing carols! Why do I get to celebrate Christmas on the 24th and 25th? All of you thought that my Christmas was going to be January 6th and 7th, following the Orthodox calendar, huh? Well, Transcarpathia (the region where I’ll be teaching for the next two years) is a crossroads of many different cultures. That means that there are Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic and Protestants here. My “host family” is Roman Catholic! That is so familiar and pleasant to me!
Lastly, I wanted to include some Ukrainian into this e-mail. Here are my holiday greetings in my new favorite language!: Вітаю Вас з Різдвом та Новим Роком! [Vitaju Vas z Rizdvom ta Novym Rokom!]
Hugs, kisses and lots of love!
Matthew, “Матвійко”
