The Edge of Europe

ZK7 had the pleasure of speaking to Olga (27) from Kiev (Ukraine), a social media professional working in higher education.

Tell us something interesting about yourself?

I can speak three languages. The two native languages in Ukraine plus English.

What was it like growing up in Ukraine?

It was cool. I loved it!

I thought I would never ever leave Ukraine and I also thought travel is great but I will never be able to live in a different country. I love Ukraine too much. All of my family are here, I live in the city centre, I have loads of friends here and the city has everything I need. So I thought yeah, I absolutely love it here, so I am going to stay here forever. I thought I would find it really hard to live elsewhere.

What happened next?

After I finished year 11, I went to England and I was quite excited to study abroad.

There was a scholarship programme which a couple of students from my school won a couple of years ago. I was actually very close with them. At that stage I actually started to think, oh this actually sounds great. Like studying in the UK sounds like fun, it’s different and it would be a really cool experience. I would meet other people and live in a boarding house which sounds amazing.

So that’s when I thought I might actually do this. Then I was lucky enough to win the scholarship that year. It was crazy! You know when you grow up your views and preferences change and so that’s basically what happened.

I just thought, I wonder why I never wanted to do this.

What did you miss the most about Ukraine when you studied in the UK?

My family obviously, as everyone is back in Ukraine.

Not being able to just pop on the tram and go to see my sister, my nephew and my nieces. Or just go to the cinema with my cousins or see my friends, that kind of stuff. That’s something which I still miss today.

So all that and food of course.

What is your favourite food?

Sushi.

What is your favourite Ukrainian food?

My Mum makes Ukrainian style burgers which we have with mash potatoes, fresh salad and sauerkraut on the side. A very simple but nice homemade dish.

Have you had any travel disasters?

Yes!

So in my second year at boarding school in the UK, it was the end of March and it was the first (and probably the last) time I booked a connecting flight to Kiev. I was supposed to connect in Munich (Germany) but it snowed a lot that year.

I managed to leave the UK but arrived late in Munich, so I missed my connecting flight home.

However, the plane from Munich to Kiev didn’t actually make it to Kiev that night. It had to turn around and fly back to Munich because the airport in Kiev was closed for the first time in ages because of heavy snow. It always snows a lot in Ukraine but at that time, it snowed so much that when they did reopen, they could only let five planes land per hour or something like that.

As the plane didn’t arrive in Kiev, it didn’t matter that I missed it but I did have to spend two nights in Munich airport as I didn’t have a Schengen visa.

Munich Airport

I am not an influencer for Lufthansa but they did do a great job. If I had a visa, they would have put me in a hotel but because I didn’t, they gave me things like a little blanket, a t-shirt, an internet voucher, deodorant, food vouchers, a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Luckily, they had little sofa’s, so I called dibs on one of them first and slept on it for two nights, so it was cool. I am still friends with a girl which I met that night but yeah it was a fun experience.

Minimoon: Blue Lagoon (Iceland)

Have you been on a romantic getaway?

Iceland was definitely the most romantic holiday, as it was our minimoon. It snowed a lot and we went to the Blue Lagoon where you have thermal springs. So that was lovely and we just drove a lot through the snow dessert and it was just really cute.

What is your favourite musical experience?

I do really like The Phantom of the Opera.

When I was at school in the UK, I was actually in The Phantom of the Opera and it just gave me goose bumps every time and I couldn’t believe I was in it. All three times I went to see it in different venues, I absolutely loved it!

Another one I would say is there is a very famous Ukrainian band. Some of their songs are a bit patriotic and maybe slightly political but the rest are just romantic songs. They are my favourite Ukrainian band and everyone’s favourite Ukrainian band to be fair.

I have seen them a few times and every time it has been amazing. Last time I brought my husband Pete with me as well. He couldn’t understand a word but he was very polite as he is British and then danced with me.

What has travelling taught you?

I am terrified of flying!

It has also taught me that it is not enough to come to a country as a tourist and understand the country and the people. It really is so different visiting the UK a couple of times before I came to live here. You don’t get to know enough about society or how things really work or the troubles which people go through. It’s just not something which you can learn about in a quick trip.

So it has taught me that if you are planning on moving to a different country, to find out if that country is really right for you, you have to go and spend time living there first.

Paris (France)

If you could live anywhere for a year, where would it be?

I certainly thought that if I ever move somewhere, it would probably be the USA as Pete always thought he would go and study there at some point in his life. So that sounds like a destination we would both be happy with but we would have trouble in picking a state.

I would want to live in California or New York but Pete would probably want to live in Houston.

Have you had any adrenaline fuelled experiences?

There was a fun experience in Norway.

So in Oslo you can rent a sledge. You are given a helmet and you have to wear it as you just keep going downhill and there are no fences and you can very easily go off the edge of a cliff and die. You can obviously slow down and everything but it’s down to you.

Then when you get all the way down to the bottom, you then take the tube up to the top with your sledge and you go again. So that is something I remember but I can’t say it was an adrenaline pumping experience, though it was quite a lot of fun.

What is your happiest travel memory?

It was a trip to Norway with my parents back in 2010 and it was my first time in Scandinavia. Since then, I have this weird relationship with Scandinavian countries.

I would say it was a very odd feeling but I was very happy on that trip because of the vibe in Norway and because I got to the top of the mountain and it just felt really far north but yeah it was a bit scary but it made me really happy.

After that trip I thought I have to come back and go a lot further north and maybe sit on the very edge of Europe. The most northerly point is called Nordkapp. On some summer nights the sun just doesn’t go down at all.

If you could choose any TV character as a travel companion, who would it be?

I know he would be a pain in the backside but he would be someone useful, so I am going to pick Sheldon Cooper from ‘The Big Bang Theory.’

He will probably make me go on the train, so that will be fun. I’ll have an excuse not to fly if we are travelling within Europe and he would think through everything. He would have his backpack with bus pants and public restroom kit and all that kind of stuff.

He would be very practical and I can laugh at him as well.

Do you have any sayings you live by?

Not really but I do like sitcoms and I often quote them.

So one of the recent ones I started watching was ‘Parks and Recreation’ and I just can’t stop. Like it’s a joke, I procrastinate like crazy because I binge it. So a quote from Andrew Dwyer, played by Chris Pratt is, ‘the show must go wrong.’

As I am a performer, I know it’s true. Something always goes wrong!

So yeah, I am going to live by that quote and it kind of resonates with a book I am currently reading about Pixar called ‘Creativity Inc.’ It is a very good business book about lessons in creativity and because it is about Pixar, you get to learn about their films and stuff.

A good quote from there is ‘fail early and fail fast.’ So the idea is you need to fail as soon as possible to find out if your idea is working or not. Like there is no excuse not to try it. 

Friends I made in first year of uni from all over the world and we still keep in touch.

Do you have any travel advice for someone who has never travelled?

If you are going to live somewhere for a period of time, a lot of people are worried that they will not find new friends, or they are not going to click with people in that country because they have a different mentality or you don’t know the jokes or pop culture.

So I am just going to say, you will find friends. I would say that ultimately people really are the same everywhere and you can definitely connect with them even if there is a language barrier.

What do you want to be remembered for?

I want to be remembered for being someone who cares, whether it’s in my personal life or professional career.

Instagram: @Olgagalona