Operation: Sabbatical


The journey began as most do in my family: with nagging. My mother's father had taken a sabbatical to Sweden many years ago, and the idea took root in Pam's heart. An academic sabbatical like the one he took is when a teacher takes a period of time off to do research or teach somewhere else. Kjersten, the eldest, took it upon herself to push the matter until, at last, my father caved under the pressure and applied for a Fulbright Fellowship. This is an esteemed award given to individuals with impressive performances in thier fields.
Dad teaching

Home Base

Our place of residence was transferred for the semester from a field of corn to a 3 bed-room apartment on the right bank of Kyiv, the capital Ukraine. We rented from an English-speaking woman named Natasha, of course. Many, many women shared this name, so we added the "of course" as a surname.

Our Appartment Building

Dates of Escape

Our plane took off January 26, 2005 from the Lincoln Airport and we arrived a day later, after multiple layovers. An emissary from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute met us at the airport with a sign and a minivan. KPI was the university where my dad would spend the next few months teaching business to a group of English-speaking students whose numbers ranged from 15 to 60 on any given day, since there was no credit being offered to the students who attended this class.

Background Information

At the time of departure, I was 12 and in the 6th grade. Kjersten my sister was 17 and had completed the requirements for high school, excepting only a journal for English class. Mom and Dad were too old to mention and prefer to keep those details under lock and key.

Traveler's in 2005

Father: Aka Andy, Top Dog, Head Agent, Dad, Holder of the Ph.D, Daddy, Padre, etc.
Mother: Aka Pam, Not-Quite-As-Cool as the Top Dog, but almost. Mom, Mommy, Mumsy, Madre, etc.
Kjersten: Aka KiKi-tron, Kajersten, KikiWiki, etc.
Adrienne: Aka AD, Yo!, Queen of the Universe, Creator of the Website, etc.