what's up guys I hope you're doing well
I thought I would do something a little
bit different for this week's video
something that I've never done before
and that is a story time video if you
guys have been watching my channel for
quite some time you'll know that I do
like to dress for the occasion if
possible so since today's story time
video is going to be how I moved from
Ukraine to Canada I thought that I would
put on my Ukrainian bean milk which is
like a flower wreath that is a really
traditional to Ukraine and that lots of
women still wear for festivals mine has
like cranberries I think on it
I'm not sure but there's a whole bunch
of different kinds there's even ones
that are like really really big and
probably weigh like five pounds or
something like that with like a whole
bunch of flowers usually they are like
fresh flowers and stuff but I got this
one in Ukraine the last time I went and
I really liked it so yeah I thought I
would wear that for you guys today so
the most common question that I get on
my channel is like where are you from
are you rush and are you Ukrainian are
you Canadian all these different things
and the answer is yet to all of that so
I would just clear that up once and for
all and if anybody ever asks I will just
link this video because it is way too
long of a conversation to be having over
and over again anyways let's just jump
straight into it so I was born in Kiev
Ukraine on February 17th 1991 which was
pretty much right around the time when
the Soviet Union was breaking up it was
obviously a bit of a long process and I
think it officially was you know
separate by the end of 1991 so it was
obviously a very difficult time for
everyone involved and you know it wasn't
a short sort of period also to
transition so to say and not that I
personally remember but my mom and my
grandma would like tell me stories of
you know what things were like how there
was like next to no food on the shelves
and you would have to just like wait in
line you know for rations of whatever
there was with like coupons because
there was no currency and there were
certain kinds of products that it was
just very very difficult to get so for
example when I was a baby I actually
wasn't able to be breastfed
and they had to get infant formula but
in Ukraine like it was next to
impossible to find or like insanely
expensive so what had to happen was a
groups in countries like Germany were
sending like packages of you know
formula and like you know baby clothes
and you know all these other things that
just weren't available in Ukraine to
kind of you know help with the situation
as much as possible so my mom was
basically a single parent from the time
that I was a baby and I guess that's
kind of where the Russian part comes in
because everybody's like well you were
born in Ukraine how are you Russian and
it's because my mom and both my birth
father were both born in Russia the
parts of Russia that are still Russia so
my mom was like born in st. Petersburg
so yes my heritage is Russian I was born
in Ukraine but I speak Russian because
the Soviet Union was still technically
around when I was born and everybody
spoke Russian anybody older than meets
the expression so that is why I speak
Russian they continue on with the story
I think it was around age four when my
mom met my dad who's name is Gordon and
he is Canadian and he grew up and has
lived all his life in Saskatchewan as a
farmer alongside many other things he's
a man of many talents my parents met
when my dad was on a tour of Ukraine and
pretty much just kept coming back to
visit us after that and I think there
was a brief period in there once they
were kind of serious where my dad flew
my mom out to Canada to see know how she
would like it and then I think it was
pretty much right after they got back
that they got married in Ukraine and
that winter we moved to Canada so I was
around five years old when we were
moving to Canada and even though I was
still quite young I actually have quite
a few memories of that time like the day
in particular when we you know went to
Canada
because I had never really been on a
plane before and you know I still kind
of was confused exactly about what was
going on yes I thought that like Gordon
I didn't call him dad for a long time I
thought Gordon was like a nice guy but I
don't think I really understood that
like oh okay like my mom's married now
he's my father I didn't really you know
put those two together but yeah I
remember just like being bundled up by
my grandma's with like 20 layers of
clothes because you know they heard can
and it was a really cold place so they
wrapped me in like a million sweaters
and like the Itchy is the Ischia scarf
ever like tied around me like a babushka
and there's actually a picture of me I
think at the airport where I look like
this pudgy snowman just like standing
there like unable to move because of all
these clothes so yeah that is my memory
of before we left on the plane and my
last memory of the plane ride was
actually puking on my mom's green jacket
right when we landed in Saskatoon it was
my first memory of Canada and basically
what I remember after that is that we
went to the small town where my dad
lived which is kamistan oh and it is a
tiny tiny tiny like agriculture
community sort of town in the
south-central part of the province and
it has 800 people so that's obviously a
very stark change from the very large
city that is Kiev Ukraine and obviously
everything was basically very different
than anything I had ever seen before
so shocking part of it right off the bat
was definitely just being in a house
because up until that point me and my
family had been living in an apartment
in Kiev and while it is actually quite a
nice apartment because my grandfather
was a high up position in the army so we
had a really nice apartment kind of in
downtown Kiev but with as many people as
we had living in it with like my two
grandmas
me my uncle and then we had my uncle's
family in there sometimes as well so to
have like a three bedroom apartment with
like six people and stuff you know was
very very crowded so to be in a house
where I got my own room like that was
unheard of like I remember walking into
the room and I had this like huge
queen-size bed and I had like a little
desk and you know all these things and
to have like somebody say like here you
go Elena's like this is for you this is
your own space you know I was just so
overwhelmed and couldn't really even
believe that this was happening so it's
obviously a very new environment for me
and to just be you know around a
language that I didn't understand I mean
I don't really have a lot of memories of
that the only one that I remember is
actually my first day in playschool that
was absolutely horrible I wouldn't let
my mom like drop me off and leave me
because I was so terrified you know of
just being by myself and to not be able
to like communicate with any of the kids
so she literally had to stay with me the
whole day because I wouldn't let her go
yeah play school was actually a write
off completely because I think it wasn't
until the end of like kindergarten and
like early grade one where I started you
know speaking English really well and
you know being more confident with
making friends but yeah play school was
pretty much just terrible because I
couldn't understand what was going on
and I remember getting in trouble and
like sent on timeouts for I don't even
know what because I didn't understand
what they were saying
other than the hard-knock life of play
school I think I did really start to
enjoy Canada and to also like be out in
nature in the part of the country where
we were living and to like have a dog
and to be able to just like run around
our yard because it was kind of like a
section right on the outskirts of town
so we had like a huge backyard
my dad had you know one of his pieces of
land right beside it that he farmed and
it was just really quiet
really peaceful and anytime that we went
to the city was always very interesting
I actually remember going to superstore
which if you don't know is like the
Canadian version of Walmart let's say
and it's basically a really big grocery
store but they do sell other things in
there and I was just like fascinated
with it I was like just had my mind
blown by it because I had never been in
a store that big and especially like to
see so much food like even though I
wasn't there when the stores were
basically empty in you know Ukraine with
the Soviet Union the only kind of like
food markets that we had ever gone to at
the time was just like open-air you know
like markets that were on the street or
something like that just even like
shopping carts I had never seen shopping
carts before and another funny thing was
like you know the automatic sliding
doors those things totally freaked me
out because I remember like looking at
them before I got close to them and I'm
like how are you supposed to get inside
like there's no you know handle on the
doors and wire the door so big like I
don't understand like what are these
magical contraptions and then the closer
we got and people were like going in and
they were opening on their own I was
like oh my god like what is this magic
yeah it was basically like luxury living
times a million for me and it was really
you know a stark contrast for every
single time we would go back because I
think when I was younger we were able to
go back you know maybe once a year or so
and then once I got a little bit older
it was maybe once every two years or so
to go back to visit family and I mean
even now when I go back to you know
compare how the average person lives in
Ukraine compared to Canada it's crazy
because even though you can't say that
Ukraine is a third-world country
it's definitely so unstable and so
difficult to get by in in comparison to
Canada you can have a good education and
you know you can work so very hard and
it is still going to be a struggle for
you to put food on the table and to
even you know have a home that you don't
share with every single member of your
family it's just a very different kind
of lifestyle for the average person and
you have to work so much harder to you
know get the things that we take for
granted every day I know how lucky I am
to live in this country and you know
when I was granted my citizenship at 20
years old it was a really big moment for
me because to you know have the passport
in my hand of being a Canadian and
having all the rights and privileges
that come with that is such a huge thing
and I think if you're born into it
unless you do spend a lot of time abroad
and you know see the world that is not
as you know silver spoon said as you are
you know you really don't appreciate how
easy you have it no I don't mean that
Canada is like perfect and there's no
room for improvement there is a lot of
room for improvement as can be set with
every country but at the same time I
think it's obviously very apparent that
we do have it so much better than so
many other places and that we can afford
to help others and to reach out and you
know give aid wherever we can so I think
we just have to hold on to that
you know humility of the opportunities
that so many people here have by
birthright that others don't but yeah
that is basically the story that I
wanted to tell you guys today and for
you to get to know me a little bit
better so I hope you enjoyed it and
maybe you can relate if you are from
another country or even if your parents
immigrated and told you stories it was
obviously much easier for me to adapt
life in Canada being such a young child
than it was my mom because if you think
about it to make such a huge move as an
adult you know from the country that
you've spent your entire life with to
just move it across an ocean to a place
that is totally different than where you
came from and to be around a lang
that you know you haven't completely
learned yet and to not be able to do the
profession that you've done all your
life and to have to pretty much start
from scratch on everything is just such
a huge adjustment and I'm so grateful to
my mom for you know giving me that kind
of opportunity because obviously she
knew that our opportunity in Ukraine
would be very very grim in comparison so
you know I really thank her from the
bottom of my heart for making such a
huge sacrifice for me and also for my
dad who is my number one cheerleader and
my best friend to you know support me as
a stepfather even though he's obviously
my dad in such big ways I've really been
blessed with the best parents ever
really is amazing to just be here right
now and to have the opportunities I do
and I really do love my heritage and you
know where I came from and it's
obviously always going to be a part of
me and I'm very proud to be both
Ukrainian and Russian and Canadian all
of them all together but yeah that's
basically what I wanted to share with
you guys today so if you have emigrated
from another country or if your parents
did or if you just have a commentary on
it I would love to hear all about it
please post down in the comments below
and I would love to hear all of your
stories but until then I hope you guys
are having a spectacular day keep being
your own kind of beautiful and I will
see you soon
bye guys
[Music]