Ukrainian lifestyle
Speaking about modern Ukrainian customs and traditions, it is necessary to emphasize that Ukrainians are proud of their colorful folk culture. They love good food and drink and have a zest for life.
Most of the middle-class and lower-class urban Ukrainian families live in flats in multi-story buildings; only fairly wealthy people can afford to build cabins inside or outside the city.
Ukrainians have a deep love for the land. Many families have small country houses, called “dacha”. They are capable of growing almost anything in their manicured gardens, orchards, and farms. Some people grow food only for personal consumption. They spend time canning vegetables and making compotes of various fruits during the summer to get them through the long, cold winters. They always have something in their houses to serve to the guests.
An average modern Ukrainian family has two parents and usually one or two children. At the same time, there is a growing number of single-parent families, usually headed by a woman raising one child. As in many other countries, there are quite a few single young people living together and sharing a home. Raising a child in Ukraine is now very expensive; that is why many couples decide to have only one child, or even not to have children. Children tend to live with their parents long after they finish school. Sometimes children have to depend on their parents for financial matters, as the unemployment rate among young people is very high. A newly married couple often lives with either parent because they do not have the money to buy or rent a house or flat of their own. Often one or both grandparents live with their children and help care for young children. Grandparents play a big role in raising children in Ukraine.
In the village, families tend to be larger and the whole family works together on the farm (or on a piece of land they own). Most of the parents who live in the countryside want their children to get a higher education, so they send them to study in the big cities. After 5 years of study, the children get used to the city lifestyle and rarely return home.
In their fight for survival, people become less dependent on each other within families. But still parents think that it is important to teach their children daily skills and basic life values. The result of a recent national survey showed that the most important values that parents want to teach their children are honesty, common sense, determination, responsibility, good manners and obedience to parents. Adults believe that children should be brought up to expect that they will have to struggle to succeed.
Like most people, Ukrainians like holidays and fun. They usually try to cook a lot of tasty dishes and invite a lot of friends and family to their places. Another thing that Ukrainians love to do is talk (while walking, in cafes and restaurants, or at home over a cup of tea or coffee or other drinks). Conversation tends to be light, relaxing, humorous, and sometimes philosophical. Many Ukrainians enjoy picnics in the woods or somewhere on the water at almost any time of the year. Picnics often include shashlik, or roast meat, homemade salads, and sometimes alcohol. Ukrainians love to sit around the fire in the evening and eat snacks, drink and sing songs with a guitar.
The most popular outdoor sports in Ukraine are football, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, and hiking (walking through the woods). Gyms have popped up everywhere. Yoga and martial arts are also very popular. Mountaineering and rock climbing clubs can be found. Diving, yachting, and even golf have recently become available. All kinds of extreme sports (bungee jumping, rafting, mountain biking, caving, etc.) and in general all forms of active recreation (hiking, cycling, sailing, horse riding, skiing, etc.) are becoming more and more popular in Ukraine. ). . .).
Not everyone will do the things that we have described above. The culture of some Ukrainians will seem incomprehensible and intolerable to you, while the behavior and attitudes of others will seem rational and compatible with yours.