There`s less than a month left for the Eurovision Song Contest, that will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine. Despite it is a lot of helpful information from the British Embassy, I want to cover some aspects of local culture, which can help you to understand the people of Kyiv way of thinking.
Although Kyiv City is not considered as Megalopolis it is still a pretty big city with a 2 927 227 population. For comparison, it is as twice crowded as: Dublin, Helsinki, Oslo, Liverpool, Prague, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Marseille and Lyon. And the best way to navigate in such populous city – is follow to your location by a metro station. Sounds simple isn’t it? At least many of the locals act in this way. I would say that we have some sort of mental metro map, which is not necessarily include all the names of stations. But remembering all the station of your metro branch, which united by a certain color – it is the basic skill for any Kyiv youth. Also, it is creating some sort of boundary between you and the people from your branch – which you can consider as “neighbors“.
But what to do if you are introverted person and like to have some personal space around? – Then taxi is your choice. It is ten times more expensive than public transportation services, so most of the locals do not use it on an everyday basis (for this needs private driver suits better). All the taxi services can be divided into three classes: economy, business and luxury, and in most of the times if you do not need a specific model of automobile you would be served with a Daewoo Lanos or similar class with a regular price for town ride around of 5$. It is important to warn you do not catch the car from the streets. It is very out of local culture and only the most risky people doing this, because it is expected that you would get your car from a taxi call service. And one more thing. It is not written rule, and probably half of locals know this from life observation, that if you would sit next to driver – it is invitation to talk or more (usually it is concerns women). So if you just want to enjoy in your iPod album of the artist you came to support – back sit is your choice.
I hope this article was useful, and I wish you a great time during the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv.
Smith of meaning 