Random thoughts and an apology

'Sorry on Australia Day-sky writing, National Apology Day 2014, National Sorry Day' photo (c) 2010, butupa - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Hi everybody! I am very sorry for being silent. I always say that you have to set your priorities right and have to treat your blog as a part of your business and then it will thrive. But I guess I just experienced something like a personal crisis.

It definitely had something to do with the latest political situation. Really, you have to be blind not to know about the news concerning Ukraine, Russia and the Crimea. I come from a multi-national family, so I have a lot of relatives in Ukraine, in the Crimea and I dearly love all of them. Being partly a Ukrainian, I love Russia where I grew up, and I love Ukraine. So this crisis is the time when I thought for the first time that speaking more than one language can be a curse... Because I could read the Russian articles, could understand some of what the Ukrainian authors wrote, and could surely read and understand the publications in the European and American mass media.... And it made me sick. This whole situation just makes my heart bleed. It's bleeding for my family in Ukraine and in Russia. And every time I read an article filled with hatred towards the Russians, or the Ukrainians, my heart bleeds. So I just had no strength left for writing. When will the governments of the US, Europe, Russia and Ukraine finally understand that it's real people whose lives they are playing with? I don't know...

May I ask you something? If you comment on this post, please don't try to impose your view on the conflict. Because that's what everybody else has been doing. Only the most lazy people haven't expressed their opinion yet.... Let's just pray for peace and understanding. I've been praying for it and will continue to do so until I see results.

And I've also been preparing for my next course for Russian-speaking translators. I am attempting to do a three-week course in social media marketing for Russian colleagues. It's a new format for me, so I've been preparing like crazy. Hope everything will go smoothly.

Sorry this is not a very optimistic post. But for me it's still a good sign. Because it means my desire to write is coming back. And the first good news is: tomorrow I am going to recommend a new colleague, so you have to check my blog and see who it is :) It will be a very interesting interview, I promise!

Have a great day! I wish you peace.

Olga Arakelyan,
Your Professional Translator

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