Living in a different country and a different culture makes you think about your stuff. The lines between categories of material possessions become more defined – what things you need to live, what things you need to be happy, what things you can do without. Whether it’s good or bad, we spend more time here thinking about what we have and don’t have, what we need and don’t need, what we’d like to have but just can’t find, and what we’d like to have, but can do without. We’ve developed these thought patterns mostly because our friends and colleagues here have less material things than our friends and colleagues in the States. It’s become more obvious to me in the last year that what you think you need to live depends a lot on those around you. For example, during the 16 months that we’ve been in Ukraine, I’ve purchased a total of one item of clothing. A sweater. Dave bought two: two pairs of long johns. It’s not because we don’t have money to buy clothes, it’s just that the clothes we have are enough. The people I spend time with here rarely buy new clothes, let alone new clothes for every season, so I don’t either. If I did, I would stick out. When we went home in August, I rooted through my boxes to find some summer clothes (which I hadn’t brought with me when we came) and brought back a big stack to Ukraine. Soon after we arrived, I realized that I should’ve brought about half as much as I did. Wearing a different new outfit every day for a couple weeks made me feel strange, overdressed. This topic came to my mind a few weeks ago as temps rose to around freezing and I decided that it was warm enough to wear something else than my three warmest sweaters (which I’ve worn all winter). Although it feels good to not be so influenced by the need for a frequently updated wardrobe, I’ll admit that I am ready for some more variety.
Laura
