Happiness in Ukraine

Happiness in Ukraine

Many foreigners comment on how unhappy Ukrainians look on regular day-to-day basis. They don't automatically smile like people in the West, or people in the East for that matter, and this can be somewhat off putting for the western tourist. This feature does not so much indicate the actual inner state of the Ukrainian, but more points to an important cultural quirk.

Whereas Ukrainians complain that the western smile is fake; and we are not showing our true feelings, I think mostly this is not true. We smile simply because that is what is the accepted cultural norm. If we don't smile in certain social situations it can be interpreted (perhaps subconsciously) as rudeness or even aggressiveness. In the West smiling is a necessity and eases social interaction. When I first lived in Ukraine, it always struck me how upon meeting someone for the first time they often wouldn't smile. Only later they did I realise that they don't smile because their culture does not demand it. They are not being unfriendly by not smiling; in Ukraine to smile or not smile is at the discretion of the individual.

Living in Ukraine has given me many insights into the concept of happiness. In soft and easy Britain (my home country), many people claim that life is difficult and a constant struggle. After living in Ukraine, it seems to me that the only real reason life in Britain is hard is because people make it hard. It is an artificial hardness that shouldn't really exist. In the whole history of space and time on this planet, in many ways no one has had it easy as British people have it today, but still many people there lead a turbulent life under a background of regular anxiety.

It seems to me that the primary reason for this is due to expectation; in which the richer we get as a society the more we expect in order allow ourselves any semblance of contentment. As long as we know that there are people above us, buying things we can't afford to buy and doing things we can't afford to do, it can be difficult to feel fully satisfied with what we have. Perhaps, with mass communication and the consequent ability people have from every country to see how the rest of the world lives, mankind at present is as a result unhappier than it’s ever been before. Never before in the past have the inhabitants of the world had such a great opportunity to find out what they haven’t got.

Ukrainians are taking part in this process. They compare their standard of living to the standard of living of westerners, as seen through TV, and of course they fall short almost every time. This leads to discontentment and consequent unhappiness. It is hard for developing economies such as Ukraine not to become overly materialistic, when they are sold every day on the idea that materialism brings everlasting happiness. The Ukrainians that have had a brush with western life tend to have a healthier attitude to this, as they realise that life in the West really isn’t quite as its made out to be on TV, and often they have a more balanced view about their own existence in Ukraine.

A feeling of particular pleasure with what one buys and consumes seems to occur in part when that item is on the edge of what is affordable by the consumer. The actual physical pleasure derived from consuming may be no higher than when consuming something more simple and everyday. What this does mean is that many what have become every day foodstuffs, such as oranges, and now gobbled down without much attention given to their pleasure giving properties. When I first came to Ukraine (but not any more) oranges were an expensive treat for special occasions; their purchase was always on the edge of the financial possibilities of the consumer; and how much people here loved oranges! Now people most in Ukraine can afford oranges, and to re-create the pleasure they received from buying oranges a few years ago, they now buy mangos or some other expensive tropical treat.

In my view, one of the main problems that the average Ukrainian suffers from is that workers have little protection and few rights, and there is not a minimum wage of any worth. This means that bosses are free to treat their employees as they would, and pay them ridiculously low wages. My good friend, for instance, worked in a hotel on the coast of Crimea last summer where a room costs $200 a night. She received a meagre $100 a month for 40 hours a week cleaning these rooms, and to top it off, at the end of summer she was not paid the full amount she was owed. Such working conditions are not conducive to happiness, and I hope measures will be taken in the coming few years to relieve this situation. More than anything Ukraine needs a decent and enforceable minimum wage. This can only be good for the overall happiness of Ukrainians.

Pessimistic in character, I feel that there is more for Ukrainians to be positive about than they make out. The country is developing fast, and many positive changes are gradually taking place. Their turbulent history makes it hard for Ukrainians to truly believe that things are getting better, and more importantly, are going to continue to get better. Ukraine is a country whose inhabitants have suffered enough, but for whom the time has surely come for an extended period of stability, development and continuing enlightenment.

Fortunately, most tourists who travel to Ukraine, and particularly Crimea, have a very happy time, full in the knowledge that they are visited an enchanting part of the world which is packed full of fascinating sights and sounds. To find out more about visiting Crimea in southern Ukraine, please go to http://www.accesscrimea.com