Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

On May 2, almost 30 embassies in Washington, D.C. invited the public to their open houses. The Embassy of Ukraine presented a rich educational and cultural program to the multicultural audience of the U.S. capital.

Washington is home to about 180 foreign embassies, chanceries and diplomatic missions. Such open houses provide a mutually beneficial enrichment. Guests enjoy a range of national cuisines from around the globe, attend concerts, watch movies, make crafts, and participate in other activities, while embassies take a chance to promote tourism opportunities.

As an average dweller of Washington, I also used an opportunity to enjoy this short trip around the world. Ethiopian music and cuisine from Ghana, Nigerian dances and body henna ornaments from Bangladesh and Pakistan, enormous variety of Malaysian food, picture taking in the Pakistani pre-wedding environment – all these activities attracted not only the guests who planned the visit in advance but also those who suddenly heard a loud music in the neighborhood and stopped by.

“I have always been interested in traveling and learning foreign languages,” told Kyiv Post a local artist Mrs. Dena Bergstrom. A third generation of Swedish immigrants, she speaks five languages and came to the event in Bangladeshi Embassy with her son Raemond, who is learning Japanese language and is going to China on a trip this coming summer.

Such events create a great opportunity for every country to present itself and frequently to change its image. “The word “flood” comes to mind to many people when they hear the word “Bangladesh,” the first secretary of Bangladesh Embassy, Monwar Hossain, said. “We would love to not only share our experience in disaster management with the world but also to tell about our achievements in women empowerment, education development and microfinance. We are a liberal democratic Muslim country.”

After visiting the Pakistani market and Nigerian dances, it was especially exciting to return home to the Embassy of Ukraine. There was a large stream of visitors, which included all generations and a big variety of origins. Guests were treated by traditional varenyky, poppy seed pie, and dried fruit soup uzvar. Manual workshops by pysanka artists Halyna Mudryj and Jurij Dobczansky demonstrated the details of this type of the Ukrainian arts. The whole house was decorated by embroidery, famous Ukrainian Petrykivka paintings, and an enormous variety of pysankas.

Traditional Hopak and Gipsy dances were performed by Fantaziya dance group from Baltimore (director Lev Ivashko); songs were sung by the Ukrainian Folk Choir of the Greater Washington Area. Musicians Solomia Gorokhivska and Solomia Dutkewych, frequent performers in Washington, brought their extensive experience to a larger audience.

At our embassy, I stopped by a group of young American students and asked them about their experiences of the day. They had already visited a number of embassies and were enjoying this real feast of cheerful spirit, which switched the community from a big variety of sad messages of the media to the positive attitudes. They said that the Ukrainian Embassy impressed them by the variety of educational and cultural activities and no attempts to boost sales. Not one of them had had any previous knowledge about our country before. I hope they learned a lot about the Ukrainian national flavor of diversity by immersing themselves in our arts and having fun