Research Project Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project - Research Paper Example Ukrainian language is related to Russian (Kubicek 2008). However, grammatically, it more closely resembles Polish and Czech. Due to the fact that Ukraine has not been integrated with Europe for over 70 years (as a result of the Soviet Union), there are few English speakers available to an â€Å"English only† tourist (Risch 2011). As such, it would be a strong recommendation to obtain a tour guide and/or hire a native speaker who could act to guide the tourist as well as negotiate prices. The culture displays many nuances that a Westerner would not fully understand unless it was explained to him/her. For instance, like many Asian cultures, Ukrainians are very prone to remove their shoes prior to entering into a house or place of employment. Slippers are often provided for guests so that they can conveniently remove their shoes while still having something to cover their feet while moving around inside. Furthermore, whereas one might be tempted to put one’s feet up on the couch or rest them on a chair, such a practice is frowned upon in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. Similar to many Mediterranean cultures, Ukrainians often express themselves using high levels of body language. Whereas those from a more Anglo-European background would find this waving of hands and other gestures to be out of the ordinary, even rude, they are used to great effect to convey meaning, levels of irritation, expressions of finality, and frustration with a given topic or person. Due to the effects of communism, many people are non-religious and/or atheist. However, the historical strength of the Orthodox Church is gaining in influence and it is difficult to go very far without seeing the onion domes of the Orthodox churches that dot the countryside. Although the exterior of these churches do not closely mirror those that a Western European or American might be familiar with, the theology of belief is very much similar to that of the Catholic Church from which the Orthodox Church originally derived. The Orthodox Church, or more specifically the Eastern Orthodox Church (to distinguish it from its Greek counterpart) was born from the schism that resulted from the sacking of Constantinople by the Romans during the 1st Crusade (Korostelina 2011). Resultantly, the church leaders in Constantinople (currently Istanbul) decided that they no longer wanted to be considered under the same religious umbrella that Rome placed over them. Consequently, the Orthodox Church was born into existence. It is hard to over-emphasize the importance of the Orthodox Church as it relates to Eastern Europe and specifically Ukraine. This can be understood for a number of reasons but mostly due to the fact that during the days of the Russian Empire (of which Ukraine was a part), the Orthodox Church was considered on equal place with the Tsar (Velychenko 2007). One may remember seeing the double headed eagle that represented Imperial Russia. The eagles’ heads r epresent the head of the state and the head of the church (metropolitan). These metropolitans were and are similar in nature to the position that is occupied by the Pope in Rome. As such, these religious leaders held a great deal of power over the nation and the laws that affected it up until the Bolshevik Revolution. An example of