My journey as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine.
Hello! Привіт!
I joined the Peace Corps in 2017 looking for a unique adventure, to experience life in a different culture, and to serve others. I created this site to share my experience.
If you’d like to get in touch, please sent me a note through my contact page.
~Johnny Ukraine
It’s March 2019, and I’m sitting in my apartment in Mykolaiv flipping through my Lonely Planet Ukraine guidebook, looking for an adventure to coincide with my Peace Corps medical checkout, which would be my next-to-last trip to Kyiv before my service ends. Of all the places I want to see, it’s Chernobyl, the site of …
The Russian-Ukrainian war returned to world news headlines with the ramming and firing upon of two Ukrainian gunboats by the Russian navy in the Kerch Strait on Nov. 25, 2018. It was news I awoke to via a text message from Peace Corps. A quick check of the news confirmed this wasn’t a drill. So …
After meeting the Peace Corps’ nine-month requirement of living with Ukrainian host families, it was time for me to spread my wings and try the independent living option. Looking for a place is never fun, but apartment hunting in a foreign country is even more of a challenge. I started by looking on OLX.com, a …
Hi, I’m John Schmelig—aka Johnny Ukraine—a Peace Corps community development volunteer who served in, you guessed it, Ukraine.
What brought me here? Well, in 2016 I turned the big 5-0. That milestone age that prompts us to re-evaluate and re-examine our lives. For a couple years leading up to 50, I constantly wondered what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I’d been living in Los Angeles for 23 years, nearly all of them in the same one-bedroom apartment. I worked as an advertising copywriter and internet marketing specialist, and loved to surf, but things had gotten stale. I needed a change of scenery. I wanted to shake things up.
While checking out Facebook during a slow day at a temp job, I came across a former coworker’s post showing his acceptance letter to the Peace Corps. What an adventure, I thought. Mention the Peace Corps to anyone and their response usually is, “Oh, I always thought I’d like to do that!” Well, as a bachelor with no kids and no debt, I thought, what the heck? I could do something out of the ordinary like that. Serving in the Peace Corps could change my life’s course; or at least give me some interesting stories to tell.
In June 2019, I completed my 27-month commitment. It was every bit the adventure I was looking for. Taking that leap, traveling halfway around the world, immersing myself in Ukraine and doing a small part in being of service is something I’m very proud of. This is my first blog—something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Come along for the ride and enjoy.
Thanks for reading,
Johnny Ukraine
Send me a message. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.