E005 Yulia Shvets

Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 0:00 your femininity is powerful in all its forms, exceptional women, rare girls must be appreciated in every way for their perspectives, actions, thoughts, and their unique ways of being. Such rare girls are inspiring. And this is what this podcast is all about. Hello, my name is Aziz and my guest today is Yulia Shvets, a translation student at Taurida National University of Vernadsky in Kyiv, born in Kostopil in the Rivne region, Yulia speaks French, English, Spanish, and is planning to learn two more languages. Yulia, how are you today? Yulia Shvets 0:58 I'm great. What about you? Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 1:00 I'm feeling positive. I'm feeling hopeful for the future. And I want to know something about you. How do you try to keep growing and developing as a person, even in such a stressful situation as the war? Yulia Shvets 1:21 What about this situation? In this situation, I, every day I remind myself that life still goes on. And thankfully, in my region, everything is peaceful now. So I can live my life. Like earlier. Not exactly like I lived earlier, but something similar. I will have lessons now. So I'm not cut out of life. Everyday we are learning something new. I go for a walk with my friends. I spend time with my family. I listen to music, I think I think also, I have some ideas about making clothes business. So I'm not bored. But sometimes this is the air sirens too loud, they can scare but now I'm used to it because it's been a month that a little bit more than a month that when the war begin. So I've used to it and it doesn't scare me now. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 2:43 Well, listen fortunate that a person such as yourself have to get used to air raid sirens. And you mentioned you have thoughts about a business you'll create that is making clothes. Can you tell me more about that? When did the idea come to you? How what will be different about your clothes you'll create and tell me more. Yulia Shvets 3:13 So it's not creating a new clothes. It's like, I will sell the clothes. It's like not a business like a business. But it's something similar because I can earn money on that. So I'm going to sell my clothes that that is stylish. And like the clothes that in like in fashion now. But I don't like it or when I bought the when I bought this, I didn't really thought if I will wear this. And in future it will be like minimum of money that I will have every month to live and it doesn't take so much time as a full time job. So it's a nice way to earn money or you know like for your makeup for your shampoos. They are quite expensive for my self care routine for even in this situation. I have to have some money to be sure that if the war will come to my town, I will have money to run away. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 4:41 I understand. And I want to know how do you feel when you're wearing clothes that are in fashion? Does it give you a feeling of femininity and beauty? Does it give you a feeling of strength and confidence, or both? Tell me more. Yulia Shvets 5:06 I feel confident, that's for sure. I feel then I feel myself a dangerous woman from for time. and everything like that. Yeah, when you put a nice pair of shoes, the nice clothes, and if you add a nice smell and perfume, I am obsessed with the perfumes. I feel like I can rule the world if I can say like that. So yeah, maybe it's like stereotypic. But if you wash your hair, and dress nicely, yeah, you have a lot of self confidence and self confidence is the key to reach your goals. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 5:57 What does it mean for you to be a farm farm? Yulia Shvets 6:04 Farm fertile. I wanted to say in French, I'm sorry. Farm fat time. For me it's like to be a successful woman who knows what she wants, who knows who she is. To create to create yourself every day and to know that tomorrow will be even better day a better opportunities, new people new consequences, new experience. And like, when you look back, and you see that you have grown, if I can say like that. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 6:49 Yes, that sounds really wonderful. And you're focusing on saying farm and woman. And since this podcast is about girls and women, what is it to you femininity and being a woman? Is it an energy? Is it things that you do? Is it the way that you look? What is it? And what is to you a man? How do you experience a masculine man? Is it the energy? Is it feeling of protection? One of the girls that I interviewed actually said she likes feminine boys because she feels more confident and strong with them. And that's her thing. So tell me for you about the meaning of femininity, and masculinity and how you experience them. Yulia Shvets 7:43 So what about men, I would say that I don't feel like very feminine guys. Because I don't feel really protected with them. But if the guy is too much masculine, like, he hints that he can, like, hit you if you do something wrong. Or even if I have a small hint about that, about his physical abilities, let's say like that, I It's like, allow for me to be careful with him. And man, it's, for me, it's a person who like in relationship is a person who makes your life a bit better. Because in a relationship, I guess the most important part is the goal of having a relationship is to feel yourself with your partner more comfortable, more, like protected, more happy to know that someone is waiting for you. And that the there is there is always someone that who will help you support you. And like I didn't know about. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 9:27 I have a question related to the farm title, because the stereotype will be that a farm titled can protect herself can do everything. And yet, it's important for you to have a feeling of protection from a man. So these seem to be two contradictory ideas. How is it both for you important to feel protected and to feel like a farm cytol At the same time, or is there an explanation that you can get And Yulia Shvets 10:02 so for me from for time, it's not about a strong women who don't, who doesn't need no body, and she can fix her life by herself. And she doesn't need any help from anyone. But she's so self confident and successful that she can be like, I love you, I like you. We live together, we can be like, together for a few years, so I don't know or even married. But if you will disrespect me, or if you start to do some crazy things, we will be apart. And I will not regret about that. Maybe a few days, but not more. Because she knows who she is. And she will not stand someone in her life. Who doesn't make her life more colorful. Let's say like that. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 11:12 I like that. You mentioned colorful life perfume, shampoo, the clothing, it's somewhat girly yet at the same time. You said you're not so girly? In a way? Is this correct? Or how are both possible? Yulia Shvets 11:34 What do you mean by girly? How? How do you stand as what girl very Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 11:39 feminine? Yulia Shvets 11:42 Girls, it's not only about clothing, and makeup, and hairstyles is about? I don't know. Maybe? You know, there is a book called? I don't know, in English, how is it called? It's called, like, women are from Venus, and the men are from Mars. And the idea of this book is to they say that we are very different. But we have but in the same time we have so much in common in Ukrainian there is beautiful, saying but I don't know how to say this in English. Maybe I will try. We are different. But we are about the same things. Do you understand me? Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 12:45 I understand. 100%. Thank you. And you mentioned the importance of feeling confident. Another girl I interviewed and spoke with. She said actually she needs that feeling of confidence. Because she has some things that she's insecure about. And therefore when she's confident she doesn't think about those things, and it's important for her in this way. Is it similar to you? Yulia Shvets 13:19 Oh, I don't think that confidence and self insecurities can be like, in one person. Because if you're confident you're confident, if you have some insecurities, you have insecurities, maybe like small insecurities like I don't know, my personally I have I didn't know this word, but I don't have straight thumps. They are a bit a bit. I love this word. I'm sorry. And it's like it's a small insecurity and it's not ruining my life. So is this insecurity is like this, it's okay. But if you if you think oh, I'm so ugly, I am useless. And then your eyeliner or new hairstyle will not help you with that. It's not confidence too, like confidence stays with you every day. And this is like there are people that have some ways to cover up their insecurities by I don't know traveling, putting some makeup by in an apartment. But in the end of the day, they will still be disappointed or self insecure. So if you're confident you don't need to prove it to everyone. You didn't need to have I forgot this water. So you didn't need confirmation maybe from other people that you are good. You know that by yourself. So, if she's, I would like to talk with her to know what what are her insecurities to develop this this topic but I since I don't know about what just talk she's talking she's talking about I can't say exactly yes insecurities can be like deep inside like no one will allow me insecurities can be I have bad nails I have not straight to thumps insecurities can be like I have awful eyebrows and someone has insecurities about their scars as someone everyone there is a beautiful saying let me sink see since one second when everybody, everybody loves you, but nobody likes you. And that is the status field in the world. And in this case, I guess. No. No, no sucks. Success or, like, money can fix that. If you feel yourself, can I swear? Yes. If you feel yourself like a piece of shit, and no one and nothing will help you that only you only yourself can help yourself with that. Only yourself can pull you out of this sadness, depression, this dark thoughts, and no one will save you if you don't save yourself Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 17:15 100% And to ask you, do you feel you're beautiful? Yulia Shvets 17:24 Ah, yes, I feel that I'm beautiful. But it can be like, it has a lot of meanings to be beautiful. You have you can have a beautiful face a beautiful body. But you have an ugly soul. Sometimes. Honestly, sometimes I can be an awful person, like an asshole. But I I'm trying to deal with it. And to become a nice, paid more nice person. So maybe about my how to say this. Maybe if we are talking about my communication with some people or thumbs up or something like that. I can be not beautiful sometimes. But in general, I'm a nice person, I feed the homeless cats. I can give my clothes to somebody who needs it. And I give some money to charity, or on charity. I don't know. And I'm not like an awful person. But sometimes when I'm really angry, furious upset, I can disappoint some people by my attitude. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 18:53 Thank you. That's really, really interesting, all the facets to your personality. And since the war is happening now, how do you feel? Maybe it changed you as a person or did the situation just make you simply stronger but not really change you or make you see things in a different way? Yulia Shvets 19:20 Personally was like kind of fame confirmed to me that you don't have to regret about wasted time on someone or money because in that moment, you were happy you were you were happy, cheerful. Delighted you was like enjoying your life, enjoying your time. Maybe it was the person who treated you badly or you spent too much money on a restaurant. It's the Okay, because you don't know if the next day will be a war, or apocalypse or I don't know, anything. Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 20:10 Very, very, very true. What do you feel will be the next? When it comes to Ukraine? Do you think the war will finish soon? If it stays longer? Do you plan to go to Europe? Because I know now you're still inside Ukraine or it's your home, you'll stay there as long as possible? Or what do you feel about the future? Yulia Shvets 20:38 So I'm not a politician, so I can't really tell when the war will end. But what I know exactly that we will have a victory, Ukraine will win. And we will have an amazing party all around Ukraine. With how songs with the tongs with a stone from Poland, maybe you know, about that awful dictator whose name starts on the letter P. And I am not planning to go to Europe, because I have nothing to do that. I don't have relatives that are friends. And I don't see my future there. Because of course, I would like to travel to go to Europe to see different cities meet new people make new consequences. And but I wouldn't like to stay there for my whole life because my my home country is Ukraine. So I will be here as like, till the end. I know exactly that we will win. But I don't know the day or the date when it will happen. I don't know. And of course I hope that it will add zoom because everyone wants their regular life. And I really story for people who who had their houses destroyed, their lives destroyed. And it's really traumatizing really sad. But we have to go through it to become even more strong and independent country. We are like finishing the work that our ancestors yeah, I forgot this one. We are finishing what our ancestors done. They have been doing this for their whole life. It's now it's like 456 I don't know how many centuries we are fighting for our nation for our country for our independency and it will end in a few months. I guess it will be a big.in our fights in our was and I add to my mind, no one will come to us and make bullshit like like that. Because everywhere all around Europe, where you go you can see Ukrainian flexes rhenium symbol symbols. And it's great because people who who left their home can like find a piece of their country in every city. And it's very pleasantly this see that everyone helps us as much as they can. Especially Paul and yeah, I'm really impressed but France is like two faced Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 24:31 understand what you mean. Also, many people said that this war made every person in Ukraine maybe double as patriotic or 10 times in an instant. Do you feel that way? Like even some people who before thought about leaving to go live in Canada or Europe who are now saying no I want to stay Ukrainians my country I want to rebuild it whenever Everybody is more patriotic? Did you notice this? Do you feel it in yourself? What are your thoughts? Yulia Shvets 25:08 I, I have always loved my country. There's no doubt in it. But I always had this like bad thoughts on Russian people. And now they are confirmed if I can say like that, because now we will see that almost all of them are full of shit. And when we shouldn't have some connections with them, even if they are your relatives or friends, you have to cut it cut, cut it out, like bad. Data No, like a cut out like a cancer, you know? Because it drew they have been ruined in our lives and culture for the whole centuries. And this can this can this can't be forgiven? That's for sure. And what's in this war, there is at least one positive moment. It's that that a lot of people understand that our language Ukrainian language is so important that I can't even explain because it's obvious. I hate the expression what is the difference? Which language do is speak? There is a difference. The war have confirmed that because if if a person from a Low German if he speaks French at work at home, he posts everything on his social media in French, how would I know that he's German. He can love Germany or be a patriot, very patriotic. But in in our situation, we must cut out Russian language, Russian culture, Russian books, Russian songs, and all of it because it keeps us connected with the country aggressor. And with this. People with empty heads, empty hearts, and to not have anything in common with this. Not even country. Just a piece a piece of land where we're with people with no history, who steal all of what can be stolen. History culture music, favorites, people, artists. I don't know inventors, they have stolen all of that. I reserved ski Warhol totem Czajkowski perhaps Yeah, all of these people it's it's even a few I mentioned on the if you're artists licks, let's say like that. But they they say that it's a Russian artists, but it's Abdulaziz M Alhamdan 28:49 not. I admire your patriotism. I thank you so much, Yulia. It was a privilege and honor and a great time to listen to you. And I wish you peace, progress. And hopefully good news soon. Thank you. Thank you, too.