Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorced mother. She is my superhero. That's
why it's important for me to support women, to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives, and emotions about this world. In these difficult times in human history,
we need to bring the cultures of the world together. And when we listen to real people,
to real lives of women from other countries, we connect our humanity without our differences
or stereotypes, and we get inspired by their stories to live a better life. That's what this
podcast is all about. My guest today is Rima Holokolosova. Rima is from a little town in the
east of Ukraine and now living and studying in a gymnasium in Germany. She loves football, drawing,
and playing the ukulele. Rima, how are you today? Hi, hello, I'm fine. Thank you. I'm really glad
to be here. Thank you for having me. And this is like really big honor for me, because I heard a
lot about you and your podcast, and I listen to a lot of podcasts by my friends. So, yes. It's my
privilege and my honor to know you better, to share about you in this episode. And thank you
for participating. My first nice question is, if your friends could describe your personality,
what would they say about you? So, they would probably say that I'm funny and brave, I guess.
I'm really supportive and like a sunny person. I always find something good in whatever is happening,
and yes, I can say that they really appreciate me. I love that. That sounds wonderful. And so,
when you meet new people, I don't know if it was difficult for you to make new friends in Germany,
or you were able to do it easily. What do you look for? Are you looking for people who are
positive and sunny, similar to you? Are you looking for people from totally different background and
interests and cultures, so that you discover something new? Or just sincere, honest people
who you feel they are being themselves, and you can be yourself without judgment? Or what else?
You know, everyone is different, and that's what I love in people. I really easily make friends,
because I really like meeting new people. And yes, for me, it's quite important when people
are like me. They are funny and like always into some activities, always are going somewhere and
finding out about something new. Yes, that's it. That's wonderful. And I'm curious even more
about you. So, you have your hobbies, you have your interests. Nowadays, what do you do in order
to keep your mental health during difficult times? What are some things you can do there in Germany
that give you the feeling of forgetting all your troubles and problems? Well, at first,
I have a lot of online friends. Like, I don't need to see them if I can text them sometimes,
and they are really supportive. I really love them and I appreciate them. And they always help me.
This is like the most important. And then I understand that like once a week, you need to
get some rest, you need to cry, you need to think about something bad. And when you feel
a little bit better, then you're ready to do something that you like, and you do it like
better. And actually, the fact that I really like playing football is really meaningful for me.
I really like playing football. I forget about everything. I forget about troubles and some
problems that I have. Yes, and this is like all about my hobbies. Every hobby helps me to relax,
to rest, and to forget about some problems. Thank you. I noticed you mentioned about helping people,
they help you, that they're useful in a way. And some people will think, oh my God, if what is
important in your relationship with people is that they're useful, they help you in some way,
maybe that's superficial or whatever, and I'm playing the devil's advocate here. How is that
conciliated or how do you think about that if you like people for their personality and who they are
compared for liking them because they do things for you? How is it different? What's the consistency
between it? What would you say to people who say, oh, if you like someone because they help you,
then you don't really like them. If any other person was helping you, you would like that other
person instead. I should say that the way people are trying to help other people, this is what
shows their personality. And I guess personality is the main quality for me when I choose friends
or people I'm going to spend time with or make friends with. Because for me, this is really
important when a person can help others because it shows how kind he is and how, I don't know,
how he's ready to be always right next to you. Thank you. And can we speak a bit about football?
How did you fall in love with it? What's the story of your beginning, your experience with football
and what made you really feel fascinated by it? When I was 11 years old, I had a lot of friends
and a lot of maybe five or seven people. They were a bit older than me and they showed me a really
good game, exactly football. I don't know how it happened, but I just literally fell in love with
it. You can say that there is nothing special about this and maybe some people even say that
this is a stupid game, but not for me. I just feel really, I don't know, football is inspiring me
every time, always. And it reminds me about my friends and the time when I was a bit younger
and there was not so much problems. Thank you so much. And I know it's a very difficult situation
and the war started 10 years ago in the Donbass region. And now the invasion, it was on February
24th, the full-scale war. How was that day for you? Where were you in that moment? Did you hear some
explosions? What was going on? Did you believe it or not? And then what is your story of you moving
from Ukraine to Germany? So my father is really, I guess, a clever person and smart. And he is
following all the news. He was following all the news and he said that there is a possible invasion
before a month before the actual invasion. And all my family was really worried about this.
They were shocked that everything that my dad says became true. It was mind-blowing. And the
moment, the last day before war, he told us that there is maybe, will be an invasion. And this
feeling, this nerves that we felt was like, I can't even describe it. We fell asleep at half of,
I don't really remember in what time we fell asleep, but it was kind of really
early. And the moment I felt when I opened my eyes and I heard explosions, it was, no, I can't
describe it. It was something that I didn't want to believe. My hands were shaking and my whole body
was shaking. And when my mom was trying to wake me up, but I already was awake, everyone was so
shocked. And we already thought about to go to Kharkiv, if you know this city, because we thought
that Russia started an invasion just in Donbass. But then we heard the news and we understood that
the whole Ukraine was in really big explosions. That was really, really unbelievable. That was
the worst feeling I ever felt. And then we decided to go to my aunt, because we live not so far away
from her. And if we do something, we always do something with her and her family. And then
it was like a time I didn't even remember. We were just sitting without any explosions,
because our territory was already occupied, because there were no big army in our territory,
because Ukraine didn't have a really, really big army for that time, that they could protect
everything in Ukraine, every region in Ukraine, because they were all fighting for Kiev. That's
what I completely understand, because the war is quite difficult. And we were sitting in silence
and trying to decide what to do, what is going to be next. And when we started to leave a little bit,
when we started to leave, actually, to start to understand what is going on, there were
really a lot of nerves. And after a month of the war, we started to think that we cannot be
occupied, that we need to move somewhere. We found out about our friends in Germany, and they helped
us. They found a house where we can live. And right now we are here. And I guess that was the best
decision that was made during the war, because to be here is really a big opportunity to
leave. Because you can go ahead, you can study, you can do what you liked, and then
to grab some power and go back to Ukraine when everything is over, and continue to live in
free country, and to finally see your relatives. For example, my grandma is still
occupied. And I didn't see her like already seven months, which is quite difficult for me, because
she's everything for me. She supports me all the time. And the only thing I can do right now is
just call her. But this is not enough for me. I understand how emotional and difficult that is
for you. And all I can say is Slava Ukraini. My name is Slava. Thank you, Rima. And to ask you about
the culture. First, you come from a little town in the east of Ukraine. How does that make your
culture? Are you like a traditional, deeply Ukrainian, in every way kind of person? Or
because of the internet, you are cosmopolitan, where you have Ukrainian roots with a mix
of like the UK, as well as Hollywood in the US, because of K-pop, some Korean, and anime gives
you some Japanese attitudes, and you're a mix of everything? Or how is that? If you could describe
a Ukrainian girl your age in 2022, before the war, maybe, how would her culture be, her thoughts,
her emotions, if she's growing not in a big city, but in a deeper part of Ukraine?
Well, before war, exactly big invasion to Ukraine, I didn't even think about how big is our culture.
Before this invasion, I was speaking only Russian, because we used to speak Russian in our region,
which is really awful, because every country should have their national language. So this is
100%. And after the big invasion, I started to speak only Ukrainian, and English, and learn
German. And I wasn't interested in about culture. And that's what I'm really mad about to myself,
to myself, because I was kind of stupid in this point. Because I guess that this is really important
for every Ukrainian person to know Ukrainian culture, to know Ukrainian traditions,
language, of course, and literature. I guess I really love literature, especially
after the big invasion, because I love reading some articles, some interesting
facts about Ukraine, and finding out about something I didn't know before.
And I have a friend, she's really brilliant in that. And you took an interview with her,
that was Martha Schwartz. And she's brilliant on this point. She knows really a lot. She's really
smart. And she's my idol. I want to be like her. I want to know as much as she knows.
So what I should say right now is that you should know the language of your country.
You should know the culture and traditions of your country. Because this is your history.
This is all about your country. Yes. I agree 100%. And the culture of Ukraine is very rich,
very deep, and very unique and interesting. And now that you have maybe seven months of
life in Germany, how would you compare the culture? How are German people and their attitudes or vibe
compared to Ukrainians? What are some things that are unusual to you that seem to be normal
in Germany? Can you share about your experience discovering that new culture?
I didn't find out a lot about German culture. But I can say something about people because
German people are completely different. I think I never met people like them before.
And I should say, I guess I have a right to say it, but I really like Ukrainian people more than
Germans, because I always think that when I see Ukrainian person, I know what he thinks about,
what they think about, because I feel like a connection with them. But I cannot say that I
have the same connection with German people. German people are slower than Ukrainian people.
They're completely different, as I said before. And education in Germany is slow, too. And
Germans are not worried about other countries, I guess. For example, in schools, they have only
German history. In that time, that Ukraine has the history that talks about the whole world,
the worst in every country that exists. And we are talking about this, and we understand
the reasons of this worse. And we can easily do not let them happen. But I cannot say the same
about Germans, because they don't even know why... Some of them don't even know why Russia
invaded Ukraine, and some of them don't even know why that Ukraine was a country before they thought
there was a part of Russia, that Ukraine was a part of Russia, which is really stupid and makes
me angry all the time. I understand how difficult that is for you. And yes, it's important for
people in the world to learn more and discover more about the cultures, histories, and real people
of other places. That's why this podcast shares more about real people and to know you even on a
deeper level. First, did you find it easy to make new friends in Germany? There is this idea that
people think, oh my God, Ukrainians are closed off. A lot of Ukrainian girls maybe have a poker
bitch face where they look angry all the time. I don't know if you had that experience of people
thinking you have an intimidating look or resting face, and that German people are maybe more open
compared to Ukrainians. But in reality, Ukrainian people are funny. They're very open and friendly.
While some people say that if you go to Germany, even after some years, it's not really possible
to make close friends because people don't open as much. What's your opinion on all of this?
I guess the main thing that I say is that it's way much difficult to make friends in another
country, even though I know English quite well, I guess. If I go to England and I will try to
make some friends, that will be easier. That will be difficult, still difficult, because, I don't know,
every people are not like... all the people are not like Ukrainians, because I can easily make
friends with Ukrainians, but Germans, no, they're not so open. They're not so, I guess, brave in
meaning that they are not open for something new, to do something new and to do new activities
and to make friends with you, to not look awkward or all the stuff. So, yeah, this is difficult
for me. As for a person who easily can make friends in Ukraine, it's really difficult for me to make
friends in Germany, yeah, because, I don't know, language, and as I said before, people are
completely different. Oh, what Germans actually think about Ukrainian people? Well, some of
German kids, which I'm studying in the gymnasium with, they are not interested in what is going on
in Ukraine right now, and they don't even know what Ukrainians are doing here, which is kind of
strange for me and weird, because, you know, how people cannot know about
wars that are happening right now. This is, this is weird. I have a class of people, a lot of Ukrainian
people, that, like every Ukrainian person that I've ever met was really, like me, I guess,
never wished anyone something bad or never was making a poker face, you know, as you said.
So, I guess, Germans are open for new Ukrainian friends, for new Ukrainian people,
but not making them really cool friends and close friends. Thank you. And I'm really curious about
this, even before this February 24th bigger war, Ukrainian people seem to have, or at least the
younger generation, a desire for new emotions and interest in new experiences, new adventures,
in trying new things, maybe new activities, volunteering, and to be open to other people from
other cultures and to try, like I said, a lot of new things. While, like you said, in Germany or
many other countries, people stay too much in their comfort zone. They don't like to try too
many adventures or new things, at least it's not as common as Ukrainians. What do you think is the
reason for this? I mean that Ukrainians are open to trying new things. Is it something from the
past or maybe they notice their parents because of the Soviet ideas, they didn't try too much and
they're like, no, I want to live a better life, or they have these dreams because of Netflix and all
that, to live the American dream, but it means to explore or be adventurous. Do you agree with this,
that Ukrainian people are more open to trying new things, to experiencing new emotions? And what do
you feel is the reason they have often such motivation? Yes, I am agree, because I don't
even know how to explain this. I just feel like Ukrainian people are going always to help you,
that they are special, that they are always open for something new. Yes, I guess the Soviet idea
is quite a great reason for this, because Ukraine wasn't a country at that time, you know,
that Russia, as the main country in Soviet, was the most important, I guess. And they always were
telling that Ukraine is not a country, that they are just like people that down below here,
which was really stupid. And then Ukrainians understood how difficult it is to be, to get
freedom. And they understood that they should do everything that would be interesting for other
people, that other people will find out about them, and to know them as such a great country,
and free country, and country where they can live, and the culture they can learn. Yes, I just feel
like Ukraine, and Ukrainian people is something special for me, and something that they can bring
a lot of good things in this world and to other people. I agree 100%. Thank you, Rima, so much.
This was my privilege, my honor to interview you. I wish you safety. I wish victory for Ukraine.
I wish you opportunities and success to you, your family, and every Ukrainian. And thank you again.
Thank you so much. It was an incredible opportunity, and I wish you a great day,
and I hope that we'll see each other someday.
