1) The food. Ukraine has arguably the richest soil on earth going down 5' in some places. It's so succulent, that everything that grows in it comes out in full health and the best manifestation of itself, so to speak. Tomatoes are full tomatoes. They exude an aroma from the other side of the table. Everything has full taste. Nothing is bland. Then, the majority of food is local and the variety of yogurts, milk, meats, fish, berries, etc is mind-boggling. Some people come here on culinary tours. Yes, they come here to eat.
2) Things are cheap here. Everything is almost four times cheaper than in the US. ( it's a sin to rejoice in it because it's the result of the war- the economy is struggling, but) for a tourist, it's way cheaper than, say, Thailand.
3) A large public transportation network that will take you anywhere in the country by train, bus and Uber. You don't need a car. In the city, you have thousands upon thousands of electric kick-scooters standing everywhere- which you can rent with an app. Just add your credit card, go 25 km and leave it. Someone else will pick it up and use it.
4) The present social structure is quite harmonious. After the pro-Russian regions cut themselves off, the national consciousness has consolidated. There are no ethnic riots, no large-scale identity politics. In present-day Ukraine, either you are a citizen of Ukraine or you are not.
5) There is no concept of a native-born citizen vs. a foreign-born citizen. By law, all are equal. One can come, become a citizen and run for any office, including that of the President. A %% of the population is not of ethnic Ukrainian origins, such as the Roma, ethnic Germans, ethnic Russians, Ashkenazi Jews. Tatar Muslims, etc. They carried out censuses in the past but now they stopped for a while. My understanding is, they introduced a question: Who do you consider yourself? And there is a box that you can check: Ethnic Ukrainian. Any citizen can check it no matter what his origin. It's really up to you if you want to be one. Many people just opted for checking it and that's just that. Anyone can become a full Ukrainian with no hyphenations. There are also no ethnic ghettos in Ukraine.
There are, however, villages that are populated by ethnic Turkic, Bulgarian, Moldovan, etc people, but they can also put " ethnic Ukrainian" and no one will mind.
6) People here like to dress up. The ladies walk down the street in multicolored and multi-pattern dresses, skirts, shirts, suits, etc., like it's a catwalk. Lots of miniskirts. You can just sit in a cafe and watch the latest fashions go by. Guys do not catcall here. They barely even look at them. The people dress their kids like princes and princesses, too. No Protestant modesty here. The guys also often wear bright clothes ( and they are not gay). In the US, you may be called a freak and definitely gay if you dressed like that.
7) Public pay toilets for pedestrians. You need to go, just stick your credit card in the slot and it opens up. Duh!
There are few cops on the streets here. People are supposed to know how to behave. No patrol cars regularly zooming by as in the US ( or in Mexico-every ten minutes another one zips by). You can see one in two or three days here. No scary policemen swaggering and looking down their nose at the people. 9) There are way fewer rules and regulations. For example, there is no such thing as "No Loitering", "No soliciting" etc. You are free to do anything you want within reason.
10) A lot less suspicion of strangers and easier to talk to people you don't know and make friends. Even in a big city. And people expect you to be more or less approachable, too. For example, cigarettes seem to be communal property. You can walk up to any stranger and bump one off of him. And you are expected to give cigarettes to any person who asks. It's kind of nice. One feels more of a community and there is less of the ice barrier of the US culture. Women are not afraid of men, and kids are not afraid of strange adults.
These are some of the things one can enjoy here. Until, of course, the culture shock sets in.
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