Interview with Casey Peterson, October 30, 2023

Interview Summary

Casey Peterson, Ukraine, 2005-2007, TEFL. Casey Peterson was raised in Dassel, Minnesota. He graduated from Saint John’s University/Collegeville, MN with a degree in English and creative writing. Casey first met PCVs in Honduras while he translated for an International Health Services group in which his mother was a surgical nurse. His application for Peace Corps was drawn out due to medical issues. Casey excelled in learning Ukrainian. His teaching practicum, however, didn’t match the reality he eventually faced. Unfortunately, there were two serious incidents during training requiring a reassignment to a safer work site. The first involved a menacing interaction with the local Ukraine mafia and the second a jeep accident during the move. Casey was assigned to a school in Peremyshlyany in Lviv Oblast. He taught English as a foreign language (TEFL) for the 7th through 11th grades. He also engaged in extracurricular activities, e.g., a running club, English conversation club, and sports culminating in being asked to be an umpire during the Little League World Series held in Illichyvsk. Ukraine winters were depressing, however, Casey had good feelings generated by curious students wanting to learn English.

Interview Keyword

Ukraine TEFL youth HIV/AIDS Iowa City Dassel, Minnesota parents Yocon, Honduras Spanish Saint John’s University/Collegeville, MN English creative writing application medical issues staging Chicago Yahoo group Pre-Service Training Bobrovitsya town Chernihiv Oblast state Ukrainian Surzhyk languages gymnasium secondary school teaching practicum Natasha Bohdan Svyatoslav host family menacing incident Golden Peacock bar protection Serhey Pashinky security officer accident Peremyshlyany work site translated as “to reconsider” Lviv state Poland Ukrainian Partisan Army Oblast state Rayon region apartment bazar Peremyshlyany school #2 weekly schedule extracurricular activities social interactions Vasyl Volodya friends Bohdan Yarema Regional Manager Kharkiv Donetsk Odessa PCV sites vacations Little League World Series Illichyvsk coastal town memorable moments TEFL opportunities coming home

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.