Fashion.

One of the most striking fashion differences between western Europe (in general) and here in Ukraine (and Russia) is the use of fur coats. For many years now it's been a bit of a taboo for women (mostly) to wear the skins of dead animals. Here,though,they are everywhere. Even a 14-year-old student of mine seemed to be wearing a leopard-skin coat to class last week. I have been told that these coats are incredibly warm,and with the temperature dropping to around -20 degrees celsius in the not-too-distant future,they are a must-have item (for those who can afford them). The strangest thing (for me,that is) I've seen so far was a dead fox that was attached to the back of a Harley Davidson motorbike. I had to look twice just to be sure i wasn't seeing things!