An Australian with Ukrainian roots working in construction
Though only 25, Anatoly Mezhov has found himself several times at the crossroads of culture and history. Ethnically Ukrainian, his family relocated to Kazakhstan after World War II, part of the massive relocation of Eastern European Jewry after the Holocaust. Born in Almaty in 1981, Toly, as he likes to be called, spent his youth like any other: running wild through the Central Asian city, getting into trouble—and, of course, practicing his violin every day, a direct order from the local music teacher who just happened to be his mother. “Oh, sure, it’s a beautiful instrument,” he grins. “Delicate. Haunting—and I quit playing it pretty much the moment I could stand up to my mom.”
His family left the former Soviet Union for Israel in 1990, when Toly was just eight years old, due to rumors that the fall of communism would unearth old anti-Semitic tensions. In an ironic twist of history, the family that was seeking safety arrived in the Holy Land just as the first Gulf War was getting underway, and almost immediately they were barraged by Scud missiles lobbed from Iraq by Saddam Hussein. “My grandparents were survivors of the Eastern Front in World War II, so for them it wasn’t too frightening. The air raid sirens were something they were used to. For a kid, though” says Toly, “it’s a strange mix between a video game and the scariest thing you’ve ever seen.”
But the goal had always been Melbourne, Australia—where most of the Mezhov’s extended family had eventually ended up. So, with the logic that being bombed by missiles is never a bad time to leave, Toly’s family landed in Oz to start over yet again. Thinking back to those times, Toly ruminates on the power of his past experiences: “I guess I never realized what I went through as a kid. For me, it just seemed natural.”
When asked about the difficulties in navigating these three incredibly different cultures, Toly shrugs it off: “For a kid it’s not culture shock. It’s really just all fun.” With a large and comparatively safe new city to explore, the man who now has a thick Australian accent obviously felt at home. Following in his father’s footsteps by studying construction, Toly always wanted to use his mind in concert with his hands. And, though obviously skilled in his newly chosen profession, the restless youth wasn’t quite ready to settle down into a career. After traveling around South America for five months, “country to country, beach to beach, beer to beer,” he signed up for an ice-climbing expedition in Bolivia that would change his life: “I’d never done that kind of climbing before, and here I’d signed up for one of the hardest ascents in the country. None of us made it to the summit, not even the guides. But it didn’t matter.” He pauses, as if reliving the freezing temperatures, the exhaustion, the mild hallucinations from the altitude sickness. “I won’t try to explain the power of the view, the snow up to my waist—or the endless endless cold. But it was the most rewarding and the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. And I swear—even though I know it may sound cheesy—I came down that mountain a different man.”
After wandering around Latin America, Toly ended up in Miami, hoping to find decent work in the New World. Unfortunately, he underestimated how hard it is for a foreigner to find decent work in the States, and ended up with perhaps the most American of cultural experiences: a job in a Florida mall. After selling mobile phones and remote control cars for a few months, he was ready for a change. “I had friends in London who had work for me. And anything was better than being trapped in that store. Man, all the ring tones and sound effects were driving me batty…”
While working in a British construction company and at a bar on the weekends, a little over a year ago, Toly was ready for a little more stability, and applied for a construction consulting job where the applicant needed a grasp of both English and Russian. “So the guy called me, we started talking—and a few minutes later I was accepting a position in Kyiv. I’ve been here ever since.” Now the deputy director of a leading international construction company in the capital, he’s bullish on the economy in his adopted nation. “It’s really great here, tons of potential—Ukraine just needs a little more attention to detail.”
And though a hard worker, Toly enjoys his leisure time as well. Like so many Aussies, he enjoys “skiing, blading, anything outside and recreational—all action sports.” He loves the access to nature Kyiv provides: “It’s amazing to be in a big city, and still have such access to nature. A few stops on the metro and you can’t believe you were just in your apartment.” The easy-going Australian may attack work and the outdoors with similar vigor, but in conversation he evinces a relaxed demeanor, taking life in stride. Worried about sounding cheesy when I ask about his life philosophy, he asks if he can quote Dr. Dre, an American rap superstar: “It’s funny how time flies, and I’m just having fun watching it fly by.”
