ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusThings you will not see (or hear) in the USA

I'm still thinking if I ever move over there I could start an "American" restaraunt and make a killing while killing them with heart-stoppers like loaded fries and big burgers.

That's a good idea actually. There's an "American" restaurant in my city (apart from McDonalds, Subway etc.) - called "Barak O'Mama" :lol: actually it's more American-Mexican, cause they not only have all kinds of burgers and fries there, but also nachos, burritos etc. And it's a very popular place.

My fiance looooves Russian cuisine though. Probably even more than I do.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-04-23 02:16:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusThings you will not see (or hear) in the USA
I think being rebellious is a common trait for Russians. And Ukrainians.
My dad used to go to church with his friends just cause it was forbidden. And both of my parents used to wear "evil American" jeans to school, and that definitely caused troubles, cause they were supposed to wear their uniforms.
Anf it's the same for most Russians - when you tell them not to do something, they want to do it even more :)
ONAFemaleRussia2011-03-30 16:02:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusThings you will not see (or hear) in the USA

Especially if he's a bow hunter. As Gary's pointed out deer aren't exactly difficult to kill but the guys who get up in the trees to bow hunt often try to mask their scent becauuse to shoot a deer with a bow the deer has to get really close to the tree. If it smells a human, it may not come close enough.

Oh yeah :star:
Posted Image
ONAFemaleRussia2011-03-27 12:21:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusGet a international driver's license before coming to the US???

Hold out for the stick! It is actually cheaper, by up to a thousand dollars, because dealers and manufacturers charge an automatic as an 'option' and way overcharge for them! Maybe you are better with a stick than he is?

I am not better with a stick than he is, and that's actually why he wants me to drive automatic. "Cheaper" is not an argument for him, he says it's not a big deal.


if you live in a place with high traffic then automatic is the way to go

Well, traffic in Baltimore-DC metro area can be pretty heavy, but I live in a place with even worse traffic right now.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-17 14:43:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusGet a international driver's license before coming to the US???

My fiancee has a Lada! Based on her income you would think she could not afford it but I think she makes some of her payments by working as a private taxi driver. She thinks a stick is easier than an automatic!

It is easier in some ways, especially in winter.
I want a car with a manual transmission, but my fiance is going to buy automatic for me :(
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-17 14:15:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusGet a international driver's license before coming to the US???

What is really important to bring for some states is a certification (official) that specifies how many years she has had a license.

My wife did not have such history and now she pays almost three times what I pay in insurance, despite having an older and cheaper car. She'll pay that much, even without accidents or tickets, for a few years. But a friend who brought her license history pays as much as I do, saving her thousands of dollars.

It's usually written right on the lisence in Russia - not the issue date, but actually the year when a person got their 1st lisence.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-13 06:40:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusGet a international driver's license before coming to the US???
It's just good if she is going to drive right away, and yes - it's a good idea to check the rues in your state. I have a Russian lisence and an international permit, but i was only allowed to drive in MD for 2 months last summer. And in MD the rule is that if out-of-country lisence is 18 months or older, it's possible to get MD lisence after taking driving test, if it's less then 18 months - then you can only get provisional lisence at first.
The rules are different for every state though, so the best thing is checking local DMV website.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-12 10:13:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa

I dunno, every teacher I've ever had made us say "??."

That's because they are pretty conservative usually :)
I personally say both. I don't even pay attention which variant I use more often, it's not that important and my Ukrainian friends and relatives never really care either.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-22 16:56:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa

LOL...say "The Ukraine" in Western Ukraine and see how far you get. :)

Never had trouble with any of my friends :P

Edited by ONA, 22 February 2011 - 02:45 PM.

ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-22 14:45:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa

Sorry you did not get the joke. Someone else did, but I am not calling YOU stupid.

I didn't call anybody stupid either. I just didn't like "the joke" and I don't think it was a smart thing to say. That doesn't mean that I think you're stupid. Sorry.

I think it's a little silly to get worked up about whether it should be "The Ukraine" or "Ukraine" in English since neither Ukraine, Russia, or the Soviet Union use or used English as an official language. In the Russian language (and Ukrainian, I believe) there are no articles, so "The Ukraine" does not translate to Russian any differently than "Ukraine."

Thank you so much! At least somebody has an idea of what I'm talking about.

It carries the same connotation, with both "??" and "the" indicating something other than a single sovereign state and instead a region, a federation of states, etc.

While perhaps in everyday speech "?" is ok, if you, for example, were to take the Russian equivalent of TOEFL and put ? ??????? in the section on ?/??, it'd be marked incorrect. Most Russians/Ukrainians aren't linguists and aren't really on top of current grammatical controversies any more than the average native English speaker.

As far as I remember, in 1993 ? ??????? was accepted as a norm along with ?? ??????? under the pressure of Ukrainian government - so basically it's all about politics. It would be considered a mistake in a test though, because Russian linguists are quite conservative and they say that since historically it was ?? ???????, you can't change it just in one day and that politics shouldn't mix up with the language. It is a very controversial issue. Though, at the moment it's becoming more and more common to say ? ???????, both in everyday speech and in the media.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-22 14:36:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa

So it's stupid.... Sorry, but I do understand Russians don't understand American humor.

A joke should be funny. Some Russian people can make fun of you for messing up cases of nouns, but it doesn't mean that it is funny.

Actually, I DID give an explanation. And I DIDN'T say "the Russia" though I understand the point of it. Nor was anything I said in any way disrespectful. So get over it.

In Nederlands, they do not say "the Nederlands" though in this case, in English it is a corruption since "Nederlands" means "low lands". So it would not be grammatically incorrect, in English, to say "the low lands" as it is more a description than a name. People in Nederlands speak English amazingly well, by the way, and it is the official language in the EU.

(^^^^^^ is an "explanation")

I know that you didn't say it.
The point was that for me it's a grammatical issue, so stop trying to make it a political one, OK? I consider Ukraine to be my second home-country, so I would never say anything like that on purpose. And I make some other grammar mistakes sometimes. I know I do, but I have no idea, why you have to have your attention fixed on that one.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-22 05:26:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa

The Ukraine=?? ???????, the idea of Ukraine as a "region." ?? is used for islands, regions, and, of course, the post office. ? has more of an idea as a separate country, which is why ? ???????, while technically grammatically incorrect, is favored by nationalists/Orange Revolution Supporters/Ukrainians (I guess).

Exactly. In the Russian language both of the variants are considered to be correct at the moment.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-21 18:52:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa

Offically, if there is such a thing, Ukraine was called "the Ukraine" while part of the Soviet Union. I do not know the details wahy and will not speculate. After independence, the government chose to "officially" drop the article and simply call it "Ukraine" Russia may or may not have followed along.

You do realise that English is not an official language in Russia, don't you?
And when people are taught that "the Ukraine" is an exception along with "the Netherlands", that's the way they are most likely be saying it. So, when you see a mistake you don't have to make fun of it, writing some stupid stuff like "the Russia" (I know that you didn't, just saying), you can just give an explanation. At least a person, who took an effort to learn your language and is still making an effort trying to improve it, deserves a little respect.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-21 18:49:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa

Um...Ukraine, not "the Ukraine"



A history of travel and return, especially using a Shengen visa would be a big plus. At least this seemed to help my step daughter who lives in the Russia.


:P Whatever. It may be old, but that's what they kept teaching us. The funniest thing, that in Russian language there is also a controversial issue (? ??????? or ?? ??????? - for those, who happen to be familiar with Russian).

Russia was never used with an article though, unless it is "the Russian Federation".
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-21 18:19:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow difficult for Widowed MIL get Tourist Visa
A little bit more difficult in the Ukraine, that it would've been in Russia, but as far as I understand her other daughter and granddaughter are going to stay in the Ukraine? It's a good proof for having family ties with the Ukraine, so she should be fine. Plus she owns an apartment, which is also a good thing.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-21 14:41:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

And domestic violence... a woman in Russia dies every hour from domestic violence. (http://www.npr.org/t...toryId=92621334) In the US the number is 4. A day. (http://www.associate...s_die_from.html) Compare the relative populations of the US and Russia. Are you seriously insinuating that the Russian system of dealing with that particular crime is better than the American one when five times more women a day die at the hands of a domestic partner in Russia when the population of Russia is half that of the United States?

And that's partially because Russian police is... well, Russian police is being Russian police... But also, it's because American women actually call the police, get divorced and have their husbands punished, while 4 out of 5 Russian women, experiencing domestic violence would just stay hoping that their husbands will change, which actually means waiting for their own death :(

It's also surprising to me that Americans expect money for offering help. That's news to me. In fact I don't believe I charged once over there for opening a door for someone that had their hands full of bags and the Russians and/or Belarusians didn't even think of helping.

I don't consider this "help". It's a question of upbringing and politeness.
When I talk about help I mean that my fiance still gets surprised when my dad is ready to pick him up from the airport and then drive him back to the airport and then refuses to take money for gaz, even though it's a 500km drive (310 miles approx.).
If a Russian person lets somebody stay in their house, they don't expect that they'll get money for food or utilities, they'll just be all "be my guest". American people apparently would expect you to pay them back at least for how much more they spent on everything while you were staying.
Another example - my friends often ask me to help them with some translations or English classes, I never take any money for that, and they never offer, because it'll be weird here if you pay your friend for it. And my friend is going to help me in designing wedding invitations - and it's all free also. That's just the way it works here. And my other friend promised that if he can make it to our wedding, he is going to be our photographer, which means that we may get wedding pictures of great quality for free also. That's why we have a saying here, which can be roughly translated as "It's better to have 100 friends than 100 roubles".

Here's a good story. My wife who speaks decent German, and has her gf send her clothes from Germany said to me; "Hey let me show you something". This was in Minsk. She said for me not to talk to her unless it was in German...my German sucks, but I can get by on it. So we go the the store and she says something to me in German, I nod, and she hands the women behind the bars a couple of hundred in Euro's to exchange for Belarusian rubles. The fat chick takes her money and says to her co worker sitting next to her; "Watch what I do to these stupid Germans". Then she proceeds to short my wife close to $80. My wife counts out the money, and says to the gal in perfect Russian; "give me the rest of my money you fat thieving pig before I call the manager on you".

OK. A good story from me. My first ever day in the USA, May 30, 2008 - I arrived at JFK with a group of other students, with about $650 in my pocket and a job offer for a place in Annapolis, MD.
We all go through customs and right when we get out of there we see a very nice American guy, middle-aged, white, saying that he meets students there all the time and gives them a ride to a train or a bus station, and also saying how surprised he is that nobody in the agency (which sent us to the States) ever told us about him. OK, so a nice ride in his van cost us $65 each - and there were 5 of us. Good Lord, I wonder how much the guy actually gets a day! Can you imagine how angry we were, when we realised that if we had taken a cab for 3 of us we would have paid just about $15 each! I still can't believe I actually bought what he was saying. I guess, that's because of all that bs I heard before I went to the US about how "American people never lie to you".
The point is that people are trying to take advantage of somebody foreign probably everywhere in the world.
And I just gave you all an idea for summer business.

It works for AMERICAN culture, because that's how Americans feel comfortable. Saying hello to strangers on the street, smiling at people you don't know, etc. If, for instance, I were in a store in Russia and a male shop assistant started asking me how my day was going or whatever, I would be very freaked out and assume he was hitting on me or something, because that sort of interaction between a shop assistant and a customer just isn't the norm.

Exactly. Understanding that proves that there is a big difference between people, who actually know a lot about Russian culture and those, who know a lot less than they think they know.
The thing is that smiling at people in the streets or in the store does not mean that you are trying to be nice in Russia. It means that you are either drunk, or crazy, or on drugs, or you hitting on somebody, or you're planning on doing something bad, or you're foreign, or well.. at least you're weird. When you happen to have an eye contact with somebody, you don't smile, you look away immediately - otherwise the person you smiled at might think that there is something wrong either with you or with them - anyway it makes people feel uncomfortable.
If Russian people smile, they smile for a reason: something really great just happened to them, they are really glad to see you or/and they really like you... or they want you to think that they like you.
The same thing with "how are you?" - when Russian people ask that question, they are ready to hear how freaking terrible your whole week was, or how incredibly lucky you've been lately. We don't say "have a good day", we say "good luck" or something like that, but also only to our friends and family, when we really mean it.

So, for people, who assume that Russian people are rude or inhospitable, just because they don't act like Americans do, you clearly just don't know enough about Russian culture. Sorry.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-20 07:59:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

I think its governments try to separate people. They wash their brains. Much less now, thanks god. USA going to be my country too and I'm going to love it as russia. As russians say "Love me, love my contry" :lol:

"I love my country, it's the government I'm afraid of" - I think that works for every country :yes:

Da, da. And it's even hard to show different movies to americans, they used to watch Hollywood picture. And "other" cinema they barely understand. You should see my poor fiance watching "Brother-2" or "Everything will be all right" :rofl: And he never saw "Knocking on heaven's door". :hehe: We also watched Almadovar's movies and Ozon's. Oh, we also went to ballet and opera. I know he goes there just for me. :luv: Russian ballet, russian culture... Do you think he'd rather watch baseball?

We also watched Brother-2 :) I can't find proper translation for anything, that's why we don't usually watch anything, which is not meant to be in English.
I'm not a ballet fun myself, really. So a different question bothers me - why Americans call soccer the sport known as football anywhere else in the world? I am a big fan.

What stars, mr Conchalovsky? hehe

No, no, I said that I wasn' talking about anybody Russian. But not everybody in the States heard about, for example, Pierre Richard or Til Sweiger. And if we talk about music, not everybody there have heard about Mylene Farmer or Armin van Buuren.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-19 12:49:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

And I do have to say that my Russian friends--and also my American friends who have spent a lot of time in Russia--are way more hospitable/willing to give you the shirt off your back/etc.

My fiance says that he was surprised how Russian people are willing to help and they don't expect anything back. He says that in the States when people help you, they expect that you at least pay them some money for it, which was a big surprise for me. Russian people get offended a lot of times when you offer them money for help.

I have never heard about American police being bribed. Also like beating people, a policeman found to be taken bribes in the US would be prosecuted. I would never ask a policeman for help in Russia. When I see them, I go the other way. In America, they make me feel safer.* In Russia, they are people to fear. That is a huge distinction.

*Granted, I'm white.

I have to agree with that. Russian people don't like policemen. And because of Russian police I'm just afraid of the police everywhere. When I'm driving in the US and there's a police car behind me I get nervous for no reason, my fiance can never understand me, he is like "Calm down, you didn't do anything wrong", but I guess this fear is just so deep in my head that it's hard to do anything with it.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-19 11:51:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

Now I start to understand why people around you might treat you badly. Obviously, I have no interest in discussing your personality ( why do you think you are of interest for me, after all? )
You made some comments about Americans treating aliens and, particularly, "Russian wives". I made general remarks about your thoughts. You didn't like them and started taking things personally... Well, way to go! But don't be surprised when somebody will call you rude - you actually deserved to be called that way. Civilized arguing about the points rather than personalities is not for you.

Last but not least - it would probably be helpful for you to remember that I can make any judgement I want. And you are not the one to tell me what to do.

Seems like you didn't quite understand what the OP was talking about. The quote was actually a remark about how judgemental some Russian people can be. Nobody said that they enjoy it when people say something like that.

And as for being rude, you just assume that because you are probably not familiar with Russian culture and what's more important - Russian language and linguistic pragmatics. I understand that, so I never get mad when people from other countries think that Russians are rude or gloomy, or something else. We're not. The reason why we sometimes seem to be like that is because there can be something which is polite or at least OK in Russia, but at the same time it is very rude in the USA and vice versa. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn how to communicate with people from other countries, and it's not all grammar and vocabulary. I'm writing my 4th big research paper just on the ways people are making suggestions in English and the way they react. See how complicated it is?
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-19 11:31:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

I suggest you to change the restaurant. We had dinner with my foreign students in russian restaurant. And when they understood one of them is not russian, they gave us better table. All was reserved before, even for locals. Again we speak about different people. But you call all waitress b*tches. I never saw even one like that.

:thumbs: My fiance liked some Russian waitresses and waiters better than American ones. Also, a lot depends on a place you go to.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-19 09:59:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

Fully agree. Only first time when they don't know the guy. Also here in Russia we hear that bad stories mostly about turkish husbands. I never heard anything bad about american husbands. I just heard how one american couple adopt the baby and forgot him in a car. Or how american mother send her kid back to russia. I think americans have not bad reputation here. Except the idiosyncrasy that americans are fat. But people also understand that not all of americans are fat.

I heard all kinds of stories of husbands of all kinds of nationalities. Yep, husbands from Muslim countries are the champions of sad stories - mostly, because women seem to not think how different cultures are before they move. Everything is great when their husbands move though. But then there are sad stories about husbands and BFs from the USA, France, Finland and all kinds of other countries, which just makes me assume that one of my English teachers was 100% right when she said "I think there are only 2 nations: a nation of good people and a nation of bad people".

Da. It's because we watch Hollywood movies, we speak english, we interested in US music. And americans rarely know other cultures. They are more in their own country. I sometimes wondered if I'm still in russia: american movies from all channels, american music from all radios, food too. Its how in the Rammstein song "we all living in america". It's why me and my dear fiance both like same movies, both watched same cartoons in the childhood.

That's a good point. The thing I don't like about the USA is that very few people have seen anything else except for Hollywood production, which makes it very hard to discuss a French or German movie with anybody, unless you find some European friends. The same thing about music - there are some great bands from Netherlands or again Germany,or other countries, who actually sing in English, but very few people heard them in the USA. I'm not even talking about Russian culture, but I was surprised that people never heard about some stars, who are considered to be international here.


But here is the difference to say "How's your balalaika?" or to say "You ordered your wife by mail" It depends on if you want to offend person or just kidding. If first, I'd talk back.

Right. Like we're to blame for being born in different countries.

Edited by ONA, 19 February 2011 - 10:00 AM.

ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-19 09:56:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

FWIW, I've never had anyody react negatively to me in Russia, or anywhere else for that matter, because I'm American. Americans get treated poorly abroad when they act a certain way--like another culture is lesser, assuming and more or less demanding that everyone speaks English and get pissed off when people don't, etc. There are times when I have helped other Americans get what they needed in McDonalds or whatever and got nary a thank you. There are definitely Americans who go to other countries and take with them a sense of entitlement. And that is what makes the natives of the country react badly to them.

Right. The same thing happens when Russians go to Egypt or Turkey and everybody hates them , cause they have too much fun. And then they start to hate all Russian people, because hey think we're all the same.

I admit the younger generation over there is way less brainwashed than their elders. As far as Russian wives getting killed by foreign husbands...Iv'e read about a case where that happened in Seattle, and it was a travesty. I do find it surprising though that Russians are concerned about this seeing how there is zero DV laws in Russia and Belarus. It's open season on your female partner there 24/7. Iv'e witnessed my neighbor beating the holy ####### out of his ...wife,live in gf...she lived with him...anyways the cops came after god knows how long and all they did was tell her to find a place to stay. My mother in law...beaten raw by her ex and nothing happened to him. Pimps beating their hookers...happens every night right on the sidewalk while the cops drive by and do nothing.

I won't even get into the government running prostitution rings over there. In Belarus it's so bad that the government actually charters flights for underage girls to Turkey....fake passports and all. It's a bit different in Russia...the local cops and border cops take bribes...so I can't say the Kremlin is involved like Lukashenko is in Belarus.

There's good and bad everywhere and everyone is different, but to say that Russians treat foreigners better than Americans treat foreigners is laughable at best.

There are a lot of cases of DV in the States with Russian women involved. If you ever read Russian immigration forums, you'll find a lot of women there crying out for help. Sometimes women, who got their K-1 visas just disappear after they fly to the USA, thank God, women on those forums do their best to find them, because there are cases when their husbands limit their access to the internet, so they can't get help from anywhere.
I'm not even talking about the cases of DV which involve Russian kids, who are adopted to American families.
It's not like you can't get in trouble in Russia, but at least you have family in Russia, who can stand up for you. And there are more chances to get to know a person better before moving in with him - that's why it's really bad that a lot of women can't go to the States before they visit their future husbands and see how they live and where they live. I personally think that I would not take such risks if I haven't been to the US before.

As for the police and DV, one of the problems is that Russian women are weird. A lot of them are anyways. First they call the police, then they start begging them "please don't arrest my husband" and even bribe them so they wouldn't put them in jail. Stupid. And after all they keep living with them, forgiving them for everything and the reason is "i love him so much". How is it possible not to be afraid of being beaten up to death is beyond me. Seems like people love those crazy men, but don't care about themselves at all. A lot of times the police doesn't even want to mess with all that stuff anymore, which is not right, of course. But to make things different people should start changing their own attitude.

I agree that there is good and bad everywhere, but I'm not going to put up with an insult, no matter where it's coming from.

Edited by ONA, 19 February 2011 - 08:55 AM.

ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-19 08:53:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

Any doubts, ask the rest of the posters in this forum what their experiences were like over there. We all got looks, especially the women...and most of them were not good looks. The old brainwashed Soviet babushka's are the worst.

There are different people in Russia. And a lot depends on a guy a woman is going to marry. With me once people find out that my fiance is young, handsome, smart, independent and has a good job, they just shut up. But the girls, who marry Russian guys 20-30 years older than them, get the same looks as girls, who marry American guys 20-30 years older.
Then even if they say something, it's because there were cases when Russian women married foreign guys and then got abused or even killed. I just say - that what happens when you don't know a guy.

Most of Russian people are less brainwashed that people in the US. At least, if we talk about young people. None of young people in Russia ever believes what they've seen on TV and see the difference between policy and people - and that means that while they can hate Bush or Obama, they will still enjoy spending time with their American friends. Babushkas are different of course, but most of old people in the US think that I'm a spy :rofl: So what? they lived through the Cold War, I understand it. I was 2 years old when it was over, so I don't care at all. I don't even mind "spy-jokes" in the US, I don't mind any joke as long it's not stupid.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-19 06:02:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

Lol, good staff. And if it accidentally will fall down on a bed at night, you're gonna have funny role game trying take it off from husbands head :rofl:

:rofl: too bed it's not above the bed... i think i will take care of it when i come though... i like that role play idea :rofl: :rofl:

it's even funnier now, cause he brought a fur hat from Russia, so now the deer head is wearing it :rofl: he said he was going to tell everybody that it was a Russian deer :)

Hunting enthusiasts greatly outnumber those opposed in my area. Many homes and 'dachas' have these on the walls! :lol:

it gets worse. i told him that i can make my peace with just one deer head and he said "one herd? ok" :lol:
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-17 14:50:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

Steaks from bunnies? :unsure: I heard in the US a lot of active greens, that means my dreams to have a mink coat are melting as a cloud. And crisis helps that too. :help:

My fiance does bow hunting and i have no idea where green peace people were when he had this put up on the wall in our bedroom - Posted Image
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-17 14:22:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

sent to Africa to be slaves? :o

Talk about full circle!

FWIW Alla told ONLY three very close friends of her plans until she had her visa in her hand. She was afraid she would lose her job if they found out.

That's right, Africa is what they say. They might mean Egypt though or something else in Northern Africa. Might be South Africa on the contrary, I don't know.

Well, they're not going to kick me out of the university for that, that's for sure. And I am out of job, by the end of May and nobody cares there either. Plus it's kinda hard to hide it after 2.5 years of relationship. So I might as well provide people with something to talk about.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-17 13:41:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

Taste is not important here. As one my russian friend told: just hold your nose and drink it as a medicine :D

:rofl: no, thanks :) i'm good :)
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-17 11:23:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

I also would mention European teens in Malta (also girls), they get absolutely crazy because of sex, freedom and alcohol there. And their parents think they send their precious kid "to learn" english. They even have that joke in Malta like "there is no maniacs in Malta, because they lost interest to rape girls, whose too drunk and never resist" :rofl:

:rofl:


Funny, I'm honestly regret that I told people that I'm getting married american guy. Too much envying from the girls, too many jokes from friends like you're going to live in "pendosia" and eat burgers. Or they said that he'll close me in the garage or a basement and treat as a slave :help:

At least they don't tell you that you will be sold as a slave and end up in Africa :lol:
I don't really care that much. I'm never eager to tell people too much information about my life, but if they ask I am usually honest with them.

Well I never drank vodka before. But now I feel national responsibility to do that :lol:

:lol: I hate the taste of vodka. That's why some people ask me "What kind of Russian are you?" :lol:
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-17 10:07:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

I'l better let him eat hamburgers every day, than drink alcohol like russian guys do. :D

I don't think it's a national thing really. Some Americans drink a lot more than Russians do and the way they drink in their bars is absolutely crazy :wacko:
Actually, British exchange students from my university also find it weird how little we, Russian students, drink compared to them. So, in fact, Russian people are not really drinking heroes.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-16 15:01:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:


BTW, do you know, guys that it's insulting in Russia to give your women bouquet with four flowers, or bouquet made from fake flowers? And if you give 4 flowers to your wife she will be freaked out? :lol:

Funny story. It happened more than 2 years ago, and it was the 1st time my fiance ordered flower delievery through an international service. So, I start talking about how great it is to wake up in the morning and get 11 beautiful long stemmed red roses... and he goes "What???? 11??? I ordered 12!!!"
I had to explain everything to him and when I came back in summer there was a bouquet for me and he said that he had to "kill" some roses to make it odd number :lol:


I think all of that just jealousy from the women as well as from men. Just some people get sad when they see we're so happy together. And they want to equalize situation. And then they tell bad things to make us unhappy like they are. That's what I think :luv:

Interestingly enough, the guys I know usually are pretty cool with me going to marry an American guy. they want to meet him, make friends with him, sometimes drink with him :lol: It's the gils, who ask weird questions.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-16 11:31:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

I was in Malta this time and I saw news papers, all was like "Russia attacked Georgia". I was like "What???" :blink: And it all was only cheap promotion. But they made people think that russia is aggressive. Yes, here some people at my work tell that americans are stupid, knowing I have american husband. Sometimes I fight, tell them "yep, guys you see it better from here". But sometimes I don't care. They are idiots.

As for the situation with Georgia, there were people, who would just aske me if my family and friends lived anywhere close to the border and when I said "no", they would just say "good" and they never talked about this stupid stuff the media was telling. I'm not saying that Russian media is doing better, but I can't say that I know many people in Russia, who actually believe what they see on TV.
As for my American fiance, the first question some people aske me is "Is he old?". Yeah, you're right. Unbelievably old - he's turning 25 in March :lol: But even if he was, who cares? Like girls in Russia never date Russian guys, who are 20 years older than them...

I have some good receipts to make kids, they are better with tomato. Will send you, its my granma's old receipt :rofl:

Thanks a lot :rofl: I was looking for some new recipes :rofl:
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-16 07:09:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

He has german mom. I'd make joke about that but it would sound lame. If I'll ask him in russian, he'll say "babushka, babushka" idiot.:D I don't care about him at all.
Yep, I just wondered how many people like that I'm ging to meet. And what is remarkable in that story. Everybody knew, that guy is making jokes. But when I talked back, everybody said "Elena you're harsh".
When we were in italy, I noticed the same. Italians can be mean toward you, but if you're mean toward them you're "russian, they all like that"
Same staff I heard from US relatives. "we're not going to Russia, we scared, they supply Iraq with weapon, they hate americans" :blink:
Well I don't really know exactly, if we supply or not. I never supplied, I can't write Iraq's address on arabian right to send them weapon.

Call him "dedushka", who cares :lol:

There are a few stupid people in the US, but there are some everywhere in the world. thank God there are nice people also. In august 2008 some people were giving me a hard time, because Russia had this thing with Georgia, and the most interesting thing about it is that most of those people didn't even know before that such country as Georgia existed. The good part is that there were always some people around, better educated and a lot nicer, who would stand up for me.
About Iraq and stuff like that... well, there are millions of people in Russia, who think that the USA supply Chechen terrorists, it doesn't mean that it's nessesarily true. You can try explaining that to them.

In fact one my russian friend, girl got married italean man and his mom thought "russians eat kids" :D

Yes, we do. I just had one for dinner :devil: (just kidding). Sometimes, i would just say yes to everything they're saying. Why disappoint people? :lol: A lot depends on the mood though.
The easiest thing to do is just not talk to such people, but, i understand it's hard when your fiance's family and friends are like that, but in that case really - he should do something about that.

Edited by ONA, 15 February 2011 - 12:57 PM.

ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-15 12:56:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI'm an alien I'm a legal alien... :whistle:

And his friends just go further. One of them before asked me to pronounce "from the mother russia" and laughed. I pronounced and laughed too.

You should have asked him to say something in Russian :yes:
Some people should just watch themselves before saying that somebody else is rude.

I had to deal with this kind of people a little bit in the US. Sometimes you just have to be mean to them, but only if nothing else helps. I think it's better just not paying attention to what they are saying until it starts really bothering you.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-15 11:04:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusOdd translation request

When I say they want a "husband, father, and lover" that means for them, all in one.

Most of the stuff you said is quite right, but I can't agree with this sentence. I would say it's better when it's a "husband, friend and lover". Can be father for some FSU women, but mostly if they were deprived of father's attention and these very women are more likely to date guys, who are 10-15 or even 20-25 years older than them. If a woman had a caring father, she's not going to look for another one, she's more likely to look for a friend.


I was being sarcastic. I only use the term "you Majesty" when I am irritated. Never call her queen, or tell her she is in charge or has to make the decisions. Imo, princess is reserved for kids too, but each to their own. :lol:

My fiance does that too :lol:
I don't really like the word "queen", but "princess" is even worse for me. I don't know, maybe age has something to do with it, but i'm used to hear the word "princess" when people are referring to somebody spoilt and misbehaving.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-03-02 16:05:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusOdd translation request

keeshka (do NOT use that word with your Ukrainian friend on the first date :lol: )

That means "cat" in Ukrainian (if the stress falls on the 1st syllable), so he's fine even if he uses it. In Russian it's something way different though :lol:

DO NOT be spending your time talking about how you were scammed by another woman. This woman wants to be THE woman, the ONLY woman. She does not care about history (Ukrainian hstory gets changed every few years anyway) she cares about YOU and the future. They always "look ahead". Look ahead, Johnny. Better to see where you are going than where you have been.

That's right. I would say - even if she asks, don't be telling her too much.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-27 08:40:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHire an interpreter

our priest was bilingual and conducted the ceremony in both languages. are you sure your 'Father' cannot do the same? the only thing my family choked on was the part where he said that i must be submissive and obedient. we all knew better.

thanks for the advice :) the point is that we want an interpreter not just for the ceremony, but also for the reception, because i don't want anything like this happen:

Also, because of the set up, the few Russian speaking guests were separated from the bride's family so we had to get up and walk across the hall to speak a little with them. I think they felt pretty isolated.

It will be a lot better if my parents are able to talk to anybody they want not depending on me.

Edited by ONA, 26 February 2011 - 05:47 PM.

ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-26 17:46:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHire an interpreter
Thank you, guys! So many options here :thumbs:
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-24 07:15:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHire an interpreter
LvivLovers, thanks for sharing your experience.

Thank you, everybody, guys. I'll keep all the information in mind and pass it over to my fiance.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-22 14:41:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHire an interpreter

Not to be a wedding crasher, but it's not likely they'll get a visa just for your wedding.

That being said, why would they need a translator? Weddings are pretty standard. "God made man and woman and blah, blah, blah... do you?.... do you?.. blah, blah, blah. Kiss." That's it. In some cultures you might step on a lightbulb or jump over a broom, take a ride in a chair, etc., but it's all pretty much the same. Throw in a candle lighting and a few songs, maybe a funny hat, two rings and you've pretty much just covered every wedding ever.

It's not like they're going to be hearing UN Resolutions and need real-time updates in their native language.

If you really need a translator, why not have your wedding in BOTH languages? Find a minister who can speak Russian or say all your "I vow to be there for you during dark skies and choppy seas" in Russian. You could simulcast it via HTB back to the old country or hit the SAP button midway through the ceremony.

Seriously though, since you're getting married you should practice what you're going to be preaching - just make your fiance learn and speak Russian at the wedding. Should take care of all your problems simultaneously. By the way, where is your fiance? Why is he not on VJ? He has many important things to be learning about being the groom of a MOB. It's a tough job!

Well, I've been reading Russian immigration forums, and have seen some cases there when parents were coming just for the wedding and their visas were approved. I assume it's always 50/50 - you either get the visa or you don't. Worth trying anyway.

As for why we want an interpreter, we want my parents not only understand what's going on during the ceremony, but also be able to talk to people. Sure, I'll be there, but that was my fiance's idea, cause he doesn't want me to run in cirles on our wedding day.

My fiance might be here somewhere, I don't know :lol:
OK, actually, he uses the net in a very practical way and he is more like "get up and do something", but not waste your time on the internet talks. He would not even have a facebook account if I hadn't created one for him.
Using this forum and finding the information on the website is good for me though as a part of becoming more tough, independent and being able to talk to people. He thinks I need that to survive in the States.

We've been dating for 2,5 years, lived together for a little bit, I think he knows enough :) And I don't want RUBers to spoil him :lol: I'm telling him a lot of what's going on here though.
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-22 05:14:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHire an interpreter
Thank you, Gary. I'll keep that in mind :)
ONAFemaleRussia2011-02-21 18:08:00