LvivLovers

This is starting to get good...thanks!!!

As to guns...I can say I'm definately not a marksman. That's why if I need a gun, I'll borrow this from my brother:

No, still helping out here. Alla is taking an "online course" while she is on vacation and she is sending essays to me to review before she submits them. She does real well, actually, but there is an occasional mis-spelling or misues of an article or "tense", but not bad at all. I reviewed two of her essays today, both multiple pages and I do not think there was more than 8-10 mistakes. And it is very difficult, technical writing.

It may be generalizing, but Alla does not accept anything but an A or A+ for her work or the boys. Is it a Ukrainian thing? She flipped out because she finished with a 3.93 GPA and wants to KNOW why she lost .07 point! Dammit! I keep telling her it is "near perfect" and all she wants to know is "What wasn't perfect???"

That sounds a lot like my wife. I think it's just an individual thing though. In my wife's case, she is just very very driven. Like when it comes time for final exams in her math classes...she will literally go through and work every single problem from homeworks/quizzes/tests that she had during that whole period. When she gets to her final exam and it's cumulative...she worked every single problem from the whole semester again. She fills up an entire spiral notebook in like 2-3 days while studying. Needless to say after 4 math classes, she's never gotten less than 100% on a final exam, so I guess it pays off.

I can say this too though...she has a LOT more homework than I had in college. Because these days, nearly everything is computerized (and graded by computers as well). Thus, her professors have no problem assigning tons of homework. I guess in the long run it's good because she gets lots of practice, but sometimes it's hard to keep up just due to lack of time.

My wife watches porn with me...so other naked women are not an issue. Ukrainian women must be a lot more insecure and prudish than Russians.

Lol! You're basing this off how big a sample size?!? Come on, man. You know you can't draw conclusions on an entire group of people based on looking at a couple individuals. Everyone is different. I can assure you my Ukranian wife is neither insecure nor prudish...don't be so quick to judge, eh?

Yes, I remember now. Your wife didn't like you playing video games which you were apparently playing many hours a day. Frankly, I'd land on the side of your wife on that one. I mean, here you have a beautiful wife and you're playing War Lord or whatever instead of taking care of business. I remember thinking that was a bit odd. But, hey, whatever floats your boat.

Well...I wouldn't say I do that INSTEAD of taking care of business. I'm a full-time stock trader by profession, have 2 other jobs on the side, and usually spend several hours a day tutoring my wife as well as spending quality time. But when I have down time and want to unwind, I do prefer something more active and challenging than TV, so I play games (probably stems partly from the fact that I studied to be a game designer in a past life) or work on my guitar playing. But you're right, everyone has different ideas about games...usually pretty polarized.

Oh thank goodness! Been waiting for something to get me through to the weekend!

You will have some difficulties not encountered with a domestic marriage. The first 6 months is the worst, actually maybe months 2-8, the first two are newlywed stuff. Things seem to smooth out after a while. Now they are very smooth, really. Only occasionally I do something which I do no tknow is terrible until I do it and then I hear about it for a couple weeks at any opportunity.

That sounds just like our relationship. Unbelievably smooth, but there were a few things that temporarily became big deals.

One...I found out she really doesn't like Metallica! lol I don't know if anyone else has heard the story that they played Christina Aguilera for like a year in Gunatanomo to try to break terrorists. Finally, they decided to try using Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and terrorists broke down within like a day. Reason being...they thought they were listening to the devil's voice. Apparently, it has the same effect on my wife. She loves Megadeth however but calls them MD because she doesn't like anything to do with death.

Likewise, she HATES any type of horror movie. It makes her crazy! I watch those alone now and save the comedys for us.

In the beginning, she hated that I played video games. Apparently, in Ukraine it's not looked upon favorably and most people that play them don't have jobs, etc. (Ok...maybe that's not so different from the U.S. haha) She eventually realized that's one of my hobbies just like she likes to knit sometimes. But it WAS a big problem in the beginning.

"and posters of pretty girls in bikinis on the walls"

OH BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!! The girls in bikinis became "naked women" and why did I need to look at any other naked women? What is wrong with HER when SHE is naked?

Just showing how different every RUB woman can be. My wife would have no problem with this at all. She appreciates a beautiful woman as much as I do even! Sounds like Alla came around though. I think sometimes there's just some initial shock but after thinking things through a bit, rationality sets in. ,

How long would you cry if I died?"

That, my friend, is what's known as a TRAP! You better have a Kit Kat bar to shove in your mouth when a question like that is asked because there is no good answer! haha But really? 60 months? Are you crazy?! lol Correct answers would be "I'd never get over it!", "Oh! I don't even want to think about it! *act like you are losing it at the very thought*", "A day or so...until I died...because it would kill me.", etc. That's pretty damn funny though....60 months!

Pfffft. No issues.

Alla never says those things to me. But when I am on VJ she will suddenly have homework I can help her with, proof-read an essay, type something for her, etc. If i do something for her as well, all is OK. I don't watch TV so that is not a problem in our house. Sometimes I just take my fishing rod and walk to the lake. That's why I took up fishing to begin with. Excuse to lay around and do nothing.

I just want to say...Oleksandra finished English II this last semester and I am SOOOOO happy to not have to help her with any more papers! I'm still stunned at how much improvement she made in her writing in just 1 year, because I'll be honest...she said she hardly ever wrote any papers even in Ukrainian. So it wasn't just English grammar that was a problem...it was writing in general.

I'm still shocked (and really proud) how well she has been doing in school despite the language barrier...after 3 semesters she's gotten all A+ (just means 98%-100%) except for 1 A in a class where A was the maximum grade. I've helped tutor her a lot, but that makes it all worth it.

Wow, sounds interesting! Sorry I missed it. Where are the archives?

So, out of curiosity, how much of these kinds of husband-wife tiffs may be due to the non-USC simply venting some long pent up frustrations/issues/whatever after the complete change of life they have undergone since come to the US? Or, do you think these are just couple-specific issues? But, if the former, is it likely that at sometime many/most couples could expect that?

In our case, it was mainly just venting/adjustment pains...missing home, not being used to things, etc. Other than a few rare incidents like that one though it's been completely smooth sailing, so I can't complain at all. I lucked out big time.

The different cultures/countries/etc. can definately add extra difficulties to a relationship (as if relationships are not difficult enough on their own). But I think it ultimately comes down to the individiuals...RUB women are as different from one another as American women...some are easy to get along with and some aren't. I think mostly it's just going to come down to communication, understanding each other, not being selfish, and probably some extra tollerance.

I remember the LvivLovers "loving it up" here in our little forum. Man, it seems like it was so long ago. Ah how time flies when you're having fun!

Yeah...I guess that was like a year and a half ago?! Hard to believe time goes so fast.

It seems like most of the "old guys" on here have had their wives jump on and post some stuff when they're really p!ssed off. It's almost like a rite of passage.

I wish that would happen more often...it's entertaining stuff when it happens.

It's like we ignored our wives for too long and they're jealous over VJ and all the time we spend on here. That and they want the whole world to know not only how p!ssed they are but also how much of a loser their husband is. "You're the one married to me. You're not lending credibility to your argument, you know."

But do they event know how you not real man?

That's one of my wife's favorite lines that has come out in about every argument we ever had. But other than when we have had an argument it's a completely different story. She's always saying she's extremely happy, calls me her golden husband, etc. She's very sweet, thoughtful, and easy to get along with, until that switch is flipped. Then it's like her evil twin suddenly appears! She claims it's cause she's a Gemini! haha

She does, however, keep an eye on what's going on here. Quite early on in my VJ days I got a PM with a phone number and a "you should call me" message. When I came home from work, she was sitting on the porch talking to this woman. "Here, it's your buddy on VJ, wanna talk whis her?" Needless to say I never talked to that woman on the phone or anything other than messages about trying to make an international relationship work, but my VJ time has been suspect ever since.

My wife is not the type to try to publicly defame me. She's the type to set me up and watch me get caught in a trap.

That's funny stuff! You best walk the line, man!!!

Who knows, you may even see her on here someday.

My wife says all the time she'd come post here, but school usually has kept her too busy. Not sure I'd want to expose her to the full glory of the RUB though. Would be cool if we had several of the wives/fiancees posting though just to break up the sausage fest a bit.

Yes, LL, I remember it well. You and your wife went at it right here on the forum. You posted then she would post a reply. Very unique to hear both sides of a marriage on the forum. For those who missed it, you probably won't see anything quite like it again.

LL, I'm very happy you and your wife are doing well.

Yeah! That was the one! lol She had gotten really angry about a post I had made on VJ (that I thought was completely innocent) and that set the whole thing off. Up until that time I didn't know she ever even read VJ, so it was quite the surprise when she started posting! But yeah...in hindsight, I think it was one of the best back and forths in VJ history (about 6-7 pages overall!

Like others have said...it's not typical to have an interview in the Removal of Conditions process. The only people that I used to hear about having an interview for this were ones that for whatever reason were not previously interviewed as part of their Adjustment of Status, etc. Most likely, once you've done your biometrics appointment, you'll have a couple months waiting, and then you'll either get your approval or an RFE.

Brad, you scared the bejeezus out us! We're kinda skeered to say anything now.

#######. I missed this rant somehow. Must have been a good one if it was Brad though! Someone point me in the right direction...long day at work here. Hey...anyone remember that awesome meltdown my wife and I had on VJ once? lol Happy to say that's only happened once or twice in our relationship, but what we lack in quantity we definately made up in quality.

I can believe you met your wife by chance...but clearly you had an intention to find (or be very open to finding) a FSU woman, given you spent 6 years dating them here and overseas. So, your marriage to an FSU woman was not solely random. Was it?

For me, the best analogy I can come up with was that I had been having a helluva lot of trouble finding a good used car at the Carmax...too many miles, accidents, plain looks, etc. When suddenly, it came to my attention that the Ferraris across the street were cheaper, drove better, required less maintenance, and were a lot more fun to drive. Once I became aware of the differences, I definately went looking for a FSU woman! But that said, I really lucked out finding my wife...she was a better fit for me than if I had customized the wheels, interior, and paint!

Thanks for the update, although it made Vika get all teary for Ukraine (again).

Has Vika been back to visit yet since coming to the USA? For Oleksandra it's been a really great trip. She missed Lviv, her friends, and most of all family, but she's also now missing "home" here in the USA and will be ready to come back. I think next time the plan is that we'll both go back to Lviv, but I'll definately make sure it will be in the middle of summer! I've been 3 times all in the winter months...not doing that again!

There have been a few negatives she had forgotten about by the way: bad roads, expensive food, crappy weather, and occasionally cold showers! Sounds like she's really loading up on Ukranian/Russian DVDs so I guess that's in my future. I sent her with a video camera this time too...she's filled up 6 tapes so far and has 8 more to go.

I vacationed in the Dominican Republic's best beach area, Puna Cana, a number of years ago when I was still single. The thing about the DR is it is a topless island. There are a lot of Europeans who come there so for them it's no big deal. Just about every women I saw was topless including my Russian companion (not my current wife). My companion had the best body I saw on the island so if I looked at another woman it was a step down. Mostly men stared at Irina who was 36 EE, blonde and tall. Need I say more?

If you bring your wife or fiancee to the DR, make sure she knows it's topless. BTW, I highly recommend the DR for a vacation...and not just for the "scenery." It's a great island and very friendly and pro American. The main reason they like America is baseball. That's a fact. I loved my time there.

Things may have changed. I don't know. We went to Punta Cana about 3 years ago and there were a few topless, but probably only less than 1%. It's always been my experience that 99% of the time the ones going topless/wearing speedos are exactly the ones that shouldn't!

I have to say though, my wife is extremely cool about this sort of thing. Not one accusation of me checking out another girl...ever! She's more likely to be like...she was pretty. It's a very welcome change to my last ex-gf who anrgily walked out of a restaurant on me a few times because I looked at the waitress when ordering! Now going to the beach with her was a NIGHTMARE!!!

I strongly disagree with that. While I'm against a poll tax or anything similar, I do believe folks should forfeit their voting rights when they forfeit being a productive member of society. If you're on the dole... you don't vote.

I'm in favor of folks having to pass an IQ test before being allowed to vote! But perhaps a productivity test would accomplish the same thing?

Just an update...my wife has really been enjoying her time in Lviv despite lots of rain. She said there appears to be many more tourists these days...apparently the major of Lviv has been working hard to encourage this. Lots of souvenir shops now around the opera house and main market square where there were almost none before. Also, the roads around the opera house have no been closed and many benches/tables added making it more and more of a hangout. She said there have been festivals just about every day and there is now a little newspaper showing all of the things that are planned and going no in the city. She's been to the opera house several times already...they now have a translation board above the stage...another sign of catering to tourists. She was, however, disappointed to see that prices on food and many other things were about 3 times higher than when she left 3 years ago. She and her mother are planning to take a 10-day trip to Odessa...I'm sure she'll have more to report about that soon too.

The only problem I have with any of the fee increases is that I feel that the workers are already overpaid and that service will not improve one bit with the fee increase. They always just want more pay but give nothing more in return.

As far as effecting a change in government, I don't think that's really possible any more (or at the very least getting more and more difficult all the time). There are too many people now that are relying on the government to get by. They are either too stupid or too selfish to worry about the fact that we can't afford to be paying for all the things we are paying for. It won't change until it completely collapses...something that seems to happen with every government eventually.

Look to Greece and the rest of Europe to see our future. Even though they are clearly paying out way more than they take in, they still are rioting to prevent a reduction in benefits. As the saying goes...socialism only works until you run out of other people's money.

Alla is going Saturday...Burlington to JFK to Kiev to Donetsk. But we have 7 hours between flights in NY and 8 or 9 hours between flights in Kiev, so she should be OK. I think the ash situation is on again/off again right now. from what hear.

That's correct. You just have to keep monitoring things, but it's basically a box of chocolates any way (as Forrest Gump would say) and you won't know what you're gonna get until it happens. Even a few hours before Oleksandra's flight, they continued to show everything as On Time. Only once she was on the plane (after being late for an hour or more) did they finally tell her there would be several hours delay in the best case. Crazy part is this volcano could go on for several years and there's fears it may trigger an even bigger volcano located nearby that dwarfs this one.

Mox...those stories are pretty crazy! And as crazy as they are, I totally believe you. Because I left out some of the details in my wife's story and they are pretty darn similar. So basically here's a bit more detail...

My wife's plane from NY to Kyiv was 4 hours late, but some of the official Delta people assured my wife several times that Aerosvit knew they were coming late and would ensure that she got on the next flight. She arrived at around 1 PM local time several hours after her original flight was scheduled, and went to the Aerosvit desk and explained her situation. Apparently, there's only 4 Aerosvit flights per day going from Kyiv to Lviv, one in early morning, one around 3 PM, and one late at night, so she was trying to get on the 3 PM flight which was going to leave in a couple hours. They told her there would be a "big fine" to change her tickets. When my wife explained to them Delta told her everything would be handled, they just looked at her like she was crazy. So much for that idea. Finally, they indicated that there was no room on the flight and she would have to wait until the complete registration was done and see if anyone cancelled.

So about an hour and a half later, when registration was finally completed, they finally informed her that there was an opening and told her to go to the cashier, pay the fine, and have her ticket changed. So she goes to the cashier's desk and despite going straight there, the cashier informs her..."Sorry. Registration is closed." This person then calls down to the registration desk and starts bitching at them for sending her in the first place. No amount of pleading with the woman by my wife worked. After finally giving up, my wife was resigned to just getting on the next flight which was at about 9 PM instead.

She said although she was the only person in line, the person changing the tickets still took more than 40 minutes to do it and just kept saying "10 more minutes, 10 more minutes". Another thing my wife said was that they kept the service window closed most of the day and only opened it for a very short window late in the evening. The rest of the time, there was no sign indicating when they would be open, nothing indicating they had gone anywhere, etc. It just opened when it opened, so she had to basically wait and keep checking.

She definately understands the difference between service there and service here. Needless to say, our new nickname for the airline is Aero$hit!

Sleeping with the Enemy.

You're quick! Good job.

My wife often forgets to have all the labels facing out or forgets to make the towels perfect even in the bathroom and I have to correct her.

j/k What movie? Anyone?

Grats, Mark and Anna!!! You made it through the tough part!

My wife travelled back to Ukraine to visit family on Saturday. She flew from Atlanta to NY/JFK to Kyiv. Her flight from NY was delayed about 4 hours due to the Icelandic volcanic ash forcing her to miss a connecting flight from Kyiv to Lviv. This forced other flights to fill up and she didn't get out of Kyiv for another 6 hours!

So my advice would be to leave a little more room between flights or have back up plans if your SO is going to be travelling over that way!

As said above, I have been AWOL.

I ran into some legal troubles in early April and have only recently been able to get back on the Web. As said above, I was lurking but not posting, trying to get caught up on everything. I should be able to post with some regularity again now. I'm not completely done with this legal stuff yet but I should be soon. Hopefully it won't keep me away from here or Appleseed for very long.

In other news, my wife filed for her citizenship. She did it all by herself. I couldn't do it (due to the legal troubles) and told her to get on VJ and just follow the Guides. Looks like she did a great job and has already received her receipt.

Glad to see things here on VJ have been going relatively smooth without me. Keep up the good work!

Grats on the citizenship filing! Must feel good to get that one sent off! Good luck on the legal and hurry back! We miss the straight-shooting and brutal honesty of our resident RUB guru!