eekee

Well I'm an American woman, and I have done all that. In fact, I will walk way farther than three blocks for groceries in order to get better deals. My landlady is supposedly getting us a washing machine soon, though!
I actually haven't lived in an apartment building with an elevator except when I was lived in a Khruschev structure and was on the 16th floor or so. I didn't have an elevator when I lived in Brooklyn either though, and that was 6 flights up. And we had mice and roaches. And I had to get on the subway to buy groceries because we didn't have a suitable supermarket in our neighborhood. I prefer my roach-and-miceless Russian apartments!
I don't think it has to do with being American or being Ukrainian or whatever. I'm not some special snowflake specially wired to be able to withstand Russian life. I can't come up with an example of any kind of hardship I went through growing up. I was just simply in Russia for a long period of time and got used to way things were. And I was very much a "Princess" before. I guarantee that if you sent an American girl to Russia for two years, she would know how to walk and dress and ALSO not complain. This is also perhaps why my only female American friends are girls who have lived in Russia for long periods of time.
Plus at least in Russia guys will help you carry things up those five flights of stairs!

Well I'm an American woman, and I have done all that. In fact, I will walk way farther than three blocks for groceries in order to get better deals. My landlady is supposedly getting us a washing machine soon, though!
I actually haven't lived in an apartment building with an elevator except when I was lived in a Khruschev structure and was on the 16th floor or so. I didn't have an elevator when I lived in Brooklyn either though, and that was 6 flights up. And we had mice and roaches. And I had to get on the subway to buy groceries because we didn't have a suitable supermarket in our neighborhood. I prefer my roach-and-miceless Russian apartments!
I don't think it has to do with being American or being Ukrainian or whatever. I'm not some special snowflake specially wired to be able to withstand Russian life. I can't come up with an example of any kind of hardship I went through growing up. I was just simply in Russia for a long period of time and got used to way things were. And I was very much a "Princess" before. I guarantee that if you sent an American girl to Russia for two years, she would know how to walk and dress and ALSO not complain. This is also perhaps why my only female American friends are girls who have lived in Russia for long periods of time.
Plus at least in Russia guys will help you carry things up those five flights of stairs!

Who else would raise you besides your mom and maybe grandma apart from your dad? I'm kind of confused by that statement. I was raised by a single mom and was a tomboy.
It pisses me off when girls try to ban their boyfriends/husbands from looking at other women. If he's going to cheat, he's going to cheat, and if you're a controlling pain in the @$$ all the time, it's all the more likely that he will stray/leave you. Just because someone else is Pretty too doesn't mean you're not.

When a girl is just sobbing hysterically, no one can understand what she's saying, language barrier or no language barrier.
Girls who want a "papa"=daddy issues. And that's a whole set of problems in and of itself.

When a girl is just sobbing hysterically, no one can understand what she's saying, language barrier or no language barrier.
Girls who want a "papa"=daddy issues. And that's a whole set of problems in and of itself.

It's a big country (the US) and it's an even bigger world out there. There exist subcultures right here in the U.S. who view women in a manner that would be considered despicable by other subcultures also in the U.S. On top of that we add another layer of complexity when we take Americans of various 'types' and marry them with men and women from all over the world. What you end up with is a population that no longer has any homogeneity when it comes to what is considered respectable. I recall, many years ago, a member on VJ making the joke that I would be proud if my daughter (who doesn't exist yet) were to be on the cover of Playboy. In fact, I would not and remember finding the suggestion despicable. But I've come to the realization that that's the kind of thought process that is 'normal' where he comes from.
So what's my point? That we shouldn't be a family friendly place at all because in a population this size with this level of diversity that doesn't mean a whole lot.

When a girl is just sobbing hysterically, no one can understand what she's saying, language barrier or no language barrier.
Girls who want a "papa"=daddy issues. And that's a whole set of problems in and of itself.

Why would knowing Russian make his English worse? Like I said, my mom's first language isn't English, she spoke no English at home growing up... and her English is fine.
Also, Ona's parents may not speak English, and I also don't see why spending summers in Russia would be a bad thing at all. I am just confused as to why you are attacking her for wanting her kids to know her language and homeland.
People are free to make these sorts of decisions in childrearing based on what they value and what they want for their kids. It's no one else's place to say what's wrong or right.

Google Voice has free calls to the US for the rest of the year, which is something else to consider.

Naw their nice as pie in Russia to Americans...especially the police. Like the ones that nab you in a bogus charge, and then let you go after you give them everything in their wallet. But hey...who knows...maybe the store tellers stopped robbing Americans of their money if they didn't think to count every ruble.
And all the smiles Americans get from people there...oh ya. Lots of smiles (sarcasm there). I love it though when going to a restaurant with my wife and the waitresses are total b*tches when they find out I'm American and she's not.
Best one was when I got into a scrap at a Russian night club in Smolensk...a dozen witnesses that knew I didn't start it, and low and behold....who ends up having to pay those cops close to $500 ? Ya, one guess, and it wasn't the other guy.
It doesn't get any better in Belarus...other than the cops there don't seem as dirty as the ones in Russia. I know all about Belarusian and Russian hospitality / culture only too well.

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.

No, I'm not implying that birth control pills are promiscuous or that pulling out isn't. I was pointing out why the rates of abortion are so high--lack of decent sex education and poor use of/lack of contraceptive devices. It's not that people have more sex. It's that people are having sex and taking less precaution to not become pregnant, as well as the fact that abortion is less stigmatized and provided free by the state.
And of course it was easier to get laid in Ukraine--for you. In Vermont, there are tons of middle aged white guys, but there aren't a whole lot of AMERICAN middle aged white guys in Ukraine. You'd find the same result in a lot of countries, and it doesn't mean the culture is promiscuous as a WHOLE. It means that there, you're something rare and hard-to-find. In Vermont, you're just like everybody else. In addition, foreign men tend to frequent certain places, and women who are looking for a foreign man target those places. Ask a dude with a British accent or a French guy how easy it is for them to get laid in America. A sexy accent goes a long way, just like the idea that American man=cash money and/or green card goes a long way in a lot of places.

Or Alla reads here.