Jonathan Matthies

I was annoyingly pro-active and started emailing the Moscow consulate, asking questions about the packet as well as hounding for an interview date from them. This was during a period of time where the MOS interview list hadn't been updated for weeks. When we were first approved in November, they listed date/times for september/november interviews on their website. People here had warned that the Embassy might not be timely in their response; unless you hounded them.

Congrats, the next part should fly by for you, and she'll be interviewing before you know it!

Vika feels the same way about peanut butter. She says it is her salty fish, but jellied meat is a close second to the fishy, briny treats in my book. Bread doesn't help with salty fish either.

I've never had this jellied meat, so I think I'm lucking out. I experienced the stinky fish in all it's putrid glory. Please, no one tell Katya about this jellied meat business; it sounds thoroughly unappealing.

I was in a barber shop quartet once in Skokie, Illinois.

Loved that movie. Probably second behind Dark City as my all time favorites.

I only met Katya once, for like 10 days, and the entire I-129F process from filing to her landing was a tad over 5 months.

awesome news indeed!

Where exactly is this deli and what is its name?

Elite Deli Fruits & Veggies. I'm the dumb American who comes into the store with hand-written notes from Katya and pointing to her pretty Russian script, then pointing to the product in my other hand and asking if they are the same product.

They are friendly enough folk to the Russian speaking patrons, though I feel a bit intimidated since I can't speak much conversational Russian. I know how Katya must feel all the time now that she's over here.

Katya has found 3 or 4 people already in Aurora, Colorado. She actually found one by going into Skype and typing in city/state and nationality. While there were a few dozen names listed, she only contacted one person that way: a lady who had the exact same birthdate; so the Skype thing was sort of a lark.

Her other method has been using a russian-language equivalent of this website. I will have to ask her for the URL when I get home; but it's essentially a visajourney.com for russian speakers. She asked if there was anyone in Aurora; and she had a couple responses.

Her other link to Russian folk has been a nice, if expensive, Deli run by some lovely Russian folk. It's constantly filled with other native Russians and she has struck up a few conversations with folk there. They appeared to be idle conversations; but it is another way for her to potentially meet real folk in our city.

I caught an annoying week-long cold from my flight to NY and back. I still have a slight cough, but the past two nights Katya has given me a homemade remedy of honey massaged into my back and chest, but not over the heart; and a small glass of brandy. The brandy was nice, the sticky honey followed by a warm sweater to sleep in was a tad uncomfortable. But either due to the miracle of home remedies; or the possibility the cold ran it's course; I feel better.

You could always pull a Mathies and do it in someone elses bed.

Sorry John, couldn't resist!

Hey! I resemble that remark!

I am not really looking for specifics on "Go to Leetsdale and Oneida and look for a shop here"; but more of a general How-to find local Russian shops in any city. Dexknows.com (From Qwest) has proved to be less than helpful. International Market does not necessarily mean "Russian Market". Russiandenver.com has a list of 7 possible shops, and I hope they pan out - but if they don't I'm not sure where else to turn other than Google and hope I can punch in useful terms.

Wonderful news! Glad you get to see her before new years!

You really should start. With Russians, there are some good times to be had if you're drinking. It also helps to dull the pain....

Katya doesn't drink much; but I'm 230 pounds of fat Irish-ness; so I do enough for the both of us. That first night in Vladivostok I drank an entire bottle of Stolie trying and calm my nerves; and promptly awoke half naked in a pool of my own vomit on her brother's bed. Yet, she still decided to fly over to America to be with me!

Ok the continuous freakout has began. Just hung up with them on Skype, next time I talk to them will be after interview.

Please say a prayer for my parents.

Here's hoping everything went well for you and your parents!

Yes, it has been well worth the wait; except poor Denis has been sick for over half of his time in America so far. He's doing better now, so it's all good. I'm glad I bought a region free DVD player long ago; because he came with a slew of russian TMNT DVDs.

Katya has spent 4 days cursing the state of my house; at least I assume she's cursing. Cleaning this, rearranging that, throwing out butter from 2008 (holy hell that was scary). She hand washed everything, hasn't used the dishwasher yet.

So much more to think about now, but I'm glad they are finally here.

I checked the USCIS website 2-3 time a day for the entire duration of that wait; despite knowing the general length of the process. Furthermore, I received the packet in the mail before the website was ever updated. So all that website did was add to my neurosis.

The time after NOA2 has been a blur. Once NOA2 arrived it went from "she'll be approved sometime in the next few weeks or months, I can clean the house whenever" to "oh ####### she will be here in under 2 months, can I burn down the house and start over?".

Enjoy your time here, it really does go quicker than you think. It feels like last week that I went to Russia to visit Katya, but it's been 7 months. Freaking crazy how time flies.

My parents interview (Moscow) is just around the corner and i am starting to freak out. I just have little moments of freaking out here and there but afraid its going to turn into one major continuous freakout once the time gets right there. And of course I wont be able to sleep the night before.

deeeeeeeeep breathhhh

Welcome to the club. I went from pre-interview jitters to pre-arrival jitters. Jitters for everyone!

My experience has been that taking the metro is going to be her best bet. Traffic in Moscow is unpredictable, and the major roads can be completely jammed up even at 2am.

But look: this is your fiancee's country. Even though she's not from Moscow, she is uniquely qualified to travel within her country. Don't try to run her travel arrangements from 5,000 miles away. Of the two of you, she is the most qualified to figure this problem out. Put it squarely in her lap and let her do it. After all, if you were planning a trip through an airport in the US that you've never been to, you wouldn't ask her to plan it for you from Vladivostok, right?

The ball is squarely in her lap, and always has been. I'm apprehensive enough of about traveling to NY, I'm not about to offer her advise on Moscow traffic patterns. It was disheartening to see her hopes fade when she realized she'd have to spend another day 'of horror' in Moscow. But she said we'll simply suffer through it and meet up a day later. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.

Well she decided to bite the bullet and delay her departure until the 11th. Poor Denis gets to celebrate his birthday by flying for 16 hours! It'sa safer this way, because who knows what might happen at DHL tomorrow morning. She may have to wait until the afternoon to get her VISAs in hand. I'm 'taking a chance' by buying the tickets before she actually holds them; but it's a calculated risk.

That's awesome news! I hope to be mimicking your adventures in a couple days. I just hope it's not numb-#### cold when she arrives. It's -11 and I have spent the past year and a half proclaiming how much nicer a Denver winter was going to be when compared to Vladivostok. C'mon sunshine!

Apparently Katya and Denis' VISAs will be at the DHL office tomorrow morning; but she has been told that she can't make it to SVO in under 4-5 hours from the south of Moscow; due to traffic within the city. She is staying with a friend in a city called Видное (Vidnoye). The DHL office opens at 8am. Google maps shows it takes over an hour to drive from her city to SVO without traffic. There is a Noon and a 2pm flight out of SVO, but she doesn't think she can make it in time. If that's the case, the other option is to fly out of DME, but nothing is syncing up. It's either too early a flight (leaves before she can even pick up the VISAs at DHL), too expensive ($2700 a ticket) , or too long (26 hour flight - layovers in multiple cities for multiple hours).

If she really can't get to SVO for a 2pm flight, our only other option would be to have her leave on Friday the 11th instead of tomorrow the 10th; but neither of us wish to wait a day. However, the more I look the more annoyed I become, because the best option appears to be "wait a day".

Congratulations, Chris!

It's interesting that CO always asks about a ring. What if you don't have a ring?

I haven't given Katya a ring yet, she didn't mention them asking about it either. My mom had misplaced her grandmother's ring when I went to Vladivostok in May; so I had nothing to give her. She found in over the summer and I plan to present it to her when she lands. But, for the interview she did not have one and it didn't appear to be a big deal.

Awesome news! glad your interview process went so smooth.

I didn't sleep a wink as I waited for her to get back from her interview. She was there for 4 hours, they interview was in Russian, her son Denis was not asked any questions, they asked standard questions that have been mentioned here "Where did you meet, when did he see you in person, when is the wedding, what of the engagement, how will you communicate?". No dodgeball questions

Now we wait for the VISA's to arrive. They said a week, but I'm hoping for the 3 days window since she's picking them up in Moscow. I wish I could buy the tickets now, but that's tempting fate and I don't have $1600 to throw around. I'd be more happy if I wasn't so tired.

awesome news. conga-rats

Awesome news. We're less than 1 week from the interview ourselves. I on'tkno why I say "We"; since I'm just sitting here cleaning my house while Katya does all the hard work in Moscow.