Hey, if no one minds... why don't we talk about Russian Women for a bit...?
Specifically, I wanted to jot a few notes about my wife's first month here.
This is kind of random. I think a little later, my Mrs. will chime in also. She has been entertaining a guest this weekend, so hasn't had much time.
So, random thoughts:
Russian Woman vs. Ukrainian Woman:
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My wife has no problem with being referred to as a Russian woman. (Which is nice, since it's easier to write than Ukrainian Woman...)
I had someone ask me: "How is a Russian woman different than an American Woman?" The answer is, of course: "Impossible to say." Because all Russian Women are different from each OTHER, so there is no set comparison that can be made.
So, my comments are not about Russian women... they are about my wife.
Russian Woman and dogs:
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Someone asked once if Russian Women take to pets. Well, my wife has completely stolen my dog from me. Not that I minded too much, but it was amazing how fast that dog forgot about me when he learned my wife did things in the kitchen besides use the phone there to order pizza. (My dog the Traitor!)
She has spoiled him rotten. One thing is that she feeds him from the table, so now there is no chance that he won't be there for the family meals. The only thing that she has followed is when I told her that chocolate was bad for him. She spoils him, but she is careful about it. No chocolate for him!
One day I was in the bedroom typing, and she comes rushing in, closing the door behind her. She is holding a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. “What are you doing?” I asked. “It is terrible!” she tells me. “I cannot eat downstairs. The cat and dog keep watching me!”
The amazing thing about her closeness with him is that the first day she was here, he chewed up an expensive mink hat that she brought all of the way from Kherson with her. (Her reaction: "Oh well, I will not need it in Texas...")
Russian Woman on Household appliances:
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Washer she likes. The Dryer took some getting used to. (Every now and then she will point out to me that we have many trees in our yard, and we COULD have a clothesline there.) I think she likes it now, though. The dishwasher was a non-event for her. It took her a week before she would even try it. Even now she views it with some skepticism. ("You know," she told me "I do a better job washing the dishes than the dishwasher." Who would argue with her?) The electric can-opener made her laugh, but she uses it (mainly because I don't have a back-up option). I bought her a hand mixer which she is interested in, but I don't think she sees much use for it.
Russian Women on American Women:
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We were walking out of church last week, and she turned to me and said: "There are many beautiful women in this church." And I agreed with her. (There are.) "Probably you could have found a beautiful woman without going to Ukraine." And, I told her that I didn't go to Ukraine just to find a beautiful woman. I asked her if she thought there were more beautiful women in Kiev. And she looked around the church and said. "Not so many, no." Which was what I thought too, and which is why I said (a long time ago) guys going to Kiev expecting super models walking the streets will be disappointed.
However, on the flip side, she also noted to me that many American women are over-weight. This is not a contradiction. In my area, a woman seems to be one or the other. In our church there are knockouts, and knocked outs. Pretty much the same for the city I live in. If you go out to the dance club, the women look (mostly) great. You go to a PTA function, and they are mainly 25 pounds over-weight and wearing sweats.
A couple of weeks ago, we went out to dinner with several couples from our church. We met at the restaurant, which was a nice Mexican place. My wife wanted to know what she should wear. I tried to tell her that she could wear almost anything she wanted to. Noting some of the dress she had seen on Sunday, she decided on a nice black suit/dress. Classy, but the dress was suitably short to be feminine. (She looked like a sexy NY lawyer on Ally McBeal or something.)
Every other woman there from the group was wearing a sweater and jeans. (one in a sweatshirt.) Big, bulky (albiet comfortable) clothes.
My wife saw what everyone else was wearing, leaned in close to me and said: "Probably I should have worn something else." she looked around again. "Maybe I should have worn a tent."
Russian Woman on the importance of the Green Card:
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My wife could not possibly care less that she lives in America now, except that it means that we are together. If I told her tomorrow that I have taken a good job in Kiev, she would dance upstairs and start packing, while dancing up and down and singing with joy.
She was an upper professional where she was. When she was married before, she lived in a big apartment, she and her husband had a Jeep, and she was considered very well off by local standards. She chose to divorce rather than live in a bad marriage. (Long story, and I won't get into those details.) The point is that she left one marriage that was bad, even though she had a many nice things... she wasn't about to enter another one just to improve her lifestyle.
She likes America well enough. She likes the people, who have all been very nice. She likes the school here. She has even grown to like Kroger's.
But if she could go home, and have her family, her friends, and my daughter and I (OK... and probably the dog) all together, she would trade America for that in a second.
There is much more. But I will have to post it later.
