Do western men who are married to Russian women become russianized :)

[Zmejka]

I/O brings up a very good point.  Men that have married RW or are actively pursuing them are the very best ambassadors for Russia in their home countries. 

So true My friend sometimes reads blogs about life in Russia posted by foreign people living in Russia - so he can see the difference about bringing news on local TV and how it actually was. And when he reads some topics from Dutch people and their views on Russia he always points the wrong points out to me - and he posts his opinion (not always as he's not much into forums), but he's always advocating Russia, our president and people among colleges and other people.
They often talk with other family members about history and political evets of Russia. Before we got to know each other my friend was already interested in Russia - he started taking lessons to learn Russian and read books about Russian history, wars etc.
He likes watching programs about Russia on TV and always call me to watch together.
Since my arrival i think he became russianized with some food that he liked - blini, golubci, shashliki
I think he's the one in his family drinking vodka (at least sometimes) on holidays.
And he brought from Russia some presents russian style to his family - for example, ushanka (a fur cap with ear flaps) for his brother at his request

[mendeleyev]

I think it's one of the signs of a healthy relationship.  It shows that the two are 'blending.'  Few things are as sad as seeing a guy who has the attitude that 'she came here and she needs to learn my culture.  I don't need to learn anything from a backward country.'  Most of those marriages are simply future divorce cases, with him eventually screaming to anyone who will listen that she ended up being a 'scammer' after all.

We're immersed in the Russian/Ukrianian community here, active in the RO church near our home, shop freqently at the Rus Supermarket near the church or the small Rus/Uzbek market near our home, and spend a lot of time in Russia so it rubs off eventually without even thinking about it.

[Gator]

mendeleyev,

Great point.  A cross-cultural marriage has the opportunity to take the best from both cultures, and I am not talking about rituals and superstitions.