erm... hi

[Elen]

No I don't because there are a LOT of scientific tracts where historians and lingvists give different theories about roots of word ROSSIA

I thought ALL of Ukraine was Russian territory.
The Russians seem to think so as well

I'd like you show me some maps where Ukraina was marked by lines - just to see what year of what century those maps were and what exactly boders it had

[Jack]

here's one hint Elen, 500 years BEFORE Moscow even existed, Kiyv Russ dynasty.

[Elen]

And?? It just proved that Kiev was russian too

Now tell me what Ukraine means

[Jack]

"at the border" or "borderland

[Elen]

at the boder of what??  

(hint for you - at a boder of ROSSIA )

Just a land something there at a boder - just don't remind that to Ukrainians they don't like that fact at all in such degree that asked Russians to used another pretext before Ukraine in Russian laguage for not to hurt their ukrainian national pride

[Jack]

Elen, you would make a great American politician!

[Elen]

Ok I'm off to bed And you meanwhile may try to find some maps to show me Ukrainian territories which russians thought like российские  - yep you even have not proper words in English language to make difference between российский  and  русский  but think you know history of Russia

[TigerPaws]

[color="aqua"][size="4"][color="blue"]What Elen and many other "older" Russian's have is a case of failed empire-itus[/color]
[/size][/color]

[Elen]

What you Tiger has is a history which was re-written by "younger" Ukrainians

[Oosik]

As compared to history written by communists who were *required* to write it in a way that pleased the central committee and the KGB?  With the threat of the gulag if they wrote anything that was not approved but the party?

Regarding the attitude towards GI's, remember that the Soviet system, and now the russian one, is rather brutal to conscripts. Many people leave the service messed up in the head, or with health issues. If you are a lifer in the Marines, she may wonder if you are a sick sadist who likes hurting other people, because that's that they expect Sgt.'s to be like. They need to have it explained that the US system is volunteer, and that GI's live very well and are treated very well. Explain that sort of thing, 30 days vacation per year and all that, and you will be fine IMHO.

[DevilDog]

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who responded (even the people who veered off into a geography/history tangent).

I would think being in the military could complicate and confuse things even more both sides of the aisle. 

I'd wait until after you make that career choice you mentioned..   Lots of competition, choices and cheap outsourcing in IT work.

There are a few reasons why I've decided to do this now rather than  wait until after I'm out. While I'm currently enlisted, I can take  advantage of the free medical and dental care that may be necessary  when she arrives, not to mention free English classes on-base. It'll  also be a bit easier to start out financially by living on base and  getting comrats the whole time. and if I decide to stay, then I can  take advantage of the built-in family readiness groups, free education,  etc. It's a win-win situation.

As far as outsourcing, the majority of jobs that are being outsourced  are ones that entry-level IT workers with little to no experience  usually take. Five years with Win2k/2k3/XP and *nix, along with enough  certifications to shake a stick at, bump me up into the next category.

While I'm here, I might as well ask: can anyone recommend a reliable agency that has any women in Vladivostok?

[jb]

There are a number of agencies which feature women from eastern Russia in their catalogs.   You might just want to concentrate on those which have a database search engine, and simply do your search for age, height, weight, hair and eye color approprate women, and remembering to type in the keyword "Vladivostok" as a part of your search.

I'd be very surprised if you didn't get quite a few hits.

[Elen]

As compared to history written by communists who were *required* to write it in a way that pleased the central committee and the KGB? With the threat of the gulag if they wrote anything that was not approved but the party?

At least Russian can support their "history" with maps in a case with Ukraina - you can't do even THAT

[jb]

While I'm currently enlisted, I can take advantage of the free medical and dental care that may be necessary when she arrives, not to mention free English classes on-base. It'll also be a bit easier to start out financially by living on base and getting comrats the whole time. and if I decide to stay, then I can take advantage of the built-in family readiness groups, free education, etc. It's a win-win situation.

I'm no expert, but I was in the military for a number of years.   You might want to check into all those benefits and find out for sure if they are available to non-US citizen spouses.  I recall men who married local girls overseas and seem to recall they had difficulties getting their gals dependent ID's, getting into base housing, base medical and dental, and other places.  Since you are based outside the ConUS, I'm wondering how you'd apply for a SSN for a RW even if you were married.  Would the local US Chaplin be willing to marry you in the on base chapel so that it wold be considered a binding and legal marriage?   Failing that, would a marriage by a Japanese judge or clergyman be considered legal since neither of you would be considered citizens of Japan?  Of course you could marry in Russia and apply for the K-3 visa, but that would be a visa to the USA, not Japan. 

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I can think of a lot of questions you probably need to get answers to before you trot off the the Rodina on a wife hunt.

[r0gera]

Ok.. here you go.. I am sure it is in this map somewhere... the oldest map in the world discovered in the Ukraine from about 11000 to 12000 bc and written on a mammoth bone. 

http://www.infoukes.com/history/inventions/figure02.gif 

 

I didn't see russia on there or Moscow either!   

[Photo Guy]

[size="3"][color="navy"]I've seen maps with Kyiv and most of Ukraine within Poland.
And also maps of other eras with the southern half of Ukraine in the Ottoman Empire.
So?
Ukraine acknowledges that Crimea has a different cultural background. If Russia views left-bank Ukraine as Russian, should Poland view right bank Ukr. as Polish? Or Bulgarian? Should borders be re-drawn to reflect historical cultural differences? Should the Kurds be given their own country? Should the European Union be dissolved?  What ingredients, what strategies should be employed to unify diverse ethnic/cultural groups within borders?

[color="blue"]1- the encouragement of a common language
2- democracy and free speech [/color][/color][/size][size="3"][color="navy"]
Should there be integration or separation of ethnic groups?
[/color][/size][/b]

[dostogirl]

I was speaking to a Russian friend of mine (who had just gotten back from visiting family in Vladivostok) a little while ago about possibly traveling to Russia later in the year on vacation and was warned against it, due to the fact that we make nice big targets for police officials who haven't quite caught on to the fact that the Cold War is over.

I would not agree with your friend. When there's always a chance to get into trouble in Russia, I don't think it's that bad. I'm from that area of Russia (near Vladivostok) and my husband travelled to visit my city and had no problems with authorities. There are frequent flights from Tokyo to Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, so you can purchase tickets without problems either yourself or through the airlines directly (they usually have English speaking services if you call them direct). I flew through Korea and Japan before from Russia, no problems. I also knew a couple of girls who married GIs (their husbands were stationed in Korea at that time) and their husbands visited them, had no problems whatsoever. Attitute towards Americans in Russia is no worse than in Asia   Good luck

[al-c]

I wish to emphsize again that I have been to Russia twice and have had zero trouble with the police.  As an Arab who is also an American citizen traveling with an American passport, I have two cultural strikes against me, but still the police there gave me zero trouble.

I do obey the law there, which is always handy when wanting to stay out of trouble, but I am sure we all do.

Once I was stopped in the Moscow domestic airport for a spot check by a police officer, who took a half of a minute or so to inspect my passport and visa and sent me on my way.  I may have been singled out because I am an Arab, but you have to expect that in a city that has been targeted by Arab terrorists, and I really didn't mind because that practice could very well save my life because of the Arab terrorist it might intercept.