How are some of the ways you have integrated FSU culture?

[Diplomacy]

Title says it all.  I was wondering how people have integrated FSU culture into their cross cultural marriage?  Anyone brave enough to wear their shoes in the house?

[Blues Fairy]

Anyone brave enough to wear their shoes in the house?

Me! Me! 

[Diplomacy]

Oh Boy! Blues Fairy lives life on the edge.

[beachcomber556]

How do I love her????   Let me count the ways:
1.  No shoes in the house.
2.  I don't dare cook -- that's her domain.
3.  American television???  What's that???
4.  100% Russian diet.  Her Borscht rocks 
5.  Home made salt cabbage.
6.  Giving and receiving gifts on New Year's rather than Christmas.
7.  We get 2 Christmases !!!!!
8.  No whistling, especially in the house.  That was a hard one.

[Diplomacy]

Oh man I did not realize whistling could be grounds for FSUW reeducation tactics.  You are a life saver!  My friend said he now hates the Potato and cabbage after a childhood of having to eat them at almost every meal.  His Mom is Polish and his Dad is Irish, he never had a chance as he says.

I am not sure how the friendship goes after this, he may be collateral damage lol.  He said Oh Man, I finally escape those evil vegetables and now you go and do this.  Do you not understand Ukrainian culture?  Same thing Potato and Cabbage my friend. 

Cooking though is neutral grounds and she thinks I make really good meals.  I make for best husband lol. 

[beachcomber556]

Whistling in the house is supposed to bring bad luck in finances, according to my beloved.  I catch the rath when I slip.  But, she claims she is not superstitious, lol.

[coolhand]

1/ We take our shoes off on entering

2/ but there are no rugs hung on the wall !

3/ We celebrate the Orthodox Christmas

4/ but we celebrate the catholic ( small c ) one , too

5/ We speak English

6/ But she watches Russian TV ( and curses me in Russian )

7/ We eat Russio-Ukkraini-Uzbeki…  Food

8/ But we found the equiv local ingredients without having to seek out a “Russian” food shop

9/ I can whistle in the house as long as it is in tune ( we are NOT in Russia)

10/ I am allowed to slow down to let the black cat cross the road

9/ She hasn’t changed anything about the way she behaves or her appearance

10/ We’ve very happy with the compromise….

[Shadow]

Russian food fits my taste perfect, and is much more basic and natural.
Shoes in the house were never worn, even before I met a RW.
Russian TV is running (Xmas present).
Changed from Coca-Cola to Kvass.
Giving out more presents for good service and feeding friends.

[Diplomacy]

Great ideas everyone

I am going to learn how to swear back in Russian and Ukrainian.

As they say if you know many languages you must be from FSU, if you know some you must be from Western Europe.  If you only know English, you must be American

I break all the molds, you should have seen the chat when I asked about Georgian Sabre Dancing and wanted to see it in person.  She has declared RWD the American Counter Culture. 

Shadow I drink water with Gas now instead of Coke as much as possible.  I like it and it is much better for me.  The old metabolism seems to be slowing down at 34 lol. The funny part is my fiance does not like water with gas.

It is not a superstition when it is true

I am watching Eralash on the internet and understanding a lot of it now. 

Being careful with money means eating potato, but does not include Chanel.  It is much better than Ukrainian variant and she think Ukrainian is Immatatsia!  It costs big money and not as good.

How am I doing so far?

[Shadow]

Being careful with money means eating potato, but does not include Chanel.  It is much better than Ukrainian variant and she think Ukrainian is Immatatsia!  It costs big money and not as good.

Being careful with money means that if you buy something, buy something of good quality. You do not have money to waste on cheap things. 

[Diplomacy]

Ahh!  Yes, that is it exactly.  I just thought it was logic of the female persuasion but actually that is how I am.  I would rather buy one great thing than 3 OK things with the same amount of money.  Thanks Shadow! 

I am starting to wonder if the stork overshot Ukraine and dropped me off in America by mistake. 

[mendeleyev]

Nice lists so far!

Knowing all the nonsense about what Rus TV says about foreign men, she was given a house and gate key (secured condo) immediately upon arrival, along with a monthly bus pass (also works on the train), and a cell phone immediately upon arrival.

That way we got over the Russian TV "foreign man traps RW for housekeeping and sex slave" rubbish, and the cell phone came with a international card to call her mother.  Today we use Skype.

There are 3 Russian/Ukrainian markets (1 is a supermarket) and several restaurants.  Within a week she had seen them all.

I tried to treat her the same way she treats me in Russia as we spent a whole lot of time there.

[SANDRO43]

Shadow I drink water with Gas now instead of Coke as much as possible.  I like it and it is much better for me. The old metabolism seems to be slowing down at 34 lol. The funny part is my fiance does not like water with gas.

Which shows how much is in a name, contrary to what Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet ("A rose by any other name...") and others after him echoed in the same vein .

Natural mineral water is such an appealing label, so full of positive connotations in these environment-conscious days , ignoring the fact that slightly carbonated cool drinks (from champagne to beer to Coke, etc.) are much more thirst-quenching than plain water, probably due to their CO₂ content (any physiologist around to explain that ?).
Mind you, I don't advocate French waters like Perrier or our SanPellegrino, too much of it in them. But I've been drinking regularly our naturally carbonated Ferrarelle for the past 40 years with no harmful effects.

A couple of years ago I developed a kidney stone and thought it might have been due to that water (it has a higher Calcium Carbonate content than most others), but an analysis of the stone revealed it consisted of a Calcium Oxalate, so the water was absolved.

And the fashionable pure glacier waters or pure iceberg waters are totally ridiculous IMO. They're probably more contaminated than spring waters, which at least are somewhat filtered by the rock/sediment strata they pass through before being bottled .

[Diplomacy]

Sandro:

Yes, it is and I agree with too much in the French versions.  I did not like it as a kid and it was the French versions.  Sorry to hear about the kidney stone, I would have had to have dropped the water with gas if it was going to cause those.

In survival training they always say drink from a river if possible.  The sand and rocks filter it the faster the better.  Of course I am always prepared with proper filtration if needed, but if it got down to it that is what you are suppose to do.

Of course my hunting and fishing trips are a barometer of my strong man status.  It is a weird aspect for me.  Any of my other girlfriends would say, do not even think about cleaning that near the house.  I am not going to eat that and killing animals is cruel.  I even took a girl one time to see some deer starving to death.  I asked which how cruel she thought it was then?  Come to think of it we did not last long after that

My fiance can clean a fish like nobodies business.  Of course then using the rest for soup.  I am pretty happy with that aspect of my fiance too.  She appreciates a man that can provide meat for the family in that manner.  Of course I do worry about my hunting dog, she may be losing some fur.

Although I think with FSUW the fish you bring home may prove you were actually fishing and not with another woman. 

[OlgaH]

The funny part is my fiance does not like water with gas.

I don't like water with gas either.

[SANDRO43]

Sandro:Yes, it is and I agree with too much in the French versions.  I did not like it as a kid and it was the French versions.  Sorry to hear about the kidney stone, I would have had to have dropped the water with gas if it was going to cause those.

Dipcy, you must have misread my post :

A couple of years ago I developed a kidney stone and thought it might have been due to that water (it has a higher Calcium Carbonate content than most others), but an analysis of the stone revealed it consisted of a Calcium Oxalate, so the water was absolved.

My stone was blasted into fragments and piped out. Thanks for your sympathy, anyway .

[Vaughn]

Having been a science major, it was no big deal for me when we decided to go
metric in our home and her automobile. Temperature, bathroom scale, kitchen scale,
and so forth. One exception - the teaspoonful of baking soda or sugar - that measure
kinda tickles her...  gaining 500g, though, does not.

Ounces, inches, and cups never made much sense to me anyway when the metric system
is an easy factor of 10.