Back to the Motherland

[Kuna]

Well,  after much anticipation my family are off back to the Motherland to show off our gorgeous 7 month old little man to the family.

We've got a little shopping stopover in Beijing each way which is necessary because we're taking my aging mother (and our baby) on this trip.

First we're into Moscow, then St Pete, down to Dnepr and back up to Kiev, back to Moscow and then home via Beijing again.

Our party of five also includes my "late twenties nephew" and as many times as he's told my wife he is NOT interested in meeting her friends for "those reasons", she's been busy sending off photos and lining up informal dinners etc while we're there.  She really is an incorrigible little matchmaker.   

We're all very excited about this trip because is more of a vacation than anything else. No pressure (except traveling with a 7 month old) and complete freedom (well as much freedom you can have with a 77 yr old in tow), and we're off and away.

We fly out this afternoon and while it's unlikely I'll get much time to post while away I will keep a diary and try to post our experiences (especially my wife's on her first return home since our marriage) when I get back.



Oh, here's a thought!

Those double entry Russian visas are expensive now!!!  $210 for a double entry for an Aussie now.. used to be $110.

... and Ukraine still requires visas for Aussies...  so it was either:

1. Deal with the online Visa support scam (at $80 per person or $320 all up), or;
2. Talk the embassy into letting my wife give the invite without the required stamp you usually get from OVIR for a private visit. 

After some sweet talking, then some negotiation, then a straight question if they'd prefer me to use an online company I have absolutely no relationship with or any intention of using except to get the fake invitation, the finally agreed to accept a letter from my wife without the stamp. 

Originally they wanted her to go back to Ukraine to get the stamp for my private visa invitation and i sadly had to point out what a moronic suggestion that was.

I guess back in Ukraine the "bureaucrat" would have just been slipped some money to get agreement but it doesn't work like that here.  Old habits must be hard to break!


oh... and... while the airfares have fallen dramatically in price (we're into Moscow this time for $2,100 return - and they've fallen a little more again recently) the cost of visas etc have certainly blown out.  In total our visas and RUS invitation came to $385 per person...  bugger!

Exchange rates are looking good (both ways... from $AUD to $USD and from $USD to RUB and Grivna)...  so I guess everything will even out in the end.


Anyway... outta here!

[Kuna]

OK... so you'll notice the original TR post was made 2 months ago.  We were away for a month and I honestly believe it's taken me a month (or a little more) to rationalise some of the stuff from our trip before I've been able to post.

On y first trip to Ukraine I posted on the fly.. day by day and almost thought by thought.  this was powerful for me because mir and others saved my butt from avoiding scams and problems as they arose.

My second trip was one exclusively focused on more time and experience with my now wife.  We decided on that trip that (based on a few events) that we were committed to each other, and as the visa process would take 10 months we were committed to each other, became engaged and I'd return in a few months to spend a few months with her while we waited for the visa to be approved.

I returned home and I despatched the visa documents a month or so later...  and they got lost in the mail.  I resent them and this time they were lodged and almost immediately my wife was booked in for her interview in Moscow.

We knew the average approval time was 5 months and the expectation being set was 10 months so we had plenty of time....  right?  No, wrong!  Less than 2 weeks after her interview my wife received a call from the Embassy in Moscow and was told if she could get to Oz within a month her Visa would be approved.

The craziness started...  Resign for work.. put the career on hold. Pack up her apartment (as much as she could) and some tearful farewell parties with friends in her "traditional" dinner parties in her Dnepr kitchen.  Up to Moscow for the visa label and farewell for Mama and family and then off to Oz via Dubai and Singapore/

Arrival and marriage within 6 weeks... and yes,  pregnant with our first child 3 months later.

Life was really a whirlwind for us.

I should say all the while I used RWD to the maximum.  I sought out the advice from men I trusted.  The older, mroe experienced crusty characters I would be proud to call friends.. that is, if they existed in real life and not just the internet.  These men were my wise counsel - whether they knew it or not.

Anyway...  My family had formed and my wife gave birth to our son.  Life was wonderful for us but we had business that had been delayed while our whirlwind settles.

This trip was to take us back to her (and my) motherland.   

[Aloe]

i wonder how people have children so soon after moving, its been 1 month since i moved here, and everything is still very strange; i cant imagine adding a pregnancy and a child to it, but i guess it would be much easier if they spoke english around here  baaa
but congrats to you on your baby and all

[Kuna]

So on this trip we were taking my 77 yr old mother and my 27 yr old nephew.  My mother was a consideration for our travel plans but would affect our itinerary no more than our 7 month old would.  

We were stopping over roughly half way to Moscow - and for an Aussie that means 12 hours away in Beijing.  Our plan was to do a lot of resting.. a little sightseeing and a little shopping when time permitted.

I was interested in how my nephew would perceive the things around us as he is the ultimate introvert, on his first overseas trip and not a typical the male in our family (who generally are ultra-extroverted, career driven and well traveled - we joke about being capitalist pigs...  he is much more sensitive).  He would prove to give me entirely new perspectives on FSU.

In this TR I won't cover our shopping or tour expeditions in China, but there were interesting in their own way.  I will say that it was as much as an "education" for my wife as it was for my elderly mother...  and as much as an education for my elderly mother as it was for my wife.

It was interesting for me how confronting new experiences could be for people.  I'd never felt it in China...  I guess I've been there too often.  For my mother and wife, this was like another planet!  Beijing can be very strange, and if you're not expecting it - it can be shocking.

Anyway...  we've shopped and rested.. now we're off to Moscow!



First thing to share...  traveling to Moscow with an infant is GOOD!

Those who think all Russian men are unworthy, arrogant, woman-haters obviously never met the very generous people we found in Russia (and again in Ukraine).

On arrival in Moscow the Passport control area was packed - as expected.  While we all finished completing our immigration forms one man in uniform came to my wife and asked about our family... Soon after all of us were ushered to the front the front of the line for "priority" processing.

I was a little embarrassed to be treated in such a way...  but no one, and I mean no one, looked perturbed that a woman, her chld and their family should be taken to the frnt of the line.

Passort control was a breeze... and on exiting customs we were greeted by my BIL...  It was great to see him again.

[Aloe]

haha sounds like you got very lucky, last time i was at passport control, some especially loud babushka was screaming at some poor fella "вас тут не стояло" for the entire hour we waited in line, apparently for no reason, because everyone in the line was on his side, i felt embarrassed for our country the entire time

[Kuna]

i wonder how people have children so soon after moving, its been 1 month since i moved here, and everything is still very strange; i cant imagine adding a pregnancy and a child to it, but i guess it would be much easier if they spoke english around here  baaa
but congrats to you on your baby and all

Aloe,

Yeah... I guess it would be confronting for many people. My wife and I wanted children (>1 or 2) and we were open to when it happened.  I think she had more concrete plans than me though...    We are in a fortunate situation where she doesn't have to work until she wants to, and the culture shock was minimised by her awarenes of what a move like this would be like (she'd lived and studied in Germany before we met).

Re: English.. she was fluent on arrival...  and at family dinners she could switch to German depending on the company we had - which endeared her even moreso to some members of my family early on.

I think it some ways it (pregnancy) was a big advantage by providing a common focus (challenge) other than  "just the relationship"...  but, I will also admit it placed a greater level of responsibility on me to be available whenever needed...  because she needed lots of support. (I have flexible working arrangements and more freedom than the average dude - therefore almost anything is/was possible).

it's the cards we were dealt and it worked for us...  Our experiences have just reinforced the individual nature of this journey on me... n matter how some people (and websites/agencies) want to make it seem simple/easy/etc.