Easing the transition to the U.S.

[Fuzzified 0]

First off I unknowingly allowed her to rearrange my whole appartment.

Then I sat white knuckled while trying to let her drive (thank goodness my car is paid off)

then we spent a lot of money paying for hair, skin, and beauty supplies that she apparently didn't have access to in Ukraine, yet was necessary to have here. My shower went from containing a bottle of shampoo and soap to a bath and bodyworks outlet.

no complaints though.

It kind of scares me though it took Kotenochek 2 years to finally be comfortable, hope it doesn't take that long here.

[slim 1,525]

Great wedding pics btw, Brad. Your bride is stunning, and you're a great looking couple. Congrats to you both!

And that little kid covering his eyes had me cracking up! I was that guy about twenty years ago. Now, I try to kiss as many girls as I ca...... er, uh, before I got married I tried to kiss as many girls as I could. Yeah, I definitely was NOT into all that mushy stuff when I was 10. Great photo!

I can't talk about "how stunning" your bride is because I'm probably going to meet her sometime this summer and I'd rather shake hands than catch a right cross. I'm sure she'd appreciate it, but my wife would probably knock me out if I was to go on and on about "Wow! Vika sure looked good in the wedding photos, huh?"

Make sure she learns to drive in her country-its cheaper,so when she gets here she gets license right away!

Get her a car -that will solve half of the problems so she does not to feel trapped!

My wife came here with an international DL that she was given after completing the "training course." I still had to teach her to drive. I guess the $500 course or whatever it was basically just had them get behind the wheel and have fun for a couple days. We had to pretty much start from scratch.

Get her a car. Yes! But, also remind her that cars don't operate on wind power or magically move whenever you want them too. They also don't insure themselves or refill with money every time you get in them to go shopping. They're awesome for driving to a job though!

I been here almost 2 years now and i think i am adjusted more or less:)I finally enjoy America:)

I don't know if my wife would ever be willing to say this. (In English, to me especially.) But, she's still here so I guess it aint all bad.

There are a couple states that offer the DMV booklets in Russian langauge. Even if you do not live in that state, it is probably worth it to get for her if she is not comfortable with the English ones. You can fill in the gaps later.

I believe Illinois has a downloadable version somewhere on their DMV site. It's good for them to study in Russian to get the basic rules and concepts, but, make sure she takes the test in English because, well, we speak English here. (Or Spanish. She could take the Spanish test and still be OK.)

[Rob_Lesya 4]

My wife came here with an international DL that she was given after completing the "training course." I still had to teach her to drive. I guess the $500 course or whatever it was basically just had them get behind the wheel and have fun for a couple days. We had to pretty much start from scratch.

My first wife explained to me that in HER class, they made everyone take a test the first day. The test didn't determine whether or not they received a license ...... it simply determined whether they would have to pay extra in order to receive a license. Apparently, my wife's was the most expensive license in the class! She had no clue how to operate a vehicle.