Alla Graduates, Finally!

[slim 1,525]

Great job, Alla!

[b_fowler 0]

Congratulations on all the hard work, and now for the pay-off!! Good Luck on your future!!

[Captain Hammer 113]

Seriously, my hat's off to you. I couldn't cope with so many things at this stage of my life. Having my wife's son come over is already stressing me out and the monetary impact is not small. My wife doesn't have a job at the moment and soon that will become a bigger issue. She doesn't like standing all day in a retail store...but not much else available. I guess it'll be one day at a time for awhile.

The impression we get from our circle of FSU friends is that it's hard to get their foreign degrees to be taken seriously. We know people who were professionals in their country, but because they don't have a US degree are only maintenance people or work in retail. Her best option if she doesn't want to work a non-professional job (and I can't blame here!) is to start working on a US degree.

[tom&tanya 48]

Congrats Alla and Gary!

[TBoneTX 45,288]

Congratulations to Alla and Gary, too. Alla has worked hard and Gary has been very supportive. Now you both deserve the party and a rest [...]

That, and (after solemn rumination and careful consideration) the official designations of A-Bone and G-Bone, si man. Welcome to the official club, si (wo)man.

[Tanya and Barry 59]

Good Job, Alla!

[웃 910]

Congrats! My recommendation would be for her to continue going strong...She seems to have a motivation that not many people have. She could probably get a Doctorate in something related...

Edited July 30, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations. I know you are both pleased and proud at this accomplishment. Enjoy your well-earned holidays .

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The impression we get from our circle of FSU friends is that it's hard to get their foreign degrees to be taken seriously. We know people who were professionals in their country, but because they don't have a US degree are only maintenance people or work in retail. Her best option if she doesn't want to work a non-professional job (and I can't blame here!) is to start working on a US degree.

Depends. The State of Vermont took Alla's foreign degrees very seriously and would issue her a teaching certificate (for Russian) right off. And science degrees seem to be more accepted than say, language arts. The fact is that in the USA and many other countries, they prefer native speaking teachers for ESL classes. Even foreign countries often require that ESL teachers at least have education from a native English speaking country.

Actually All has been extremely happy with doing her interpretations and is hoping to expand that now that she will have more time. She even took a class in Anatomy and Physiology so she can be a better interpreter for medical patients which is her most common request...she crammed that in among her other studies and ace'd it.

As I have said before, we plan for me to retire in a few years and for Alla to take some foreign teaching assignments. She will be a citizen and can travel and have "working vacations" in different parts of the world. We both love to travel, the kids will be grown and we can live well on what will basically be a part time job.

She was trained as a teacher in Ukraine, loves to teach but the pay scale for teachers in Ukraine was so dismal she just could not do it.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Congrats! My recommendation would be for her to continue going strong...She seems to have a motivation that not many people have. She could probably get a Doctorate in something related...

LOL, she is applying for a Doctorate program at UVM, the deadline is December 1, 2011 for next year. OH NO! Here we go again!

That, and (after solemn rumination and careful consideration) the official designations of A-Bone and G-Bone, si man. Welcome to the official club, si (wo)man.

Thanks T-Bone!

[Captain Hammer 113]

She was trained as a teacher in Ukraine, loves to teach but the pay scale for teachers in Ukraine was so dismal she just could not do it.

Not only is it typically hardly enough to live on, but because unemployment is so high the administration usually treats the staff pretty crappy, knowing that they don't have a lot of options. One of our acquaintances taught English to business students, and it wasn't unheard of for them to call her up on her day off, demanding that she come in to fill in for another teacher or be fired. "Labor code?" What's that?

Glad to hear things in your state are better than most. Wish more were like that, so many professionals come over and have to settle for blue collar jobs, just seems like a waste of their skills.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Congrats to Alla...and my sympathies to you Gary. I don't know where you get the time, energy and money to deal with such a life! School, jobs, trips to Ukraine, step kids, college, a house, cars...damn!

What is your secret? Please tell me...I need help!

Seriously, my hat's off to you. I couldn't cope with so many things at this stage of my life. Having my wife's son come over is already stressing me out and the monetary impact is not small. My wife doesn't have a job at the moment and soon that will become a bigger issue. She doesn't like standing all day in a retail store...but not much else available. I guess it'll be one day at a time for awhile.

First of all it is my favorite thing in life to do things with my family, it is what makes me happy. I am not too happy without them. I never go shooting by myself and really would rather stay home than go fishing by myself. I am looking for something new to do all the time, I get to do it also so why not? Thank goodness for that because they make use of it. I will admit that there were times I was NOT pleased staying up until 2 or 3 am waiting to review something Alla was writing for the next day. In case you wondered why I was posting on VJ at 2am when I could be "sleeping naked with Alla" it was because she was up late studying and I do not go to bed without her. I usually had to proofread her writing before she went to bed. There were times I said "STOP!" Enough is enough. She never stopped.

She got a scholarship for 1/2 the tuition which we worked on (more than the visa) before she arrived. She started her education, seriously, 5 days after she arrived! She worked throughout her education, translations, interpretations, modeling, even worked in the college cafeteria as a cashier for a brief time. She made enough money to pay for the "other half", more or less. She refused, absolutely refused, to take a student loan. We had a couple of windfalls (nothing to retire on) in the way of bonuses and such and all that went to either her education or Sergey's. It was a priority. It is still a priority for the boys. Sergey now received a "full ride" for his master's degree, that will help a lot. Pasha was the top ranked male high school student for math in Vermont, so we have high hopes for him getting a good scholarship also.

I had my heart surgery in early December 2009 and haven't had a bad day since. I was going to the ski resort WITH Alla and Pasha before new years eve! (NO I was NOT skiing ) I sat in the lodge with a book, but it would just kill me not to be doing something with Alla or the boys.

Today I went fishing with Sergey. Tomorrow we are going back with Alla and going swimming (we found some new waterfalls and natural pools to play in ) Summer in Vermont is to-die-for. Winter sucks. Next Sunday we are going to go "shoot all the guns" and then Alla and Pasha will be going to Ukraine on Monday and Sergey and I will go later (when he goes back to school) So Sergey and I will be "batchin' it" for 3 weeks. Tater Tots and Goober Grape! All that bad sh*t Alla won't allow in the house AND we are going to shoot guns in the basement! (she hates that)

Having a student and two dependent children makes for good tax returns, those pay for the tickets to Ukraine (so far anyway)

My family IS my investment portfolio. I cannot do anything better with money than invest it in them. Good thing because there will be no "nest egg" to inherit when I croak off anyway. They spent it all now and I got to enjoy every penny of it! But they should all be well prepared to make their own way in life and two of four already are.

All I can say is...make your family your pleasure and joy and you will always be happy.

Edited July 31, 2011 by Gary and Alla

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I think it is also important that both people have common goals and work together on something. I couldn't be more happy if I got the degree (I wasn't looking for one ) If one person has different ideas about family and children and goals, that would suck. One person is always going to feel resentment at the other, unless you have enough money that everyone can just do what they want Such is not the case here.

If one is a strict parent and thinks that children are a priority and that their well being is what the adults are here for, and the other doesn't...don't have kids! Now our sons are having sons(two so far!!!!) It never ends, thank goodness!

[Captain Hammer 113]

All I can say is...make your family your pleasure and joy and you will always be happy.

[eekee 182]

Not only is it typically hardly enough to live on, but because unemployment is so high the administration usually treats the staff pretty crappy, knowing that they don't have a lot of options. One of our acquaintances taught English to business students, and it wasn't unheard of for them to call her up on her day off, demanding that she come in to fill in for another teacher or be fired. "Labor code?" What's that?

Glad to hear things in your state are better than most. Wish more were like that, so many professionals come over and have to settle for blue collar jobs, just seems like a waste of their skills.

You can make money doing things like teaching English to business students. That is not what Gary is talking about. Teachers in public schools in RUB are the ones who make basically no money. And yeah, if you want a place with a strict labor code and stuff like that, you can stay in America. If you decide to live/work in RUB, there are pluses and minuses and if you make the decision to go there, then you have to accept them.