15 September 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 10:51 AM by Kevin
Natasha spoke with her sister over the weekend and learned that she has begun to learn how to drive. Naturally, this prompted Natasha to also desire to begin her own lessons, so Sunday afternoon we all (Natasha, Anthony, Vika and I) loaded up into the van and headed to the same parking lot where I taught Maria to drive. It’s like a little strip mall, but instead of shops there are small offices. There are almost no cars there after 6 or on weekends, usually maybe only 1 or 2, and although it’s not a huge parking lot it has 3 driving aisles and works well for those drivers just starting to learn.
Natasha was very nervous so Anthony drove first. He did very well with only the occasional acceleration problems, and once confused the accelerator for the brake, but overall very well. At one point he reached for the turn signal and surprised himself when the windshield wipers came on (the controls for them are located on the turn signal arm). You can just see one of the wiper arms in this photo.
One end of the parking lot has a large concrete retaining wall which caused both Anthony and Natasha to get nervous as they approached it. When Natasha took over the driving, Vika sat in the middle of the rear bench seat, with all 3 seat belts wrapped around her! I’m not positive, but I think she may have had some concerns…. But she also did very, very well, especially when you factor in the fact that she has never driven any vehicle in her life (other than the go-carts at fun-plex a couple of weeks ago), and I was very proud of her.
At one of the driver change-overs I had Natasha park the van, then we got out and inspected her work (and I took some photos too). To my great relief she laughed heartily. We’re still a ways off from learning how to park, but it was good for her to give it a try anyway. On her mom’s last driving shift Vika stood on the grass at one end of the parking lot and took some video of Natasha driving. When we reviewed it later Natasha found it quite educational! She had been convinced that she drove very slowly, never going faster than 10 miles per hour, when in reality she easily got up to 25 many times, to the point where I would remind her to slow down as we approached a turn. She was quite surprised to see how quickly she was driving, but it was hard to deny when faced with the video evidence!
We plan on going out at least 3 times a week for further lessons, because I like to keep their momentum up. We’ll probably allow Anthony’s work schedule (and, with any luck, Natasha’s work schedule too, soon) to dictate when we can go, though if he gets into a busy stretch I imagine I’ll take Natasha out by herself as required. I’m sure there will be more photos and video too, so stay tuned!
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3 September 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 12:16 PM by Kevin
Being Labor Day weekend, we decided to have ourselves an adventure and ride our bikes down to Lake Zorinsky, a local park, for a barbeque picnic. It’s not too far, about 3.25 miles, so we loaded up 2 gallons of ice water, 2 steaks and 1 boneless pork chop, 2 sliced carrots, some summer sausage, some hot dogs, mayonnaise, plus plates, forks, knives, two blankets, charcoal, backgammon, yahtzee, uno, and a cooler, plus assorted other necessities, into my bike trailer and set off.
We first rode up to the grocery store where, while Natasha watched over the bikes and trailer, Vika and I bought apples, bananas, chips, and bread, then returned to Natasha where we resumed our journey to the lake. It was a relatively uneventful journey, though a little nerve wracking for Natasha since she doesn’t like to ride on the sidewalks nest to busy streets and the quickest route to the lake is along a busy street. But we arrived safely and quickly unloaded the trailer and set up our picnic area next to a playground.
It was then that we noticed that this playground area did not have a barbeque! So while Vika enjoyed an apple and Natasha lounged in the shade, I rode my bike over to the next area to see if there was a barbeque there. There was only 1, which I reported to Natasha upon my return. Natasha and I then decided to ride our bikes to another playground on the other side of the lake to see what the facilities were like there. When we arrived we discovered that although the playground was a little smaller, there were many barbeque areas and many children playing, so we decided to return to Vika and pack up again and move across the lake.
We found a nice shaded area between two trees and re-established our camp. We first played some backgammon while eating carrots, bread and sausage. There were children playing on the playground, and what looked to be two separate birthday parties, but Vika was a little shy about introducing herself. While taking photos of her on the playground, I noticed that one girl was watching Vika’s gymnastics with great interest, so I struck up a conversation hoping to get Vika involved. But, sadly, just as I did this most of the children, including this girl, were called away to leave. This left two girls, one about 9 and one about 5. With a smaller number to deal with, Vika found her courage and they all began to play jumping and climbing games, and had a good time.
Natasha decided to call Tanya in Florida, and after a short game of phone tag they had a lengthy conversation where Natasha learned that Tanya had, the day before, received her employment authorization! I was handed the phone and talked to Bill for a minute, where I asked when they had submitted their documents. Bill informed me that it was about 1 week before I submitted our documents, so Natasha and I are hopeful that she will receive her employment authorization within the next 2 weeks or so.
Later in the afternoon, I prepared one of the barbeque grills and cooked the meat and we had a nice meal, though it was quite windy. It was now early evening, and the heat and sun had begun to take its toll so we decided to pack up and head home before we got too tired to make the trip. I was relieved to realize that the trailer would be much lighter for the return trip!
As we passed by Anthony’s work, we stuck our heads through the drive through window and said hello. He has had a bit of a cold, so I told him I would pick him up when he got off work and take him home so he wouldn’t have to ride his bike. We also decided to stop at the store on the way home and buy some Pepsi, which Natasha was craving.
Speaking of Pepsi, I have some interesting news to report. Natasha and Vika have both started to enjoy drinks with ice in them! Natasha tells me this is something only for the summer, and is partially because she says the colas here have too much sugar in them, but I think it is just part of the Americanization process.
We arrived home hot and sweaty and, after unpacking the trailer, cleaned up with nice showers, then enjoyed a movie together. It was a long day but we had a lot of fun together out in the sun. Natasha says it is one of the reasons she is anxious to work - so that she can come home tired and enjoy some relaxation instead of just being cooped up at home all day.
On Labor day we decided to adventure downtown and see the parade. There’s been a parade here for many years on Labor Day but I’ve never gone. After getting a late start, we found a parking space (boy was it crowded!) just about the time the parade was scheduled to begin, and started our walk of 4 or 5 blocks to the parade route. We paused on the way whenever Natasha saw something she wanted a photo of, then made our way through the throng of people looking for a spot we could elbow our way into. As it turned out, we started out right where the TV crew was broadcasting the parade from and watched the announcers do their thing for a short time first. We found a little gap a block down near to the corner, and thus began the Great Candy Scramble of ‘08. For whatever reason it had not occured to me that the floats would be tossing out CANDY to the crowd, so we didn’t bring a bag. The first time Vika saw the people toss candy in to the crowd she quickly realized that standing with a group of children greatly increased the freqency with which candy was tossed as well as the volume of the airborne candy, so she placed herself into the middle of such a group and enthusiastically applied herself to this new hobby. After the battery in my cell phone gave out and she couldn’t take video any more, Natasha also joined in the candy collection, ‘to help Vika’. By the time we left, I’m surprised my shorts stayed up around my waist, due to the weight of candy contained in my pockets. You see, Natasha and Vika couldn’t hold as much candy in their pockets because it slowed down the collection effort as well as exposed some of the more delicate delicacies to a risk of being broken, so my pockets were the main candy repository.
Because we stood near a corner with traffic lights extending out over the street on arms, we got to watch the parade balloons from a very near vantage point - in order to get the balloons through the intersection, the handlers had to either lay them down so they’d fit under the lights, or guide them around the support arms.
It was a good parade and I think Natasha especially enjoyed the humerously decorated cars (AND THE CANDY!), and I think Vika’s favorite part was the candy (AND THE CANDY!). I believe this will become a tradition for us! I’m too lazy to link to individual photos, so if you want to see them you’ll have to sort through the 400+ photos of the picnic and parade yourself! There are also a few short videos Natasha captured before the battery died. Enjoy!
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28 August 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 3:42 PM by Kevin
I thought I go back and write a bit more about some of the highlights from our summer, starting with the Corporate Cycling Challenge.
Last year, Anthony, Maria and I rode in the 10 mile (16 kilometer) ride, the shortest of the three rides, and took a lot of photos for Natasha and her family. Maria got a little tired toward the end, so I was concerned how Natasha and Vika might do this year. In the days leading up to the ride, the weather forecast was calling for rain which was very disconcerting for our first shared experience at this event, and even though as late as the afternoon before the ride a chance of rain still existed, come the day of the ride it was sunny and cooler with very little wind. In a word, ideal.
The ride was on a Sunday, and on the Friday before Anthony brought his bike home from work with a severely bent front wheel. He reported he had hit a curb. What he didn’t report was the large scabs on his elbow and just above his hip. It must have been quite a fall! Anthony and bikes don’t seem to get along very well, considering this incident and the broken thumb last year. I checked all my old junker bikes, but they all have 24″ wheels and his bike has 26″ wheels, so I was forced to hastily prep one of the older 24″ bikes for him. The rims were a little rusty and squeaked during braking, and the shifting was a little hit and miss, but it was ridable nonetheless.
Still being worried about Vika, earlier in the week a friend of mine from work brought me his tag-along bike extention. It’s one of those things with a single wheel, pedals, seat and handlebars and a connecting arm that connects it to my seat. We thought that Vika and Marissa could take turns riding this or Vika’s bike, in case one or both of them grew fatigued during the ride. However, after connecting it to my bike and taking it out for a spin, balance was an obvious problem. With no ride, I had no problems pulling it along but Vika and Marissa both squirmed so much whenever the bike would lean a little that it was practically impossible for me to control my own bike. So, we decided to forget about the tag-along and Vika and Marissa would simply have to ride the full 16 kilometers. This proved to be a non-issue since they both made the full distance with absolutely no problems.
So Saturday night, I removed the rear bench seat from the van and loaded Natasha and Vika’s touring bikes, attached the bike carrier and mounted Anthony and my bikes, and we were all set for our big day. Rules state that all riders must have a water bottle and a helmet, and we were a helmet short, so Natasha and I headed out to the store to pick one up for Vika (Natasha was planning to wear Maria’s helmet, unless Vika didn’t like what we selected for her, in which case she’d wear the new helmet and Vika would wear Maria’s). We went to a couple of stores before Natasha found one she liked and thought Vika would like. It wasn’t a ’standard’ bicycle helmet, instead it was a multi-sport style helmet. You can get a good look at it here.
Morning came and we all got dressed, Natasha making fun of my biking shorts (but hey, they’re comfortable!), filled our water bottles, and we were on our way. I always like to park in the old market on the old brick cobblestone streets, and we unloaded the 4 bikes. While we were wondering how we would find Kent, he and Marissa drove by and parked just a few spots down from us. After they got their bikes unloaded, we all rode down to near the starting line, where we found my friend from work and his daughter. We took photos and talked and listened to the DJ tell us how many riders there were this year (more than 4000) and then the big moment came and we were off.
With so many people at the starting line, we all quickly got separated as we made our way up the initial (and only) hill of the ride. At the top, I stopped and rejoined Natasha and Vika, but Lonnie and his daughter as well as Kent and Marissa were long gone. We eventually caught up to Marissa who had lost sight of Kent, so we rode together a short way until we found up just up ahead, and Marissa hurridly rejoined him.
Natasha, Vika and I enjoyed our ride and the increased space around us as the long line of riders began to stretch out, taking in the scenery and the sunshine and avoiding the occasional pot-hole. I had the camera around my neck and would snap photos from time to time, riding with my left hand on the handlebars and operating the camera with my right. It would have been easier if my digital camera displayed the viewfinder on the back LCD panel, but it’s an SLR and you actually have to use the viewfinder. I’m sure I swerved from time to time, but I didn’t cause any accidents and with a fast shutter speed and bright sunlight, most of the photos came out very well I think (other than some framing problems from time to time).
All too quickly, we reached the halfway point and enjoyed some juice and bagels, especially Anthony. Dude, find a program, ok?! I visited the sign-in desk so CSG would get credit for our miles, and quickly we were off, after some well-deserved loving of course. Shortly after getting back on the rode Natasha commented that if this was the half-way point then 16 kilometers wasn’t very far and suggested that next year perhaps we could ride in the 26 mile (43 kilometer) ride. I reminded her that the short ride was very flat and the longer rides had hills, and that we had perfect weather today. If it was as hot as it could be at this time of year, the hills might be too much for her or Vika. We plan to ride the route in the car sometime so she can see the route and we’ll decide next summer.
The return ride followed the same route as the outbound leg and included the same wonderful scenery, which we again enjoyed. Vika did very well on the ride, sometimes riding quickly and ahead of us, and other times talking and laughing with Natasha or me. She never once complained about the ride being too far and thoroughly enjoyed herself.
After the ride was finished and we collected our new water bottles, we said all rode back up to the cars. I should make a note at this point about the water bottles for Natasha and Vika’s bikes. Because their bikes are single-speed touring style bikes, they contain no built in water bottle mounting bracket. So to attach bottles to their bikes, I used plastic wire tires and a rubber backing to affix the mounting hardware. Just as we were almost back to the car, Natasha’s bracket slid to the side and she cut her knee on the bracket. I suppose I’ll have to figure something else out for the water bottles for next year! Sorry honey!
I’ve ridden in this event for probably the last 10 years or so and it was wonderful to be able to share it with Natasha and Vika this year. Anthony enjoyed it too, though his arm was a little sore from his accident 2 days before and he mostly rode one-handed. We had perfect weather and fabulous company and I know this will become a much-beloved family tradition.
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27 August 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 11:52 AM by Kevin
Note: I wrote this several weeks ago, and have added some more recent information at the end. My desktop computer died and I lost access to all of my nifty tools, and didn’t want to post anything without being able to provide a Russian translation. The PC is still dead, but I’ve finally loaded some (temporary, possibly) tools onto my laptop. So bear in mind, many of the time references (like ‘last week’) refer to several weeks ago!
Today was a VERY special day here at Natasha’s ESL class, because some new teachers were monitoring Pat’s class. One of these teachers is named Elvira, and when she introduced herself she specifically stressed that her name is pronounced Elveera, not Elvira, and Natasha whispered to me that this is how this name is pronounced in Russia. During our morning break while Natasha and I were walking around the building outside, Natasha suggested that perhaps this woman was Russian. So we went back into the building and asked her if she was Russian. To my surprise and Natasha’s delight, she said that she was! We had a nice (though too short!) conversation with her and discovered that she just arrived to Omaha from Moscow at the end of March (we arrived the middle of March) on a K-1 visa, just as Natasha had. She is the same age as Natasha (the coincidences just continue) though her husband is Ukrainian and has been in this country for the past 17 years. She was a teacher in Russia and wanted to continue her career here in America, and is now starting her new job teaching ESL for Metro. She and Natasha exchanged telephone numbers and I hope they continue to talk and have meetings.
Since this is our next to last class, and we are going to have a party for our last class, we all filled out class evaluations. This is a requirement of the college and they use the same evaluation sheet for all classes, which makes the language very difficult for students who are just learning English. The new teachers, Pat, and I helped the other students complete the forms as best as we good. I understand the need for this, but it is ridiculous that they don’t have an easier to understand form for the ESL students. I offered to draft a simpler class evaluation form that Pat can submit to the college for their consideration (and hopefully approval).
Also during class today, one of the students brought in her two daughters. The older daughter is 15 and is having the traditional Mexican Quinceañera party next Saturday. We may attend as a class, since the ceremony is at 11 which is during our normal class time. There’s a follow up party at 3 that Natasha may find interesting, so regardless of whether the class goes to the ceremony or not we may go to the party for a short time. The daughter (Liz) performs many traditional Mexican dances at various community events and has promised to perform at the party and I think Vika would like to see this very much.
Last week Natasha and I stopped at the Department of Motor Vehicles so that Natasha could get a state identification card. We brought all of her documents, but the only documents that were required were a certified copy of our marriage license and her social security card. Natasha very much wanted to get an official identification document from the US so that she won’t feel like she needs to take her passport with her everywhere she goes. The lady who helped us was extremely nice and asked us many questions about her visa and arriving to the USA and seemed very knowledgeable about the process in general. Natasha didn’t apply any cosmetics first so naturally she thinks she looks horrible in her photo, but of course she is completely mistaken and looks simply beautiful.
After leaving it alone for a couple of weeks, Natasha has decided to give World Of Warcraft (an online adventure game) another try. This time, she insisted that we not play together and she has leveled herself to level 10 all by herself, asking me only a few questions when she didn’t understand something the game was trying to tell her. She is playing a warrior character, so I have started a priest (healer) character and leveled it to level 10 as well, just in case she decides that she would like to play with me sometime. She seems to enjoy it very much, though a lot of the text for the quests is difficult for her to understand. Vika has also started playing (my brother Kent and niece Marissa also play) and definitely enjoys it VERY much, and sometimes plays with Marissa.
Three days ago Natasha began to experience a toothache, and yesterday she finally agreed to allow me to make an appointment with the dentist for her. In January, just before leaving for Moscow, Natasha visited her Russian dentist and had a tooth extracted. At that time the dentist told her that another tooth would probably need to be extracted within the next 2 or 3 years. This is the tooth that is now giving Natasha problems, because part of it broke off a month or so ago even though she did not have any pain at that time.
So I called my dentist and discovered that he is on vacation, but I made an appointment anyway for the 13th of August for an initial examination for Natasha. Given Natasha’s pain, though, I called an emergency dental office and was fortunate to get an appointment for the same day, yesterday at 5:30. The computer technician from Dell was coming to fix Vika’s laptop in the afternoon, so I went home to meet him and then Natasha and I returned to work so I could work more while we waited the couple of hours before her appointment. I know that many people don’t like the dentist but with Natasha it is a real phobia and she was very nervous all afternoon. 5:10 came and I announced that it was time to leave and Natasha reluctantly packed up and we went out to the car. The dental office was a little hard to find, but we managed to locate it and went inside.
We filled out the necessary paperwork as Natasha nervously fidgeted, and I went to the man at the counter and asked if it would be ok if, when Natasha was called, that I go with her since she was very nervous and was still learning English. The man asked where she was from, and when she said Russia he began speaking to her in Russian! It turns out that he had been on a missionary trip to Russia about 10 years ago and stayed there for 2 years - in Rostov on Don! This is the regional seat for Natasha’s region within Russia, about 5 hours by bus from Volgodonsk. Natasha was IMMEDIATELY comforted and I knew that I had selected the perfect office for this visit. Everything went smoothly for Natasha and we were able to speak with Jerrod twice more during our visit. Once just before the procedure was done (he is the business person for the office) and again as we were leaving. It was a genuine treat for Natasha, and I might just have to change my dentist permanently to this office.
After the dentist, we went to the pharmacy for Natasha’s antibiotics. It took several phone calls by the very nice pharmacist assistant to various insurance companies, but eventually she got it straightened out and Natasha is not entered into their system. We got the prescription filled as well as bought some water to drink while we waited, and when we paid for the prescription the woman gave Natasha a little gift, since this was her first prescription there. It was a Walgreen’s water bottled, filled with little things (lip balm, hand lotion, a pill carrier, etc), and Natasha really enjoyed receiving it.
We finally got to the store with Vika’s school supply list and bought the various things she needs - glue, notebooks, pens, pencils, folders, paper, pencil pouch, compass, ruler, protractor, colored pencils, and more that I can’t remember. Vika always seems to enjoy these shopping trips for her things, and especially the one or two items we bought to add to her wardrobe. She’s not much of a shopper, but she loves getting new things (like all kids, I think).
My birthday was this past weekend, and happened to be the same day as the CSG family picnic which was held at Fun-Plex. They have some small rides (a small, though exciting, roller coaster, two go-cart tracks, a tilt-a-whirl, plus others) plus two water slides, a wave pool, a kiddie pool, and a lazy river. We commandeered Marissa and arrived about 12:30, and stayed until 7:30. We had more fun than you can shake a stick at and were tired, a little sore, and a little sun-burned the next day, but you can bet that we’ll be back at least one time again next year. Natasha and Vika cannot swim but we rented inner tubes and Natasha and Vika had lots of fun getting tossed about in them. When we got home, I looked at the newsletter for Vika’s school and noted an advertisement for swimming lessons given by the school Anthony attends. They are held on Saturdays, at during the same time that Natasha has ESL classes. When asked, Vika replied “Yes! I want to take swimming lessons!” so it’s a done deal. Registration was that same day (which we of course missed) plus this coming Thursday, which we’ll attend. Hopefully there are some slots left. 6 lessons for $40, not too bad at all. They have 6 levels of skill so we’ll see how far Vika wishes to go. Natasha also made a Russian-style white cake, with vanilla frosting and banana crème pudding filling for Kent and me. Very tasty!
School started a couple of weeks ago for both Anthony and Vika, and I am again dropping Vika off in the mornings and she takes the bus back to a school a few blocks from our house in the afternoon. Natasha has signed up to volunteer a half a day two days a week, where she does whatever is required there in the library. Usually, this entails putting papers together for the various classes, along with the other volunteer Moms. We went to the open house for Vika, which was held just before school started, and got to meet her teachers (she has 3, plus her ELL teachers) and signed up for the PTA and ate hotdogs and chips in the cafeteria. It was a short, though very fun, evening.
We also attended the open house at Anthony’s school, which was held just after the start of school. This took an entire evening as we moved from classroom to classroom following Anthony’s actual daily schedule, where each ‘class’ lasted 7 minutes or so. The teachers went over what was covered in each subject, and gave us homework expectations and contact information. During the opening introduction in the auditorium, the fire alarm went off and we all (several hundred parents and students) went outside to the far parking lot while the fire trucks arrived and the firemen checked the building. It proved to be a faulty sprinkler head that falsely detected heat, but it was an interesting experience for Natasha.
The weekend prior to my birthday was the Corporate Cycling Challenge, where Natasha, Vika, Anthony and I rode 16 kilometers for the first time together. It was a beautiful day and Natasha has already expressed interest in possibly riding a longer distance next year. I took the camera and took lots of photos of everyone, and I think it’s pretty obvious how much fun we had. This year there were more than 4000 riders! Kent was also there with Marissa, though they rode ahead of us. At the turn around we enjoyed water and juice, as well as bagels and bananas, before starting the second half of the ride. At the finish line we all received new water bottles, which we’ll proudly use next year!
That’s enough for now, and I’ll apologize now for the brevity of each story. It’s so much easier to be verbose when I write immediately after each event, and now that I have my translator working again hopefully I’ll be motivated to writing more often!
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22 July 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 8:28 AM by Kevin
And not the good kind of ticket, like for a concert or to fly someplace fun and interesting, but the kind tat comes from a police officer because you do something stupid in a car. In this particular case, Natasha, Paz and I were on our way to see the new batman movie, “The Dark Knight”, on the big IMAX screen. We were running late (not that this is an excuse!) and had just picked up Paz at his brother-in-law’s house, and I was about to leave the residential street and turn onto the main road when behind me appeared flashing lights (on a police car). I turned to Paz and asked “did you see me do something wrong?” He didn’t, but the police officer helpfully informed me that I had 1) rolled through a stop sign, 2) was going too fast for a residential street where the implied speed limit is always 25 miles per hour and 3) my left brake light wasn’t working. He took my documents and returned to his patrol car, and when he returned he informed me that he was ticketing me for failure to stop at the stop sign, but would only give me a verbal warning for speeding and the brake light. All in all, it seemed fair to me that Natasha was able to experience an interaction with the police, since we had been able to experience several during our stay in Moscow!
We did manage to make it to the movie, though by the time we got there we were in line behind 200 or so people. We sat about 6 or 7 rows up, and towards the right hand side, but the seats weren’t horrible and the movie was truly incredible in the IMAX auditorium due to the huge screen and state of the art, high power sound system. Even the popcorn was delicious!
Next weekend (Sunday morning to be exact) is CSG’s (the company I work for) so-called ‘bundle release’ weekend. This is the time each quarter when our big mainframe computers upgrade their software which is used to drive our core business. Whenever the mainframe programmers make changes to their software, the rest of the company must also change their programs to match, and this coming weekend is when everything gets installed and goes live. This will be the second such weekend since Natasha has arrived and she will come to work with me. It’s usually pretty quiet and Natasha and I can just relax (and sometimes watch a movie or two). My job during this time is to monitor our servers and software and diagnose any problems that arise and help to coordinate their resolution. As I’ve said, usually everything goes smoothly and there isn’t much to do other than watch some logs. CSG provides us breakfast, and if any problems do happen and we have to stay longer, lunch, and dinner, and all meals for the duration of the work. This release should be VERY quiet because no new major features are being installed, so Natasha and I should be able to enjoy an early breakfast of potatoes, eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, donuts, and bagels, plus probably watch a movie or two on the computer, or maybe play a game. Very nice!
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12 July 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 9:59 PM by Kevin
Last week was Vika’s first week of summer school, where she studies English in her ELL (English Language Learners) program. She goes 4 days a week (Monday through Thursday) for 2 hours, and the bus picks her up and drops her off just across the street. She didn’t enjoy it very much the first two days, but on Thursday something happened which changed her attitude. During the week, she earns stars for participating in class, returning her library books and materials, and for doing her reading each night with Natasha and me. On the last day of each week, she gets to redeem her stars for treats and toys. She bought a twisty straw, which she DEARLY loves, and now looks forward very much to the next 3 weeks of summer school. School resumes on August 14 for Vika, and August 13 for Anthony. Only 1 month left for their summer vacation!
Natasha really enjoys her ESL class, and laments that it is only one day a week (for 4 hours on Saturday). She says if they offered her classes every day of the week that she would gladly go.
A couple of weeks ago we received letters for both Natasha and Vika informing them of their biometrics appointments at the local INS office. These are for July 15 (next Tuesday!) in the morning, and although Vika does not need biometrics (fingerprints) because she is under 14, and although I did not pay for this, because they have made her an appointment too she will go. It will be interesting to see if they actually take her fingerprints or not!
The Kevin 2.0 project has finally begun, officially, as of yesterday. Out with the old T-shirts and shorts and in with the new, more stylish shirts (with collars!) and longer shorts. Very comfortable for me, and Natasha very much enjoys shopping with me for my new wardrobe. We’ve only just begun and it will take many more months to finish as we slowly purchase more clothes for me. Keep an eye on the photo and video pages and share in the progress! Comments welcome!
Speaking of the video page, I have recently rewritten the code so that videos post automatically as I place the files onto the server. The style is similar to the old page, though gone is the washed out background photo of Natasha and me. If I can figure out how to get it to work with the new page, then I’ll put it back. The photo thumbnails and descriptions are also no longer in a scrolling area, so after you click on a video you’ll have to scroll back to the top to view it. I’ve thought about making the videos pop-up in a new window, but I loathe pop-up windows even if they are a good fit here. If you have an opinion on this, please let me know!
As for me, I owe a call to the principal of the school at which I am a volunteer teacher. Although I very much enjoy teaching high school math, my employer has asked that I stop because it impacts my schedule too severely. Because I do enjoy it, I’ve been trying to think of some way that I can still do both. The best I’ve come up with is to go to work very early and so that I can leave early, and then teach one class during the last hour of school, and a second class AFTER school (assuming the principal and students would agree). But there is also the larger issue of spending so much time away from Natasha and Vika. Natasha is anxious to start work and once that happens she will most likely depend upon me for a ride to and from work, and I fear that just won’t be possible if I’m working full time and teaching. So I’m afraid I may have to take a temporary hiatus from teaching for a year or two. It’s not ideal and I hate letting down the kids who I know enjoy my class, but I think it is what will be best for our family.
Kent and I share a birthday (imagine that!) which is coming up on August 23, and which also happens to be the same day that CSG is having a company employee picnic at a local amusement park (Fun Plex). I plan on buying tickets for everyone (Kent’s family and mine) who are free that day and want to go. It should be a very day of go-carts, miniature golf, swimming, water slides, and some carnival like rides. Look for photos and videos to be posted soon after.
The weekend prior to this, on August 17th, Omaha is having the annual Corporate Cycling Challenge and CSG is of course once again participating. I’ve been riding my bicycle in this for many years, usually with Anthony and Maria, and this year I very much look forward to the first year with Natasha. We’ll ride on the 10 mile (16 kilometer) ride, which is the shortest ride and which is also very flat. I think Vika also wants to ride, though Natasha and I worry about her being able to go the full distance for the first time. Lonnie (a colleague of mine) has offered to loan me his tag-along (a one-wheel seated attachment to a bicycle) for Vika so that if she gets tired she can just coast while I pedal, so we may do that. It will also be a long distance for Natasha and therefore very challenging for her since she hasn’t ridden more than 3 or 4 miles at a time so far, but I know she’ll be able to complete it with me. Again, look for photos and videos to be posted soon after!
Time has been passing so quickly since we returned from our ordeal in Russia. I wake up some days and realize that we have been here in Omaha for 4 months now, and married for 2 months already! We spend our time cooking and enjoying our home life, as well exploring Omaha and watching movies both at the cinema and at home, and riding our bikes around the area lakes, and shopping, and going to the grocery store, and just living normal and ordinary lives. We still haven’t made it over to Jeff and Ira’s (Jeff works with me at CSG and his wife Ira came from the Ukraine about 5 years ago) but Natasha and Ira talk on the phone from time to time and I know we’ll find a weekend sometime soon for Natasha and Ira’s first face to face meeting.
Driving by the mall one day, Vika was looking idly out the window. In an excited voice, she pointed to a store along the road and asked “Papa - is this Russian store???”. I looked to the side of the road and laughed, because the store was a Toys ‘Я Us. It’s a lot funnier if you know the Russian alphabet. ‘Я’ is a letter of that alphabet, which Vika read to me as “What is Toys Ya Us?” (‘Я’ is pronounced ‘Ya’). I guess you just had to be there.
One more note before I sign off for today. One of the groups of people that I work with gave Natasha and I a gift certificate to a local department store, and a couple of weeks ago we were at this store shopping for bathing suits for Vika, and while Vika and Natasha were trying them on in the dressing room I looked through the frame section which was just across the aisle. There I found some beautiful wedding themed frames, which I happily showed to Natasha when she and Vika had finished. We selected two frames, and I have been spending whatever free time I have been able to find selecting and editing 6 photos for these frames. I finally finished this project earlier this week and surprised Natasha with the finished photos set in these frames. She was very happy with me! I’ll try and remember to take a photo when I get home and add it to this post.
That’s all for now!
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29 June 2008
Posted in Visa Update, Kevin's Thoughts at 8:19 AM by Kevin
All of the documents and forms have been filed for the adjustment of status for both Natasha and Vika. We sent the documents to the USCIS lock box in Chicago on Monday, June 16th, which was the same day that the K-1 and K-2 visas for Natasha and Vika expired. Very procrastinating of us, but that’s just how the timing worked out. The air bill tracking online showed that the USCIS received and signed for the package on Wednesday, June 18th. We checked with the bank every day until we saw the checks clear on Tuesday, June 24th. I predicted that we would receive our NOAs on the following Tuesday or Wednesday, but to my surprise (and consistent with Natasha’s own predictions) we received them on Thursday, June 26th. Interestingly enough, the receipt date printed on the NOA documents was Monday, June 23rd, which was the day before the checks were cashed. I attribute this to my thorough preparation of all the documents - the package was put together so well, they issued us the NOA1 receipts before even trying to cash the checks!
The AOS packet consisted of 3 main applications: I-485 (to become a permanent resident, also known as to get a ‘green card’), I-765 (permission to work for Natasha, and required for Vika to get a social security card), and the I-131 (temporary travel document, so Natasha and Vika can travel back to Russia before they receive their green cards if they wish). Along with these applications we submitted one required and very important document: the I-864. In order to be allowed to live in this country as a permanent resident from a foreign country, the United States government requires that someone support you. Normally, this means the foreign citizen must have a sponsor. The I-864 document lists the financial resources (income and/or assets) of the sponsor and must prove that the sponsor has an income or resources of at least 125% of the government defined poverty level for the number of people (including the foreign citizens being sponsored) in the household. This document is legally binding, and states that the sponsor is financially liable for the persons sponsored until they have worked for 40 quarters (10 years). This sponsorship even survives divorce, and if the sponsored person ever receives any form of public assistance during this period, the sponsor must reimburse the government. It is a very serious undertaking, and I filled out this document and signed my name gladly. I know that Natasha and I are both very seriously committed to our marriage and that we will always be together, though the good times and the difficult times, helping each other and supporting one another.
Also included in the package as supporting documents were lots of copies - marriage license, birth certificates, passport identity pages, visas, visa approval notices, income tax transcripts and returns, W-2 earnings statements, passport style photos (6 of Natasha, 6 of Vika!) and probably some more things I’ve already forgotten. It was too big for an envelope so we shipped it all together in a small fed-ex box, with all of Natasha’s applications and supporting documents bound together with a binder clip, and all of Vika’s applications and supporting documents bound together with a separate binder clip, both packets with the check and cover letter on top.
So, what happens next? Within the next few weeks (probably 2 to 4) we expect to receive a letter from the Omaha INS office with a date and time for Natasha to be fingerprinted. The USCIS refers to this as ‘biometrics’, but Vika does not need it as she is not 14, which is the age at which the USCIC requires biometrics to be taken. After the biometrics, Natasha and Vika should receive their EAD cards, after which Natasha can start looking for a job and I can finally get a social security card for Vika. It’s always seemed a little strange to me that Vika requires an approval to work in order to receive a social security card, given that she will of course NOT be working any time soon, but that’s just the way the government does things.
Sometime after we receive the EAD cards, and there is really no telling how long it will take since it can be anywhere from a few weeks to several years for the government to do FBI name checks and whatever else it is they do, Natasha, Vika and I may or may not have an interview at the local INS office here in Omaha. Again, it is difficult to know for certain if this will be required or not. If the USCIS believes that our marriage is real based on all the documents and evidence we have supplied from the K-1 application up through AOS, then we will probably not have an interview. But if they question anything at all for any reason at all, then we will have to appear in person for an interview at a date and time of their choosing. At this interview we must present original copies of anything for which we had previously only submitted a photo copy, as well as documents showing both of our names together (rental agreement, bank statement, bills, etc).
After the interview, if any, we will at last receive the permanent residency cards. If we have been married less than two years when these cards are issued, then they will expire after only two years and will have to be renewed. If it has been two years since our marriage (or after we renew them on our 2nd anniversary) then we will receive 10-year permanent residency cards. It is my understanding that these cards are then renewed every 10 years (and I believe there is a hefty fee for each renewal too).
By now you may be wondering “Kevin, you haven’t posted anything in such a long time, why such a long post now? And what about the long-promised interview post, and what about the also long overdue post about travelling to and arriving in Omaha? Why don’t you write about these things, if you’re going to write so much?” Well, the answer is simple - I’m sitting here next to Natasha as she attends her ESL (English as a Second Language) class, and since we received the NOA-1 notices a couple of days ago, this is what I have to write about today, as well as the time to write it! The school here (the ESL classes are being held at the high school Anthony attends) has wireless internet, but it is secure and I do not have the password so I cannot edit or post any of the drafts I have been working on for so long now. So, you’ll just have to take what you can get!
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15 April 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 5:07 PM by Kevin
It was four weeks ago today that Natasha, Vika and I arrived in Omaha together. I thought I’d take a few minutes and offer some recollections and insights from this period.
American ketchup isn’t as good as Russian ketchup, but America mayonnaise is better. This tidbit is from Vika, who says that American ketchup contains more water than its Russian counterpart. Perhaps I need to shop for some caviar-like ketchup, since all I buy is the normal Hunt’s version. Because I don’t eat ketchup myself, I don’t know if there are ‘superior’ versions available. She didn’t say why our mayo is better - just that it is.
Chocolate cupcakes are like Russian crack. I made a dozen the other day, and they were gone in about 10 minutes. Sure, I had 2 myself, but that doesn’t account for the other 10! If only the food import laws for Russia weren’t so complex, I’m sure I could make some money. “Hey man, you holding any more of those cupcakes? I’m really hurting….”
When a Russian woman isn’t happy, the man is wrong. Natasha says this is just common sense. If I try and argue the point with her, she isn’t happy and says I’m wrong. It seems like a circular argument to me, but what do I know - I’m a man!
If anyone out there has played the game “Bratz: 4 Real” on the Nintendo DS and knows how to obtain a pet (I’m sorry, that’s “Petz” with a little trademark symbol), Vika will pay good money for the information. Well, good money or good cupcakes, that would be your choice.
Vika has gone through my DVD collection and extracted all the animated films and relocated them to another shelf. She didn’t tell me this, though, so when I saw them on a shelf I put them back into the alphabetically arranged main area. She then asked me to please put them back, because she didn’t know the English alphabet well enough yet to find them again! I have, of course, obliged. After all, she is a Russian woman-in-training and wasn’t happy!
American soda from a vending machine is only drinkable after an appropriate period of microwaving. In order to give oneself a cushion, you should never microwave all of the soda. Some should be kept as a cold reserve in case the microwaving causes the soda to be too hot. It may then be added to the hot soda to create a pleasantly lukewarm soda, fit for human consumption.
Black pepper should be applied to food in such a manner that you can count the individual black specks. This counting should preferably involve no more fingers than you personally have. In any more liberal of a quantity, it is highly toxic.
A home is not considered messy as long as everything is in a drawer and the drawer is closed.
Hamburgers, prepared with ketchup and mustard and cucumbers, are just as good for breakfast as they are at any other time of day.
If the speed limit sign says “60” then a reading of “61” on your speedometer means Death is stalking you. After personally observing traffic in Moscow, I have no idea from where this notion springs. Unless maybe Death drives a really slow car.
Shorts and T-shirts do not constitute a wardrobe.
Cheese, even when served with macaroni, should not have begun as a powder.
To be truly comfortable, a pillow should only barely fit through the door to your house.
Good peach juice can only be sucked through a straw with great effort, and is not generally available here in the USA.
Bologna is actually pretty good sausage.
An omelet made with eggs, cheese, onion, and sausage tastes infinitely better when made and consumed in Russia than when made and consumed in America. Vika instructs that this has to do with the fact that when made in Russia, it is made with Russian eggs, and Russian cheese, and Russian onion, and Russian sausage.
In Russia, if I didn’t wear slippers when out of the bedroom, I was uncouth. In America, as long as I am wearing socks then all is well. I think it has to do with the carpeting we have here versus the cold laminate and tile used in the house of Natasha’s parents.
If you hard boil an egg and cool it, and the shell is difficult to remove it means the egg is fresher than one which peels easily.
The game of ‘Life’ is pretty fun to play as a family, whether you can read all the spaces or not.
The typical meal served in a Russian restaurant costs about the same as it does in a comparable restaurant in the USA. However, the meal served to one person in the American restaurant could feed an entire Russian family.
Why, yes, the store IS within walking distance here, but we have a car!
Depending on what I’m cooking in a skillet, I might use butter, or margarine, or oil, or spray shortening. Vika witnessed me spraying oil from a can and was mesmerized. She insisted that the next time I needed to do this, that I summon her so she could try it.
What do you mean you don’t make spaghetti using ketchup?
Speaking of cooking, Maria has taught Vika how to make instant mashed potatoes, which I think is fast becoming one of Vika’s favorite snacks. So, if you’re keeping score, cheese shouldn’t be powdered but potatoes can start as flakes.
I keep a variety of breakfast cereals on hand, as well as some farina products - raisin bran, captain crunch with crunch berries, cream of wheat, malt-o-meal, life, etc. If it’s basically a sugar cube wrapped in a thin layer of some sort of organic material, and then coated with as much sugar or frosting as will fit in the box per FDA standards, then it is ‘delicious’. Life and Raisin Bran don’t qualify as ‘delicious’.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
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11 April 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 11:51 AM by Kevin
I know I still owe the complete writeup of the immigration processing through Atlanta as well as the full story of our travels that day, but my notes are all handwritten and I don’t have them with me at the moment, so that story will have to continue to wait.
Natasha and Vika have been here in Omaha for about three and a half weeks now, but it only seems like 2 or 3 days. Our first order of business upon their arrival was to get Vika enrolled in school, so that she could get back to a normal life with other children, after being cooped up with only Natasha and I for a month. I had already done all the research and obtained all the forms, and knew in advance which school Vika would attend so it was a relatively easy thing to get her enrolled. The school district I live in has an ELL program (English Language Learners), which I’ll describe shortly. We had to register Vika at the school she would otherwise attend, and in fact the bus she rides picks her up and drops her off at this school, and takes her to the ELL school a short (1 mile from our house) distance away. This bus is only for ELL students, so is very sparsely populated with children with whom Vika is now familiar.
We submitted all the forms and only then discovered that because Natasha and I aren’t married yet, there was another form we had to submit for a ‘two family household’. Just a small hiccup, and then Vika was able to start school the following Monday. We print out the lunch schedule for the week and then mark Vika’s selections, and then she takes it to school on Monday and gives to her teacher so she always gets what she wishes. Because the drinks at school are always served cold, and that’s a big no no for Natasha and Vika (and Russians in general, I believe) we send in a bottle of juice with Vika every day, at room temperature of course. Vika really enjoys her class (they have a pet rabbit!) and her teacher, and has made several friends already. Natasha and I visited the school before Vika started, and on her first day of class, and got to speak with the secretary, principal, her 4th grade teacher, as well as the ELL teachers (there are 2) and the school librarian.
Speaking of the ELL program, I’ve read many good things about it though visiting with the teachers wasn’t as impressive. It does seem to be well thought out, though. They have no teachers that speak Russian, or any particular language other than English, so the English lessons are done in a language neutral way. They have a laptop with language translation software that they use if they get stuck, and the normal classroom teacher will call upon the ELL teachers to bring the laptop if there is a communication problem with Vika. She spends 1 to 3 hours a day in the ELL classroom learning English, and the rest of the day in her normal classroom with all the other children. They also have Russian interpreters on contract and available by phone for sticky situations, and the library has a small selection of Russian books available. But mostly it’s just total immersion, and Vika’s English improves noticeably every day.
Vika reports that she does a lot of math (probably pretty hard to study history or science or anything else yet) and that it is all very easy for her - things she says she learned in 2nd and 3rd grade. After the summer, we’ll assess her English skills and speak with her teachers and possibly try and move her up to 6th grade (skipping 5th grade), which would be more age-appropriate for her since she’ll turn 12 next year. I think the main reason they placed her in 4th grade this year is that it is so late in the school year, and that is the grade she attended in Russia, even though the grades don’t match up precisely between the our countries. But the important thing is Vika likes school and is doing very well.
Last weekend we all visited my Mom in Kansas, about a 3 and a half hour drive from Omaha. ‘All’ included me, Natasha, Vika, Anthony, Maria, my brother Kent and his wife Melanie and their daughters Katie and Marissa. Katie is 19, the same age as Maria (they are very close) and Marissa is 12 and gets along fabulously with Vika, so visits our house often. We had a wonderful time, and Natasha and Vika enjoyed meeting my Mom and step dad Loren, and all the wonderful home cooking. We had sausage, eggs, hash browns and biscuits the first day for breakfast, and all ate heartily. Dinner the next day was steaks, prepared with a honey teriyaki glaze and marinated for at least a full day. They were HUGE, so Natasha and Vika cut one in half to share. Vika enjoyed it so much that she finished her portion, and then took some more from Natasha! Higher praise from Vika does not exist when it comes to the culinary arts.
Saturday night we all played hide and seek in the dark, with Marissa and Vika each having a flashlight. My Mom lives out in the country with a few acres of grass and buildings, and it’s just ideal for such play. We ran around and laughed and generally had a very good time.
Sunday lunch was tacos (my favorite!), and we played some frisbee out in the yard. Vika had not seen a frisbee before but enjoyed learning how to catch and throw one very much. Natasha mostly just squealed and ducked whenever it came her way, but (perhaps surprisingly) could throw one pretty well.
We also spent several hours looking through old photo albums, playing the game “let’s all guess which one is Kevin and which one is Kent”. I was almost never right, though Natasha did pretty well with her selections! My favorite part of this game was when we looked at the photos when we were still in the hospital, laying on the bed next to Mom. No one, of course, knew who was who so we decided to attack the problem logically - since Kent was born first, we assumed he’d be pushed further away by my birth, so I must be the baby closest to Mom. There was an argument made for this to be Kent, though - since he was born first, he would have landed closer to Mom. So I suppose the issue is still surrounded by some controversy….
Today Natasha and I went down to the social security office to apply for her card. We had filled out the form several days ago, and this morning we printed it out and Natasha signed and dated it. We collected her Russian birth certificate since the instructions said they would need to see it (they never even asked for it, though), and we decided to bring along the official notarized English translation too, just in case (also not requested while we were there). I was surprised at the efficiency of the Social Security office here in Omaha, which I had never visited before. There was a touch screen kiosk set up right inside the door, where we were able to state the reason for our visit, and then a numbered ticket printed out for us. We didn’t even make it to the chairs to sit down before our number was called (there were 6 windows, all staffed, and only 1 other person there). We went to the instructed window, number 6, where our office worker was blind. Her computer was very cool, and spoke everything she typed. The office worker for the adjacent window did all the visual inspection of the documents. First, she looked up the rules for K-1 visas and verified correctly that a SSN is authorized for this visa class, and that employment status is granted. They typed in all the data from our form (why we can’t just fill out the form online so it transfers automatically to their computer is one of those questions that often comes up in such a technology driven country as the USA), and then printed out a summary for us to review. They had spelled the maiden name of Natasha’s mother incorrectly, which we alerted them to (though they didn’t seem too bothered by it) but they instructed us to pay special attention to the spelling of Natasha’s name and our address. These were correct, so Natasha signed and dated this document, and they told us we’d receive her card in the mail in 7 to 10 business days. We were there a total of perhaps 5 minutes. I don’t like dealing with government offices, because so often you are confronted with ill tempered workers and illogical procedures, but our experience with the social security office was surprisingly pleasant and efficient.
After we receive her SSN card, we’ll go down to city hall and apply for our marriage license. No blood test is required, and the process is pretty simply and straight forward. Then we’ll call some of the judges on the list they will provide and select one who is available for our selected wedding date, May 9. We still have to select a venue too. Natasha would like a park, but pocketbook allowing I’d like to call the botanical gardens and see if a spot on their grounds is available. Details and photos forthcoming, I promise!
The past three and a half weeks have gone by so quickly, but we are all doing very well. Anthony, as I predicted, is relishing his new role as big brother, and plays games and generally goofs off with Vika regularly, which she enjoys very much. Maria is more reclusive, being a college student and all, but has volunteered to help give rides to Natasha and Vika on those rare occasions when I am stuck at work and unavailable. It’s all been very mundane, and ordinary - just routine, family stuff - and so very very wonderful precisely because it has all been such routine, family stuff. Life is good, and we are all very happy together.
So our fairy tale is going very well, with only rare appearances by an evil queen or ogre. Our happy ending is assured, we are all confident, but it is not the happy ending we await, but rather it is the journey we are on together - happy and sad times - that we cherish and savor, day by day.
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31 March 2008
Posted in Kevin's Thoughts at 1:31 PM by Kevin
Time also passes quickly if you’re traveling close to the speed of light, from the perspective of someone observing your travel. I’m just saying.
First of all, let me just say that even though the posts are few and far between these days, be sure to check the photo album. We process the photos pretty regularly so Ulyana, Mama and Papa can see how Natasha and Vika are doing.
I promise to eventually get back to posting, but for right now when it comes to a choice between spending time with Natasha and the family or writing a post, you guys lose! Sorry!
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