My Experience in Foreign Country

Being an American means living around people from different countries and cultures. I am getting along with everyone quite well, but it was always fascinating to learn a little bit more of their culture or even visit their country. I got that opportunity when I married a woman from a foreign country. It was very difficult for us at the beginning; there were many clashes with two different cultures coming together. But to fully understand the reasons for the conflicts, it is helpful to travel to the origins of the other culture and to learn their customs and traditions.  

I was married to my wife for four months when we went to Ukraine to visit my in-laws for the first time. We endured 12 hours of flying, which meant being in airports and airplanes for about 24 hours. When we finally arrived, my wife’s mom and brother met us at the airport. My mother-in-law was very happy to see us; it had been over a year since my wife visited home. Her brother gave us a ride from the airport back to their home. He was driving as if he was trying to qualify for the Grand Prix; he was either hard on the accelerator or hard on the brakes, dodging in and out of traffic, which caused my wife and her mom to yell at him to slow down and pay attention to the road. My mother-in-law had brought sandwiches and other food and insisted that we should eat for the first half of the trip to her house. She constantly worried if I was getting enough to eat the entire time we were there. When we arrived at her home, plans were made to have some of her relatives come over the next day.

My wife’s relatives were very happy to welcome me into the family. In normal form of their customs, there was plenty of food and vodka to go around. The food was quite different for me; Ukrainians mainly eat pork, lots of salads and pickled vegetables, different kinds of fish and mushrooms, and even rabbit meat. Many toasts were said to wish my wife and me good health and happiness.

 My wife’s uncle took time to show us around town and where he worked. He told of how the loss of the Communist party had caused some of the jobs to be eliminated in recent years. We toured Kiev--the capital of Ukraine--with all its architectural buildings, monuments and cathedrals. I saw a different lifestyle—people mostly walk to get around, small groceries stores are built on every corner, many people lived in apartments, neighbors gathering together to play cards at night or just to chat somewhere on a bench. My wife’s family was trying to include me in some things they do for fun. We went to a sauna, as a traditional way of welcoming a guest. We also did some of the night life and went with friends to some local bars, all within walking distance. Some of the guys wanted to see if they could get the American drunk; I was able to hold my own.