10 ridiculous experiences being an immigrant from Ukraine

For these 10 experiences, enjoy beautiful Ukrainian women! :D

I know these experiences are not the same for everyone from Ukraine. And I know a lot of these seem ridiculous (and they seriously are) but I know some people wanted to hear my experience of being an immigrant to America from Ukraine. I moved to the United States in 1999 and became a citizen 5 years later. I began school that year. I had a teacher who taught history and who had a map of Europe that did not have Ukraine on the map. I told her that Ukraine was not on the map. She ridiculed me for thinking Ukraine was it's own country and told me that it was part of the Soviet Union. I argued so hard they sent me to the office and then home. A week later we had a new map but the incident was never again mentioned nor did I receive any apology.

You're not "really" a Ukrainian.

I brunette and have brown/gold eyes. I also have dark olive skin. Due to this, some people refuse to believe I am Ukrainian. Some people seem to think Ukrainians have blonde hair and blue eyes, and are very pale, and I have no idea where they got this idea from. Some believe all of us have big noses or that we know how to braid hair like an expert, and I just sit there like I am still trying to figure ponytails out.

"You must know random Ukrainian I know then!"

Yes, we are telepathic. I am completely aware of this random person that you know in town. We secretly all congregate and hang out. Oh, his name is Sergei? Yes, I know all of the Sergeis of the world, of course. This was said a lot to me when I lived in big cities, with staggering amount of people.

How do you feel about Russia/Do you have family in Ukraine fighting right now/Why aren't you helping your country?

Since the recent conflict with Ukraine and Russia began, a lot of my coworkers and clients flag me with questions in regards to the conflict. Some questions are fine, but some go insanely creepy/uncomfortable fast. Examples:

"You're Ukrainian right?"
"Yes?"
"I heard this town in Ukraine was blown up, do you have family there"
"Errr..."
I find this highly stressing, people asking me if my family is dead there/hurt/or if I or others have experienced oppression while living there.
Example:
"You shouldn't be here!!!!" client literally storms in and I have no clue what he is yelling about so I just stare back.
"Your country is at war, you're a traitor!! Don't you have any loyalty? I can't believe you're so disloyal to your people"
"Um...sorry?" I really had no clue what to say, he sighed, sat down, and eventually was helped by someone else while I stared at him because I simply could not understand...

"I'm tired of immigrants, no matter where they are from. Get out!"

This actually has been pretty minimal, it's been more of a problem since I moved to Florida. It's not known a lot, but there is a lot of discrimination/problems in Ukraine due to religion which is actually why I am here. My family was granted refugee status because our lives were in danger. We moved here secretly by night and could not tell most of our neighbors we were leaving because we did not know who were responsible for some of the threats/attacks on my family. An American church funded our entire trip and housed us for months/gave us food/clothes/everything. I love Americans, honestly, and I am so grateful for a random American tourist (quite literally) talking to my grandfather and learning of our situation and helping us out.

"Did someone order you online? Maybe we can split the price!"

As a now mid-twenties woman, I have heard this increasingly when people ask me where I'm from (especially in night social settings). Also "lucky, submissive and a sex freak!" apparently, men think Ukrainian women are submissive and freaky in bed. Let me tell you about my Mother. She raised me all alone in Ukraine. She was my towns only exterminator (small town). She killed all sorts of pests, usually without any professional equipment, and even took care of wild animals for people. She did all of this while being physically handicapped and raising a daughter alone. All of my family members (that are female and from the older generation) run the household. The men hand the money over and only get an allowance, if anything, it's disproportionate towards the men in some ways. Also, on the wife order joke, I have never met or heard of this actually occurring. Does it actually happen? I have no clue, I thought it was just a myth...

You know your language is dying/your country is just a ripoff of Russia

No. We are a blend of Polish influences, Russian influences, and a lot of other Slavic languages, even some far off European countries. And our languages are not the same. When I was a child I attended a church that was about half Ukrainian and half Russian (yes, we can and do in fact get along, but that does not mean Ukraine "wants" to join Russia again) and learned the very HUGE (personally) differences in language. Most Ukrainians could understand Russians but most Russians could not understand Ukrainians. And so, the church was run by mostly Russians, a few Ukrainians, and actually two Belarus families. It was a very nice experience. As for the language dying, it's really only dying because the resources for new generations to learn it are simply not there. A lot of resources I have tried to find for learning Ukrainian have been either simply lacking or even downright incorrect/Russian.

Make me perrogies/borsch!

Um, I can't. I can't cook. There, I said it, and when I do people usually follow with "How are you a Ukrainian girl who can't cook????". Because I never wanted to and my mom didn't feel like pressing something on to me I had no interest in. Also, I hate borsch (followed by, you're not really Ukrainian if you hate borsch....)

Ugh, I hate Ukrainians, they are so stiff, not fun, and unemotional.

I'm not sure if this one stems from the fact that a lot of Ukrainians who probably arrived to America did so because of poor conditions or because people assumed this was the case. My grandma and my mom (in separate times) went through starvation scares in Ukraine, and saw horrible things, but they are both fun and loving people. My mom is the most understanding people I know and loved everyone she meets.

So you hate gays right?

"Ugh, I hate Ukrainians!"
"What. Why?"
"You're all bigots who hate gays"
"I don't hate gays..."
"Well you might not, but everyone else from there does!"
"Um, no, no they do not"
When you get a chance look up some of the most popular musicians and actors in Ukraine and you'll notice something...a lot of them are gay and some are even transgender/cross-dressers and have been popular since the 80's... Yes the law is behind times, but the people are not as behind. There has been a lot of press about Russian and sometimes Ukrainian anti lgbt events/laws/attacks. And from my experience of knowing Ukrainians (not all though, admittedly) and talking to my family who lives there, not everyone feels that way and large portions of the population is changing their views every single day to favor more open agenda.