Hello World! Our story is going global!

Today I was interviewed by Alan Dein with BBC Radio in London and our story will be broadcast next week on his new show called "Don't Log off".

I spent an hour with him talking through Skype while he was on his laptop and I was on my I-phone. We had a great conversation and I hope you all will be able to hear it soon on th BBC podcast. Here is a link to Alan's Show Don't Log Off.

Anna also has a busy day today as she files papers with the government in Russia to get the official letter of invitation for me to apply for my Visa. She has to take a bus approximately 130 miles each way to drop off the paperwork for the application.

As I write this entry she is on her way.

Hello Anna! From London

Today I received a message from a radio journalist with the BBC Network out of London, England. He has been following this blog and is very interested in our story. He invited me for a phone interview to talk about the story about Anna and I.

The interview will either take place tomorrow or on Friday. We are still working out details, but I am sure it will be great. I must say that Anna and I are both excited for the invitation. It will be my very first interview on a radio program.

I can assure you that I will share the details of the interview with everyone after it has taken place. Perhaps you will even read about it here before it is put on the air next week in the United Kingdom.

Our story is being written

What if every word you spoke with each other was written in one big document. From the first hello to the latest I love you. Every word recorded in a single document.

This is exactly how it is for Anna and I. Every word we have ever spoken to each other is recorded in a single document that now exceeds 1200 pages in length and includes almost a half of a million words. Our book is being written with every conversation we have.
I expect that this document will be over 2000 pages long before we can even begin to have a conversation over the telephone.
But i must say it is nice to be able to read our previous conversations over again from time to time. I even find things in our conversation history that I misunderstood at the time but now I understand.

Memorial Day in Russia

Today was a particularly rough day for Anna and we were unable to talk very long.

May 2nd would mark 2 years from the day her husband passed away.

Anna and the children decided to visit his grave in the cemetery today because she had to work on May 2nd and was unable to visit on that day.

As if the grieving would not be enough, upon returning home her daughter began to run a fever and Anna herself felt ill. She thinks it may be her allergies acting up with the new blooms that come after the arrival of spring.

I hope they all feel much better tomorrow.

True Love is Patient

Patience is something both Anna and I have to exercise each and every day. With almost 7 months of correspondence we still have not been in the same room as one another or even been in the same country together. We still live on separate sides of the planet from each other.

Everything that has to happen for us to be together takes much time. Anna has just finished filling out the papers to present to the consulate in Russia to get me the official letter of invitation in order for me to visit her in Russia. She must ride a bus for over 100 miles each way to deliver the paperwork to the consulate. Then it will take an additional 3 to 4 weeks for her to receive the official letter. Upon receipt of the letter, she will then need to mail the letter to me which will take more time. Once I receive the letter from her, I need to mail it to the Russian Consulate in Seattle along with the Visa application with the hope it gets approved. This process will take 4 to 6 weeks also.

Once I get the Visa, I can fly over to Russia and visit her briefly, but this is still not the end. During my trip to Russia, we need to get pictures taken of us together, so that when we finally apply for the visa that will allow her to come here, we can prove to the U.S. Immigration services that we have been together. This is a requirement for that type of Visa.

Much needs to happen and everything is slow moving and takes so much time. Sometimes it gets frustrating but we are both patient and will wait for however long it takes to start our lives together. True Love is Patient and will stand the test of time.

Feel free to post a comment if you wish.

Good things are coming soon!

For all of you who are waiting to see pictures, we are working on getting pictures taken for the website. While I am not very picky as to what pictures I put up on the website, Anna is very picky.

She needs to make sure that she not only looks her very best, but she also needs to get the pictures taken in such a way to ensure her privacy in her hometown.

She is very concerned about the privacy of her and her children. The last thing we want is for her to be required to answer questions from acquaintances that surround her daily.

Another good thing that is on its way is the continuation of Anna's story in her own words. She sent me the text today and I will start working to get it all translated. This will take some time. I hope to have the continuation posted on the website by the end of this week.

If you have not read her story yet you can see it here http://privetanna.blogspot.com/p/h-ow-it-all-began.html.

The pictures will be here soon. Until then, I hope you enjoy this composition I created for Anna using a photo that I took and Photoshop.

The Uncertain Future

Today Anna and I discussed the various issues that will face us if she chooses to move to America. As any normal mother, she is very concerned about the education of her 2 children.

We both know that this decision cannot be entered into lightly because it will be a big change for her and the children. They have never been to America and this will be a huge culture shock at its very best. It will take much thought and discussion before this type of decision will be made.

We discussed various options available to us but we agree that we will take this one day at a time and not plan too far ahead. We are still waiting for the consulate in Russia to process Anna's letter of invitation that will be required for my Visa to enter Russia. Also my pending divorce provides many complications.

Although it is our desire to be together, many things must happen to make this a possibility. Thus Anna is very pessimistic regarding our future. We ask what you think, take our poll.

Our First Conversation in Russian

I have been studying the Russian language almost non-stop every day using the Pimsleur Approach and today I was able to speak with Anna briefly in Russian. Our first conversation was brief and consisted of the very first words I spoke to her and the title of this blog.
I spoke to Anna "Privet Anna!" and she answered "Privet". I responded with the question, "Kak dela?" which means in English "How are you?". She responded to the question with "Ochi horosho" which means "Very Well" in English. This is a huge break through for us because we were able to finally speak verbally to one another in Anna's own native language. She understood me and I understood her.
Even though I will need to learn much more of the language, I feel like this was a great step for us. I was able to speak a few more words also but I still have much to learn. Finally after 1150 pages of written words, we spoke our first conversation! It may not seem like much to those who are reading the story but for us, it is a huge milestone!

Read A Story To Me.

Learning to speak another language is not easy. I purchased the Pimsleur Approach about a month ago and am learning very slowly. I want to know how to speak Russian fluently one day but it will take years to learn this way. I do not have years. I have only a few brief months before I go visit her in Russia.

Even though Anna is also studying her English, I find it necessary to learn Russian also. Anna has volunteered to record herself reading books and send them to me with the hope I can listen to her while I fall asleep. Our hope is that with the combined methods of the Pimsleur Approach and flooding my brain with the words will help me to learn enough in a few short months to enable us to communicate in Russian.

Even if it doesn't help, it will be nice to hear her speak to me. She truly has a beautiful voice. If an Angel spoke, I am sure it would sound just like her. If you haven't yet read her story, feel free to read her story in her own words

Troubling Dreams

Today Anna told me of a dream she had last night that troubled her. She wanted an interpretation and I gave it to her. Personally I think it is very accurate and she is also in agreement but we wanted to post it here in the hopes that someone else can confirm my interpretation. I will not tell the interpretation here but here is the dream.

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"I walk with someone on the seaside city. They showed me a very old shabby house. And on this house is a lot of decorative details. Casings of the windows, along the cornices. And I see that all of these carved details of the house is very well preserved. They all whole, not broken. And I think that if this house repair, it will be very beautiful. And in the yard of the house, at the top, like a network, the web with huge spiders. Spiders are very large in the size of a young child. And in the middle of the yard is in a chaise lounge and a sunbathing woman. I ask her: 'Are you not afraid of the spiders?', and she replied: 'Don't pay any attention to them'"

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Sorry for the errors with grammar, but this is a direct quote of the dream. Please feel free to comment with your opinion of the interpretation.