After 1991 Ukraine become a separate country and the Ukrainian people opened their souls to the west. For many years they had been stuck to the communist regimes and fake promises and all of a sudden they became ready to explore the forbidden lands of America, Australia, Germany and other western countries.
Ukrainian culture is following the well established standards of Europe but at the same time is slightly different. The country was part of the huge Soviet Union but managed to preserve its own rituals, traditions and language. People love their country but not in a nationalistic manner.
The Ukrainian wife is good mother. She was educated not only in chemistry, physics and literature, but also in understanding and tradition. These things are not taught in school; they come in the genes and are transferred from mother to daughter.
Unlike the west where wives follow their career and later they think about family, for most Ukrainian ladies, family always occupies the first place. It stands before anything else and after the woman signs the marriage papers she becomes fully engaged with the family.
A Ukrainian wife will drop her career to have children. These ladies love kids and make impossible things for them. They are ready to sacrifice everything in the name of their family and babies. Most western women prefer to postpone the birth of their first child to the moment when they are sure that their career will not suffer.
This is untypical for the Ukrainians. They will never hire a babysitter to look after their child and educate it. Their understanding of love and parenthood is exactly the quality time they spend with the family.
Soon you will discover that cooking is more a kind of art than just a process of preparing the food. The local cuisine is rich and tasty. The most usual products are meat (especially pork), vegetables and fruit. Widely used are also mushrooms, berries, and herbs. Your Ukraine wife will prepare huge amounts of food and you should not be surprised.
Part of the understanding of food is to be much. This has its roots in the old times years ago when the shortage of all products was normal in the Soviet Union. People live poorly and when they wanted to show that they have special respect to someone, they prepared food and invited him for a supper or dinner. To them the full table actually is sign for hospitality and conscientiousness.
These two values play a big role in modern families. Young couples are expected regularly to invite their parents to pay them a visit. During these visits the dining room becomes a lavish festival of cuisine and traditional drinks.
A Ukrainian wife usually prepares special bread. They have their own names for it, starting with Korovai (round bread usually baked for weddings or other similar events, decorated with birds or other baked figures), also Babka (Easter bread, usually sweet). According to the tradition the bread is something sacred and man should eat a lot of it in order to be strong and a good husband.
