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From Russia to roses in Korumburra

FLOWER FLAIR: Nina Kane, a recent Korumburra resident hailing from Russia, was congratulated by Sandra Macdonald, president of the Leongatha Horticultural Society, for her winning roses in the Leongatha Rose Spectacular.
 

IT was a leap of faith for Nina Kane, uprooting her entire life in Russia to relocate to Korumburra in March 2018.

The move – which saw Nina leave her job as a lawyer, her apartment and everything familiar to her – was so that she could marry the love of her life, Darren Kane.

“I found a big, strong Australian man,” she said.

But little did she know at the time she’d also rediscover another love in Australia.

“Another one of the loves of my life is roses,” she said.

While Nina tried to grow roses and other flowers in Russia, it wasn’t viable in her apartment.

“I have about 40 rose bushes now on our Korumburra property,” she said.

“It’s nice that Darren’s supports me: he digs out and plants, I just supervise.”

When she and Darren moved into their Korumburra home, right after their “fairytale” wedding last year, Nina immediately began making improvements.

“The garden is looking more like home, sweet home,” she said.

Her diverse and vibrant collection of roses, which she has procured from locals, attracted the attention of judges at the Leongatha Rose Spectacular recently.

Despite poor weather conditions that spoiled several of her roses prior to the show, Nina still managed to place first prize for full bloom rose and second prize for the fragrant rose section.

“It was an amazing day, I was so happy,” she said.

The recognition, the support of her community and her developing collection of roses has made her move to Australia that much sweeter.

“Moving from one country to other is a very serious step and you have to be a brave person to change everything in your life,” she said.

“In the beginning, it wasn’t easy at all, but we managed it. I had a lot of support from Darren’s family”

Nina initially visited Australia in 2016 before her move to get a feel for the country.

She was immediately impressed.

“I found that people here are very helpful and supportive, friendly and smiley,” she said.

But culturally, Nina said Australians and Russians differ greatly.

While Russians are more direct, Nina said Australians are “very polite”.

 “When people here tell you something is good, it’s not always good – they just want to be polite and don’t want to upset me,” she said.

“I tell my husband, you won’t upset me if you don’t like this dish.”

Another glaring contrast for Nina is our “amazing” wildlife and living in the countryside after residing in the Russian city, Pskov, for 18 years.

“It’s a new experience. I love nature, the hills in Korumburra are magic, the ocean is just amazing,” she said.

“The eucalyptus tree after rain, they smell so good. I’ll just drive with my windows down.”

Nina’s 19-year-old daughter has also fallen in love with Australia and intends to move here after completing her study in Russia.

Nina now works at South Gippsland Shire Council as a risk officer.

“After working as a lawyer for over 20 years in Russia, I wanted to be useful for society and do something here related to law,” she said.

Nina said she also enjoys joining in Zumba classes in Leongatha, embroidering, and getting to know her community.

“I’m really happy that I’m here,” Nina said.

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Posted by on Nov 19 2019. Filed under Community, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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