There are two things that have been the most helpful, I think. We learned quite a bit of Russian. Each day we would focus on a few phrases and words as we rode to the Orphanage. We also knew that we would be a rather large family with some bio children and some adopted children with several nationalities and different "looks", so we talked to other families like that. We asked them to be completely open about what worked, what didn't work, their mistakes and successes. We took their wisdom into this adoption, and we have been prepared for more than we've needed up to this point.
Here's a recent article on our journey:
http://www.southeastoutlook.org/news/features/article_22f90a08-3e6c-11e4-b585-0017a43b2370.html
There's an adoption seminar coming up in KY, if you are interested:
http://orphancarealliance.org/event/adoption-foster-care-seminar/?instance_id=219