The girls do wear a lot of makeup, but what I've consistently seen in real life vs. photos is their skin and their teeth. In the photos the girls often have perfect complexions; in real life, uh...not so much. Many girls have pretty bad complexions, even with their makeup. I have heard others say this is due to the lower quality or cost of skin care products, etc... Also in photos sometimes the girls smile without showing their teeth. In real life, once you start to speak with them and see their teeth it can change your perception of their beauty quite a bit. In big cities dental care is probably comparable to the west, but in smaller cities, it doesn't seem to be.
I was in Moscow and St. Pete in December/January. It was damn cold (-10C) and sightseeing was a drag. And the girls said they were having a warm winter. One girl even went out for a long walk wearing a skirt!!! But on the upside, there aren't many guys there hunting for their brides, so you will have more attention. Just bring a really warm jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, and boots.
I have studied various languages throughout the years. I just recently started Russian. I'm lucky enough to have a stepdad whose parents immigrated from Ukraine and he speaks fluent Ukrainian. Although I don't know whether I'd want him translating for me...And I've been Rushn to the bathroom for years...especially after a visit to the roadside taco wagon!
As far as language programs, I have the Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone and Living Language programs. I would highly suggest the Pimsleur Approach. I've used his programs for two other languages and now the Russian program. I love how they do things. Dr. Paul Pimsleur was one of the worlds leading experts in linguistics and studied groups of children, adults and multilingual adults. From this he developed the Pimsleur language learning system based on the four principles of Anticipation, "Graduated Interval Recall", Organic Learning and Learning Like A Child. It's not like the other programs out there that are based on repetition, grammar or even using books. It's completely audio. Barnes & Noble or most book seller carry the Pimsleur programs. They have more in depth programs available via the net. I wished I had learned German this way instead of 5 hours a week for 4 years with books!!!
I also liked the Rosetta Stone program as it does cover the cyrillic alphabet (in case you want to be able to read signs and go Rushn into the appropriate bathroom!!!) The living language programs are a set of books and cd's used in conjunction with each other...not very flexible here - you will have to sit down and focus completely on the task at hand. I listen to the Pimsleur cd's in my car or on the computer.
It's great that you want to learn Russian. The women love it when you speak a few phrases in Russian! Also get the book, "Russian Tolstoy Never Used" It covers all the words that are typically now found in your Russian dictionary including a lot of words specifically for Russian women!!! It's hilarious.
Its funny you guys talk about this situation. I recently been having that problem. The pics in fiancedotcom are nice, but the recent photo i got, was uhhhhhhh how do i say this politely ??
Her letters sound great, Shes real nice.... so how do i dump her nicely without saying... uhhhhhh well you know!
viva,
It is the easiest thing to do to drop a FSU woman and there are several things to say and anyone here can add to the list ;
1 You lost your job.
2 You just got promoted to operate the deep fryer at McDonald`s
3 You crave oral sex.
4 You can`t stand children and don`t want any in the near future
5 Send her a hammer and sickle for her birthday
6 You wish to discuss the topic of sex in your relationship
7 .............
From the sound of things some of you have already gone on tours or trips to Russia in the past. I would like some idea of what your total costs were with air fair, hotel, food, and transportation in country. I would also like to know how long you recommend staying and how many girls I should try to see while I'm there. I may go over this winter for a visit. I want to be fair to the girls but I also want to make sure I don’t waste the money. I hope you guys have some suggestions.
I have been writing to one girl and she just sent me in her last letter a cell number to call her on. I am not sure if that is a good thing. I have only written her a couple of letters but I would enjoy talking to someone instead of typing on a keyboard. Is it fairly expensive to talk with her on her cell? If you guys have had some experience with talking with the girls on their cell phones I would appreciate some input.
has anyone considered moving to that part of the world instead of asking if they have permission to leave from their childs father. I think for the right woman I would move. saves a lot of trouble huh?
I would also like to know what a fsu girl means. I hope someone can help me with the previous questions on what trips cost to go over from the US and if it is a good idea to call them on a cell phone number if they give it to you.
Thanks for the info Maxi. I am still curious about the cell phones. If they give you their number should you call them or continue writing letters to them.
All communications is good and needed to develop an accurate and trusting opinion and relationship. But the true test and qualifying is done when "face - face"
Of course, give her a call if she gave you her number. Just keep in mind that for a girl to receive an international call on her cell will cost her a lot per minute, so you should keep the conversation brief. I don't know the exact cost per minute, but most people have prepay $10-$20 on their phones. Half of the time when I call my lady on her cell it disconnects after a minute or so because the call ran through her money.
The other thing you can do is send her SMS on her cell and that will only cost her a few cents.
Long distance to Ukraine is expensive. I use my office broadband phone. If you have dsl or cable internet, you can switch to a broadband phone. It goes through your internet and you can even switch your home #. I personally saved money with the cost of my cable and broadband phone service over the local phone company (no names, but they've been advertising bundled services lately). It's about $20 a month with Lingo or $25 a month with Vonage. It's free long distance in the US, Canada, Mexico and Western Europe. Calls to your eastern european countries are cheap as well. It's .12 to .14 a minute to Ukraine with lingo.
Sharkhunter summed up your major costs...don't forget $$$ for flowers and gifts included with cost of food and entertainment! I'd set aside about 4-4.5K. If you go during the summer add another thousand for cost of airfare and lodging. If you go during winter, it'll be cheaper.
All the cell phone plans I have seen in Russia have free incoming calls. Even if the girl has no money in her prepay account she should be able to receive all calls. I have Beeline service and a Beeline SIM card for my phone and this is the case, and it is the same with MTS and Megafone.
Rhino
You can also purchase prepaid long distance cards from masterbell.com or 5starscall.com and make calls from any phone to Ukraine for about .10 to .14 a minute.
My girl has Megafone and she must pay a lot to receive international calls. Calls within Russia are either free for her or very cheap. Maybe there are other plans, I don't know, but I would imagine my girl got the plan that was the best to receive international calls.
I hadn't heard of that before. I'll do some checking and see what I can find out. I have called a few cell phones over there and was never told that was the case, but they were Beeline and MTS and I was using a prepaid phone card if that made any difference. All the cell phone companies have web sites explaining their plans, and some are even in English. Time to do some checking and comparison of plans. My plan and my girl's plan is Beeline Bee plus boom.
One more thing. Most of the plans I have seen also include free incoming SMS. I send SMS frequently from the Beeline website, which makes it free for the sender and free for the receiver (now I guess depending on the cell plan).