Driving around in a ferrari and having no other reason to be in ukraine means you are a playboy. thats great if your looking for whores. but maybe your one of those who think all women are whores?
Having a business means you are serious and someone that is dependable. A woman looks at man with his own business the way a man looks at a woman with nice tits.
VNV...I don't know if you were referring to me....I think we have different definition of control.....control only what you can, your apt, taxi's, where to eat, where to go, if you need a translator, if you see the girl again. You can't control the weather ......or whether girl is interested in you or not.
That's just the point...in a culture where ripping off foreigners is normal--even a business for some--a foreigner is never in control, no matter what you may think...
Then don't be a foreigner.....and control what you can.
When I am with my friends and I meet their friends....I don't feel like a foreigner, I don't speak russian as good as you, but I mostly get treated ok, maybe not exactly like a ukrainian, but I know what some things should cost.
Ukraine…They're all on the take. Letter writing scam is where they do it remotely.
Once you’re there they’ll take you for as much as they can get from you.
If you keep your wits about you, you should be ok. Or the girl you’re with should protect you to a certain extent….unless she’s in on the take too.
If you’re alone you need to decide…when they try to rip you off……whether to lie down or make a big deal of it.
If you make a big deal…could mean trouble. If you lie down and take it….it’s only money.
Example:- kid in internet café at Borispol tells me it’s 5 dollar for use of a computer…ok I hand him a ten, he sticks it under his book and looks away. I stand there waiting fore the change…he points to the computer I’ll use…..I think forget it..
I leave later..waving over to him and shouting…”see you later ya scrawny little prick”
I never paid $5 dollar for use of computer at borispol, I think I paid a minimal amt of 6uah for maybe 1/2 hour. Maybe you should have gone to change your money from usd to uah, then ask the kid how much for computer.
Personally, I have always arranged my trips to FSU, minus the one time I let a girl in kiev arrange my apt(never again). Staying in control is best way to avoid pitfalls. Ukrainians aren't the only ones that will gladly relieve you of any excess money you have.......it is every where. It is amazing what a man would do a girl...it is the 'power of the patch'.
True, Kirkland....but why feed into the corruption? I know the fact westerners get a separate charge than a local but I'll question why? Even in russian if I have to( I know just enough).
If I'm not happy, I'll go to another place and tell that person. I used to not like it when a girl I was with would tell me to be quiet in taxi, so I just learned some russian to greet driver and say some small things.