yup that's where mine was sent, I am guessing some time at the end March or first of April.
Durak its official you are now a published write. I posted your article on easyukraine.
Interesting topic - and a discussion that my wife and I have often over a bottle of wine.
Are there good Russian men? Sure.
My wife's response was that a lot of the good Russian men had no desire, drive, or fire to be something better. Most Russians are very status conscious - and the good guys seemed to trade in that drive for their "niceness".
Sure, my wife says, she could have married Sasha the Plumber - but he would always be Just Sasha the Plumber - never Sasha the Master Plumber or Sasha the owner the Plumbing
Company. She wanted someone who was as ambitious as she is - and still nice. It turns out that an American fit that template better than any of the Russian guys she dated.
I hope she does not trade you in for a more ambitious man if you don't fulfill all her expectations. Remember past performance… predicts future behavior..
I would like to compare with situation we had here in Sweden some 20 years ago.
Lots of women from Poland advertised in Swedish magazines, looking for swedish men.
They always said that they wanted to find a good man, and that was not possible in Poland...
Then things changed in Poland. People had work and the country was in progress.
Nowadays we never see women from Poland advertising, they are happy in Poland.
But we often see them here as tourists since we have direct ferries Poland-Sweden.
Of course it is the same with Ukraina and Russia. The countries are in deep trouble
and people want to leave.
Not easy for a man, but a pretty woman can always get married abroad...
Interesting and informative post. Poland now being an EU member and entitled to EU subsidies, incentives and what*not have seen an improvement in living standards compared with their former bloc neighbours.
There is a very good looking Polish woman who has a kid at my kids school. She is married …and here’s the startling bit…her husband has returned to Poland for better prospects and is just waiting for things to smooth out before she returns to live there.
My company has dealings with all former bloc countries. Poland and Russia are the only countries who are giving us orders. The rest are dead in the water…including most of Europe.
Ukraine will never see a living standard like Poland has now (Despite Ukraine being the largest and having the most resources after Russia of the fsu countries) until it rids itself of the Russian Yoke.
Geez you only have to look around when you’re there to see how Ukraine has been systematically raped of her economic potential.
E,G, Chernobyl …built by the soviets, it already lay in ruins, years before Ukrainian independence and now the decaying sarcophagus is left to be dealt with by a country a few months ago on the verge of bankruptcy.
And still the girls don’t really want to leave…
I had a discussion last night with my 'gf'. I asked her why she didn't open the mail - she is keeping the files organized. She told me she didn't want to know "my secrets" .
Then she proceeded to tell me (she was a banker) about the Russian men that have TWO bank accounts or more. The meager account for the family and the 'other' account with lots of money (she used a gesture with her hands indicated high and low) that the wife(s) has no idea exists. Just something to think about. For this reason she didn't want to invade my privacy. What a concept! Quite different than the US women who on most accounts demand every penny being accounted for. Or that Elmer hand over the check...
"Ukraine will never see a living standard like Poland has now (Despite Ukraine being the largest and having the most resources after Russia of the fsu countries) until it rids itself of the Russian Yoke."
I understand that Ukraine has been systematically raped of its potential, but hasn't Russian influence been rid of? What influence do Russians have that keep them from being prosperous? I assume debt is a big part of it. Is there another?
Among other things, Ukraine relies on Russia for natural resources such as gas. How much Russia charges Ukraine for it depends on such things as who Ukraine elects to office (they like the current guy) and whether they're allowed to park their navy off the coast of Crimea. On the whole, Ukraine does what it's told.
From my observations, much of FSU is run by Moscow as much as it ever was. They use the mafia to do what the KGB used to do, and they get their way with other nations by underhanded manipulation and bullying as opposed to sending the army in, but it seems things haven't changed as much as people think.
From what one of my Ukrainian employees tells me, Russian media always makes Ukrainian politicians the butt of their humour and satire because they don't dare make fun of their own politicians (questioning politicians is a great way for a journalist to get dead in Russia).
Perhaps this was ingrained into the mindset of the general population of Russia through some propaganda campaign. But I know for sure that many Russians resent or look down upon the Ukraine and their populace. There seems to be a lingering grudge against Ukrainian people for a reason I have not yet explored. Though I do find it interesting. As for the economy of Ukraine being closely tied (controlled) to the motherland it is true. For the people who still live and work in Russia, theirs is not so great either. I was told life was much simpler before 'perestroika' and that folks had more and were better off. There remains a tug-of-war over the revolutionary idea of combining socialism with democracy. There is the illusion of people actually having a voice in policy when in fact it is still very controlled as it was 40 years ago. Analogous to that would the person who decided to get a whole new wardrobe to change his image. Same person, different clothes. Maybe in time things will change. But in history, an overnight change can take 100 years. Funny now that America is heading in the opposite direction. My American Comrades better wake up soon before it's too late.
Hey Muzzy and Ralph! You last posts here are right on!! In winter, Jan and feb 2009, shortly after I left Lugansk, Russia shut off the gas to some areas, because the Ukraine was behind on their payments!! They do what ever Russia wants!
Russians in Ukraine, do look down on the native Ukrainains. I met up with the girl(Russian) from my 2009 trip, this last January. I showed her a picture of the girl from Kherson,, who wasted my time and money. She looked at her photo and said; Ah!! She is Ukrainian?? Or as she said it; You cry ein!!!
And yes Ralph,,, we know we are heading in the wrong direction!!! There aren't too many of our rights left, that both parties haven't stomped on!!
baron555 may have touched on something........ UN-married with children. To answer the question of just how bad Russian men really are, take a good look at the number of un-married girls with kids on dating sites. 18 to 40, there are a lot of beautiful girls on sites who have kids and no man...... I'm sure the girl is to blame in some cases, but, with so many choices, it seems Russian men like to play.
Okay......... as a matter of fact, this is a message I have received from a beautiful 22 yo girl.
Dear XXXXXXXXX, i have a little child and a great desire to find him the best father and the best husband for me.this two qualities are hard to combine,but if you are strog man you would succesfully achieve this aim
If this girl is not an agency gold-digger, it is truly sad that she was used by some guy and then tossed aside once she had his kid.
It is a cream coloured house converted in to apartments, I'd suggest 'glorified bedsits' rather than apartments because the house doesn't look big enough to house at least 7 apartments of any decent size.
I accidentally stumbled across this thread, and after reading it I just had to reply...
As you can probably guess, I am a Russian man (born and raised in Moscow, currently living in the USA)
Russian men, just like American men vary from person to person. But for the most part, we do not put up with women's BS as much. If your average American man will buy his woman a fur coat as a result of him being yelled at, an average Russian man will not put up with this. No offense, but American men tend to lose all logic and reasoning when confronted by a good-looking woman. Russian men are not like this. On top of that, Russian women know this. They also know that American society lets women get away with anything they want. This of course is very appealing to Russian women.
As far as the mail-order brides go. 99% of these women are not in it for love. For them, this is business. You see, even though the Russian economy has skyrocketed in the past decade, we still are behind the western world in terms of "gender equality". We have no affirmative action, no sexual harassment laws, no "pussy passes" in the legal system, ect. So, even though a man in Russia has similar opportunities as a man in the USA, a woman's options are (for the most part) either to find a good husband, be attractive and sleep her way up the career ladder, or move to a western country where opportunities for women are enforced by the government. But if you move to another country, you need a place to stay, some money, and most importantly: papers. This is where American/UK men come in for these women. How do I know this, you ask? I know a lot of these women who have moved from Ukraine/Russia to find a husband in the USA. I can tell you that not one of them actually cares about their husbands. To them, these guys are just living, breathing Green Cards and ATM machines. These women are smart and plan in advance, they are also great actresses. So guys, watch out.
But think about it, if a woman signs up for a service where she tries to find a man in America, is she trying to find a man, or move to the USA?
In all, these mail-order brides are usually taken from the bottom of the gene pool (so to speak). If you want to find a good Russian woman, the best way is to learn the language, move there, find a job there, and once you find that girl of you dreams, stay there.
You are right , that Russian men will not put up with women's BS as much the average American man does. “American men tend to lose all logic and reasoning when confronted by a good-looking woman.” I recognized thast,I did that mistake and some people here in this forum has done it too…well, Just like in THE WEST SIDE STORY “ I like to live in America “ …that's right not just your people but almost everyone ( Latin –American , Asian , even western Europeans too) will like to have a Green Card and ATM machine courtesy of marring for the wrong reasons .” So guys, watch out! These women are smart and plan in advance, they are also great actresses.” So was my American Ex-wife”. Hopefully, most guys here are wise enough to make the right call on such a complicated relationship. But while I was in Ukraine a heard successful stories from a Ukrainian taxi driver (translated). Having a job and/ or living in FSU is not guaranty to find your better half, but maybe to meet new friends.
It does not matter whether Russian and Ukrainian men are good or bad. What matters to us, the Western men looking for an FSU woman, is the perception of them by the women who are looking for a foreigner. That is to our advantage.
WS,,, that’s part of the reason why I posted it. The other part is,,,,,, what do foreign men,,,,, especially the men who attend the Olympics have in common???? Money,,, the Olympics aren’t cheap!
I think a lot of these girls aren’t much more than vendors,,, hoping to cash in on a once in a lifetime event.
That World Cup for Euro soccer last year in Kiev was very similar.