DO NOT SEND MONEY unless you have developed the kind of relationship that you hope will lead you to marriage.
DO NOT SEND GIFTS regardless of what their expectations are until and unless you've already satisfied ALL your questions, expectations, doubts and concerns.
DO NOT think for a minute that sending gifts is the healthy way to develop a friendship.
You character, your beliefs, your leadership, your ability to communicate what you want, what you seek and the kind of woman you want to find is what will make these FSU women open up.
Do not hesitate to tell them about your sense of humor (if you have any..:)
Thanks for the responses. I will not send anything until I really think I have met the one. I did lol on the "if you have any" comment on the sense of humor. I find it hard to show a sense of humor in the brief emails that we send back and forth and I am worried about something written being taken the wrong way. This is hard to get use to when there is such distance, culture and communication barriers to over come. I think I am going to have to plan a trip, as was suggested earlier, just to get the full picture.
when you guys go over there do you work with one of the agencies to plan the trip or do you just set things up yourself through a regular travel agency? How much does a trip usually cost if you are going for a week? I am guessing the airfare is most of it.
Have any of you tried the phone conversation via this site with an interpreter? How does that work out?
SD
I find it pretty easy to breathe humor into my emails. Marina was quite good at this too. If there is one thing that will break down the formal barrier that exists between two people thousands of miles away from each it is a funny. Not jokes that doesn't work. Just general good humor.
Example
I have a little cat. I love him to death he is like a child to me. Anyway I write about him being human and having a set of hats. One for cooking, one for construction and I inject him into explanations of what I am doing. This goes down big. Also saying things like I haven't heard from you in a couple of days I hope you are not stuck upside down in a Siberian snow drift. And on and on. I can usually find something to make fun of. They do have a great sense of humor.
Regarding the trip. It depends where you are going but yes you are right the bulk of it is the airfare. Right now I have a $1400 lying in wait. Ouch ! Pay close attention to the number of plane changes and the length of the journey. I am willing to pay another $50 to shorten it. Cheap isn't always the best.
Don't stay with your lady friend. Rent an apartment. Hotels are excruciatingly expensive. It is preferably not to get one off the internet. Ask her to help you. She can find a place that will cost probably $150 for a week and you will pay $70 a day.
As for airfares I seem to be stuck on Orbitz. Coincidence I guess. 2 times in a row the cheapest.
If you get an apartment you can visit the supermarket. It isn't hard to shop even if you have zero language skills like me. Lots of nice easy to prep stuff. Sausage, cheese, bread etc I could have lived off it it was delicious. Eating in restaurants isn't that bad. Food is good and not really expensive. Typically feed 2 people with wine for $15.
In Ekaterinburg 100 R seems to be about standard for short taxi fares. About $3 roughly.
Now I need to figure out when and where I am going. I don't want to go moldy, I need to stay fresh !!
Toad
Got my first lesson Monday at 7pm. Tonight I am going somewhere else to see what they are up to. Should be fun. I am looking forward to this.
Dating American women just keeps 'getting better'. This morning I asked this one woman out. Totally went over her head that I was actually asking her out on a date. Like a plane flying overhead she blithely missed the point of me asking her on a walking tour for an hour or so. It was a spooky ghost tour of Fort Lauderdale. Just a guided walk. She wasn't even that good looking just available. I give up. !! DUH!!
Maybe the dancing wil work out better. Certainly will be fun.
Do not hesitate to let the women you right know that you enjoy humor (if you do at all)
Be deliberate and keep your sentences short for better understanding.
Use punctuation and do not confuse their poorly trained english speaking mind by writing long winded thoughts in block like spirit does.
Got passport? is it valid?
Preparing to go to FSU is not much different than going to any other country.
Once you're there, it is almost a different planet, because nothing is legible except numbers.
So in short, if you're not accustomed to do some international travel, you're probably better off paying through the nose with one of the AFA sex tours.
Jmoluv can tell you more about them.
I don't agree with the idea that your mere presence in any FSU country will help you in any way shape or form to overcome the cultural and communication barriers or to get the 'full picture'.
Breathing FSU air will NOT feed your brain the knowledge you need to acquire for the local women to be interested in you.
There is no shame in being ignorant about such a distant and different culture...but doing nothing to bridge the gap before you go there is flat out wrong and only serves to perpetuate the 'ugly, uneducated, uninformed, arrogant and loudmouth american' image most people from the US have earned abroad regardless of government policies.
I suggest you read this travel book:
"Insight Guide - Russia, Belarus, Ukraine" 22.95 at any Barnes & noble or Borders store.
At least go to the store and spend some time reading it, lol...
I am the most adamant dude here against using interpreters or 3rd parties to help me talk to someone who does not speak any of my languages and therefore I should not be talking to.
Waste of money, energy and good intentions no matter how gorgeous she maybe. And if her physical beauty is the only interest or appeal why in the world try to talk to her???...just grab her by the hair and take her to your cave.
Do yourself a huge favor and pass on the women who cannot speak your languages.
There are a gazillion honest educated, beautiful and english speaking ladies all over FSU.
Why complicate your life with agency translators, privacy surrender and misunderstoond messages?
K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid)...wisest travel tip I've ever heard.
Plan to spend thousands...several of them, not just a couple.
We were in a hotel room or rented apartment 4 of the eight nights I spent in Siberia in March (winter rates). The rest in her apartment.
When all was tallied and accounted for, including gifts I brought to and from Siberia the bill was well over four grand.
Oh i just love those sex tours . You just pick any one you want and bang the shit out of them . It is all inclusive. Women , champagne ,limos, cigars, lotion , viagara etc.etc.etc. For all the sex you get with young beautiful women of your choice, you cant beat the price. :-)
JaMo
But what about 'feelings'. :)))
I bet there are a ton of guys that go on those tours that look like an American woman's worst nightmare that get shall we say 'disapointed'. There is always the helpful lady in the hotel :)))
for all asthetic purposes,there are "meat markets" like this in many American cities. Why in the frick would I go to play Casanova in any place in the world-for 3-4000 dollars,when I can drive 6 hours to the "Mustang Ranch" in Nevada. Believe me,the women there are every bit as willing,and as beautiful as any region in the world has to offer.I can get these women cheap on bullshit and charm. This should be part of the upside down thinking topic.
My comment above was sarcastic and humorous if you didn`t see it . Spirit ? I don`t understand where you guys get all this paranoia and hype about socials. They are the same women you write to on this web. In fact i have seen several ladies i chatted with at a social in Kiev on our site. Most of theses women at a social are more scared of you than you are of them. Sex tour ? I never had one woman offer me sex for money for dinner .Can you actually document what you are saying other than what you have heard?I know the owners of one of these sex tour companies . The reason these woman go to a social is because they know only 5 percent of you will actually shut down your p.c. and go visit them. They feel they have a better chance of meeting a sincere man at a social because he is putting his money where his mouth is and showing up. Woman i have PERSONALLY met and i asked them said they are sick of the e-mail bullshit and they really do not have the time to run to a internet cafe because the odds are not in their favor. So they have chosen socials to cut the chase. These are the very same women you write to fellas . It is just a different venue. It is all conjecture and speculation on the part of men who have never done it. Gotta go knock those walls down fellas and quit listening to everyone else. Then again someone who has not done a social will tell me how it is .
"These are the very same women you write to fellas". Not really. My woman was invited to socials many times, she never went, she never could have she said. Another woman I met, a disguised hooker, was a regular at these. That's my experience. No offence intended. Got to go back to the soccer game. Mexico beats Brazil!!!
Ok Mexico won, los Mexicanos must be on the streets in the states right now. A disguised hooker:) is a hooker that does not ask directly money for sex but rather sucks money in the form of gifts and other sponsorship. The one I was talking about was going to the socials to find sucker sponsors and she also had her profile in various marriage sites and in escort girl sites as well. This way she was having the maximum exposure, ie. she played the good girl or naughty girl depending on the situation. If a good sponsor came up, she would take the business. If a sucker came up to marry her, she wouldn't say no to the windfall either.
Jmo,
Admit it once and for all. Come on...you know hookers, gold diggers and women simply seeking a weekend thrill mingle at these social among the other one who honestly may believe it's a good way to meet quality foreign men...(cough!:)
are all the social attendees hookers? NO, I don;t beleive that either.
Toad ,
I will say it for the last time. If any one at the social was hooking everyone would have known and so would I. The hotels have their own hookers working as regular employees in the lobby.Not only are they forbidden to enter the ballroom where the social is held they also wouldnt waste their time because the money is in the lobby . Have i ever been approached by a hooker at a social . NO . Was the other men ? NO. What part don`t you understand. If i was or any other i would tell you yes. These women at the social ARE INDEED the very same women you write to fellas? Your damn straight it is . I will repeat that women i met at a social are on this sight. Clean your reading glasses better.European Connections has married plenty of people sucessfully . And so has AFA.Their women are screened heavily.They run checks on them. There are hookers all over the FSU in case you didn`t know about this big secret . In fact some men ,may have married hookers and will never know and as we know women they will take this secret to their grave. Toad , as i said before people who don`t know, dont know . I cant tell you about California and i wont because i have never been there. I will bet i payed lees going to a social and the whole trip than yours to Siberia . I didnt pay through my nose. One person beleives the woman he was with is a hooker so that makes every women there a hooker . Get real.
OK, Jmo...
How many times have you been introduced to the family members of all the wonderful, honest, hard working, family oriented, and wishing to be faithful to one man women you have met and you are currently dating from any of these socials?
I accept it is your chosen way to meet womEn (plural).
But from the get go, I only aimed to find the best woman I could. One for me is enough for what I have in mind, mate...:))
Maybe we should rewrite ZZ top lyrics:
"If the women at the social won't do it, the women at the lobby will"...:)
It was not long ago I read one of your own post admitting to want to rethink and redirect your methods after I reported what happened to me in Siberia.
Here is my thinking. Attention is a drug,and "men adore you" is a good name for a social convention in FSU. We have discussed on this forum the women as well as men who have directionless agendas when it comes to the seriousness of their ambitions in finding the mate for all life--or activities involving the dating game. I have myself juggled many women in real life and on the internet. And I question how many women are also jugglers. The object of these clubs is "companionship" which is tantamount to calling them escort services. As WT writes,the pay is not necessarily money or even sponsorship. The reward is the attention and gifting. If I do not have a marriage certificate with her,then no ownership or fidelity can be implied of her. BUt I know that if you have enough methamphetamine or cocaine in your pocket,you can also take home a lovely,gorgeous stripper. In the west we call these "coke whores" Again it is attention,and being in the company of a lavish spender. I have had these 800 dollar nights before. I took local women to Mount Rushmore who had never been there,and this was the only reason they budged-because they were begging for activities. And you will definitely be king too,if only for a night ( as long as you don`t look like that creepy "Burger King" dude in the TV commercial ) What are the chances of me going to this social ( any social ) several times in a 2 month period and seeing the same women batting their eyelashes at different men? Here is what it boils down to for me. How many people in an impoverished land find their life so blaise that they meet in groups of 2 or more ( as many women do ) and sashay on down to attend a social to find a helluva good weekend ( or week!!) but nothing more. And how would you know the difference from a 1 hour talk-or even a 1 day talk to a strange woman who communicates in your best interest? Especially when Longh HUng Wan is doing all the thinking about scoring strange tail for his 50 bucks or whatever? Not paranoia--just plain reasoning and sensibility makes us question the motives and habits of unknown women. I think we need a coed forum,with women to discuss their side of the equation.
Is it against the rules for our moderator Nadya to make comment? One woman`s opinions would be better then none. WHere are you Bagu,`Tichka,and `Nika when we need you?
Maybe you should rethink your position? And I don't understand your point on meeting the family? I didn't meet Larisa's mother on my first trip, it was on the second one that I met her. I am in agreement with you regarding socials and this has almost been beat to death as much as prenups in which you and I are on different ends of that spectrum. Socials wouldn't work for me because in my mind that is too much of a meat market mentality. I always have an agenda and going to a social would not be in my defination of having an agenda. Too many loose ends and meeting one at a social to me is about the same as writing one here for a very long time. I had no intention of just going to Ukraine to visit or do a social. After many long months of writing and talking on the phone I knew that there was something there for Larissa and I and I must pursue it in person now. If there wasn't a mental connection there would not have been a physical one. In my strange way I cannot interchange that. I have to know a persons psyche before I will attempt to become intimate with that person. What works for us my dear friend may not work for another person and vice versa.
Jeff, defend as you may but I think you are being a little naive' to think that hookers haven't infiltrated socials. How many times on this site and others have scammers made their way in? Plenty and I am sure a few hookers have made the social tours also. I won't say they are laden with hookers but hell the potential is there just as easy as it is in the hotel lobby. I'm no expert on socials but with any human element the possibility for anything is still there. As for the price of someone's trip that is all relative. Hell my last trip to visit Larisa was very inexpensive under 3 grand. This trip I have 1300 alone since the airfare has jumped through the roof.That is twice what I paid the last time. So I will probably spend 4000 on this trip. A week in Crimea will probably be expensive, but what the hell, she enjoys it, I enjoy being with her so it really doesn't matter how much money we spend on our women.
Nas,
The "meet the family" example is one of the many things Social meat markets will not offer or those attending may not consider important.
From the very beginning of my search I decided that knowing about and eventually meeting the family would be part of the package. Sort of a deal breaker 'must have' for me.
I admit I was indeed very fortunate for not only meeting them, but mainly for the way they welcomed me.
Could have been much worse, and they blew all my highest expectations away.
Comparing the value of these diametrically opposed methods of finding the one women a man wants or the many women one seeks is completely irrelevant.
Is the value of what you get that makes the expense worthwhile...or not.
Even if socials passes were given away for free I would not have had the opportunity to get too know the women from among whom I found Lena.
All of them had been invited to attend them at one time or another.
All it takes is having a profile somewhere and wham!..you're on somebody's meat-market list of some kind.
Only one of them attended one and told me was the last time she'd do anything like it in her life.