Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this site is reading all the narratives regarding people's (mainly men's) experiences in the FSU; accounts which, in a few instances read like good works of fiction (which is not to dispute their factual basis).
Now I see there is a section for submitting such articles. (Perhaps this post belongs there instead?).
I am also interested if people have come across novels/stories and films that explore this phenomena? I have mentioned Paul Greenberg's "Leaving Katya", which struck me as one of the better attempts at characterizing this process and the players involved - albeit from a somewhat negative standpoint. In addition, I have just discovered "Metro Stop Dostoevsky: travels in Russian time", which profiles the friendship between an American and a Russian woman in the FSU. (Whilst not a romance, it still provides some vivid impressions of FSR and its people.)
Wondering if people know of any other fictional material along these lines. Indeed, I am surprised more has not be written on this phenomena in a dramatic sense (especially on the screenplay side of things, with the fairly slight "Birthday Girl" and the even less interesting "A Foreign Affair" being the only movies I can think of).
And has anyone here had anything published or thought of submitting their story/s? Taz's recollections, for example, strike me as a really strong candidate. (As I have said before, his profile of JD is one of the more incisive accounts of how badly this kind of venture can go wrong!)