THE FRINGES OF THE F.S.U.

[noelscot]

This should be an interesting topic to discuss.
 
The Former Soviet Union (C.E. 1922-1991), as you know, was widespread with many territories, ethnicities, languages, and cultures. The Russian culture is just one of many cultures within the F.S.U. Within Russia, many of these non-ethnically Russian cultures experienced what Oswald Spengler called a pseudomorphosis under Russian hegemony. 
 
When I use the term "fringe," in no way is that meant to denigrate those areas. I mean the term "fringe" as the highest compliment, because those areas of the FSU maintained a unique culture in the face of the Soviet juggernaut, which makes them some of the most special places to visit in the F.S.U.
 
I maintain that those who are looking for a "RW/UW" are missing a whole other demographic within the FSU. It's best to look for the right woman, no matter where she is from, but it does not hurt to take the "road not taken" per Robert Frost's famous poem. Also, for those who have complained about the typical FSU woman, I would maintain that you have only dealt with, albeit with a bias and stereotyped mind, a typical Russian woman. What about those who are non-typical FSU women on the fringes? Hm.... Now your narrow framework has been expanded, but you should still not pigeonhole women and judge them as individuals, not as representative of their group.
 
So, to those who are well-travelled, where are some fringe areas of the FSU that you have visited or maybe would like to visit?
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuva Tuva is an example of the "fringes" of the FSU.
 
Here's some music to get you scaredy cats who like to haunt the non-fringes pumped up:    
 
 

[whynotme]

So, to those who are well-travelled, where are some fringe areas of the FSU that you have visited or maybe would like to visit?

I live there ... so any heroes going to visit?

[Daveman]

How about this little fringe cutie...

[noelscot]

How about this little fringe cutie...

Look at all the haters in the audience making weird faces. A good way to purge small-minded people from your life is to watch their reactions to ethnic music....


Here's some more fringe culture for you:


Classic Siberian folk song, "Zimushka."

[Cameraguy]

So, to those who are well-travelled, where are some fringe areas of the FSU that you have visited or maybe would like to visit?

How about visiting Magadan and the gulags of Kolyma?

Or how about living with the Khanty indigenous peoples of Siberia? 

Is that "fringe" enough for you? 

Tuva is an example of the "fringes" of the FSU.

I also know the filmmaker who won the 1999 Best Documentary Oscar for "Genghis Blues", the story of a blind San Francisco blues musician's journey to Tuva to compete in a national throat singing competition.

[noelscot]

How about visiting Magadan and the gulags of Kolyma?

Or how about living with the Khanty indigenous peoples of Siberia? 

Is that "fringe" enough for you? 

I also know the filmmaker who won the 1999 Best Documentary Oscar for "Genghis Blues", the story of a blind San Francisco blues musician's journey to Tuva to compete in a national throat singing competition.

Have you been to Magadan? Did you live with the Khanty people? All of that sounds very interesting to me, except for visiting the gulags. 

[Anotherkiwi]

I live there ... so any heroes going to visit?

Weird - I posted a reply to this last night and it's not there!
 
Well, young lady, where do you live?  "Fringe" to me could be anywhere from Novaya Zemlya to Sochi, from Vladivostok to Poland's borders with Belarus and Ukraine.

[Vaughn]

So, to those who are well-travelled, where are some fringe areas of the FSU that you have visited or maybe would like to visit? 

I'd venture that the bulk of FSU landmass could be considered fringe. One small town (pop. ~ 6,600) called Paran'ga (Параньга) was among a few of our destinations in visiting cousins. The extended marshrutnoe ride, about 2 hours, was an adventure in itself. Folks out in the rolling plains would board the bus speaking the local dialect of Mari, some dressed like Little House on the Prairie characters. I could not recommend Paran'ga as a great place to meet women in general - oh yeah, there might have been a few nice looking ladies, but few in number - with nowhere to go and nothing to do. The welcoming atmosphere, though, was very apparent - I may have been the first American ever to walk the dusty streets. Seemed like everyone wanted to shake my hand.
 
Talk about being in the sticks - I wandered into the only store in a village known as Azanovo and was surprised that the girl behind the counter totalled up the sale with an abacus. Still, had my wife hailed from some remote area such as these, I probably would not have let that stop me from meeting her.

[Manny]

[size=78%]So, to those who are well-travelled, where are some fringe areas of the FSU that you have visited or maybe would like to visit? [/size]

I am well acquainted with Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland (We own a home in the first, and anyone wanting links to my road trips to the latter can ask).

These places get no attention as they are now EU and there is no significant financial leverage going on any more. Pretty much the same reason Russia is finished as a MOB destination now.

MOB hunters go to poor places, so that means Estonia, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech and Bulgaria are pretty much done unless you can trade on your real merits.

Ukraine, Moldova and the Stans are about all that is left for those seeking poor white women.

There is a reason a certain elderly member here is trailing around Ukrainian villages off the beaten track in buses buying teenagers laptops and iphones. Because in Russia or Latvia or Estonia they would laugh in his face at such antics to procure young female attention. In fact, they would likely be quite hostile.

The fringes of the FSU are affluent enough that MOB is no longer a business there. Those in the far north require long travel times, and visas, which the majority of 'bride seekers' cant be bothered to get or don't have time to do. So they all go to visa-free, one-stop-from-the-US Odessa and Kiev instead. The reason everyone is fixated on Ukraine.

Why does nobody go to Slovakia, Slovenia or Romania? Plenty of Slavic Russian-speaking white women there. The reason is, they wont consider marrying two decades or more older Americans.

So the flights to Ukraine continue........

[Cameraguy]

Have you been to Magadan? Did you live with the Khanty people? All of that sounds very interesting to me, except for visiting the gulags.

Yes, I've been to Magadan and lived with the Khanty. I was even allowed to attend an indigenous funeral service, which I'm told is very rare.

But the most interesting -- at least to me -- were the very remote gulags of Kolyma, which required a Russian GAZ military vehicle to traverse the Far East rivers and taiga.

[whynotme]

Weird - I posted a reply to this last night and it's not there!
 
Well, young lady, where do you live?  "Fringe" to me could be anywhere from Novaya Zemlya to Sochi, from Vladivostok to Poland's borders with Belarus and Ukraine.

Thanks for naming me young lady  I'm from Vladivostok ...

[Anotherkiwi]

Thanks for naming me young lady  I'm from Vladivostok ...

You're younger than me (and every other 50 or 60-something on this forum).
 
Vladivostok may be fringe, but it's the closest part of Russia to me and the west coast of the USA.