Kharkov March Trip

[rlaudiajr]

Hello Jeff, Are you in Kharkov now? My wife is from Kharkov and has a friend that is interested in meeting someone. She is 38 years old, very polite, pretty, and a genuine person. I have met her on my last 3 visits there. Speaks only a little English. Would you be interested. Thanks, Rich

[LAman]

Hello everyone,

It is getting closer to my trip. I will post a TR when I return from Kharkov. I will be flying into JFK and Then I will be on Austrian Airlines with a quick stop in Vienna. Finally, on to Kharkov. I got a really good deal on that air package a few months ago so I took advantage of it. Most of the women I will meet will be done through Discover Ukraine. I had them place a personal add for me and Irina has been wonderful to deal with. I will meet a couple of ladies through an agency as well. I will give details on my meetings in my TR. I have read many TR reports on this very nice forum from many people and I hope I can write one that is half as good as other people.

Regards,
Jeff

I had that exact flight to Kharkov out of JFK.....nothing went right!!!! Plane took off an hour late from JFK, I thought well, I had a ~2 hour layover...not a big deal. So we land in Vienna....finally find my boading gate with half hour to spare, only to find out flight is delayed 2.5 hours!!!! And my fricken phone died!!!

[The Natural]

So it's not the Ukraine. But it is the Netherlands. This country is unusual because you can also call it Holland, without the the. We can call the people there either netherlanders or hollanders. But in the words of George Costanza, who are the Dutch? 

[ML]

Netherlands is proceeded by 'the' because it is plural.

But it is incorrect to refer to the country as Holland.  There are 12 provinces that make up the country of the Netherlands.  North Holland and South Holland are only 2 of these provinces.

Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, North Brabant, North Holland,  Overijssel, South Holland, Utrecht, Zeeland.

So what about the incorrect and, not infrequent, use of Holland to refer to the entire country?  Similar to the incorrect usage of England when actually meaning the United  Kingdom and use of Russia when actually meaning the Soviet Union.

The Holland areas were historically the most developed  and powerful, so that is how it  got started.

Persons from the other 10 provinces do  not appreciate their country being referred to as Holland, although they may not protest to visitors out of kindness.  And people from the Holland area will completely agree with you  if you  refer to their country as Holland!!

But people from the other 10 provinces do refer to someone as a 'Hollander' when they mean someone who thinks of themself as superior.

To add more to the fire; the accepted name for the national football (soccer) team is 'Holland.'

[Viperml]

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update. I am in Kharkov. I cannot recommend using Discover Ukraine http://www.discover-ua.com.ua/ at this time. I have not been able to reach Irina at Discover Ukraine in days. I have called both numbers that are on the website many times and no one answers. Also, I have left voicemails on the vonage voicemail. Irina does not reply to my emails. That is why I cannot recommend using Discover Ukraine. Before i left I found Irina to be very helpful and courteous. I am just posting this information for future people so they will know what happened in my situation. I will post more when I return to the United Statea.

Regards,
Jeff

[CDW]

Where is this place you call 'the Ukraine?'

Is is near 'the France' or perhaps 'the Italy?'

Blame it on a James Bond film!!! 

[CDW]

We will have 3 games in Kharkov.
The first one will be on June 9th at 19:00 between the Netherlands and Denmark
The second one will be on June 13th at 21:45 between the Netherlands and Germany
The third one will be on June 17th at 21:45 between Portugal and the Netherlands. I love football so I know some details

It will be an interesting match between Holland and Germany

[ML]

I don't use dating services, but I  hope some of those who have used such in Kharkiv are helping this man via private messages, etc.

I have given my standard spiel about how to make previous contact with hundreds of women on the dating websites BEFORE the trip; but at this late date this procedure cannot be followed.

And this man's predicament points out again the oft repeated refrain that 'the concept of service' is relatively unknown in  the FSU.

[JohnDearGreen]

And this man's predicament points out again the oft repeated refrain that 'the concept of service' is relatively unknown in  the FSU.

As I read her web site, her service consisted only of getting the ad(s) placed in the newspaper(s).  It says nothing about hand-holding when he gets to Ukraine.  That costs an extra $160.

Viper's previous comments indicated he was pleased with her service.  So Viper, how many responses did you get from your ads?  And how many have you met from the ads?

[Viperml]

Hello ML,

No worries. I have plan b and plan c which I am using now. I hope everyone has a plan b and plan c when they go on a trip. I will probably not post any further as I am not a good writer.

Regards,
Jeff

[Viperml]

As I read her web site, her service consisted only of getting the ad(s) placed in the newspaper(s).  It says nothing about hand-holding when he gets to Ukraine.  That costs an extra $160.

Viper's previous comments indicated he was pleased with her service.  So Viper, how many responses did you get from your ads?  And how many have you met from the ads?

JohndearGreen,

I do not mind the questions but you should hold your comments especially about the hand holding when you do not know what was agreed to and did not happen. My agreement with Irina's company that she would place the add in the newspapapers which is $100 and then monitor all the responses and give me her thoughts and feedback on the responses I got. Also, she would give me those people's contact information. Finally. we agreed one of her people would do the interpreting for me. Just as Jerry did when he used them. I posted my feedback of my experiences as when they happen.  I thought the service was good in the beginning but now my opinion changed. I got a few responses from my adds but only the contact information for a few of them. If I had all the contact information for all of the responses then I would just hire another person to call those ladies and do the interpreting for me but it is kind of hard when I was never given the contact information for majority of them.

I have no hard feelings. This is just a lesson learned and I am moving on. I have a plan b and plan c which I am using.

Regards,
Jeff

[JohnDearGreen]

I do not mind the questions but you should hold your comments especially about the hand holding when you do not know what was agreed to and did not happen.

I think we should hear her side of the story before publicly blasting her on internet. 

[CDW]

Hello ML,

No worries. I have plan b and plan c which I am using now. I hope everyone has a plan b and plan c when they go on a trip. I will probably not post any further as I am not a good writer.

Regards,
Jeff

I always have back-up plans. 

Euro 2012 is around the corner, and it is good time to use it as Plan B

[LAman]

I think we should hear her side of the story before publicly blasting her on internet.

Since when did RWD ever get both sides of a story???
 
Some young russian girl was slandered, name called based on a story by some new guy...and heaven forbid he took any of the blame....because he was a nice guy.....

[Faux Pas]

I think we should hear her side of the story before publicly blasting her on internet.

She is as welcome as anyone else to sign up and post her version of events. Should we forbid any stories unless all participating parties are here posting?

As I am relatively sure you are aware by now, just because a story is posted, doesn't make it true 

[LAman]

She is as welcome as anyone else to sign up and post her version of events. Should we forbid any stories unless all participating parties are here posting?

As I am relatively sure you are aware by now, just because a story is posted, doesn't make it true 

FP......how does one know their story is here?  Does one have to google their name and check out every forum looking for something? I for one, take every story with a grain of salt. I have known too many jilted men that scream scam.......

[Faux Pas]

FP......how does one know their story is here?  Does one have to google their name and check out every forum looking for something?

Because they posted it. It IS their story. Someone referenced in another's story probably has a different version of that story. The onus of the truth of the story falls on the one that posted it. Anyone can post lies just as easy as the truth. If someone is so inclined I supposed they can google searches for their name but the idea that someone can't post a story because otherss are referenced is quite absurd. IMHO We have to expect people post the truth or version as they see it but, it doesn't mean they do.

Maybe I am not stating my point clear enough. Every story usually has a number of participants or players. That story belongs to everyone to basically do as they see fit regardless if the other players agree to any particular version. There is I guess, the same basic argument over photos but, I view it the same way. Just because someone is referenced in a story or a photo doesn't lend them any inherent rights over it. Just their own rights of their own story or photos. Make sense?

I for one, take every story with a grain of salt. I have known too many jilted men that scream scam.......

Agreed