Novosibirsk Doesn't Believe in Tears: TwoBit's Sixteen Days In Novosibirsk

[ML]

A poem is nice, but if you dont have the talent and your poem isnt so good... It's pretty unpleasant having to fake joy from a crappy poem

I thought what was important was fact the person tried and put effort into it.

[ML]

Really? I dont know what it sounds like to other women, but to me it sounded like it was her mistake that she regretted, what is he supposed to do, shes married with kids, why does getting on with his own life make him a bastard? She had her chance and blew it, long time ago.

I agree completely with Aloe here.

[ML]

ManLooking.: On my recent trip to Kharkiv, I kissed 11 of the 12 women I dated on first or second date.  I didn't want to kiss the 12th.  TBB if you really want to kiss a gal, then don't wait until the two of you are about to part.  At that point, the gal is thinking about it as she knows it is the traditional time, and maybe thinking she doesn't want it or wants to play hard to get.

So just give the kiss (doesn't have to be a big long one) at some odd point.  Quite often, right after finishing a meal, I get up from my chair, move over toward her chair and just lean in and give a quick kiss.  Once the first kiss is accomplished, then the tension is off and more can follow . . . or not.

Or, on second date (probably not on first), just as you meet, give a quick kiss.  It may startle her.  If so, just laugh and say something like: No need to worry now about when first kiss will occur.  This technique and reasoning was in a Woody Allen movie.

= = = =

Aloe:  Are you talking of kissing on the lips or cheeks? If you are actually advising to plant one on her lips when she doesnt expect it, that is a very ill advise, in my opinion. Nothing worse than someone planting one on you when you dont expect, it. A huge turn off in my eyes. Unless im TREMENDOUSLY attracted to the guy, but that happens only with very very very very few guys. With usual guys it takes time to get attracted, and if he goes and kisses me out of the blue in the very beginning, when i dont expect it at all, that will definitely spoil the picture a lot.

= = = =

Aloe, I give kiss right on lips.  However, it is a very short kiss.  Just quick touch.

Some follow up:  Never once did I note any deterioration of the date after such a kiss.  In two instances, the woman said: "Let's do that again."  and gave a more lingering kiss.
 
But as full disclosure:  These women were in their 40s.  Could be a different story for women in their 20s.

[ML]

(maybe he just has bad breath or bad teeth or lips in very poor condition?),



cutting every date short. Frankly I've never been on a date that was going well and was THAT short (2-3 hours), if its good, it lasts many hours, the fact that he cuts a good date short alone shows he has some other women. That does not go well with my definition of a guy that has a potential to be faithful.

We all remember how the guys are severely criticised here if they mention anything about the sorry state of the woman's teeth.  All the screaming about 'she is not a horse to have her teeth analyzed' and such.  So double standard in full display here?

I/O aren't you pretty offended about this?

And Aloe, this man is definitely on a VM trip.  So your comments, in this instance, are just a disguised attack on the VM trip. 

Better manners would be to accept his VM trip and make your remarks within that framework.

[ML]

It may or may not be true that Anna has experience in marriage agency.  However, I have to disagree with the comment “Many (most) of the women in FSU who are on dating sites are also registered with some marriage agency.”  On mamba.ru, there are about five thousand girls from 25-30 just in Novosibirsk.  Do you think all five thousand of them are on bluesapphires, Elena’s Models and Cuteonly?

Regarding your last sentence, I suggest this:  Expand the list from three to 20 or so.  Also change the word from 'and' to 'or.'

Further, I shall state that my words on this were only a reflection of what the women themself told me.

[Misha]

And Aloe, this man is definitely on a VM trip.  So your comments, in this instance, are just a disguised attack on the VM trip. 

Better manners would be to accept his VM trip and make your remarks within that framework.

Why? She is explaining why she would not have gone out with a guy on a VM. Not all women will and why is it bad manners for Aloe to share her perspective?!?

[ML]

I dated this foreign guy, we would joke about his other women every now and then. But he did say once that none of the othere are as hot or intelligent as me  I think him saying that just once was an important factor in my being fine with it

So it's ok, once the guy tells the appropriate lie.

[TwoBitBandit]

Day 9: Sunday, July 4

The only date planned for today is at 2:00 pm with a new girl, Olia.  I call Elena and ask what her plans are.  She wants to go to the botanical gardens in Academgorodok.  My plans was to take her to the symphony and then go somewhere else afterwards.  I have nothing against the botanical gardens except that they’re such an investment of time: getting there and back is going to be a minimum four-hour investment, and one whose end time can’t be easily predicted.  Plus, we’d have to leave early.  I’d be depending on Elena to get me back by a certain time, which means it would be hard to schedule another date afterward.  With the symphony, I can do another 4pm-6pm date, then meet her at the theater for a 6:30 performance.

She’s really sold on the gardens, though, and it actually sounds like an interesting trip.  I haven’t been to Academgorodok yet and I’d like to see what’s it is all about.  (It’s some kind of an offshoot of Novosibirsk about 25 kilometeres away with a bunch of universities, research centers, high-tech companies, etc.)  So, I agree to go: we’ll meet at 4:00 pm and head there together.

So, the next question is this: should I schedule an evening date?  Would I be back by 9?  By 10?  I feel ballsy and there’s still girls to meet, so I decide to go for it.  I pick a girl that I’d like to see from the “B” list (so if something goes really wrong it won’t be the end of the world) and set up a date with her at 9:30.

This reminds me of a game I used to play with some buddies in college called “punk points.”  If you did something that was just totally off-the-wall crazy and pulled it off, you got a punk point if there was agreement that it was worth a point.  We collected them for a semester.  Over the semester I only collected four.  My friend Andy won the contest, collecting an amazing forty-plus punk points.  I just wasn’t that wild.  But I heard some great stories, most of them involving girls but a few with motorcycles, school and jobs.  If I pull this off, it probably would barely qualify.  (Andy did some stuff that was so wild we gave him two or three punk points for one incident.)

I meet Olia at 2pm.  She’s a little nervous: she touches her hair as she approaches and you can see it in her walk.  She’s about 5’4” with colored blond hair and blue eyes.  She’s carrying a little more weight than most Russian girls of the same height: she’s perhaps 130 pounds.  She’s not dressed particularly well.  We decide walk around in the central park and then go to a café in the park.  She’s pretty shy and doesn’t have much confidence: she hasn’t stepped out of her comfort zone much in life.  She doesn’t really have any hobbies and works a lot at a job she doesn’t like.   It’s certainly a harder life in Russia, and I guess you have to do what you have to do to survive.  When paying the rent is your first priority, I guess you don’t take up salsa dancing.

I’ve met a number of women like this in Russia.  They’re kind of cute in girl-next-door sort of way, but I can see why they don’t get much traction in the FSU.  Life has been hard enough that some of their spunk and zest for life is gone.

We head to the café and I get some water and sashlik (I’m starving), she gets some kind of fruit drink.  My goal here is just to be polite and keep the conversation going since I’ve already lost interest.  We head back to the square.  We decide to look at all the tents that are selling trinkets on Lenin Square.  She buys some flower seeds for her mother who she’s going to visit next week.  At another booth, she buys a magnetized picture of the Theater of Opera and Ballet and then hands it to me as a gift.  It was a sweet gesture, but I already lost interest.  Soon after, I see her off at the metro.  So it goes.

I have some spare time before Elena shows up, so I wander around a park across the street for awhile.  I get to square about ten minutes early and just start wandering around in circles looking at stuff.  At one point, I turn around and she’s like five feet from me.  I didn’t realize that Russian girls could be so stealthy.  She doesn’t look so sharp today: she’s wearing some unflattering blue jeans and a kind of t-shirt with a half-shirt over it.  The colors don’t really suit her.  On my first date with Elena she was in a dress and looked pretty good.  On our second date she did OK.  By the standards of how girls in America dress, she’s be OK today, too.  On the Russian scale, though, she’s not doing too well.  We kiss and then head to the metro and follow it to the river station stop.  From there, we catch a mashrutka (minibus) to Academgorodok.

We spend about fifteen minutes waiting for the bus to fill up, then the ride takes thirty minutes or so.  When Elena leads me off the mashrutka, it looks like we’re in the middle of nowhere.  We start walking, and I ask Elena where we’re walking since it seems like we’re in the middle of nowhere.  She explains that we got on the wrong mashrutka: there are different ones that head to different destinations in Academgorodok, and the one we got on wasn’t headed to where we needed.  So, we’re walking.

Normally, I love to walk.  The weather today is comfortable: it’s overcast and slightly cool.  But my feet hurt!  I’ve been walking several miles a day in wingtips and my feet are in poor shape.  I’m working on my second set of blisters on top of blisters.  Elena can see that I’m uncomfortable, but I just say that my feet hurt a little.  I don’t extrapolate: I’ve found that it never helps your relationship to whine once you’ve stated the problem.  My thought process  is centered around it.  It’s like “Step. Ouch.  Step.  Ouch.”  I’m doing my best to hide it.  And honestly, it’s my problem, not Elena’s, but it’s putting me in a bad mood.  For me speaking in Russian still requires a  bit of concentration, and it’s difficult to concentrate when I don’t feel well.  So, I’ve just withdrawn into my head… which confuses Elena when she asks questions like “What are you really looking for in a relationship?”

Eventually we get to the café we’re headed to and I’m relieved.  I order a salad and coffee.  Elena orders salad and tea.  One of the things that I think is cool about Russian food is the salads.  In America, we think of salad as mostly lettuce and tomatoes.  In Russia, salads are much more dense and rarely involve lettuce.  They’re often quite tasty and filling.

Part of Elena’s plan is to invite her friends who are a married couple and have a car.  Soon enough, they show up.   Their names are Victor and Vera, they’re probably in their late twenties.  They’re both programmers.  When I tell them what I do, they’re very interested.  The high-tech company I work at isn’t that well known as a global brand, but it has almost a cult following among certain classes of computer people.  I talk about my work for awhile and what I do, and they ask all kinds of questions about it.  They also order food and drinks.  At times I lose track of the conversation as it switches into full-speed Russian with the other three speakers.  I can keep track of the topic of the conversation but I lose a lot of the details.

Eventually we leave in the card and park near a forest.  We walk through the forest for a kilometer.  There are mosquitoes everywhere!  There were a bunch in the café, but in the forest they are ten times worse.  We have to keep moving.  Victor and Vera offered me some bug spray, but I didn’t use it since I have another date tonight.  (“What’s that smell, TwoBit?  Eau de off?”)  We get to the botanical gardens and wander around.  They were nice enough but not very big.  On the way back we decide to follow a road instead of going through the forest.  We talk about what we’re going to do for dinner and ask me for what I’d like, and I say that I always try the native food of every country I go to.  So, Russian food it is!  They know the place to go.

It’s definitely traditional Russian: the chairs are handcrafted wood and the staff are all dressed in traditional Russian outfits.  I insisted on getting a Russian-language menu, and even told a story about when I was in Moscow and they assumed I wanted and English menu without asking, and I sent it back by saying in Russian, “девушка, на котором языке написано это меню?” (waitress, what language is this menu in?)  I ordered a kind of cold soup made from kvas (kvas is a fermented bread drink, and this soup is made from that drink), a meat dish from beef and potatoes and a shot of camogon.  They said it wasn’t real camogon (which means ‘homemade hooch”) but I wanted to try it anyways.  We also all shared a bottle of wine.  Victor was sitting across from me, and we had an interesting conversation about the labor market for programmers in Academgorodok and about Russian business culture.

I start telling them some slang words that I know, and they teach me some more.  They laugh when I tell them I know the Russian word бухать, which means “to drink a lot of alcohol.”  Apparently, there’s an even stronger usage of this verb “бухать по чёрному” which means “to really get smashed”.  They all thought it was really funny to hear an American using these slang words because foreigners here don’t normally talk like that.  Victor made of video on his mobile phone of me saying “Я познакомился с хохлушкой в России и бухал по чёрному” which is something like “I met this Ukrainian chick in Russia and got really smashed.”  Everyone laughed at the video since it was so funny to see an American saying such a thing.

I sometimes hear complaints from Russian girls that there are no good Russian men.  Yet, I realize that there’s a great Russian guy just in front of me.  He’s intelligent, educated, has a career where he makes good money.  He was even the designated driver at dinner and didn’t drink a drop.  He spoke with confidence and clarity and was just a pleasure to meet and talk to.  His wife was just as much of a pleasure.  Well dressed, educated, intelligent and also a programmer, she was just genuinely easy to talk to.  I think she was at the “sweet spot” of beauty: noticeably above average but not enough to have that whole “hot girl” complex.  Victor is having a good life in Novosibirsk, good for him.

I’m feeling a lot better now that I’ve been sitting down for awhile and have some wine in me.  At the end of it all, I insist on paying the bill.  They say that since I’m the guest I’m not allowed, but I insist anyways.  I’m just having a genuinely good time immersed in Russian culture.  In exchange, Victor offers to drive me back to my flat in Novosibirsk, which actually works out perfectly.  During a previous restroom run I sensed I was running late, so I rescheduled my 9:30 meeting with Alina to 10:00 and she agreed.

They drop me off at my flat at about 9:45.  I shake hands with everyone including Elena, I decide not to risk embarrassing her in front of her friends by going for the kiss.  I’m having mixed feelings about Elena.  In the beginning Elena was intriguing, and her standoffishness was like a puzzle to be solved.  Now I’ve just simply lost interest, even after having invested a lot of time with her.  I just feel like we don’t connect when we talk, and she doesn’t understand me and I don’t understand her.  I’m doubting now that I’ll do another date with her.

I don’t have time to actually go to the flat, so as soon as they leave I start heading to the theater to meet Alina and arrive a few minutes early.  In true RW style, she’s about ten minutes late.

I suggest we go across the street to the Italian café.  I’m pretty full, so I just order a small dish of ice cream and she orders some pasta dish.  We both order a glass of wine.  Alina is a professional English teacher and teaches both at a school and a local university.  She’s also working on a law degree and is specializing in international law.  Although Alina teaches English, my Russian seems a little better than her English and most of our conversation is in Russian.  The conversation is great and we are almost talking over each other at times.  She’s clearly attracted.

At the end of the date it is after midnight.  I offered to pay for her taxi home since the date went so long, and we find a nearby taxi.  She doesn’t live that far and the fare is only 150 roubles.  I give her the money.  She gets close to me and clearly wants a kiss, so I give it to her.

There’s only one problem here.  I’m not really attracted to her.  So, I’m not going to call her.  So it goes.

Today was a mixed bag.  The two new girls from today aren’t going to go anywhere, and I’ve lost interest in Elena.  On the other hand, I had a lot of fun.  In my twenties, I was very focused on climbing the career ladder building my life.  Now I’m more focused on trying to enjoy my life, and today was an enjoyable day.

[ML]

I think that is the problem, the OP is not willing to commit to dating just one of the many ladies, . . .

The man is on a VM trip.  As such you do not commit to dating just one woman.  Let's accept his method and direct comments within that framework.  If you want to attack the VM appoach, start another thread; or just reread the existing hundreds of threads on that.

. . . why spend $4,000.00 and travel 8,000 or so miles, just to go on multiple casual cafe and zoo dates, without ever narrowing it down to one or two . . .

It will be narrowed down to 1 or 2 or some number.  But on a VM trip that occurs later.

. . . there is just no sincerity in all of this game/frame controlling attempts.  I think the women involved can see through it.

Just more attacks on the VM appoach.

[Daveman]

A poem is nice, but if you dont have the talent and your poem isnt so good... It's pretty unpleasant having to fake joy from a crappy poem

LoL.. maybe so, but I use it as a way to measure the real degree of a woman's interest and intestinal fortitude...

Just something very tender and romantic... like say:

When I sneeze there's a lot o' snot;
If you don't pucker up I'll die and rot.
Are you gonna give it up or what?
'Cause damn, girl, you're really hot!

And if she doesn't immediately throw up all over the flowers, THAT woman is seriously into you!  

[ML]

Day 9: Sunday, July 4

I’ve met a number of women like this in Russia.  They’re kind of cute in girl-next-door sort of way, but I can see why they don’t get much traction in the FSU.  Life has been hard enough that some of their spunk and zest for life is gone.

This reminds me of something several FSU women have  told me.  They comment on the sparkle in my eyes.  They mention how many people in FSU have 'dead eyes.'  All the life is gone from them.

[ML]

Day 9: Sunday, July 4  At another booth, she buys a magnetized picture of the Theater of Opera and Ballet and then hands it to me as a gift.  

Ouch.  I would have a hard time accepting a gift from a gal that I already knew I had no intention of meeting again!!


There’s only one problem here.  I’m not really attracted to her.  So, I’m not going to call her.  

This  is the strong suit of the VM trip.  Many guys on the VO trip would have tried to make it work with this gal because they had no other option.  Many guys here even ended up marrying the gal rather than losing their investment of time and money.

[TwoBitBandit]

When I took her to the airport to see her off, she wouldn’t let go of me.  She just couldn’t stop crying.  I almost had to push her through the security gates.  The TSA people were like “mam, are you ok?" as they helped her through security.  And as I saw her off, I just realized what a human train wreck the situation was, and I wished it could have worked out just a little bit differently.

Never, never, never tell that story to a RW.  It makes you sound like an absolutely heartless bastard.

Really? I dont know what it sounds like to other women, but to me it sounded like it was her mistake that she regretted, what is he supposed to do, shes married with kids, why does getting on with his own life make him a bastard? She had her chance and blew it, long time ago.

On the other hand, TBB does not forgive the woman who meant the world to him, then hurt him, and later came back dramatically on her knees begging forgiveness and acceptance

I've forgiven this particular girl.  Perhaps I could have phrased this differently.  The reality was more of me stroking her hair and looking into her eyes and saying "Honey, the plane is leaving.  We don't want you to miss it" and then slowly leading her to the security checkpoint while holding her hand.  But she really didn't want to go, I had to coax her into it.

There was really no other option: her life is somewhere else.  It's not like I can just put her up at my house.

For a long time I did blame this girl.  As I came to understand women better, I can see why I lost her.  I also needed to become a better man.

[Misha]

This  is the strong suit of the VM trip.  Many guys on the VO trip would have tried to make it work with this gal.  Many guys here even married such a gal.

Such "gals" have as much right to love and finding a husband as any other women and just because TwoBit is not attracted to her does not mean that other men would not be interested in her. What exactly is the "strong suit" that you see?

[ML]

Why? She is explaining why she would not have gone out with a guy on a VM. Not all women will and why is it bad manners for Aloe to share her perspective?!?

In any logical discussion, there are two levels.

First, the discussants can argue about the validity of various approaches 'before' an approach is chosen.

Second, once a person has adopted a particular approach, then the courteous discussants focus their comments within that framework to help the person succeed.

There are many threads here focusing on the appropriate approach to take.  Those who want to focus on that level can merely reread the other threads or start yet another thread.

Now, we are in a thread where an approach has already been chosen.  We should focus on helping the man within that approach.

[Misha]

We should focus on helping the man within that approach.

Some of us are 

[Daveman]

...

Now, we are in a thread where an approach has already been chosen.  We should focus on helping the man within that approach.

Agreed, yet I don not see Aloe's comments as advocating the VO concept, or deriding the VM approach, but more in terms of projecting a natural womanly reaction when she suspects a man of seeing other women.  It's real, and regardless of how much more logic there may be in dating many, that adverse reaction to even the "suspicion" of 'other women' is a result of a gazillion years of evolutionary procession.  A lesson in the reality of the situation as well the reactions, questions, and attitude toward the man one can expect.

[Misha]

In rereading this thread, I understand why Anna lost interest.

First, TwoBit writes: "Later, both girls [Anna being one of the two] send me SMS messages saying they enjoyed being with me and want to see me again.  I don’t reply to either one: it’s good to keep them guessing a little."

Second: "Soon after Anna from yesterday calls and asks if we can meet today.  I say that I’m busy with various stuff and suggest that we meet tomorrow (Monday) at 5 or 6.  She asks me what I’m busy with.  I don’t know why she’s asking, she’s knows the answer and she’s just being catty.  She declines the invitation for tomorrow and says she’ll decide later.  She’s annoyed but I don’t think it’s a showstopper as long as I don’t yank her hair too much."

It is not wonder that she did not later jump at the opportunity to get serious with TwoBit  It is a shame as TwoBit, based on what the wrote after his first date, seemed to be into her and mentioned more than once that there was chemistry 

[Gator]

TwoBit,

Excellent observations about good RM.  However, they are already married.

The woman are rapidly dropping off the radar.   I wish you luck with Anna who seems to have captured your fancy, or is the last woiman standing.

I am glad to read that you are smelling the roses: 

Now I’m more focused on trying to enjoy my life, and today was an enjoyable day.

Your snippets about the day reveal exactly  that.  To poke a little fun at you: anyone who would not apply insect repellent when being devoured by mosquitoes, just to polish his frame, is still holding back a little.  Either that, or he has advanced to highest level of meditation.

[Vinnvinny]

I think some of you guys are placing too much emphasis on the ‘VM’ part of TBB’s TR. If he had experienced a strong mutual attraction with a lady on day 1 or 2 then I doubt if he would be going through his B list one week later.

I once went on a tour, which must be the epitome of a ‘VM’ trip. Yet, I had one 'first date' on that tour lasted 4 days (non stop) because I experienced a mutual connection that (so far) TBB has yet to enjoy. Needless to say, the aforementioned meeting was the last I had on that trip.

[Misha]

First, the discussants can argue about the validity of various approaches 'before' an approach is chosen.

In reading your comments, it seems that you are the only one obsesses making it about a VM versus VO thing. I see it more as a "how to keep the interest of a woman who actually catches your fancy thing." There is nothing inherently wrong with doing a VM thing, but you have to know IMHO how to recognize a catch on the first date and then focus your energies on her. The one thing that I have learned: when an attractive woman swallows her pride and calls you to make a date, don't say no 

[Gator]

Agreed, yet I don not see Aloe's comments as advocating the VO concept, or deriding the VM approach...

Also agree.  

Aloe is explaining reasons why Anna restrained herself with TwoBit.  The mere fact that Aloe is a RW and has been in Anna's shoes establishes her credibility.  

ManLooking, you would not have a fighting chance with Aloe.  Nevertheless, as you and I both know, the sea is full of fish.  

[TwoBitBandit]

Day 10: Monday, July 5

On the calendar today are two girls, Aliona at 3 or 4 (I need to contact her) and Natalia at 8.  I need to see if I can get a date in at 6 or so.  I give Aliona a call and she moves the meeting to 5.  Well, that doesn’t give me time for another meeting but I take it since I want to meet Aliona.

I got hold of Evgenia, it turns out she was out of town for the weekend.  We agree to meet tomorrow night.  She’s also heading out for the following weekend with her family, so this is my last chance to see her.

I’ve had some serious flat-out exhaustion set in.  I just lied down on the bed for awhile.  Some SMS messages started rolling in, but I was too tired to even roll over and pick up the phone.  I’ve come off the high of being here in Novosibirsk and I’m crashing.  I’m just trying not to go to sleep because I might miss a date.  Later in the day Aliona wants to cancel and move the date to Thursday.  At this time it’s too late to find another date, so I lost one of my valuable evening slots.  So it goes.

At 7:30 I start getting ready to go meet Natalia, and at 7:45 I leave the flat.  Natalia is 5’9”, so I break out the elevator shoes.  This girl is going to be like 5’11” in heels.  At 7:55 she calls and asks if I’m coming.  It’s an 8:00 pm date, so I just say I’ll be there in 3-4 minutes and I get there.  She’s wearing a denim dress but no heels.  It’s pretty obvious that there’s not much chemistry on either side: I’m not much into her and she’s not into me.  We go for a walk in the park, then sit in a café.  I order coffee and she orders juice.  It’s a little bit of a strained conversation, we just can’t connect on any topic.  We’re just being polite to one another.  I pay the check and see her off at the metro station.  So it goes.

It sounds like it was a slow day, but I was actually glad to have some downtime.  My personality tends strongly toward introversion.  I once took a Meyers-Briggs personality test and all of my traits were in the middle except on the introversion/extroversion axis, where I was a super-strong introvert.  As a child I was very shy.  I’ve overcome my shyness (this trip is proof of that!) but my personality needs time to recharge after a lot of social interaction.

Tomorrow’s plan is Maria (new girl) at 6:00 and Evgenia at 8:00.

[SMS60]

Do you have any pictures of you and the dates?

If you can be frank and candid.........................What thoughts or images were you thinking or seeing when you boarded the plane in the US? Is everything turning out the way you expected?

[Daveman]

I think some of you guys are placing too much emphasis on the ‘VM’ part of TBB’s TR. If he had experienced a strong mutual attraction with a lady on day 1 or 2 then I doubt if he would be going through his B list one week later.

I once went on a tour, which must be the epitome of a ‘VM’ trip. Yet, I had one 'first date' on that tour lasted 4 days (non stop) because I experienced a mutual connection that (so far) TBB has yet to enjoy. Needless to say, the aforementioned meeting was the last I had on that trip.

Absolutely agree with Vinny here... and I also alluded to this earlier in the thread...

I think Anna was/is the best so far in his mind, but she just didn't knock him for a loop.  They had pretty good chemistry, yeah, but either he's not telling the whole story or she just didn't make him feel the "paint her name on the water tower" syndrome.