Sumy got a hold of my heart ….

[kievstar]

I never noticed women cancelling dates either in Kiev.  Very few were late.  If they were late it was only a short time and was due to traffic (I would book many dates with less than 3 hour notice and the woman never knew me prior).  But I mainly had the agency setup the first date or was a woman met through work so there was no communication probelms.  

TBB was trying to speak Russian which I am not convinced he is as good as he thinks.  Can lead to communication issues.  But give him credit he tried to do it on his own which is not easy.

My experience if a woman views something important she shows up on time or his a good excuse for being late.  Many of these young RW are communicating with many men and also work.  If your not high on their list you know what happens.  Your second priority.  

[Aloe]

you are funny, Vinny

[ML]

No harm, no foul. I honestly don't know how it's spelled in the Queen's English but, I got the thrust of what he is saying. Your posts on his spelling of the word comes across as almost a spelling and grammar Nazi. Please just try to look at everyone's postings and decipher in your mind the author's "intent" with much less regard to spelling. Thats not as important in other threads but this is a TR and could easily be sidetracked by minor technicalities

You are still wrong.  I wasn't criticizing his spelling at all.  I honestly thought that 'poll position' was some English concept that I was not familiar with.

If I were a grammar Nazi, I would  comment on your typing of the word 'thats.'
But  I won't!  :-)

[diverboy70]

I will go to Kiev for a weekend in the end of July. Young and beautifulll. Just to piss you off Kievstar She is totaly out of your league! I  do not think you have what it takes to get these kind of girls. You are just talking a lot of bullshit but finally you really do not have what i takes, I have not seen any action from your side. According to me you represent the worst kind of American stupidity!


Ok moderate me, I am just so sick of this guy so full of his  own bullshit  and representing the worst of the US,  Stupidity does not have a limit, obviously.

[SFandEE]

I don’t like strangers trying to fatten me up. This aversion started after watching Silence of the Lambs.

I like your wit--how is that translating (terp or directly) in Ukraine.  I have found myself to be a bit cautious since a lot of wit is based upon the culture in which you grew up.  I will have to learn Ukrainian humor more.  I do now know of the dance of the little ducks--that is fun!

[SMS60]

I have seen a few pole positions in my line of work but the best was in a club where they had poles on the dance floor. This one women had the perfect position on the pole. I can still see that pole position in my head. :evil:

[Daveman]

Great report so far Vinnvinny!  Enjoying the read!  Looking forward to the next installment...

[Vinnvinny]

I like your wit--how is that translating (terp or directly) in Ukraine.

It's always been a problem but I've learnt to accept it .... as you will see.

Thanks I/O, Aloe and Daveman.

[Vinnvinny]

Sunday 11th July 2010 (still)

As Olga wanted to meet me outside the Grand Victorian I assumed it would be there where we were to eat. Not for the first time on this trip I was wrong. We were off on a mystery tour again which, under normal circumstances, wouldn’t have been a mystery because I would have simply enquired as to where we were going. I did try to do this and the reply was something that sounded like ‘chew chewit’, which from her gesture I translated to be ‘a little’ as in a little walk. She had mentioned ‘chew chewit’ on many occasions on our first date during our walkathon when I frequently feigned exhaustion. In my experience FSU ladies either like to walk a lot or can't move than 10 yards without a taxi. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. In fact there doesn’t seem to be any ‘middle ground’ in any of the FSU women I have met. IMO they are a nation of extremes.

It had been raining heavily again during the late afternoon so the good polish that I gave my shoes shortly before I left my apartment was largely a waste of time. Needless to say some considerable time later we were still ‘chew chewiting’ and I was rather wishing I had brought my passport this time as surely we must be nearing the Russian border. I would have to cross the lack of Visa bridge when I got to it.

I needn’t have worried. Eventually, having lost around 14 lbs, we entered a restaurant. She clearly knew it (how else would she find it?) and knew the staff too. I also recognised the place from photos she had shown me of a night out with her friends. The give away was the indoor fish pond full of fish who presumably were backing Holland tonight judging from their 'shirts'.

I had a nice chicken salad with potatoes and vegetables, lots of piva and some vodka that was so strong I assumed it was being made in the next room. I did request a vodka and orange which in fairness I did get, but a sliced orange wasn’t what I had in mind. We watched the World Cup Final where Iniesta grabbed a goal, Casillas grabbed a trophy and Olga grabbed some Crown Jewels. The fish seemed to take the defeat surprising well or else they decided not to show their disappointment.

Whilst more often than not I will be happy to ‘go with the flow’, we wouldn’t be walking or bussing back to Sumy central tonight. We summoned a taxi and left.


Monday 12th July 2010

Not much to report for the most part except that it was hot in the morning, rained in the afternoon and several workmen spent most of the day staring into a hole. The hole was outside my apartment and I presume they made it before I arrived as it was present when I got there. By now I had found somewhere reliable to eat, it was a burger bar called … Burger Bar. Nobody spoke English but they were able to follow my pointing and grunting from the picture menu. The fries were awful but the burgers very nice.

Around mid afternoon Andrey calls me with the surprising news that Pole Position girl has cancelled. I decide that I’m going to play hardball with her from now on and ignore her texts and calls. Not that she has my number mind, but it’s the thought that counts.

I go to the supermarket and buy some vodka and orange juice as I don’t think it’s a good plan to turn up for a date smelling of beer (don’t you just hate it when gals do that?). I’m not an alcoholic and I rarely drink when I’m at home but on holiday, that's different. I might be dating but I still consider my trip to be a holiday and, as I have read on so many profiles where a lady says she only drinks on holiday, then my view is if its good enough for you babe, then its good enough for me.

At around 7.30pm I hit the bottle. The orange juice I bought turns out to be grapefruit juice, despite having a picture on the front that, regardless of my lack of Russian, is an orange. It matters not because the vodka is so strong I can’t taste the grapefruit. I’ve a feeling that if I filled my glass with 1 part vodka and 5 parts arsenic the ‘flavour’ would be still the same.

At 8.50pm sharp I’m standing outside the church waiting for Sveta. The walk from my apartment was largely devoid of incident …. principally because it only lasted about 20 seconds.

At 9.10pm I need a smoke so I sneak off and have one keeping a look out for my next (potential) wife. 9.15pm Andrey calls. “Sveta is waiting for you.” “Ok” I tell him although I can’t see anyone. Then I see a lady talking on her phone some distance away (it’s a big church to wait outside) and figure that must be her. I approach her and say her name. She puts her hand over her phone and says to me “one minute please” and then crosses the street to continue her conversation. She didn’t look too happy.

When she returns I inform her that she didn’t need to cross the street, as I don’t speak Russian. She looks at me as though I just said “Hi fatty, how y’all doing?” We start to walk, she with her arms folded and me trying to start a conversation. She doesn’t unfold her arms and I fail to start a conversation. She speaks good English but she doesn’t say much and has a face like the weather – wet and miserable. We walk across the pedestrianised centre, across a main road and not too long afterwards enter a restaurant. We find a square table for 4 and she sits to my right although she has positioned her chair so far away from me that I sense this isn’t going too well.

A waitress arrives. Sveta would like to order a bottle of wine. I say with a big grin “no problem so long as it isn’t a $300 bottle”. There was a stony silence to my witty comment. She replies “Oh, I see. You are obviously one of those men who can’t afford to date Ukrainian girls”. I was just about to explain that there was a method in my madness when she announced that she was going home. “No problem I tell her” as I think by now that the chances of us sharing a wedding ceremony are rather slim. We hand the menus back to the puzzled waitress and leave. As we get outside she says “bye” and starts to walk in the opposite direction that she knows I have to go. “No problem luv, don’t worry. I know the way back home as I’ve walked every street in Sumy in the past 48 hours, several times”.

I’m not particularly angry with Sveta, I’ve done similar in the past. I believe that I still hold the world record with the shortest date between a WM and FSUW … it was 17 seconds. She arrived for our meeting at her agency office and her opening comment was that she only had 15 minutes as she was on her lunch break. My closing (and only) reply was to tell her that it takes me longer than that to remember all my kids names, so we’d best leave it, which we did.

[ECOCKS]

I do love the humorous narrative as an aid interpreting your experience.

If you're approaching this endeavor with this frame of mind you're going to be qualified to write the How I Did It (obscure reference to the movie, Young Frankenstein, w/Gene Wilder) for posterity. If you hold up it'll be a bestseller.

[Vinnvinny]

Thanks Ed for your kind and generous comments.

[kievstar]

Diverboy, I am married why would I take a girl you have never met in person but call your girl.  You seem to forgot I have been married for awhile and actually have helped others meet and get married as well.  I actually lived and owned a residence in Ukraine as well.  How many times have you been to Ukraine? - zero. 

You posted a month ago you were done with RW.  What changed?  That is where this started between you and me as you said certain men should not get involved in this process and I called you out. 

You anger is just proof your jealous of me.  Sorry you got beat up in Russia and got dumped prior to that.  Hope this one works out for you.  I really hope you do well. 

You also seem very jealous of USA as you have called several Americans on this board stupid.  Being jealous and angry is not a good trait.  Why don't you give specific examples and start a new thread on why I am stupid.  Use some facts rather than nursery school name calling.  You have a son act like a father figure.

[SANDRO43]

several workmen spent most of the day staring into a hole.

Ah, the famous FSU hole in the ground :

[SFandEE]

Ah, the famous FSU hole in the ground :

I can confirm that this happens very much in the USA too!  One hole and at least two or three guys to watch the hole, while one guy digs--by machine or by hand.  Any chance this happens other places--might be one of those things we can count on throughout the world.

[JohnDearGreen]

Friday 9th July 2010
...
We had communicated several emails before my arrival which resulted in me sending to him a list of ladies who interested me, a few of my photos and a short generic introduction letter. Once we eliminated the ‘sick’, ‘out of town’ and ‘he is too nice for me’ then we were left with 7 ladies who clearly had nothing better to do over the next few days. Some of these ladies had written me a nice letter that for $7 I could reply to. I didn’t reply...
...
Around mid afternoon Andrey calls me with the surprising news that Pole Position girl has cancelled...

Vinny:
An interesting report.  You even posted your pic for the world to see.  
Do you have any concerns about giving so much responsibility for your fate in the hands of the agency?
Maybe they aren't too eager to lose one of their best gals?
Maybe they hope you will hit it off with a 20 to 1 long shot that was not in your pole position?

[Vinnvinny]

Vinny:
An interesting report.  You even posted your pic for the world to see.  
Do you have any concerns about giving so much responsibility for your fate in the hands of the agency?
Maybe they aren't too eager to lose one of their best gals?
Maybe they hope you will hit it off with a 20 to 1 long shot that was not in your pole position?

I'll cover those questions in my conclusion .

[Vinnvinny]

Tuesday 13th July 2010

I had texted Andrey the previous evening that I wouldn’t be paying for the pleasure of meeting Cruella De Vil’s daughter. He replied ‘ok’ and that he would contact her in the morning and find out what happened.

I had no dates planned today and my tentative plan B’s were hardly providing me with encouragement. I had brought quite a bit of work to do as this wasn’t my first trip where ‘The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men' seemed rather apt. I wonder if Burns ever visited this neck of the woods?

Late morning Andrey called me. “Olga would like to see you tonight if you are free?” he said. “Well, too be honest” I told him, “I do have a busy schedule today. I have to go to the supermarket as I want an explanation as to why their grapefruit juices have pictures of oranges on them. I want to join some local guys and spend a little time looking in their hole with them (comrades, hand across the water and all that) and later on I’m planning an experiment involving vodka, arsenic and a gerbil, if I can remember the number of the bus.” “I’m sorry” he says. “No problem” I reply. “7.30pm at big Vicky’s it is”. He didn’t mention Sveta, neither did I.

Olga was on time and so was I. Actually I was early which is how I knew she was on time. “Chew chewit” and we’re off. I think we are going to see the goldfish again as we are taking a similar route. “I had an interesting four and half minutes last night at that restaurant over there” I tell her pointing to yesterday’s scene of crime. “Chew chewit” she replied. I guess my earlier thought that she might be become fluent in English over the course of the weekend was a tad optimistic.

We’re now taking a new route that I haven’t been before, it’s quite exciting. We cross a very busy road and stand by the curbside. “Taxi?” I inquire. “Da” she replies which can only mean one thing. When the next bus came we got on it.

Soon I recognise where we are. I was right, we are going to see the goldfish. They seemed in good spirits despite the previous evening’s disappointment but then I remembered that fish only have a memory span of 7 minutes, so perhaps their apparent ‘up beat’ mood was in anticipation of tonight’s match.

I order the same food as I previously enjoyed. Best not to chance things when you’re on a winning roll, especially as that might be the only thing edible if I take a chance with the menu. Not long after entering the restaurant 2 very hot looking young ladies entered the establishment. The first time I had viewed examples of this species during my time in Sumy.

Olga and I ate, drank and smoked (by this time she was ‘social’ smoking as much as me) and generally enjoyed each other’s company. Shortly before we left a BMW similar in size to the QE2 pulled up outside prompting the ‘kova’s to settle their bill and leave. It was good to see that Sumy shares some likeness to other Ukrainian cities I have been to.


Wednesday 14th July 2010

Andrey arrives at my apartment at 12noon to collect the keys and to introduce me to Alex my driver back to Borispol.

Alex speaks a little English so we discuss all sorts of subjects including football, football and football. By the time we reach the outskirts of Sumy the conversation has largely dried up and I sleep for most of the journey.

Despite a slight delay to my flight back to England we arrive in good time and I arrive home 13 hours later. I will write a conclusion in the next few days to include my final thoughts on Andrey, his agency, Sumy and Olga. Thanks for reading. 

[SFandEE]

Looking forward to the follow-up.

Would it be correct to surmise that there was a considerable amount of indifference shown towards you by the businesses and women that you met.  It would also seem to me that were under a different impression of that interest prior to making your arrangements?

[Vinnvinny]

Looking forward to the follow-up.

Would it be correct to surmise that there was a considerable amount of indifference shown towards you by the businesses and women that you met.  It would also seem to me that were under a different impression of that interest prior to making your arrangements?

You've lost me there SFandEE, can you expand a little?

[I/O]

Iniesta grabbed a goal, Casillas grabbed a trophy and Olga grabbed some Crown Jewels.

[brad5959]

very entertaining trip report Vinnvinny.  I really like your style of writing.  so is there any chance of a long term relationship with Olga?

[ML]

Sunday 11th July 2010 (still) Nobody spoke English but they were able to follow my pointing and grunting from the picture menu.
[/quote

- - - -

Before your next trip, buy a ballpoint pen sized lazer pointer.  Can be had at WalMart for less than $5.

[CanadaMan]

...I tell her pointing to yesterday’s scene of crime. “Chew chewit” she replied. I guess my earlier thought that she might be become fluent in English over the course of the weekend was a tad optimistic.

 I love that recurring line that she used. I think I finally figured out what she meant too!
"Chew chewit"  as in 'choo choo train' as in 'move it, man'! 

[brad5959]

chewt chewt could also be "a little bit".  hard to tell without more details.

[OlgaH]

chewt chewt could also be "a little bit".  hard to tell without more details.

чуть-чуть - just a little; slightly (adverb) - [ ʧuːt' - ʧuːt' ] "t" is soft as in "tea"