What got you interested in Russian Women

[wasson65]

Question to all:  How did you get interested in finding a Russian woman?

Here's my story:

I was "separated" from my wife at the time (at least that's what *her* personal ad said - separated, which means I was living in a room in my garage, having moved out of the bedroom, damned if I'm going to sleep with someone who claims they don't love me any more).  At that time I still wanted to reconcile with my now-ex-wife.

I had my laptop, and a thought crossed my mind:  What if things don't work out with my wife?  Then what?

So I went and googled: "Houston women seeking men".

OMG.  GAAAACH!  The biggest bunch of nasty, crusty... , well, I guess they were women.  Some were scanky, tatooed and fat.  Eeew. NASTY! Others were fat and obviously bitchy.  Others suffered from incurable cases of self-centeredness that bordered on outright hostility.  Yeah, lady, like I want to be within a hundred feet of you.... 

Then there were the most promising of the bunch (it's all relative, remember...), which, sad to say, was the redneck trailer-trash segment.  At least they seemed less hell-bent on sticking you in thumbscrews if you didn't measure up.  And they seemed to generally want to get hitched, unlike most who seemed to think they were interested in any type of relationship under the sun *except* marriage: short-term, long-term, dating, sex, friends, pen-pals or whatnot (oh, ok, there were a *few* who actually included "marriage" in their profile)

Now remeber, guys, that Houston had just lost it's "Fattest city in America" title to Detroit, and these gals were doing their darndest to bring that honor back to Texas...


Truly depressing.  I was sunk.  If this was the future, put a bullet in my brain right now.


Then a rouge thought slipped into my concious mind.  I still have no explanation for where it came from or why, but there it was.  It's crazy, I thought.

But what the hell:  "Russian women seeking men"

And with a single fateful click, I googled my way right into a whole new world...

Amazing!  Here were women, not losers, bitches, cows, scanks, "ho"s, freaks, psychos or she-males.  And they want to get married! wooHOO!  And their expectations seemed so much more rational:  to build a good marriage with a man they love who loves them!

As I said, at the time, I really wanted to reconcile with my soon-to-be-ex-wife, so I set this aside in my mind.  But after a few more months of trying, she made it clear that no effort towards the marriage was forthcoming.  So I took some pictures, wrote my profile, signed up on Elena's Models, and 2 days later Lily wrote to me.

3 months later:

The "Aircompany Tatarstan" Tupolev 134 touches down safely(?) in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia, much to the pleasure of the passengers, which expressed said pleasure with claps and cheers. 

I step into the airport, and meet my precious Lily face to face for the first time - Wow!

[dwfunk]

[user=920]nwasson65[/user] wrote:

Question to all:  How did you get interested in finding a Russian woman?

My story begins with realizing that after 4 years of separation, things were not going to work out.  After having an epiphany after taking the course, "Wild at heart" by John Eldrege, I decided it was time to move on, life goes on and it was passing me by.  A year earlier I had "tested" the market by going on Yahoo Personals for two months.  OMG!!!  My hobbies were important to me, and when one asked me what model railroading was and would she like it, I knew I was in deep trouble. American Singles got me dozens of 18 to 25 YO's from all over the world who wanted money to come to America.   So then I succumbed to the television ads. After all, 29 dimensions of compatibility had to produce something!!  Well, at least the book I got, "Date...or Soul Mate? How to Know If Someone Is Worth Pursuing In Two Dates Or Less" was beneficial.  So after going through Funeral Lady, and Psycho Lady, I was at wits end, thinking I would never find a real wife.

Then it happened!  One morning, early, a co-worker popped into my office: "Russian Woman Dude!! Russian Woman!!"  He showed me what he had found the night before.  WOW!! What a dream!  A virtual candy store!! TIME OUT!! Something is wrong here!  This is TOO good to be true, therefore it is not true!  I started researching and reading.  Sure enough, scams galore, but my friend was getting letters from the most gorgeous women in the world!!! Then one night, late, I signed up on Elena's Models. The next morning I had 3 emails, and by the end of the week 2 more.  I politely declined 3 of them and replied to 2 of them.  Within a week 2 more emailed me, I declined one and began writing to one.  Now I was writing to 3, one who knew some  English, the other 2 no English what so ever.  None of the 3 were really pushing any buttons for me, but one struck me as real cute in a different sort of way, but she finally revealed to me that she had been writing a guy in Connecticut for a year and he just disappeared, stopped writing her and she received no answers to any of her emails.  sigh, scratch that one off.

I had a couple more emails that I hadn't opened yet, and was seriously considering upgrading my Gold membership to Platinum. I went in and read the emails, ugh, first one was very young and punk, declined her, the second one changed my life.

"Hello David,
I read your profile and like everything , that you write. My name is Natalia, I am from Russia. I /d like to start communication with you, of course if you still have not a girlfrend.
Sincerely,
Natalia"

I answered, she answered back.  I sent the "big" letter. I wrote in Russian and she replied in English. Then she sent her phone number, and a time window , 7pm to 11pm, when she would be home.  I bought a calling card, and then got cold feet.  My friend urged me on, and one Wednesday, at noon, Houston time, I dialed:  "Aлло?",  "Aлло!  Можно Наталья?"  "Меня зовут Дэвид"  "David!, David! You called me!" she exclaimed.

We wrote everyday.  I called her once a week.  She gave me her cell number and we added sms to our communications.  She asked blunt and pointed questions, many were uncomfortable to answer, but we did.  My friend went to visit his girl in October and I sent some gifts and 3 red roses from Kroger, they were a hit.

On 28 December 2005, I meet my Princess for the first time.  It's been absolutely awesome!!!!

Thanks Tim, I owe you a great deal of gratitude!!!

-david

TR later . . .

[ronin308]

Mine was a fluke.  I had a Ukrainian girl answer my personal ad.  We corresponded for a while and when I decided to make my first trip to Europe I figured it was easier to go somewhere I knew someone. 

Her goal was to meet someone to marry her and get her to America, but she had to be able to love them as well.  That brutal honesty at least had to interest me.  Once I made it there, wow what a bunch of lookers, I was hooked. 

We didn't work out but stayed friends.  The whole thing got me interested in the idea.  6 months later I was engaged to another lovely lady.  Now I'm waiting for USCIS to grant us with it's blessing.

[BC]

I was not interested in FSU women and she was not interested in WM.  Marriage was the last thing on our minds. We just happened to occupy the same space at the same time while we were both travelling four years ago and things developed from there..

[andrewfi]

Like BC, it is/was a matter of same time & same place. There are no blinkers on me. I know that the obesity rate in Russia runs a very close second to the US and certainly exceeds that in any European country. I knew very soon that behind the lack of shared language lay a group of people not substantially different to those I left behind.

Seems to me that these are the most significant pointers to a successful relationship. If one goes looking for some kind of ideal, then one might fool oneself for a while, but in the end, the pigeons come home to roost and things will go titsup!

[JPjr]

Hello Wasson and all. Pretty much  same story here. Put a profile on EastWestMatch and Luba emailed me with interest. I was already in love with the pic and mail when I found the 2RWDs and RWG and realised, I could be a chump. Every thing from there became more positive and I am working towards a visit in  the next few weeks. I call 3xs a week, as she has limited means to 24/7 internet access. I have  found new friends at RWG as well as Antidate- Crocodile Tears. There is a local RW/AM couple and we are working toward a group support effort. All in all I feel this new direction in life is the best thing that has ever happened. Thanks to support from couples like you,  things will be great.  Thanks, Joe

[groovlstk]

In the late 90s, I stumbled across the website www.getmarriednow.com

At first I thought it was a joke, but as I paged through photo after  photo of incredibly beautiful women, I decided to take a chance and  write to a few. I met my first Russian girl several months later, and  although things didn't work out ever since I've been hooked.

Funny enough, that agency is notorious but I was fortunate enough to meet a decent woman.

[KenC]

I have to say that unlike some others here, I was happily playing the field here in America.  I was dating a lot of different AW that I had met via the Net.  Most were 10 to 15 years younger than my early 40's age at the time.  No muss and no fuss at the time.  If I wanted female company, I had it,  If I didn't want the company, I had the peace of mind.

Of course in my stomping around the Net, I had come across a few RW sites.  I was intrigued by their beauty and their obvious willingness to stretch the age gap.  I remember printing a few web profiles and sharing them with my golfing buddies.  Too good to be true, I thought.  I had no intentions of marrying again and of course the RW seemed zeroed in on finding a hubby, so I always thought it wasn't an avenue for me to travel.  But I kept researching and checking sites.  Part of my facination was that my family is Russian and I had always wanted to visit Russia.

I came upon the Lifetime Partners website.  I was interested in getting the video tapes they offered at the time, so I joined their program.  It was interesting to see the interviews of the girls.  This was in 1997 and there were no forums like this one at the time.  At least none that I knew about.  Much of my information came via phone calls to one of the aency's owners.  We talked for hours on end.  He was a great source of information and he was successfully married to a RW.  Still I was reluctant to contact any of the women.

One morning, I checked the Lifetime Partner's site and they started a new program where you could call a handful of girls direct to their homes.  Of course these few girls were the best of the best from their site and spoke relatively good English.  I was star struck by the beauty of one of the girls and it was just too damn easy to pick up the phone and dial.  That was my first contact with any RW and she has been my wife for almost 7 years now.

KenC

[Jet]

Liliya contacted me via ICQ in March of '02. She was simply looking to improve her english skills so that she might one day teach her 3yr old son the language. At that moment I was working with a PC gaming development team as a hobby of sorts. The team had one problem, all the information we sought was written in Russian.

We started chatting and as the days went by I began to be overcome with this feeling that I HAD to meet this incredibly provocative woman, I had to see if this was the same person in "real life" as the persona I came to know over the 'net.

She had ended a 6yr marriage one yr prior to a guy she probably still loved, but could not live with any longer due to his alcohol problems. I had stepped out of a 10yr relationship with a "high functioning alcoholic" about 6 months before we met (that relationship was over at the three yr mark but we stayed together because it was just so damn convienient - we were essentially roommates). I had also had a 1 year marriage that was a total disaster when I was in my mid twenties.

I was not interested in FSU women and she was not interested in WM.  Marriage was the last thing on our minds.

This is where we were at, neither of us had really considered getting married again.

By May of '02 we were making plans to meet and on the evening of July 17 I was pacing the floor at Terminal 3 of London's Heathrow airport waiting for Liliya to clear passport control. The rest is history...

[wasson65]

[user=307]ronin308[/user] wrote:

Her goal was to meet someone to marry her and get her to America, but she had to be able to love them as well.  That brutal honesty at least had to interest me.

That's pretty honest!! 

I have heard stories that living with a RW/UW, it's never boring, and if she's mad at you, you'll know it in no uncertain terms.  And frankly, I'm looking forward to that, since my first wife was very closed with her feelings and I couldn't read her very well at all.

There seems to be a certain ultimate pragmatism to the culture.  She apparently wanted to go to America, and also wanted to have a chance at real love, so she combined the two goals.  Some people here might think that those goals are in such different directions, that you couldn't do both.  But somehow they seem to be able to hold somewhat opposing ideas in their heads at the same time.

This ultimate pragmatism also shows itself, I think, in the GCG's who's husbands never saw it coming, and the scammers as well.

Is your fiancee the same way, with the brutal honesty?

[Daknack]

Mine actually started as a practical joke almost 15 years ago.  I was about 16 years old and my group of friends was generally older then I am (Ive always tended to get along better with older people).  Young men being young men, we talked alot of smack, and played constant pranks on one another.  My oldest friend "Rockford" (so named because his real name is James Garner) to my eyes was the coolest guy alive as he was 23, had his own house (rented but to a 16 year old thats a huge deal) a good job, and a massive supply of beer.  I kid you not his fridge contained 2 packs of batteries, and the rest was beer.  Not even a bit of food except for a few frozen pizzas in the freezer.  Now what Rockford never had was a woman (still doesnt he drinks too much) and it was a constant joke among my friends that he was "dating" the St Paulie Girl.

One day I come home from school and there is a knock at the door.  I answer it and there is a delivery guy with a huge package for me that I have to sign for.  I of course have no idea what is wrapped up, and I start getting excited thinking I had won some big prize.  I lived in a series of townhouses, and anyone thats ever lived on one knows that everyone, knows everyone elses business since people can hear through the walls.  So the whole neighborhood is on their front porches watching curious, and I am eating up the envy joyfully.  So I sign for the package and proceed to open it (leaving the envelope asside) excitedly.  Turns out I opened a MASSIVE package of depends diapers.  The neighbors of course at this point all stifle laughs and go back into their houses and I stand on my porch, ticked off, annoyed, and embarrassed.  I open up the letter and it says that I had been signed up for a free sample due to my "medical condition" (I didnt have one) by a friend of the family "Dan Rodreges" (the name Rockford always used when he was up to mischief).  So I stood dumbfounded a moment and swore vengence!

A few weeks later, being the nerdly guy that I am I was reading either Smithsonian Magazine, Discover, or Omni and doing the Math excercises at the back of the magazine (in retrospect it was probably Omni or Discover based on that) and on the page where the answers to the questions were there were always ads.  One of the ads was for "European Connections" a company that either was just starting up or had just began.  They were offering a free catalogue of russian woman (Who are just dying to meet you!) sent to your house.  I dont know how they do it now, but the catalogue was free and the addresses cost $ (this is before the internet got big although I had AOL back then on its money gouging hour by hour plan).  Thinking that Russian woman had to be very very fat (because its cold in Siberia damn it they need the warmth!), and wrinkled and weather beaten (hey that cold and wind takes a toll on you!), and these must of course be the women that cant get dates so had to be very ugly, I signed Rockford up for a magazine from them.  Since he never dated, I was under the impression that a MOB mag of ugly women would be about the ultimate insult and proper vengence for the Depends incident (as it came to be known).

Every time I visited Rockford I patiently waited for the magazine to appear and to see his annoyance.  It was several weeks and I had become assured the magazine would never come and I would have to launch a new plot.  About two months after sending away for the magazine, the local German festival that takes place in Baltimore's Carrol  Park was occuring.  Rockfords house was literally right across the street, we would go get wasted and then pass out at his house.  After a bout of drinking, we all ended up at his house and I noted a magazine on his coffee table with the huge heading "EUROPEAN CONNECTIONS".  I wanted to laugh as my plan had finally come to fruition.  I sat patiently waiting for him to comment and finally I could wait no longer.  I asked him "hey whats that magazine there?  Is it a travel magazine?" Of course I knew damn well what it was I just wanted to embarrass him in front of everyone.  He said that it was a catalogue with beautiful women in it like a Victorias Secret.  I snatched up the magazine, and he was right!  as I thumbed through the women seemed to get more and more beautiful!  They didnt even put on the Address right as I had requested they send it "care of Augustus Zeplin" (the name I used when I was up to mischief) so he would know who sent it.  While I was annoyed my plan had backfired (I think he was using them to spank the monkey but I sure as hell wasnt gonna ask).  Needless to say the mag came home with me.

Now until I had a car, I was pretty unsure of myself when it came to women, and I would fantazise about these beautiful women in the mags, and even ordered a few for myself (discreetly sent to a friends house).  But by the time I was 18, I was driving, and had several notches in my belt and RW had passed from my mind with each new conquest.  Fast forward a few years, I meet fall in love with and marry my now ex-wife.  We lived in an apartment our first year then moved into our house.  Me being me, I never throw away books or magazines and I constantly re-read them (I kid you not I have newsweeks back from 86) and as I was unpacking when we moved in I ran across a forgotten "european connections" volume and thumbed through it amused.  I showed it to my ex who of course was actually really mad about it.  I asked her how she could possibly be mad about a magazine I had long before I had even met her.  Then I poked her in the ribs trying to lighter her up and said "Your lucky you found me first" with a joking wink.  Needless to say she was quite annoyed and one no less the 3 seperate occasions during our marriage when she was angry with me would yell "Oh why dont you just go see Helga in Russia If Im such a bitch??"  Then just to aggrivate the situation, I would dig out the magazine and read a caption or two "Olga 22, "I think I will live my live to make my husband happy!"" after that she quieted right down I got to admit

Fast forward 5 years after moving in, my ex and I are going through the hidiously messy divorce, and as I am packing up my things I come across the magazine again.  I had been dating, and all the women were big messes.  I had the stalker, the tramp, the bitch, the feminist man hater (alot of those), the total career woman (lot of those too), and the practicing witch (not kidding either).  At that point I figured, hell with the pool of nutjobs I have here, how much worse could it be overseas?  Getting laid certainly isnt a problem nor is talking to women and getting their numbers (as SoC can attest too ), its that every moment outside of that is like torture at Abu Grab.

Oh and for anyone interested on the end of the Rockford prank story I did get him back quite well.  I signed him up for several gay newspapers, magazines and such and instead of listing his address, I listed all of his neighbors addresses with his name all over them.  In most cases now, the post office uses machine barcode sorters to put mail in delivery order (which is why you see barcodes on your mail now)  Needless to say, the neighbors were too embarassed to say anything to him, but mentioned it on the last day he was in that house and moving, and they gave him that months mags and said they just couldnt bring them to him before.  Of course he protested saying he wasnt gay, but of course since he doesnt date, they didnt believe him   Vengence rules!

[Oosik]

The gay mag thing is diabolical. And funny.

 

I had seen some ads and such, towards the end of my marriage somehow I was getting junk mail (unsolicited in every way) on RW. Boy, my wife did not like that.

Then I worked for a company that had some RW and UW and even a Bosnian with the worst teeth on the planet but the sexiest legs and even the prettiest high-heeled feet on the planet. The way that these women spoke to me, even though I could see they were very capable and intelligent was a winner. I began to think how nice it would be, if I ended up divorced to have someone like that. US women seem determined to acheive control by trying to make a guy feel like he is nothing special. These women made me feel like they respected me as a man. What a concept.

I knew that having kids was important to me, and I wanted someone young enough to not have huge amounts of baggage. I knew the odds of that in the US were slim-to-none. 

So my soon to be ex has yet another emotional freak-out streak that last almost a year, and I say F*** it. I start perusing the agencies, ad and forums before my divorce is final. I did various routes, made myself a fool, all the usual crap that happens when you start a learning curve. I met a Ukraine ex-pat, and even though I couldn't stand some things about her (Kiev Proud is an understatement), her underlying femininity was still amazing. Her gratitude for simple things that I did for her made me feel like maybe I was worth a sh*t. I decided I liked that feeling. Other than one hook-up with the only decent single (and 22!) white girl in 600 miles (I was in the bush), I haven't touched anything that wasn't born in the FSU since. Once you've had filet mignon, why torture your palate with soggy leftover meatloaf?

 

[Son of Clyde]

DaKnack, good story,

Then came that fateful day when you saw a post on RWG from a man in your home state and you decided to send him a pm.

I hope he gave you some good information and insight. I know you have met your share of RW this year.

Have a good weekend.

 

 

[Daknack]

Thats true SoC.  I sent that Email off to that person and signed it with my real name Matthew T****** and the response I got was

"sure Id love to talk about my experiances!  BTW... do you know L*** T******(my ex)? 

I nearly shit myself on that cause it freaked me out LOL of all the people to talk to one that knew my ex!  ROFL.  But he turned out to be a really cool guy willing to listen and a loyal friend.  It also helped that he was helpful too

[Albert]

About 6 years ago I was sent on a business assignment to a FSU country.  I wasn't really very happy about going, and suspected I would end up in a gulag somewhere;  I always remembered the days of the Cold War.  And I was pretty sure I would not at all be interested in the women, because back in Cold War days, we always saw the pictures in Look and Life magazine of the chunky FSU gals riding the field tractors, working the blow torches, etc.  I had seen some of the Olympic ice skating gals, but I figured they were just the exceptions to the chunky norm.

So, because of my preconceived notions, I really wasn't interested at all in FSU women.  Unlike most of the rest here, I first went to FSU and then noticed the gals.  Most others here first noticed the gals, and then went to FSU.  Once there, I thought I was in some sort of parallel universe where the women suddenly were making eyes at me and chasing after me, rather than vice versa here in USA.

I still didn't catch on much during this first trip as to what was up, but later, I started reading some of these boards and finding out the reasons why these gals were showing me some attention.  Then I started realizing that my initial experience (the gals flirting with me, etc.) was not just an aberration and that I could expect this on every trip.  Then I started seeking the assignments to go to FSU, and I started planning so that I would have several ladies lined up in any particular city when my plane touched down.

It has added a whole new dimension to my life, and probably extended my life expectancy by 10 years or more because of the excitement and looking forward to life.  After over 20 trips to FSU and having had initial dates with over 155 women and spending several months and trips with about 10 of them, I have found two now who are about the best ever.  Just can't quite decide between them.  Each has many many good qualities, but each has a couple serious drawbacks.  But life with the two of them is great, nevertheless.

Both are highly intelligent, professional gals with high profile jobs.  Neither particularly wants to leave their city, and neither wants or needs to be supported by me.  Both own their own apartments free and clear, and one even has a second apt free and clear.  Both just want me to come and live with them full time.

The drawbacks:  One, I am afraid, will always put me second to her only child and her parents, even though her remaining treatment of me would make most guys slobber and go ga ga.  The other has a sex drive at the 500% level (or whatever the highest level is plus even more) and I am just a little worried about how that will play out in the years to come.  She treats me as a king and already puts me in front of her children and her parents.

[wasson65]

US women seem determined to acheive control by trying to make a guy feel like he is nothing special. These women made me feel like they respected me as a man. What a concept.
....
 Her gratitude for simple things that I did for her made me feel like maybe I was worth a sh*t. I decided I liked that feeling.

This is an interesting angle, the entire "adoration" thing.  As a man, I crave being adored by my woman.  If she adores me, I feel capable, happy, kind, and trusted.  If she belittles me, I feel like "so what, it won't make any difference"

It seems like such a basic need men have, why don't more women understand it?  Of course, here the excuse seems to be that "when you've done all these things and made me feel better, then and only then, I might like you and tell you that".   Here the emphasis is on  "communication", as if telling me more clearly that you think I'm useless will somehow give me motivation.  "Yes, I see now that you truly, completely think I'm worthless.  I'm so much more motivated now!"  Sheesh.

It's very fun to do loving, caring things for a woman whom you know adores you.  When you can see it in her eyes, you naturally want to look at her, be with her, pay attention to her, and care for her.

[Westport]

I had the most adorable girl from Kiev respond to my Match.com profile. I kept her at a distance...she had genuine interest in me but I hadn't a shred in her.  I just found her fascinating. I milked her for information about what life was like in Ukraine. But I told her flat out I wasn't interested in hooking up with someone so far away.

She was probably a scammer.  But she made me aware of this whole industry and I haven't been able to turn my back (completely) to it since then.

Not to brag but I have no problems dating American women. Yet for some reason they kind of bore me...haven't met one bright enough or well-educated enough yet to keep my fancy. I dream that the women over in FSU are more interesting but that is probably a pipe dream.

[al-c]

Ironically enough, a scam artist.  I attached her picture, a stunningly beautiful woman named Yana.

At the time, I knew nothing of scams or of the whole RW thing.  She contacted me on http://www.match.com with the usual scam story.  I got suspicious when the things she told me did not add up.  I ran her address, which turned out to be non-existent, and I researched U.S. visa law, which showed me that her "plan" to come to New York had a 0% probability of success.

In the course of my research, I stumbled across Elena's Models and Elena's famous anti-scam guide.  The more legitimate things I read about RW, the more I liked the idea.

But none of it would have happened had Yana not sparked my interest in RW in the first place.

Here is Yana:

[al-c]

I had the most adorable girl from Kiev respond to my Match.com profile. I kept her at a distance...she had genuine interest in me but I hadn't a shred in her.  I just found her fascinating. I milked her for information about what life was like in Ukraine. But I told her flat out I wasn't interested in hooking up with someone so far away.

She was probably a scammer.  But she made me aware of this whole industry and I haven't been able to turn my back (completely) to it since then.

Not to brag but I have no problems dating American women. Yet for some reason they kind of bore me...haven't met one bright enough or well-educated enough yet to keep my fancy. I dream that the women over in FSU are more interesting but that is probably a pipe dream.

Yes, they are more interesting.  And more interested in you and not in the thickness of your wallet.

[bgreed]

Mine started in October/November 04'  When I had my profile up on Match .com and got a letter from "Irina" but to contact her at a differnt email address than the one listed in her profile.  She supposedly lived in Boston according to that.  Well we began writing for about a month ( of course you all know this was a classic visa/tickets scam) Somehow I managed to dodge the bullet being totally new and having no idea this was even out there.  By the way this girl is at the top of jimslist of scammers.

About the same time as I was writting Irina I started doing some google searches and found Elenas models. (by the way it was on Elenas blacklist where I found her pics and copies of her letters)  BUt as I looked through Elenas site I was totally amazed:dude:  These were deffinately not the square shapped babuskas I had seen on TV every time there was a news report about the USSR.  These women were amazing.  Shortly after that I purchased Elenas book (It was on special for 24.95)  Then the search began in earnest.  So here I am nearly a year and a half later with one trip under my belt and still looking.  So I am totally addicted to Russian women.  How's that song go "American woman stay away from me"  and Mcartney really hit the nail on the head in "Back in the USSR"

[GoodBrew]

In 1995 I started working with several women from Eastern Europe, mostly Bosnia, and Russia.  I was immediately impressed by their work ethic.  My buddy joked at the time that "you'll end up marrying one of those Europeans".  It wasn't too much later that I first heard about the Cherry Blossoms catalog on some newsmag show, 60 Minutes maybe, and filed the info away.  My profile had been on Yahoo and I was getting email from a lady in Yoshkar Ola, definitely a scam in the making.  I mentioned this email exchange to my sister who told me that one of her friends had attended one of the AFA socials in St. Petersburg.  I called him and he was very pleased with his experience.  I decided to start writing to ladies after I got off the phone with him. 

[Vaughn]

   This really dates me but here goes: I arrived in West Berlin for a 2 year USAF assignment in June of 1972. My group occupied a windowless single story building that topped a man-made hill built from WWII rubble and grassed over. Huge antennas everywhere. Our mission, now declassified, was to eavesdrop on Soviet pilots stationed all over East Germany: placenames like Zerbst, Alt Lonnewitz, Gross Dolln, Peenemunde.

   In the course of our onsite training, it wasn't long before we heard the melodic commands of a Russian air traffic controller we nicknamed Lula. It was almost standard procedure to crank up the external speaker and ditch the headsets when Lula's soft sexy voice graced the airwaves - and operators would fly down the aisle to that rack, to gather and listen. I noted a certain reverance also among the flyboys she directed - they suddenly became overly polite and revealed an extra measure of subservience. Myself? I was haunted and captivated by her voice, my personal song of the siren. A latent seed planted decades ago. The nod goes to Lula, wherever she is....

  When I began to pirate Soviet air traffic, my future Russian wife was 9 years old...

  Nearly 29 years passed before I stumbled onto my wife's photo while searching for a fishing expedition in Europe. Like a few others here, we had no marriage agenda - she rather reluctantly placed her profile at the urging of her coworkers, got a few hits but never responded until I wrote. I pulled a few phrases out from my dusty memories of Berlin to impress her, and soon found myself resurrecting all I had forgotten and conducting our courtship entirely in Russian. Brought over no paperwork the first visit, nor the second for that matter. At 50 and 37, we were both far too cautious to make big decisions without time, discussion and much reflection. There was passion, yes, we didn't dwell on inaction based on fear - but we did just enjoy one another's company and let time and nature take their course. Tossing aside her teaching career and all familiar things was not easy for her.

Vaughn

 

[Muj]

I understand the topic as including all FSU women so I'll add my experience.  Mine starts prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall.  My Norwegian uncle urges me to visit E and W Berlin rather than partaking in the sampling of famous German liquids in Munich.  So I apply my eurail pass to transit scenically from Norway to Berlin.  The contrast in 1989 between the two halves amazes me.  In my wandering in E. Berlin I ask directions from several folk and eventually found young maiden artist from Moscow speaking English and graceful to assist.  She provides directions, tour guide, and vagabond companion.  We also express some interest beyond friendship and correspond for a time.  She marries her fiancee and continues to write and at this point I feel awkward and stop responding.   Two years later meet a coworker's new wife, a physicist from the space port in Kaz., pleasant and attractive woman. 

Move to Oregon and meet my ex to be.  After she serves divorce, a friend, in similar circumstance, urges me to join date.com and at least write and communicate.  I join and Russian and Ukrainian women show interest as well as AW.  I meet some of the AW and find only superficial interest.  I also write the UW and RW as well.  I find the UW and RW profiles, pictures, and letters showing depth, warmth. and good prospects.  As well as the attractive qualities.  Also many offer consoling advice in my difficult divorce.  Manage to avoid the scheming of the many scammers.  Also the good ones loose interest in long term correspondence as I find little time in traveling.  Overall I decide visiting proves my best prospect over writing.  The writing provides some insight but the face to face meeting more decisive.   

My visit to Ukraine in 05 proves a gift from above.  Met many interesting and attractive women.  One good one in particular stands above the others.  We communicate and gain interest and trust.  Our rendezvous in Moscow and return to Odessa provides memorable times.  More impressions in the Carpathians for the New Year.  After visits, romance, and adventures were engaged!

 

 

[Nando]

I'm Portuguese and saw this forum some weeks ago. I'm 38 years old, and most women say that I'm good looking (a good joke for my ego!).

In the past I have had three solid relationships, the first one with a "workaholic woman", the second one with a "pseudo intellectual" woman, and a third one with a woman I thought it was my soul mate. Just happen, she suffers from Bipolar Disorder  and after a discussion she left me (and her son who is 8 years old, she is divorced) and went to Holland to live with a Dutch who looks like a "farmer", who she had met through MSN. lol (this is a scary situation; I only laugh because of my sarcastic sense of humor...)

After searching for months on the Internet in Portugal I found a bunch of uninteresting women who often says they prefer to stay alone because of their previous relationship, are fat because they eat Big Macs all day and don't want to take care of themselves...( a bit like the average AW)

Oh boy! This was this a shock for me.

After months of this, I almost gave up, and start to seek a FSU woman.

Ok I'm crazy maybe...just for wanting a interesting woman?

 

[groovlstk]

After searching for months on the Internet in Portugal I found a bunch of uninteresting women who often says they prefer to stay alone because of their previous relationship, are fat because they eat Big Macs all day and don't want to take care of themselves...( a bit like the average AW)

Oh boy! This was this a shock for me.

After months of this, I almost gave up, and start to seek a FSU woman.

Ok I'm crazy maybe...just for wanting a interesting woman?

 

Nando,

Looking through photos of beautiful Russian girls and wanting to pursue one doesn't make you crazy.

However, now that you're about to get your feet wet, read through all the trip reports and the scammers & suspect agencies topics for starters. Read as much as you can and understand that this venture is very risky, very expensive, and not for the faint of heart. If you decide to move forward, then maybe you're a bit crazy - like the rest of us.