finally signed up

[Scott_WWS]

Have visited this site off an on through the years - I finally decided to open an account.

I work in an overseas job, back and forth from US to other countries - have a lot of travel experience.  Have been to CIS 9 times now, going back (for holidays) in November.

Have corresponded with a few women, going to have a cup of coffee to see if anything comes of it.

Look forward to dropping in here on a more regular basis.

[Anotherkiwi]

   Scott - sounds like a nice, cautious start.  Do you speak any Russian?  What sort of impressions have you got so far?  Nine trips is a fair amount of air miles - have you been anywhere apart from the capital cities?

[Scott_WWS]

I'll just let my brain run turrets here:

Some FSU women have adopted the feminists "Sex and the City" mindset, but they are the minority.  Most of the women like to think themselves feminist but deep down want a strong man and will gladly yield into the Beta role - they just won't admit it  out loud.  FSU people are proud and saying so out loud might bruise egos...

In Ukraine I've been to Kiev, Sevastopol & Odessa.  I will be going to some of the other smaller towns on this trip.  Been to UA 5 times.

In Belarus I've been to Lviv & Minsk.  Been to Belarus twice and may go back on this trip.

Been to Russia twice, St. Petes, Moscow, Volgograd, Kazan, Kiev, Yoshkar Ola, Omsk, Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, and a few other towns you've probably never heard of.  Will likely be going to Moscow and some other towns southwest.

My next trip in Nov will be my 10th to the FSU.

As for Russian, I studied on Rosetta Stone for about 2 years and then took formal classes in UA for 2 months.  Got to the point where I was beginning to understand basic sentences and could form basic sentences.  Maybe at a 2 or 3 year old level now.  The key to learning a new language is consistency and persistence.  I listen to Pimsleur tapes daily, look at my flash cards before bed and try to hit the Rosetta Stone a few times a week - this at least keeps the Russian words fresh so that when I go to classes again I won't have to start from scratch.

Interestingly, just by studying Russian for the last 4 years, my Spanish improved remarkably, even though I studied no Spanish.  I believe that the part of the brain that learns language became stronger by studying Russian - in my last trip to S. America my Spanish grew in the first 72 hours to a level that I'd never had before.  Previously I struggled with basic sentences and in my last trip I was acting as interpreter for my friend.  He said, "I'm surprised how much Spanish you know."  I thought, "Yeah, me too."

[Eduard]

Yes Scott, amazing how it works sometimes - when I was studying Italian I noticed that when I heard people speak Korean I could understand what they were saying! Go figure...  Welcome to RWD! 

[SANDRO43]

Yes Scott, amazing how it works sometimes - when I was studying Italian I noticed that when I heard people speak Korean I could understand what they were saying! Go figure...

Simplest explanation: you were drunk .

[Anotherkiwi]

Simplest explanation: you were drunk .

literally    !!!!

[Eduard]

Simplest explanation: you were drunk .

worse! Much worse!

[CDW]

In Belarus I've been to Lviv & Minsk.  Been to Belarus twice and may go back on this trip.

Lviv is in Ukraine - not Belarus lol

[Scott_WWS]

oh yeah, its been a decade since I've been there - but really, look back into your memory, can you tell a Belorussian woman from a Ukrainian?  LOL 

[Slumba]

oh yeah, its been a decade since I've been there - but really, look back into your memory, can you tell a Belorussian woman from a Ukrainian?  LOL 

I can, in most cases. 

An FSUW who is on this forum, or on another, tested me with 50 pictures and I achieved 70% accuracy in distinguishing between Ukrainian and Russian women.  The pictures were drawn from her VK / Odnoklassniki etc. circle of friends.

The 2 other guys who followed the testing achieved accuracy of 66% and 68% - they had both been multiple times to the FSU.