First timer headed to Ukraine

[cc3]

Boethius, is the situation in western Ukraine relatively "more dire" than the rest of the country? And why is that? Not to usurp LD's thread too greatly, but I think he would be interested in your answer since he is still motivated to search for a relationship in Ukraine (and Lviv is a lot closer to Minnesota than Luhans'k).

My fiancee and I would be interested in your reply since we are contemplating relocating (after she earns her degree) to a city with a more international outlook (and airline connections) than Luhans'k. 

Thanks.

[Muzh]

Boethius, is the situation in western Ukraine relatively "more dire" than the rest of the country? And why is that? Not to usurp LD's thread too greatly, but I think he would be interested in your answer since he is still motivated to search for a relationship in Ukraine (and Lviv is a lot closer to Minnesota than Luhans'k).

My fiancee and I would be interested in your reply since we are contemplating relocating (after she earns her degree) to a city with a more international outlook (and airline connections) than Luhans'k. 

Thanks.

CC3


That is the prevailing thought in Eastern Ukraine.


Eastern Ukrainian Russians work very hard and have all the industries to maintain the country while those Western head-in-the-clouds do nothings all they do is whine and not produce.


Sound familiar?


I've been going there for quite a while, not to mention that I do more than just look at the scenery.

[Boethius]

I can't say if it is more dire than Luhansk, as I don't know the situation there.  I do know it is more dire than in Kyiv, and in Kyiv, there is plenty of unemployment.


My relatives who are teachers have not been paid in over six months.  But, they all have apartments, and still have access to their childhood village homes, so they can grow and can their own food.   A lot of them go to Poland, the Czech Republic, or Italy to work, even though in all those countries, unemployment is also high.  They work for peanuts.


I also speak to a lot of emigres from Western Ukraine, and their stories are similar to that of my family.  Doctors haven't been paid in months.  Brick factory workers weren't paid for well over six months as well.  The factory manager took the cash, built a house and a big safety gate, and bought himself a Lexus.  These are stories so common as to be mundane there.


I do know one woman who sent her sister beefsteak tomato and chive seeds.  Beefsteak tomatoes are pretty rare in Ukraine, and chives were also unknown.  Both grew like weeds, and she made a killing selling to local restaurants in L'viv.

[slant]

I haven't been here in probably over a year (And I was pretty much a lurker back then)... I'm so glad I happened to find my way back here... This thread was AWESOME! So awesome I completely forgot how I ended up back here in the first place...


It's been about a month since this thread died... If you're still around LD, my advice is nothing more than OWN THIS STORY... Right down to the freak out you had with another member, to your crazy, judgmental, insecure ex conversation, to Russian_Bear coming through with some local advice... It was all gold...

[lonedrake]

Well....not sure if is all gold.....but thank you....I guess.  Funny you should mention if I am still here. Everyday!

 In fact I will be on my way to Kiev at 5pm tomorrow. I am somewhere between "cautiously optimistic" and "professing undying love"

 

[slant]

Well....not sure if is all gold.....but thank you....I guess.  Funny you should mention if I am still here. Everyday!

 In fact I will be on my way to Kiev at 5pm tomorrow. I am somewhere between "cautiously optimistic" and "professing undying love"

The same girl?!


It's an awesome story and anyone who says otherwise is a boring  person who's done nothing but play it safe all their life... Own every bit of it...



"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

[Boethius]

It may be an awesome story, but marrying an alcoholic is not a good idea.


I am 100% positive lonedrake is going back to meet another woman.

[slant]

It may be an awesome story, but marrying an alcoholic is not a good idea.


I am 100% positive lonedrake is going back to meet another woman.

Yeah... He should definitely move on to a different girl...

[lonedrake]

Yeah... He should definitely move on to a different girl...

 Here is the scoop!  I was contacted by a woman from a village near Kiev, as I was sitting in the Amsterdam airport, on my way home from my last trip. At the time....I told her I wish she had contacted me 6 hours earlier as I had just spend the day at the Kiev airport. I was upfront about why I had been in Kiev,Lugansk.  We emailed each other briefly everyday. I was in South Dakota the rest of March so I did not skype with her until the beginning of April. I did contemplate a wmwm trip.....but I can just not do it.  I would not like it if a woman came to US and did a wmwm and I was 3or 5th on the list.

So at this very moment....I am sitting in apartment at 8:24 am and she is on her way here. She picked out the apartment and made taxi arrangements. I skyped her this morning and she says she is on her way So far so good. I have been Skype with her almost everyday for at least a month. Usually 1/2 hour to one hour each day.

 I realize this is a gamble...but what trip to the FSU isn't? I have no back up plans. All I have is my computer and I have not been in any contact with anyone else from Kiev for at least three weeks....and I am no longer a member of any dating websites.

So anyways....I am just killing time waiting for her to show up. She lives about 3 hours away by bus. I have a huge headache from caffine withdrawal and I am waiting till 9 am to venture out and exchange some money and buy some water and soda.

[Welder]

Good lord man, stop the insanity, get yourself some coffee!     Good luck

[lonedrake]

The wait is killing me! I was out and about for a couple of hours and I already managed to annoy a couple of the locals.

I found a supermarket a couple of blocks away that had a bank in it. So I went in and pick up a liter of water,coke and Fanta. Go to the checkout,but all I have is US bills. No english. She points to bank and I find out bank does not open till 10. So I wander around for an hour and take some pictures. Some things I noticed. No mowing around here and many of the plants/weeds are the same as where I live. Dandylions,pigweed,reed canary grass,clover,itch weed. Also.....more women drivers. I would say 20% of the drivers are women in Kiev. That compares to about 1% in Lugansk.

So I go back to bank at 10. I pass a 100.00 and say grivna. She keeps asking me something ,but I cannot understand. Finally I am about to give up so I put my ear down by the little window.  Ahhhhh Passport. So I give her that and then it is all good. I go back to checkout lady as she had put the stuff down by her feet and I assume she was saving for me to return. But she motions me on. So I go pick new bottles out and bring back to her. She motions me to other checkout. She was just on break. So I say yes for bag. Checkout lady seemed annoyed and did not bag bottles.....which if I remember right they always did in Lugansk. So I just bagged them,said thanks and left coins in tray.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. These last couple of hours before she shows up is very nerve-racking!

[Muzh]

 

[lonedrake]

Maybe this will provide some popcorn moments?

 So I am sitting in apartment today(9:53) and she has left to go to a job interview. I knew she was looking at getting work in Kiev so she just figured this would be a good time since she would already be here. I don't blame her. The plan was that I would go to job interview with her. We got ready and before taxi arrived I asked her how it would look if she showed up to job interview with an American?  She had not thought of this. So now she has went on her own.

 So far everything has gone even better than I could have hoped for

[Shadow]

Maybe this will provide some popcorn moments?

 So I am sitting in apartment today(9:53) and she has left to go to a job interview. I knew she was looking at getting work in Kiev so she just figured this would be a good time since she would already be here. I don't blame her. The plan was that I would go to job interview with her. We got ready and before taxi arrived I asked her how it would look if she showed up to job interview with an American?  She had not thought of this. So now she has went on her own.

 So far everything has gone even better than I could have hoped for

She could have introduced you as her lawyer...

[Oops]

I have an advise for TS - "семь раз отмерь и один раз отрежь".     Unless the real idea behind this story is to become a frequent flyer really quick.   

[cc3]

Maybe this will provide some popcorn moments?

 So far everything has gone even better than I could have hoped for

Been off this board for a month plus (three round trips to Luhans'k in that time). Good luck, S.

[GoodOlBoy]

So I am sitting in apartment today(9:53) and she has left to go to a job interview.

Did she lock you in the room and keep the key? 
 
Sorry LD, I had to throw that one out there for the RWD old timers who may remember that train wreck (TR).
 
On a serious note.... Did she tell you what kind of job she was interviewing for?
 
GOB

[lonedrake]

cc3, Thank you! It must be nice to basically fly for pennies on the dollar,but you have put your time in and deserve it. Say Hi to Nina!

On a serious note.... Did she tell you what kind of job she was interviewing for?
 

 Yes. She said she has been sending out many resumes. This one was for a company called Markets.com ua. I am not sure if she even understood what this company was about. We looked it up in the internet and they are an investment company. She went back for a follow up "seminar" at 5pm. When she came back she was no longer interested. They were unable to show her anything about the company that is in Ukraine....yet they claim they own the whole company. Apparently she and the "seminar" instructor did not see eye to eye. He said he lived in USA for 9 years and then told her Americans are stupid. She asked him" if they are so stupid why do they have stability and good economy?" It did not go over to well. It sounds like they just try to hire people to sell investments and they must work on commission as they have a high employee turnover rate.

"семь раз отмерь и один раз отрежь".

   


Measure 7 time cut once.Good advice.....but I also show the flip side to this. Last month Owner hired two men to replace one fight of wooden steps in shop. I was to busy pumping water and flooding fields to do. Anyways this was only one small flight of steps. When I went and was talking to them they told me "we measure three times and cut once. We do it right the first time"    But....it took two men two whole days to make flight of stairs. They spent so much time measuring they made very few cuts. I did not want to tell owner....but I could have easily made stairs by myself in 4-6 hours....and just as good of quality. You watch an expert wood worker and they do not spend much time measuring they make one measurement and cut and then keep moving on.

How does this apply? Not sure...but this trip is going so good....I am hesitant to speak much about her. Maybe jinx it?

 I do have one concern. I help her with english and we google translate some stuff and now she does understand AM/PM time. But...she also saw Russian Women Discussion and ask about it. I told her this is were I get advice. She is smart and I figure she will end up reading all of my posts Luckily...I have been honest with her about everything!

It is 4:45 am and I cannot sleep anymore. She is sleeping peacefully right here.

[mendeleyev]

семь раз отмерь и один раз отрежь

Welcome, Oops!

Many interesting Russian idioms don't reveal their full meaning when translated literally, but this one is almost the same. It begins with the word for "seven" (семь) but the idiom is: "Measure twice and cut once."


It is also interesting that we can take the first half of that example, семь раз отмерь, and now we've moved to another idiom, "look before you leap."

[slant]

Glad things are going well... I'm pulling for you... Good luck man...

[cc3]

cc3, Thank you! It must be nice to basically fly for pennies on the dollar,but you have put your time in and deserve it. Say Hi to Nina!

Ciao S. What a coincidence! I was chatting online with Nina, reading RWD while waiting for her replies, when I came across this post of yours. I immediately conveyed your greeting to her and she says "Hi".

You're right about my traveling propensity. If I had to pay full price, I would be effecting a different strategy with Nina. Since 15 December, I've been in Ukraine more than Colorado. Four round trips from then to last week. Now I've run out of my 90 days allowed in the 180 day period beginning 15 December. I can't return until after 15 June. I plan on 6 more round trips this year, going into the New Year's holidays (less if I can sell my Colorado properties, get married, and get my temporary residence permit).

I'll raise a glass to your continued success on this trip!

[lonedrake]

I'll raise a glass to your continued success on this trip!

 Thank you!  I now understand what it is like to meet a sincere FSU woman. All of the money issues are gone! It is of no concern. She even paid for one night at apartment and insisted that I not pay her back(of course I could not do this) For instance...we went to the Botanical Gardens yesterday. They have a little building with birds,turtles and reptiles. It was 40 grivna extra to go in. She says "this is to much,lets just not go" We went in and the smiles she had was worth 10 times that!

 Every where we went yesterday she was asking people left and right to take our picture. Since the camera was my phone...most turned out like crap...but we did get a few good ones

Before we met she had told me she may have to leave on Saturday. Now she will be staying and going to airport with me on Monday

I may even post up a bunch of pictures of her and us.....as long as she gives the ok!  As the saying goes.....a picture is worth 1,000 words.These next 2 1/2 days will determine that.

[Oops]

You watch an expert wood worker and they do not spend much time measuring they make one measurement and cut and then keep moving on.

The key word here is "an expert", don't you think?      It's just amazes me how easily you jump on the plain to fly across the world to meet a total stranger...   And this is after your initial confession that you never been outside of US before your first trip to Lugansk.   

[Oops]

Welcome, Oops!

Many interesting Russian idioms don't reveal their full meaning when translated literally, but this one is almost the same. It begins with the word for "seven" (семь) but the idiom is: "Measure twice and cut once."

Thanks.   Actually, I've been here before, but lost my log-in details, so had to re-register.   

Russians seem waaaaaaay more anal, ain't we?      But in reality it isn't the case, I'm afraid...   

It is also interesting that we can take the first half of that example, семь раз отмерь, and now we've moved to another idiom, "look before you leap."

Well, here is a good advise.   Although "leap of faith" comes to mind almost right away, especially in this thread...   

[knighta]

Oops was this you?  http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?action=profile;u=3701

I might be thinking of someone else but wasn't your location Hong Kong?