Kharkov

[Ooooops]

Even more incredible IMO, but hard to obtain, are our small fragoline di bosco (fraise des bois, wild strawberries):

They are called земляника in Russian.   I used to pick them up in the forest in our summer village.   Oh man, how do they smell!!!   Heavenly!   

[lonedrake]

Lonedrake, two different countries have a lot of differences. And in tastes too. But, anyway, I believe that to try something new is good. As for vegetables and fruits - they are not Ukrainian ones. Ours are in blossom now. Our strawberies will appear only in June. Pears in July. And even potatoes will appear in two weeks at least. So, all fruits you tried are import ones, not Ukrainian. Come here later and you will try Ukrainian fruits and vegetables. And oranges - we don't grow them. But, anyway, you tried Ukrainian borshch, cooked by your girl?

 Thank you! I did suspect that, but with all the ranting and raving about the food ,how is a"dumb American" to know?I just reported as I see it.  As far as the borsch.....I will have to see

lonedrake, people like you make the worst category of husbands for potential RW that look for a RELATIONSHIP, not a life that would be better economically. You come to pick up a woman for a serious relationship, but you can't enjoy the culture and are not ready to absorb it or a part of it. If the woman is looking for a relationship she is loking for a union, not become an average AW and copy her lifestyle.

Maybe I am the worst category of husbands for potential RW? I know I am for UW who believe everything is better in Ukraine. Here is how I see it. You like Russia better....and I like USA better. Anyways...I was just talking about food  

Even more incredible IMO, but hard to obtain, are our small fragoline di bosco (fraises des bois, wild strawberries):

 They grow in Minnesota also. Typically I find them in sandy soil that has been disturbed. To pick a quart of them is almost impossible here.
 

[Vasilisa]

  Here is how I see it. You like Russia better....and I like USA better.

???
Dis I say that I like any particular country better?! The fact that I came back doesn't mean I like any country better. The reason of my trip was having the family. No family means going back.

I felt good living  in  Russia and felt good living in the US, there some things I like about the US better, there are some things I like about Russia better.

And if you have the impression that I came in the US and started comparing stuff:this thing is ok, this thing is worse than in Russia and went to Russian restaurants and ate Russian food only and made people around me eat Russian food and create mini-Russia over there you are wrong, I always followed the saying:When in Rome do as Romans do. I have never shared my real negative thoughts with the Americans I met in the US and never had an unhappy face trying what I was offered. This forum and a couple of friends are the only people that have heard what I really thought.

[Muzh]

Even more incredible IMO, but hard to obtain, are our small fragoline di bosco (fraises des bois, wild strawberries):

I remember them as a kid when we would go to the rain forest for the day. On the route to the campground locals would gather them and sell them to the people driving up the mountain. Unfortunately, they harvested these strawberries to extinction.

[lonedrake]

Dis I say that I like any particular country better?! The fact that I came back doesn't mean I like any country better

 I did misunderstand you. I am sorry. Thank you.

[Ooooops]

I have never shared my real negative thoughts with the Americans I met in the US and never had an unhappy face trying what I was offered.  This forum and a couple of friends are the only people that have heard what I really thought.

Why not?   Well, I'm not talking about going into cat fights about who's potato tastier or who's president is wiser, but why not share your thoughts about everyday life?   Good conversation starter, safer then WWII, I think.   

[lonedrake]

I did use Mila. One way to describe her is smooth as in the sense everything goes smoothly. She is on time. Very professional. Another thing is she loves her job and it shows. The impression I got from her is she really does want you to succeed. Not just show you some women and collect money from you.
  The best way IMO when dealing with an interpreter is to pay her at the end of each day. Its fresh in your mind what services she performed for you so you wont wonder 4 days later what you really did. Mila never asked about this and she wont. I just made sure I did it that way. Worked good and I always knew where I was at.

Excellent!!! IMO worth repeating

[Vasilisa]

Why not?   Well, I'm not talking about going into cat fights about who's potato tastier or who's president is wiser, but why not share your thoughts about everyday life?   Good conversation starter, safer then WWII, I think.   

I shared my thoughts about every day life with the locals,  but I was raised the way you tell good things to people (especially the strangers) and ignore negative things.
As for my family, when my family had guests from abroad (we had international exchange students as guests when I was a student) we tried to learn in advance what kind of things they prefered, something about their culture and what they liked or didn't like and tried to make them feel comfortable.

I never experienced the same kind of attitude in the US , most people felt their culture was superior and if I came inthe US I had to love and enjoy the things around me or go back I didn't have any problems with that when we talk about the strangers but again, if I had a family I would expect for my husband to enjoy my culture, too.

[Patagonie]

What you say is quite interesting Vassilia.
You show the difference of culture, we have a lot to know from your culture.
Ignoring the negatives things are a right attitude to stay ... positive.
This is a trait of character that, IMHO, many RW have. And it is great.

I would hate to show that MY culture is better than an other. I just try to show to my wife, that things are just ... different.

[Ooooops]

I never experienced the same kind of attitude in the US , most people felt their culture was superior and if I came inthe US I had to love and enjoy the things around me or go back I didn't have any problems with that when we talk about the strangers but again, if I had a family I would expect for my husband to enjoy my culture, too.

Sorry to hear that...      My husband's Dad always had smoked salmon for me when we came over for visits, because he knew I am a sucker for it.      And to think about it I never came across any arrogant a*holes with superiority complex.   May be there were some but they were probably just afraid of me and didn't say anything.   

[facetrock]

 So.. The trip is over. Fun trip. I should have practiced what I've preached, but I thought what the hell I will give it a try. Never ever again will I date a woman who cant speak English. I have made a promise to bitch slap myself if I even think about it. Even with Mila who I think is a top notch interpreter its just to hard for me. To hard to keep a natural flow going. Stupid me. I knew all this before.

Some men can make it work with a woman who speaks very little English.. I cannot.

 Basically I like to talk too much

  Its the little things I notice with a woman. After one day there is a tiny red flag. A few days later there a 2 or 3 more tiny red flags. 5 Days later there is five or six. Add them all up and you have one big ass red flag which equals your not compatible. The gut instinct kicks in and says the sooner you get the hell away the better.

  The woman I went to see is a very good woman. Our personalities clash. I'm laid back. She is not. Really all there is to it.

Getting back to the English. If she could have spoke English I could have figured this out a lot quicker. Even with a good interpreter like Mila things go slow. I should have bitch slapped myself.
 

[Vinnvinny]

If you cant speak Russian how do you know that Mila is a top notch terp? 

[facetrock]

Well she speaks Russian and fluent English. I think she translates just fine by the responses I got from conversations from the woman I went to see. I trust her. Its just a slower process when you use an interpreter.

[Vinnvinny]

Well she speaks Russian and fluent English. I think she translates just fine. I trust her. Its just a slower process when you use an interpreter.

Ok. 

[ML]

. . .  I should have practiced what I've preached, but I thought what the hell I will give it a try. Never ever again will I date a woman who cant speak English. I have made a promise to bitch slap myself if I even think about it. . . . Stupid me. I knew all this before.
 

Well, at least you are admitting it.

It's always sad to see and hear the situations where a guy ignores the plethora of good advice given here . . . and decides that his situation (and gal) is just different enough that the cautions don't count.

When the chickens come home to roost . . . mostly we don't hear from the guys.

You are 'manning up.'

Now you can join the crowd who cautions others . . . and sees your  advice ignored also.   

[facetrock]

ML, I knew this before from previous experience years ago. I just forgot my own lessons learned.

[GQBlues]

...Now you can join the crowd who cautions others . . . and sees your advice ignored also.    

LOL. That's saying it mildly.

[Ooooops]

Its just a slower process when you use an interpreter.

And quite awkward, I think...   Unless you keep discussing weather all the time...   

[Gator]

And quite awkward, I think...   

Yes, phone sex is not as much fun with an interpreter.   
 
 

[Ooooops]

Yes, phone sex is not as much fun with an interpreter.   

Don't like threesomes?   

[ML]

Yes, phone sex is not as much fun with an interpreter.   

Regardless, good phone sex is dependent upon the shape and size of the phone, battery life, and its apps.

[XMan]

I will belatedly jump in on the food topic. 
The food I had in Sochi (in season) was phenomenal.  Everything I tried was top notch.
Spent much more time in Ukraine.  It was exceedingly rare that I had something unpalletable.  The exception was pickled everything under the sun.  Truly amazing just how many things they can pickle.  I don't even like traditional pickles, so that I found unappealing. 
Everything from Greek salad to borsch to shaslik and palmeni was good in just about every restaurant I visited.  Same with home cooked / home prepared.  Nearly always better than the USA because of the products that restaurants are stuck with using. 
I think it can be attributed to several things. 
Hybrids (prior to more recent GMOs) were largely developed to be tough (withstand shipping) and to ripen uniformly (for mechanical harvesting all at once).  Flavor was largely ignored.  Want to grow a good tomato at home?  Buy a open pollinated (non-hybrid, non-GMO) seeds or plants.  Save the seeds from the best of your harvest and you an gradually improve what you grow to fit your particular microclimate.  Not possible with hybrids or GMO seeds.  Healthier for you too, in part due to the genetic variation of what you are eating, as well as what you are avoiding eating.  Old open pollinated varieties were grown for taste and often for disease resistance and ripened over many days or weeks, prolonging harvest.  Want to grow something that can be completely destroyed by a single disease organism?  Grow something that is genetically identical, and therefore uniformly susceptible.  Want to keep that GMO or hybrid growing properly?  Spray it often.  That's why Monsanto is so successful.  They keep you buying seeds and chemicals, every single year.  Nice.
I cannot speak to large-scale agribusiness in Ukraine, but smaller scale farmers are likely using seeds that have been handed down through generations.  GMOs, hybrids, fertilizers, pesticides, all have a significant associated cost.  Saving your own seeds has some real benefits.
Similar to "you are what you eat," plants are as well.  Quality soil is going to have a good balance of macro and micro nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and copper, magnesium, sulfer, boron, iron, etc.).  Soils higher in organic matter are going to grow healthier plants, and in turn produce healthier food.  Taste is also affected by soil quality. 
If you want a good strawberry, try Tribute or Tristar in your garden.  Blooms the entire summer until frost.  Smaller berries, but they actually have flavor, unlike the tetraploid (4 sets o chromosomes) largely tasteless monstrosities you buy in a grocery store. 
 
 

[IAmZon]

Damn ... you guys sure like food!  LOL


About English / Russian.  Of course the Russian language is DAUNTING!!!  I doubt I could master it.   But, I enjoy it - very surprisingly. 


I had recently learned Spanish (again, I am being generous to myself) when I visited Ukraine.  I used the same learning program and flash cards I used from Spanish and applied the same approach to Russian - identically.  The result is that I made very good progress, very quickly.


I found that when people knew I was really trying in Russian, they were much more comfortable trying in English.   I found that in almost every situation, an educated person knew much more English than they presumed.


It was much easier to manage in Ukraine alone than it was for me to manage in South America alone without any local understanding.


BUT, I AGREE.   Using interpreters is OK for first meetings / important discussions ... but, after that, it's largely a waste of time

[ML]

BUT, I AGREE.   Using interpreters is OK for first meetings / important discussions ... but, after that, it's largely a waste of time

Have you noticed in your world travels that no interpreters are ever needed where sex is involved?

And with those having no common language, the advantage is you never have to hear . . . you want to do what and put that where !!!

[Flashback]

So.. The trip is over. Fun trip. I should have practiced what I've preached, but I thought what the hell I will give it a try. Never ever again will I date a woman who cant speak English. I have made a promise to bitch slap myself if I even think about it. Even with Mila who I think is a top notch interpreter its just to hard for me. To hard to keep a natural flow going. Stupid me. I knew all this before.

Some men can make it work with a woman who speaks very little English.. I cannot.

 Basically I like to talk too much

  Its the little things I notice with a woman. After one day there is a tiny red flag. A few days later there a 2 or 3 more tiny red flags. 5 Days later there is five or six. Add them all up and you have one big ass red flag which equals your not compatible. The gut instinct kicks in and says the sooner you get the hell away the better.

  The woman I went to see is a very good woman. Our personalities clash. I'm laid back. She is not. Really all there is to it.

Getting back to the English. If she could have spoke English I could have figured this out a lot quicker. Even with a good interpreter like Mila things go slow. I should have bitch slapped myself.
 

Ok, so quick little intro here. I'm actually an old member who continues to flip-flop on this. I started young now I'm about to be 35. Still exploring the possibilities with AW's. I couldn't remember my password, so I just started over with a whole new identity.

I've been to Russia, and Ukraine. Once each. Now I'm going to try Ukraine again. I went to Lugansk. None of my women I went to meet spoke English. Terps worked well, but couldn't be trusted. Who knows what they said? I need to learn Russian. Anyway, I'm interested in going to Kharkov. Some extremely attractive women there. That being said, I would like to learn anything anyone can help out with, with some pointers.

Questions:
1. Anyone whose been to Kharkov, know if English is being spoken more than other cities, or is it the same? I've been looking at some profiles on some websites (I know the group here prefers EM's) and they say they speak English, but my own experience tells me otherwise; or is Kharkov bigger with more business ties so English is practiced more.
2. What's the general consensus in Kharkov? In Lugansk, it was an organized business to rip off men, strangers I would befriend in the hotel or a restaurant would inform me of this, under no reward of their own, is it the same in Kharkov?
3. How do I contact this Mila interpreter that is well praised in this forum?

Thanks,
Flashback