Why RW you meet are different from what the books say.

[Vasilisa]

I don't know if this documentary has been mentioned here before, and it's in Russian  and is only available to those who has vk.com account(maybe you can watch it somewhere else, I don't know) but I decided to post it anyway for those who  can speak and understand some Russian.
It is about different stages of migration in Russia and has 5 episodes.
1) Is about RW migration in the first half of the 20-th century and the 60-ies.
2) 70-ies
3) 80-ies
4)90-ies
5) modern Russia
the movie was made in 2009.
You can see how the country changed and how women and their expectations changed and can hear some stories of different couples.

From my personal observation most guides  on dating RW you can read nowadays were written by people that dated back in the 80-ies and 90-ies.

http://vk.com/club16318700#/videos-16318700
The documentary is called: "Russian wives"

[Gator]

I wish I could read it.
 
Vasilisa, who is changing the most:
 
a.. An individual RW as she ages and becomes 30yo, then 40, then 50,   
            -or-
b.  A 25-yo RW in the 1970s vs. a 25-yo in the 1980s, 90s and today?
 
The behavior and goals of 25-yo women in America today has little resemblance to 25-yo  women 30 and 40 years ago. 
 
 
 

[Lily]

Thanks for the link, Vasilisa! A huge docu, even 5 movies! Watching them now.

[Vasilisa]

I wish I could read it.
 
Vasilisa, who is changing the most:
 
a.. An individual RW as she ages and becomes 30yo, then 40, then 50,   
            -or-
b.  A 25-yo RW in the 1970s vs. a 25-yo in the 1980s, 90s and today?
 
The behavior and goals of 25-yo women in America today has little resemblance to 25-yo  women 30 and 40 years ago.

Gator, I have no idea, I can say I am a lot different from what I was 10 years ago.

My personal observation is that I can hardly understand Russian people that migrated in the West 15-30 years ago and stayed there. It's like Russia is moving on and "Russian America" is staying the same, when you visit Brighton Beach in the US it's like you come in the Soviet Union of the 80-ies with similar mentality and service but shelves look better. These people don't understand that Russia has changed, they keep thinking it's still the same and treat you the way you have just escaped from the Soviet Union.

[Voyager36]

I don't know if this documentary has been mentioned here before, and it's in Russian  and is only available to those who has vk.com account(maybe you can watch it somewhere else, I don't know) but I decided to post it anyway for those who  can speak and understand some Russian.
It is about different stages of migration in Russia and has 5 episodes.
1) Is about RW migration in the first half of the 20-th century and the 60-ies.
2) 70-ies
3) 80-ies
4)90-ies
5) modern Russia
the movie was made in 2009.
You can see how the country changed and how women and their expectations changed and can hear some stories of different couples.

From my personal observation most guides  on dating RW you can read nowadays were written by people that dated back in the 80-ies and 90-ies.

Sounds like an interesting series, I'll guess I'll have to get into VK to see it .


Does the 1960's to 1980's part  include all of the Soviet Union or is it just about RW?

[Lily]

Actually you should be able to see the movies even if you are not a vk member. Just try?
 

Does the 1960's to 1980's part include all of the Soviet Union or is it just about RW?

Do you mean the women from the Asian, Baltic, etc parts? So far it is about the RW. At the same time, my guess would be that in the 1960-80xx, there wouldn't be significant differences in people.

[Ooooops]

I found the 1st installment on YouTube





Can you imagine that your wife duplicates your office key to sneak in there before the opening hours with home made cake for a birthday surprise?       

[Misha]

Gator, I have no idea, I can say I am a lot different from what I was 10 years ago.

I was in Russia in the 1990s and have seen the changes. However, some things never change. Most women want to be loved and if they do not find a suitable candidate at home, they will consider other options and some may even move to another country.

These people don't understand that Russia has changed, they keep thinking it's still the same and treat you the way you have just escaped from the Soviet Union.

Well, perhaps, but Guriev certainly hightailed it pretty quickly out of Russia and certainly hinted that he was concerned about being arrested and following in Khodorkovsky's footsteps...

[GoodOlBoy]

These people don't understand that Russia has changed, they keep thinking it's still the same and treat you the way you have just escaped from the Soviet Union.

As the realtors in the GoodOl' USA say: "Location, Location, Location".
 
Wifey came back from Omsk last year and told me things are actually worse in her opinion than when she left 8 years ago.
"BIL lost his job.... no money... no good jobs there".
Lots of shiny new buildings in the city center though. 
 
On the other hand, her visits to a close sick friend in Moscow reveal a different story....
 
GOB

[Vasilisa]

As the realtors in the GoodOl' USA say: "Location, Location, Location".
 
Wifey came back from Omsk last year and told me things are actually worse in her opinion than when she left 8 years ago.
"BIL lost his job.... no money... no good jobs there".
Lots of shiny new buildings in the city center though. 
 
On the other hand, her visits to a close sick friend in Moscow reveal a different story....
 
GOB

I think you are right. From my observation the majority of the cities in the European part of Russia are doing better and  many of the cities that are in the Far East of Russia (and Omsk which is in Siberia) are doing worse (When I lived in the US I met a RW who was from Omsk and she has the same observation about her native city).

I was sitting in a cafe with an American friend of mine that lives in St.Petersburg, he'd moved there from NY last year and had used to come almost every year before his relocation, his first visit was in the 90-ies.

The cafe was across the street from a big historical building and as we were having a desert he mentioned how the city had changed and improved and that 10 years ago that place'd been dirty and full of drunk groups of guys with bottles of beer sitting on the steps of that building playing guitars  and smoking and now it's remodelled and clean, and full of well-dressed people and tourists around it.

[OlgaH]

As the realtors in the GoodOl' USA say: "Location, Location, Location".
 
Wifey came back from Omsk last year and told me things are actually worse in her opinion than when she left 8 years ago.
"BIL lost his job.... no money... no good jobs there".
Lots of shiny new buildings in the city center though. 
 
On the other hand, her visits to a close sick friend in Moscow reveal a different story....
 
GOB

While 11% of Moscow population are on the poverty level, the percent is higher in other regions. Why it happens? Here is a good explanation.
http://newsland.com/news/detail/id/900464/

For example, Gazprom pays to Moscow budget about 160 billion rubles per year because Gazprom officially registered in Moscow though operates in other regions. Just 18% of Moscow budget consists of money from the big Russian companies like Lukoil and Rosneft, again because almost all big Russian companies are registered in Moscow though they do not operate in the Moscow region. Since 2006 Omsk "Sibneft" has been registered in Saint Petersburg, it means the Omsk region lost 6 billion rub per year, it is 35% of the region budget.

Plus... to all indirect revenue add direct subvention and subsidy taken from the Federal budget for Moscow, for so called "fulfilment of the Russian capital needs." In 2011 it was 161 billion rub.

[Ooooops]

Vasilisa, may I ask - where in Russia do you live now?

[Boethius]

My personal observation is that I can hardly understand Russian people that migrated in the West 15-30 years ago and stayed there. It's like Russia is moving on and "Russian America" is staying the same, when you visit Brighton Beach in the US it's like you come in the Soviet Union of the 80-ies with similar mentality and service but shelves look better. These people don't understand that Russia has changed, they keep thinking it's still the same and treat you the way you have just escaped from the Soviet Union.

They do understand.  They just don't like it, and would like to return to the past.

[Ooooops]

I've been to Brighton Beach only once, almost 20 years ago.   It was really cool, like getting into a time machine.       But I've heard that it's changing with old immigrants dying out and young generation moving into "America".

[Chicagoguy]

The Mayor of Omsk once asked me "Could you have an oil refinery not far from town and yet receive few benefits from it "
I replied that yes - we could have the same problem. Omsk was a big military supplier and those are mostly gone now.
My wife is from Cheboksary and it is so much nicer than Omsk. But I still have good friends there who manage OK.

[Voyager36]

Actually you should be able to see the movies even if you are not a vk member. Just try?
 
Do you mean the women from the Asian, Baltic, etc parts? So far it is about the RW. At the same time, my guess would be that in the 1960-80xx, there wouldn't be significant differences in people.

Yes that's what I meant.
Women who have emigrated in the last 20 - 25 years from Russia or the other republics could be quite different