To Kerch the Wong way... Or was it Wight?

[TheWongs]

29th July 2008

Ok... Today, I booked my flights after watching the prices rocket for the last few weeks. I was going to go with KLM via Amsterdam because the price was always the best, but I found someone who can better them! KLM wanted £410 to fly me there on the 14th... Air France wanted £371 to get me there via Paris. Also, the times work perfectly in both directions with the trains to and from Kiev. I was happy to go with Air France after thinking about all the KLM lost baggage!

Since this, I discovered that Air France is KLM!

As far as the wedding goes...

As usual, it's all about money. I sat down and worked it all out. Due to me being Irish and a bit thick, I'd not thought too much about the cost of it all. The flights, translations, notary and wedding are not that much, but when you are self employed, you have to consider how much it will cost the business when you are away for 3 weeks. This is where I had my awakening! I didn't think about how much the business and my home life costs! On one hand, I'm happy that I can do this when I'm here and not worry too much, but on the other, it's a lot of extra £ that I have to find before I go in just over 2 weeks.

But... I'm not giving up and have started to book more work in, so I'll be working nights as as well as 7 days a week until I go. Who knows? I may just pull it off!

Larisa is supporting me as usual and arranging as much as she can. A few days ago, the marriage office told her we couldn't have the 28th, but Larisa, being Larisa swung it in our direction. Apparently, the marriage office only does weddings on a Friday and Saturday in Kerch. I suppose it's because it's a small place, there isn't so many weddings to do? So... We can get married on the 28th if everything else falls into place but, that is quite a big "IF" at this point.

Tell you what though....... I'll NEED this holiday!!!!

[TheWongs]

On 2nd of September, I started my next trip report....

Well.... I'M BACK!

First... Thanks to everyone for the good wishes and many thanks to Chris & John for the calls and messages during my trip!

What a trip! As you know, I flew Airfrance to Paris, then on to Kiev. The first flight was late, so I had 20 minutes to get to my connecting flight. I asked at the desk how to do it fast and they told me to take the bus. I jumped on... It took 35 minutes to go around the airport! After studying a map of the airport, I could have walked there in 10! Needless to say, I missed the flight, so I went to the desk, threw my tickets on the counter and said "fix"! The conversation went like this;

The woman tapped on the computer and said "ok. Sorry your flight was late. You are on the next flight". "What about my case? I hear you have a reputation for losing them". She gave me a look of disgust and said; "Your case WAS offloaded from the other flight and WILL be on yours. It WILL be there when you arrive in Kiev". "Thank you". "Have a good day".

I contacted Larisa, who was already waiting for me in Kiev. She went back to the train station, sold our train tickets at the side of the road, then bought more for the later train. What a smart lady she is!  She said the only problem was the new tickets were on top bunks in a "not so good" cabin.

When I finally landed in Kiev, I stood waiting for my bag. Of course, it was not there. Larisa had been at Borispol for 4 hours by this stage and I was not going to keep her waiting longer. I went through security and met her. We went outside, had a smoke (and a few well deserved kisses) and relaxed for 5 minutes. I went back inside to the Airfrance desk. The woman said I must go to the "lost & found". She then added "but you can not go back through security". I said "watch me" and walked to the automatic doors. Larisa was shocked when the doors opend for someone to come out and I just walked back in!

The security guy nearly had heart failure! I told him to relax and not worry, walked straight past him and to lost & found. He was still behind me when I arrived, so I told him to go back to work and not worry. He was not happy at all, but what could he do? There was an angry Irishman loose in the airport! I filled in the forms etc. and the woman asked if I had a key for my case. Yes, but it was outside in my hand lugguage with Larisa. I went through security again, got the key and returned. The guard was red in the face and almost having a fit by this stage, but I just waved for him to sit and walked past. He threw his hands in the air and sat down.

So... That was that. I was told the case would come to Larisa's house in a few days. I thought "I'll not hold my breath"!

We boarded the train to Djankoy and found there was only one other man in the cabin with us. He was a very nice man. He spoke a little English, so we chatted, drank and had some laughs on the way. The 16 hour trip passed very quickly......

[TheWongs]

Something I forgot to add. I didn't write my notes for the first few days, due to the situation/s.

When I filled in the immigration form on the plane, in the section marked "purpose of visit", I wrote "Marriage".

When I got to customs, there was a pretty young lady at the desk. I watched as she read the form with a very serious look on her face. When she got to this part, she looked at me, back at the form, back at me, then gave me a big smile and happily stamped my papers.

I'm still not sure exactly what she was thinking. It was quite unusual...

Maybe she was thinking "Good! Another Western man getting what he deserves"! Or could it have been "Good. Another woman out of the country"!

Ok. Where was I? Oh yes... Djankoy!

We needed to find a bus to Kerch, so walked to the station. There was a bus there with a sign "Kerch" (in Russian of course). Along with "Kerch" was a list of other places about a mile long. The bus was one of the old, worn out ones, so Larisa said it would be better to wait for the faster one. Also, it would probably be better. I couldn't have agreed more!

While we were looking at the timetable, a man approached and started chatting to Larisa. I gathered from the conversation this bloke had a minibus and was touting for customers. His price was good, so after a short conversation, we decided to go with this option. He told us to follow him and we could wait in his bus. He was parked accross form the station and we sat there, happily chatting for a while. 20 minutes later, 2 other people arrived, so we chatted to them. 40 minutes later, we went for a walk, smoke and bought some drinks. 60 minutes later, there was a total of 8 people, getting very fed up! The next official bus was going to be there soon, so I suggested that we all walk to the station and tell this bloke to get a move on or we would all get the other bus. The first reaction was "we can't do that"! 5 minutes later, Larisa told me to watch the bus, bags etc. and they all left. I watched as they crossed the rod and spoke to the driver. There was a lot of arm waving and heated discussion, before the man stormed off in the direction of his bus, followed by everyone else. As each one passed me, they gave a "thumbs up" or a wink. We were on our way!

I have never seen a bus get to Kerch so fast! It's amazing how well these guys drive when they are wound up!  We arrived at about 2.30 in the afternoon and as soon as we were off the bus, we had to get to the translation office. It was Friday afternoon and we needed everything translated and noterised by Monday! At this point I was glad Airfrance/KLM had lost my case! We walked across the town and arrived at about 3pm.

We were greeted by a very lovely woman who had already translated the faxed copies of my documents. I showed her the originals and Larisa checked every word. She pointed out a few things that needed correcting. Mainly, these were names and place names. When Larisa was happy with them, the woman said she would send one of her staff with the Apostilled divorce papers to the noterisation office, just to make sure there would be no problems.

We had coffee and chatted for about 15 minutes, until this man returned. When he did, the news was VERY bad! The noterisation guy was not sure about my documents! He had never seen papers like this. My response was "What sort of stupid idiot is he! Does he not know his job? Maybe he should brush roads instead"! This got a few giggles, but it was a serious problem!

The woman told us to go home and she would try her best to do something over the weekend. Of course, all these offices are closed at weekends, so I don't know what she thought she was going to do...

[TheWongs]

A picture of my honey on the train from Kiev to Djankoy.

[TheWongs]

We left the translation office under a cloud and walked to the bus station. On the way, we talked about the situation. I decided that we would go to this bloke on Monday morning, hand him my phone and tell him to phone whoever in the world he wanted until the documents were verified. Larisa said "You can't do that". My reply was becoming my catchphrase... "Watch me"!

We decided to not let this spoil our weekend. It was the only chance we would have to relax until after the wedding (if there was going to be a wedding!). I said we should eat and knew just the place. The Victoria bar above the bus station. Great food and nice surroundings, topped off with friendly staff who know me.  We went inside and ordered food and my first Ukrainian beer. Larisa made a few calls and arranged for her sons to meet us there. As we were eating, I found myself looking at the doors every few seconds. I had to say sorry to Larisa a few times because she was talking to me as I was watching the door! After the third or fourth time, she said "I would only be unhappy if you were not looking for Jenya and Sasha. It is good that you are exited to see them again". She was right! I loved these two guys from the day I met them and couldn't wait to see them again!

After what seemed to be an hour (but was only 20 minutes), the door opened and they walked in. I jumped up and ran to meet them. I was greeted by a big handshake from each, followed by a huge hug that I was happy to return! I was the happiest man in the world! Larisa told me later that she nearly cried at that moment because she realized that we were soon all going to be one family... A VERY HAPPY family!

We sat and talked, eat and drank beer, until Jenya thought it was more important for us to drink vodka tonight. It was ordered and toasts were made until it was gone. Then, of course, we ordered more!  After this one, Larisa and the boys wanted to take me to the newly renovated Lenin Square. I was dying to see it, so off we went.

We arrived and had a look around. After a few pictures were taken, we went to another bar, ordered more food, vodka and continued to celebrate.  It wasn't long before the vodka kicked in and I started to speak better Russian. Sahsa also started to speak better English. I remember one point when I was having a very deep conversation with him about his woman problems. He is in love with a woman that Larisa hates. They keep breaking up but get back together again. She was with him when I met him 2 years ago and to be honest, I liked her a lot! But mothers are mothers and Larisa wants him to be with a good houswife. Apparently, this is something that she is not. 

Anyway... A great night was had by all and I have some great memories1 Larisa was telling everyone we met for the next few weeks about my conversation with Sasha. She thinks is is fantastic that we all get on so well together. I agree!

The next day was only for resting and Larisa let me sleep late while she had her usual daily 5am start, doing washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning and shopping. All before I even woke up! When I did, it was a fantastic feeling to be in the same room as Larisa!  She gave me a big smile, kissed me and went to the kitchen to make me a coffee. What a wonderful way to wake up!

We spent the day doing nothing, but chatting and enjoying each other's company. In the evening, we watched some tv, went for a walk in the park and had an early night. She said we were going to meet the boys in the morning and we were all going to the beach...... COOL!.........

A picture of the back of Lenin's statue in Lenin Square. I have an old picture taken from about the same angle. If I find it, I'll post it so you can see the fantastic improvement.

[TheWongs]

Next morning, we all met at Larisa's apartment and walked to the beach. It was very hot, even at 8am. When we arrived, we laid out our towels, drank some beer and were ready to test the water. I had been waiting for this moment for a long time! I love the sea and especially the sea at the beach where Larisa and I spent so much time when we lived together. We ran to the water and I walked in up to my knees. At this moment, Larisa's phone started ringing and she ran back to answer it. I waited where I was. When Larisa finished the call, she called me over. My missing case had arrived in Kerch and would be at her appartment in 30 minutes!

On one hand we were gutted. We had been looking forward to swimming together for a long time, but on the other, it was good that my case had arrived so quickly. We left Jenya, Alona and Sasha on the beach and made our way back home. As we reached Larisa's appartment the phone rang again and the delivery guy said he would be another 30 minutes! Oh well. We relaxed with a beer and waited for the case. It arrived, I checked everything and all was well.

On Sunday morning, we went back to the beach and did some proper swimming without being disturbed.  The water was warm and the sun was hot! Of course, I spent to much time doing both swimming and sunbathing, so I burnt myself again!  I tend to do this every time I go to Kerch. This time, it wasn't so bad, so didn't suffer too much.

Later, we went to Bagerovo to visit Larisa's cousin Sergey. He is the only family Larisa has in Kerch, so they are very close. We sat in the kitchen and out came the cognac. I only spoke one or two words of Russian for the first few hours due to Larisa doing all the talking and translating. At one point Sergey asked Larisa to see if I liked this cognac. I understood what he said and before Larisa could say anything, I said in Russian "Very good cognac! I speak very good Russian now"! The whole room were at first shocked and then went into fits of laughter! They had forgotten that I speak a little and understand quite a lot. Larisa spent the next few weeks telling this story to everyone we talked to and when she got to the point where I spoke, she would stop and point at me so I could say it again.

Anyway... Back in Bagerovo, Larisa had told Sergey that I had a problem with my arm. He said he had a similar problem and knew what would help. It was some mud from a volcanic lake about 5km from there. He jumped on his scooter and went to get some. When he returned it was about 8.30pm. He gave us this jar of mud and explained what to do with it. Larisa asked what time the next bus to Kerch was and Sergey looked at his watch. "You have missed the last one. It went at 8pm"! He offered to take us on his scooter and phoned his friend who also had one.

I thought he was going to give us a lift to the train station which is only about 10 minutes away. The busses run from there until about midnight, so that would have done nicely. He had other ideas and decided to take us all the way home. We set off down the country roads. There was a LOT of grasshoppers and they were bouncing of everything as we rode along. Sergey's scooter is one of the better ones in that part of the country, so we left Larisa and his friend a long way behind at one point. He stopped to let them catch up. When they passed, he jumped off and told me to ride. I didn't need to be asked twice!  We took off and caught up with Larisa and his friend. As we passed, I gave Larisa a big wave and said "Hi Honey! Bye Honey"! She nearly fell off the bike with shock, then started laughing so hard that she nearly fell off again! I rode the bike almost the rest of the way home, but changed back as we entered the main road in case there was any police around.

We arrived home and invited them in for coffee. While we were talking, Sergey asked if I had any change. He only had a 200gvn note and needed cigarettes. I changed his money, but put an extra 100 gvn note with it, folded it and gave it to him, hoping he wouldn't check it. Of course, he's Russian so he did. When he saw the extra note, he went mad! He tried to give it back to me, but I was not having it. He eventually gave in and shook my hand. They left and we had an early night.

Next day was going to be a big day. It was time to see this noterisation guy and make him stamp some papers!.............

[TheWongs]

On Monday morning we were up bright and early, had breakfast and got the next "bus" into the town centre. As we travelled, Larisa was getting more and more nervous. Maybe she thought I'd do something crazy today? I was developing this bad habit of not taking s**t from anyone and going into things with all guns blazing. Not like me at all, but I wanted this to happen and was not going to go down easy!

We discussed various options, but it all came back to this noterisation thing. If it didn't happen today, the marriage was off! We had to be in Simferopol the following day to get the papers "legalised". In Crimea, Simferopol has the only office that can do this. I gather from other married couples that in Ukraine most cities have this office, but not in Crimea!

As we walked to the translation office to collect our documents, Larisa was very quiet and VERY nervous! I was ready for battle with this guy. We stood outside and lit a cigarette. As we were finishing Larisa's phone rang. She chatted for a short time, then let out this scream of delight! She said thankyou (spasiba) about 20 times and put her phone away. She looked at me, threw her arms around me and said "we have the documents noterised"!!!!! Apparently, this translation woman had been chasing around all weekend trying to convince this guy that the documents were legit and legal. Just because he had never seen them before didn't mean he could stop a wedding taking place. Whatever she did worked and he stamped the papers!

We went into the office and spoke to the Translation lady. Larisa checked all the papers and asked if she had to pay more. Larisa had asked for an estimate before giving the work to this company and they had told her about 500gvn, but possibly more so Larisa had given them that. She was happy with 500 so didn't charge any more. This lady was so nice, we invited her to the wedding and she said it would be a pleasure to attend.

Next step was to get bus tickets to Simferopol for first thing in the morning. The bus station was only 5 minutes away, so we went straight there. There was no vacant seats on any of the busses!! This was typical of our luck! After the noterisation thing, I thought / hoped the worst was over. But... As we know, this is Ukraine and anything is possible!

The only other option was a daunting one... The dreaded train! This train is notorious for being VERY slow and like a cattle cart! We had no choice, so got the bus to the train station. The only tickets we could get were on the top bunks of the open, 6 bed cabins... In different parts of the train! The train left at 11pm and arrived in Simferopol 6 hours later. At least it would be cooler travelling at night.... I thought!

We boarded the train and found our bunks. Larisa warned me over and over about all the thing I already knew. Sleep with one eye open, hide your money and phone inside your pillow, don't talk to anyone etc, etc, etc. I kept reassuring her that I was fine and it was her that I worried about. The temperature in the train was about mid 30's, so was quite hot. As we started to roll, I discovered that none of the windows opened and it gradually got hotter! I tried to get some sleep, but was constantly thinking about Larisa, on her own in another part of the train. After a few hours, it was so hot I couldn't sleep anyway. I decided to go for a smoke. As I was getting up, a figure arrived at the entrance to the cabin. I was Larisa! She had exactly the same experience and thoughts, so she came to find me. We went together and had a smoke.

We arrived in Simferopol at 5.30am and stepped off the train. Larisa said we were going to meet Sergey's daughter and she was going to take us to her house for a short time until the office opened. We had to meet her at the main ticket office, but Larisa had no idea where it was. I was usefull for something at last! I'd been in this station a few times and knew exactly where to go.  We met her and soon were drinking tea in her appartment. She was a very beautiful young lady and was living with her boyfriend there. Not only was she very beautiful, but she was also a wonderful and generous young lady! Larisa and I sat on the bed sofa and were told to lie down because we looked tired. Next thing I remember was Larisa waking me up with a kiss and saying it was time to go!

We got the bus to the centre and found the office. There was a lot of people outside! Larisa made her way to the front and asked this security bloke what we should do etc. He said there was 2 lines and we should stand in this one. So, we sood in line in the blazing sun from 9am until we got inside at 10.45am. When we did get inside, we were told that we were in the wrong line and had to go back outside and join the back of the other! Larisa was not impressed and took a disliking to this security guard.

We went back and waited.... And waited... And waited! It was 42c in the shade, but there was very little shade outside this office. There was a small tree a little way down the road, so we took turns standing under it and watching people's places in the line. At 11.45 someone told us that they stop taking papers at 12 noon and there was still 6 people in front of us! I said it was no problem and we could stay and return tomorrow. Larisa then explained that this office only works one day each week! I became a little angry and called the Ukrainian system bad, using more than a few swear words!

Once again, we were in the position of not being able to get married!

Larisa suddenly made up her mind to do something, but didn't tell me what. She dissappeared into the building and I heard an almighty row in the hall. It was Larisa and the security guy! I don't know what was said and Larisa wouldn't tell me, but I think she used a few bad words! She pushed him out of the way and walked into an office. A few minutes later, she came outside and told me to come with her.

We walked into the building, around a few corridors and I was told to wait outside this office. While we waited, Larisa told me what she had done. She told them that I collapsed in the street because of the heat and she needed to get me out of the sun and home as soon as possible! It was funny, because at the moment she was telling me this, I was leaning against the wall at a silly angle and it looked good.  A woman came from the office and asked us in.

This woman had no time to spare! It was 11.58! She took our documents, scanned them very quickly and asked Larisa for the copies of her passport. Larisa didn't know she needed them! OH NO!!!!

As quick as a flash, this woman told us to follow and ran down corridors. We arrived at another office and there was a short conversation. Suddenly, people were running all over the office, getting paper, starting the photo copier etc. Larisa handed her passport over and in seconds she had copies. We ran back to the other office and the woman put all our papers in a file. She handed Larisa a piece of paper that turned out to be the bill for the legalising of our documents. She told us to pay this at the bank and come back at 3pm. She said that she would look at our papers properly then. We were ushered out of the building and the doors closed behind us.

I was a little shell shocked and confused by these events. I thought the office closed at 12, but Larisa explained that they only stop taking papers at this time. They work until 4.30.

First, we found a bank and paid the 150gvn fee. Then, we went to a bar in the centre and had some lunch. On the way back, my daughter phoned and Larisa was happy to talk to her for a while.  We still had some time, so went to another really cool bar. This bar is almost beside the office and is a very nice place. Air con and very nice staff, so we stayed there and had a few beers until it was time to go back to the office.

At 2.30, we decided to get in line. When we arrived, we were surprised to see there was no line of people outside. However, when we walked in, we found the people inside. At least we were in the shade!  There was a young lady in this line who was having problems getting her marriage documents legalised. Apparently she was marrying a guy from England and they would not accept his divorce documents. I started to worry! After talking to her for a short time, I saw the problem. This guy had only been divorced for a few months and didn't have the decree absoloute. He only had a decree nisi. I explained what she must do and we talked through the whole process with her. She wished us good luck and told us she would see us outside when we finished.

The line soon dissappeared and we found ourselves back in this office, facing this serious looking woman. Larisa handed her the reciept for the bank payment and she started to study our papers. One of my documents was a letter from my employer, saying that I could only have 2 weeks holiday. This was because you are supposed to live there for one month before marrying. When this woman looked at it, she frowned and asked Larisa why it was noterised. Larisa answered that she thought all documents had to be and the reply was "this is not a legal document from a government office! It is a piece of paper, written by god knows who, signed by god knows who and should not have been noterised. It is only a letter from a company in a different country and can not be treated as a legal document". I was worried again!!!!!

When she finished looking at everything, she talked to Larisa for a short time about her security guard. Apparently, there was a lot of complaints about him today and after what had happened to me, she had ordered him to allow people to wait in the hall of the building.  After this conversation, she reached into a drawer, pulled out a stamp and a small form. She wrote some stuff on the form, stapled it to our papers and stamped it. We now had legal permission to marry!!!!

A picture of the "line" of 6 people just before we got in. It was my turn to take shade under the tree!

[TheWongs]

When we left the building, the young lady with problems was still there. She asked how we did and seemed genuinely happy for us, but a little jealous when we told her everything was fine and stamped. She said her father was waiting in his car and would take us to the bus station as a thankyou for helping.

As we drove, we talked some more and I explained everything I knew to her. I gave her my telephone numbers in Ukraine, UK and my email, so if they needed any more help, they could phone or email me.

We reached the bus station and had no trouble getting tickets this time.  We had an hour to spend, so went for a walk. Larisa was hungry, so I told her about a nice place I know that's close to the bus station. We made our way there and relaxed with food and beers. The bus was nice, with air con and a screen. During the trip, the driver put on a movie. As this movie was finishing, we arrived in Feodosia for a 15 minute break. This was about the halway point between Simferopol and Kerch. Back on the bus, there was another movie, but we were in Kerch before it finished. I wanted to stay on the bus and watch the end, but Larisa and the driver didn't like that idea.

The next hurdle is back at the marriage office. We wanted to marry on the 28th of August. This is our "special day". But, the marriage office in Kerch only works Friday and Saturday for weddings. Larisa had already talked this woman into allowing us to marry on the Thursday, but it was now time to see if she would!

We went there first thing in the morning and didn't have to wait too long. At least we could wait inside, out of the blistering heat! The woman looked at our papers and smiled. It was almost as if she knew us now and wanted to help. She explained that if we marry on a Thursday, we can't have all the trimmings like photographer, flowers etc, but we were happy with that. All we wanted was a simple wedding with a few friends and family.

With all those details sorted out, the marriage was arranged for 4.30 in the afternoon.

Next, was the payment for this marriage. Larisa had told me it was about 300gvn, but we may have to pay more for the Thursday. Also the price was the same with, or without the "trimmings". The woman gave us a big smile and handed a piece of paper to Larisa. This, of course was the bill for us to pay at the bank. We walked outside and looked. 150gvn!!!

We went straight to the bank, paid the bill and returned with the reciept. Everything was done and we were finally getting married! Not only married, but married on the day we wanted! WoW! 

That night, we decided to meet Larisa's best friend Sveta and have a few beers in the park.........

[TheWongs]

We met Sveta and went to the park with a few litres of beer. When it was finished, we decided to get some more. On the way, we spotted a nice little bar, set back off the road. It looked quiet and friendly, so we sat outside with another beer. This was also the perfect oppertunity for the ladies to "powder their noses".

We left and headed to Larisa's local shop for another few liters of beer. While we were standing in the que, Larisa pointed out that the people in front were speaking English. All of a sudden, the man in front of them spun around and started hurling abuse at them! He said he did not need to hear foreign language spoken in his country. He was a huge guy, with muscles sticking out of places I didn't know there were muscles! The English speakers were two Russian ladies and a Russian man. The man backed off like a little sheep, but one of the ladies started shouting and pushing this big bloke. At this point I was a little worried that he may do something to her, but he just shouted back for a while, saying something about Afganistan, blah, blah. This lady verbally tore him to pieces and he left, shouting swear words as he slammed the door behind him. The shop was quiet. I said in English "does anyone else want to speak English"? The ladies laughed and translated what I'd said. The whole shop had a laugh and the atmosphere became more relaxed.

We left the shop and walked to a spot near Larisa's apartment. It was a low wall and we could use it like a table. Sveta went to the other side of the wall and acted like a barman. We laughed and joked for a while, bought more beer and laughed some more.

It must have been about an hour later that 2 guys were walking past and said hi. We said hi back and they asked if they could join us. They said they had crisps and beer and it looked like we were having fun. Larisa said "no problem" and they seemed like nice guys. The conversation was light and we were all having fun. I didn't say anything because I don't like to speak until I know who I'm talking to. I watched and listened as they all talked. I was watching the body language of them. One was standing beside Larisa, who was on the other side of the wall (her turn as barman). He was bigger than me and not so scary, but there was something I didn't trust about him. The other was totally relaxed, standing on the same side of the wall as me, beside Sveta.

Larisa had told them I was her husband and the bloke beside her started speaking to me. He was talking very fast and although I picked up a few words, he was way too fast for me. Larisa was talking to the other guy and I needed her help, so I said "Larisa". This bloke then started! "You can't even say her name! It's Looooorissssaaaa! Loooorrriiissssaaa!". When Larisa turned, she told him he was wrong and her name is Larisa. A heated converstation started, just as it had in the shop, but this time I was the little sheep in the middle of it. Larisa spoke the fastest Russian I have ever heard as she put him in his place! I took one step back and one to my left, so I was not seperated from him by a wall. As I did, he stopped to look at me. He got back into the conversation, then he also mentioned Afganistan. It was obvious at this point that he had been in the shop and wanted to take over this topic from the other man. Larisa asked his age. He was 26! Larisa asked him what he could possibly know about anything at that age. She told him "I have 2 sons nearly your age and they are twice as smart. Do you want me to call them so they can come here and talk to you? I must say that they will not be happy and may just kill you"! She told him to go home to his mommy, then turned her back on him. He stopped and went quiet, then said something in a calm voice. Larisa repeated that he should go to his mommy without turning. His friend appoligised and collected his beer. He walked arond to his friend and persuaded him to go with him. They walked away and this guy kept turning to shout abuse at us. Larisa only answered to one of them and asked if his mother would like him talking to a lady like that. After a few more ignored words of abuse, they were gone. We walked Sveta home and went home ourselves.

A strange ending to the evening, but it shows that sometimes you need to be careful when and where you speak English in Ukraine. I always try to say as little as possible when there are strangers around, or I'm walking past people late at night. Be carefull guys!

[TheWongs]

The following morning, we got back to business and went shopping for wedding rings. Larisa wanted a ring to match her engagement ring which is a light shade of gold. I Ukraine, it is more common to have a darker gold, but we found a beautiful ring for her in the second shop we visited. Larisa, being Larisa had to see all the other shops before we came back of course!  We bought this ring and looked for one for me. I'm so easy to please it's not normal and we picked one very quickly. The people in the shops were very surprised when we put our rings on our left hand, because of course in Ukraine they wear a wedding ring on the right. Larisa explained to them that this was the hand that they wear the ring on in UK. Everyone we met wished us well and seemed to be happy for us.

With the rings sorted out, the only thing left was the wedding party. It was only going to be a small affair, due to our lack of funds, so we went to a lot of bars looking for a suitable room. We spent the next few days looking, but only found a few that suited our needs. There was nothing that we both liked enough to book.

Next day, Larisa had to work. so I went into town and met a few friends. I went to a few other bars, but still found nothing I liked.

Larisa had to work again on Saturday, but she asked for more time off. At this point she had used all of her holidays plus more and questions were being asked! Nobody at the school knew she was getting married. Larisa was worried that if they knew, she would not keep her job. Not because they didn't want her to get married, but because she has to sign a contract for one year and if she married a foreigner, it would mean she would leave before the contract was complete. She had to bite the bullet and explain the situation. One of her bosses was very happy for her, but asked the obvious questions about the contract. Larisa hates to lie, but told them it would not affect her work for the next year and she would be there. They told her to work until lunchtime, then go home until after I had left!

While she worked, I spent time in the apartment, fixing various problems. She had a shower unit fitted for me coming, but every time it was used, water poured onto the bathroom floor. Larisa phoned me to say that Jenya had no electricity in his apartment and to ask if it was ok for him to come to ours. Of course it was! He arrived and helped me fix the shower. When Larisa got home, We had her shower in bits all over the apartment! I told her to go shopping, buy some beer and it would be fixed by the time she returned. I was true to my word and the shower was fixed.

There was a few things that needed fixed at home and one by one, she discovered that I had done them all at some point through the day. She was a very happy lady and I was her hero!  I'm glad I stayed in that day. The temperatures were VERY hot! Someone told her that it reached 45c! These temperatures were in the shade, so I hate to think what it was like in the sun!

Later, one of Larisa's other friends came to see us. This lady was called Tanya and we immediatly liked each other. She was the kind of person who never stopped smiling! I like this.  She invited us to her house for a barbecue the following evening. Larisa told me a little about Tanya later. She bought a house with her husband some years ago and he worked very hard restoring and repairing it. A few years ago, he died and Tanya took on 3 jobs so she could continue the work and finish the project her husband started. This was a massive task for a widow with 3 children to undertake! When I saw the house the following evening I was blown away! It was a cottage on a good piece of land. She had done a fantastic job of fixing it and it is very comfortable!

The gardens still need some work and she continues to work every free day she has. We lit a fire and got the barbecue started. Jenya arrived with his girlfriend and I helped him cut some wood for the fire. When the ladies had finished preparing the meat, Jenya put it over the fire. Everything was going great until he tried to turn it over and it all fell into the fire! I have never seen meat removed from a fire so fast! It was comical to watch, but it was our supper, so it was serious too.  The meat was washed and anything beyond repair fed to the dog. Soon, we had a feast in front of us and enjoyed every bit.

Later, Larisa got a phonecall and told me someone was coming to visit the party. Soon after, Leanna arrived. She is one of the first friend that I met 2 years ago and I had not seen her since. She was working at a tourist resort near Feodosia with her boyfriend, but had come back to Kerch for our wedding. It was great to see her again!  I remembered a night in my appartment when both Larisa and her had a few too many wines and were dancing for me. Leanna used to be a proffesional dancer and teacher of dance and she is quite amazing to watch!

We drank Tanya's home made wine, sat beneith her grapevines and had a wonderful evening. We decided to meet the next evening and go swimming at the nearby beach. Larisa told me that when they go swimming at night, they do not wear anything! Ok... I can live with that!

[TheWongs]

Over the next few days, we looked at about every bar in Kerch with a function room, or enough room for our party. It was frustrating work in the heat and we thought that we would never find anything suitable. There is some nice places in Kerch, but either they were too big, too small or way tooo expensive. We had already spent all my money and were eating into Larisa's credit in the bank, so everything had to be at the right price.

On the Sunday before the wedding, one of Larisa'a friends phoned her to tell her about a place she found. It was a fair distance from the wedding office, but close enough for a walk if it was not too hot. We went straight there on Monday morning and it was perfect for size. The most important thing for LArisa (or it seemed like it at the time) was... Air conditioning!  We sat and talked with the ower for a while. She was a lovely woman who was willing to help in every way she could. She said that we could bring our own meat, champagne, vodka and just about everything we wanted to cut the price down. A typical example was the meat. If we bought it in a supermarket, it was less than half the cost of them supplying it! This woman was doing herself out of money, but as I said, she was a very nice lady!

We arrived at a price that suited us all and headed to the shopping centre Tuesday morning. We bought a load of food and champagne and took it to the bar. While we were there, the owner told us about a shop that had a special offer on Vodka. Needless to say, we ran around and bought a load!

Thursday arrived and everything was in place for the wedding. We relaxed in the morning until it was time for Larisa to go into the centre. She was spending her last few hours of freedom in a salon near the wedding office. I relaxed on the balcony with 200 cigarettes! Kidding! I only smoked about 50!  We had arranged the marriage for 4.30pm, so there was no need to rush anything... For me that is. Larisa's friends and sons came to the apartment at about 2pm and we sat chatting (as much as we could) and drinking coffee. At 3.30 I had a shave, put my suit & tie on and we left at 4pm. At 4.10pm we were outside the wedding office meeting everyone else.

At 4.15, this beautiful lady walked around the corner with a long pink dress on. It had a split up the side and I watched those legs for ages! This woman came to me and said she was going to marry me in 15 minutes! WoW!  At exactly 4.25 we walked into the marriage office, leaving our guests outside until we knew what was going on. Larisa was given the paperwork to do and I was led into a room full of flowers and mirrors. I was totally confused and had no idea what was happening at this point, so I did what I would normally do in this situation... I took some stupid photo's of myself in this room of mirrors from all sorts of strange angles!

After what seemed to be a year, the guests arrived outside this room and were looking in at me. I felt like something in the zoo, so went to the door, played cool and chatted for a while. It was 4.50 when Larisa arrived and we took some more sensible pictures in this mirrored room. We waited and waited... Nothing! At 5.10 (this office closes at 5pm), a woman came and explained that Larisa needs 2 marriage certificates because it's a foreign marriage and they had only made one. Staff were making another and we would be married soon.

At 5.20, they were finally ready and were shown into the room to get married in, whatever it's called. The lady said there was a problem with the music, so we would have to do without. At this point, I was thinking that I didn't care about the music and I didn't care what else happened as long as we got this wedding done! This is why I was here and this is what I wanted to do! Stuff the music, flowers and everything else! Just marry us for god sake!

This very nice lady started saying all the stuff they say at weddings and at one point I remember Larisa saying "da". Next thing, this woman was asking me something. I resisted the temptation to say a few funny things I'd thought of saying and just said "da". We went up to the front, signed a few books, were given our passports and certificates and I kissed the bride! After all the congratulations for everyone, we walked outside as man and wife! The whole thing took about 10 minutes. Cool! I'm not one for these long, drawn out affairs. I love it when you go in, get it done and go to the party. That's what weddings are alll about!

We left the building, got some pictures, then headed to Lenin square. Apparently, it is a custom to place flowers at the foot of the monument in the suare, so we did that and I was ready for the bar. I didn't know that there was a route already planned for us, so Larisa took my hand and led me like a puppy up Lenin street. It was cool walking up the street with everyone looking, smiling etc.  We arrived at the bar about 15 minutes later and it was set out very well. The bar owner had done a great job! After a few pictures, we got stuck into our food and drink.

Every 5 minutes, someone would make a toast and our translation lady would run around to me and translate it for me. It was almost as if she was at work! What a wonderful woman. When she made her speach, she did it in English and Russian, just for my benifit. In this speach, she explained that when she met Larisa and was asked to translate documents for a foreign wedding, it was just work. Then, when she met us both and saw how we were together, she saw something very special. When we had the problems with the notery guy, she had to do something to help because it just seemed right that we should be together. I nearly cried at this point, but I'm a man and don't do such nonsense.

When everyone had finished, it was time for my speach. I planned to do it in Russian and had to learn some new words (and endings of words), but I had been practising for the last week and could do it perfectly When it came to do it, I forgot my first new word! Larisa prompted me and off I went. The problem was that Larisa then prompted almost every word and I completely lost it.  Anyway, I managed to muddle through and everyone was happy. Larisa made a wonderful speach and did another bit in English to the video camera for my family at home. A nice touch.

Of course, the 28th of August is the anniversary of us meeting, but is also my sons and Larisa's sons birthdays. A special toast was made for our sons and especially Jenya because he had given us his day. He was celebrating on the 29th instead.

After this toast, he made one that did make me cry. Jenya is a "cool dude" and it's always been difficult for me to read what he thinks, so I just took Larisa's word for it when she said he really likes me. I'll not go into his exact words, but it was all to do with him never thinking anyone was good enough for his mother until he met me and from that first day, he wanted Larisa and I to have everything together etc, etc. There was many wonderful words from a wonderful guy!

The end of the evening came too soon, the guests left one by one and we got a taxi home. All in all, it was a fantastic day! Well... I always knew it would be!

Here's a few pictures of the day...

Just married!


Walking up Lenin Street.


At the party.


The happy couple.


My step sons.

[DonAz]

Hey Chris,

I just got finished reading your whole trip report. I remembered the first trip from several years ago.

I really enjoyed reading the rest of your adventure. If fact I got zilch done yesterday trying to read each post. I couldn't get it all read by last night, so first thing this morning I logged on to read the rest.

It's a fantastic read and you wrote it very well.

Many congrats on your wedding BTW.

All the Best

DonAz


PS: It was great talking to you on the phone last night and catching up with you. You're definitely one of the good guys

[TheWongs]

Hey Chris,

I just got finished reading your whole trip report. I remembered the first trip from several years ago.

It's a fantastic read and you wrote it very well.

Many congrats on your wedding BTW.

PS: It was great talking to you on the phone last night and catching up with you. You're definitely one of the good guys

You deserve a medal for reading that so fast! 

Glad you enjoyed reading it Don. My writing skills seem to have changed for the worse recently. Maybe it's the amount of stuff crammed in my little brain?  Anyway... It's not quite finished yet, so there's a little more to come.

Thanks for the good wishes.

I don't know about being "one of the good guys". I'm just me and never pretend to be anyone else. I do know that I'm not one of the bad guys though!

[TheWongs]

I want to say a big sorry to you guys here!

Donaz told me off last night for posting everything in one shot and not spreading it over some weeks. Maybe he's right. I thought it would be a good idea to do it in one shot, so people were not replying with advice about what I should do next, to something that happened nearly 3 years ago. It does happen!

Anyway... Feel free to pass comment or ask questions about any of the posts, no matter how old they are.

[Admin]

Hey Chris,

I just got finished reading your whole trip report. I remembered the first trip from several years ago.

I really enjoyed reading the rest of your adventure. If fact I got zilch done yesterday trying to read each post. I couldn't get it all read by last night, so first thing this morning I logged on to read the rest.

It's a fantastic read and you wrote it very well.

Many congrats on your wedding BTW.

All the Best

DonAz

Ditto DonAz's comments.

REALLY appreciate the effort to provide such a thorough and well-written report.

Well-done!

- Dan

[SANDRO43]

Excellent marathon report, Chris. You look a bit gaunt in your wedding photos, I hope Larisa has 'restored' you properly in the meantime .

[TheWongs]

Ditto DonAz's comments.

REALLY appreciate the effort to provide such a thorough and well-written report.

Well-done!

- Dan

Thanks Dan! Not much effort for me really. I just start writing and can't seem to stop! It's also a little selfish because I get to live through all the great memories again!

[TheWongs]

Excellent marathon report, Chris. You look a bit gaunt in your wedding photos, I hope Larisa has 'restored' you properly in the meantime .

Gaunt? Me?

Maybe it was because it was a Crimean marriage? Everyone is brown and I'm like a bottle of milk! If you met these people in the flesh, you'd see what I mean! Larisa, Jenya and Sasha are all very dark skinned! In some of our pictures, I look very ill!

[TheWongs]

Where was I? Oh yes... I got married and had a great night! 

The following day was the 29th of August and Jenya was going to the beach with some friends to celebrate his birthday a day late. It was about 38 - 40c with bright sunshine and no wind at all.

Larisa and I met Jenya and Sasha at the market and we bought some food for the party. After the shopping, we walked to the bus stop and waiting for us was another couple. I can't remember their names, but it was a man and his girlfriend. From the moment I met them, I instantly took a liking to them. The man had a guitar with him, so I thought this could be an interesting party later.

They presented Jenya with a very special litre bottle of vodka for his birthday. Larisa was a little worried because this stuff was rocket fuel and this was her son! I told her not to worry because I was there and would make sure he didn't drink too much. I planned to do this by helping of course! We jumped on the bus and headed for the beach. As we were driving along, I started to wonder how we were going to cook all this food and to wonder about a lot of things. Obviously, these guys had it all under control, so I didn't worry about a thing.



When we finally arrived at the beach, it was a very long walk to the area we wanted, so we got on with it and only stopped for a rest a few times. The idea of the long walk is to get away from the crowds and find a nice area A lot of the "lazier" people just go to a convenient spot and settle there. The true campers put in a little more effort. This was rewarded by us finding a great place to set up camp. This is where things got interesting.

First and most important was to find a plastic bottle and cut it in half! I was very confused! The bottom half was taken to the sea and half filled with water. This was our ashtray! The top half was used as a shovel to dig a big hole in the sand. The beer, wine, juice and vodka was placed in this hole and buried, then water poured over it. An instant fridge! Very clever.

I watched as Jenya and Sasha started to gather up sticks and small branches for the fire. I soon joined in and before long we had a pile of firewood. Meanwhile, the ladies got stuck into the salad and laying out the towels and sun shelter (blankets draped over trees and a few umbrellas).

We had bought a large water melon in the market, so Sasha and I took it to the sea, took a few funny pictures, then buried it in the sand, so the sea was washing over it to keep it cool. When we returned, the fire was lit and the ladies were preparing chicken.

There was going to be no eating of rubbish tonight! What these ladies can do with a few utensils and some bits bought from the market is amazing! Before long, the chicken had a coating of some stuff wiith peppers and all sorts in it and was cooking nicely on the fire. Every 15 minutes or so, Larisa would pour a mixture of water and wine over it. This served to baste the chicken and keep the flames down.

Some of the party guests.


We went for a short swim and were just dried off when the food was ready. I was the oldest there, so was elected to pour the vodka's for the first toasts.  We had a great meal and a few toasts with this good vodka. Everyone decided to go for a swim, but I decided to stay behind and play with the guitar. While everyone was swimming, I could have a go at playing a few things without embarrasing myself. The guitar had a broken bottom string, but I found a few songs that worked on it and played happily to myself. Larisa came back and I started to play a song I know she likes form her visits to me (House of the rising sun).  I started to sing it for her, when everyone else came from the water. I couldn't stop just because of them, so I continued. I'm not good on the guitar and I certainly can't sing, but it went down very well anyway.

Me trying to play the guitar.


I can play anything!


Later, the other bloke picked up the guitar and showed how it should be done! He was fantastic and had a very good, powerful voice! He must have played about 6 songs before taking a break and every one of them was great.

As the night wore on and the vodka bottle emptied, I could see Larisa getting more and more tired. She usually goes to bed at about 9pm and it must have been at least 1am when we were lying around the camp fire, chatting, laughing and having fun. Shortly after, we had another swim, ordered a taxi and went home, leaving the young ones to the party.

The following morning, we were up early and Larisa told me there was a surprise today. This was a special present from her cousin Serge. This was my last full day in Kerch and both Serge and Larisa know I love the Azov sea, but had no time to see it this visit. Serge had asked a friend to collect us in the morning and take us to the Azov!  This is why we didn't stay at the camp! I wondered about that.

We crossed the road at Larisa's apartment and waited. A silver Mercedes pulled up and we climbed in. The driver was a very nice man and he told us that he was asked to take us anywhere we wanted to go today. I said St Helens, England, but he didn't have enough petrol.  About 30 minutes later, he dropped us off near the beach at the Azov sea and told us to call him when we wanted to leave. We spent some time swimming, but it was a little cooler this day. There was a small shower, but it passed very quickly and we didn't even get wet.

Larisa said it was time to go to the mud lake and sort out my "bad arm". We walked for about 20 minutes and arrived at one of the funniest things I've seen in Ukraine. This mud lake had a lot of people going to treat themselves. They would cover themselves in this black mud then lay in the sun for a while. There was white people going in and black people comming out! The nearby beach was covered in black bodies! Larisa walked to the edge of the lake, talked to someone who handed her a lump of this mud. She came back to me and spread it on my arm and shoulder. I asked her to take a picture because I felt like a total tit!  We walked to the beach and lay in the sun until the mud dried. Then we went for a swim and Larisa helped me to wash off the mud. To be honest, I don't think it did any good, but it was an experience to remember. Actually, my arm hasn't been too bad lately, but it may just be getting better.

Shortly after this, Larisa's phone rang and she chatted for a while. When she finished, she told me we must return to the party at the other beach. Jenya's girlfriend Alona had arrived with her parents and they had a wedding present, flowers and champagne for us! We had never met these people, so were blown away by this very kind gesture.  Larisa phoned our driver and soon we were back at the party.

The driver, Larisa, Sveta and the car.


We were met by a funny sight when we arrived back. Alona was with her parents, sitting and chatting away while all the "drinkers" were sleeping! I wonder if they had a good party? Mmmmmm.....



We had a great time with these people and drank the champagne with them. Larisa had a good conversation "parent to parent" about Jenya and Alona and she felt a lot happier now that she had met this girls parents. They left and we carried on the party, swam and had a great time.

It was time to go and we packed up the party. At least there was less to carry back to the bus!  We arrived home happy and very tired. We had an early night and spent our last night together in each others arms. Tomorrow, I was leaving for Kiev and leaving my new wife behind!

[AnastassiaAsh]

Hi there, Irishman who always comes back out of any situation. 

I have been reading your TR for the last 3 days. I think I laughed and cried with you, smiled and was sad, was content and discontent, curious and knew what's going to happen next, surprised and not surprised.

You are definitely a soft man, at least inside.  At first it looked like another trip report with adventures and some of “sex-tourism”, but then it became longer, more serious and almost like you shared a huge piece of your life with us really. So many interesting details but most of all your feelings, her feelings, thoughts and emotions….

Going there and settling there for half a year is definitely not the way everybody tries to do that, but you did it and it worked for you. It might be more natural for some and probably was more natural for all the ladies you met and at the end Larisa.

You almost made me feel like I want to go to Kerch and see all the places you saw and was in.  It's like following the steps of theWongs… 

I am really sorry for that bank situation, you were down there low and sprung back with your business. Great respect for that. 

So, you never said what kind of business you have. In what field is your experience of 20 years? And at last where are you and Larisa now? What kind of visa are you doing? How does that work in the UK if you got legally married in the Ukraine?

Happy for your happy ending, that is just a beginning. 

[vwrw]

Very nice trip report.  I think you two make a very nice couple.  My thoughts were that you almost look more like a brother and a sister or twins.   You both look very alike.  Congratulations.

[TheWongs]

Hi there, Irishman who always comes back out of any situation. 

I have been reading your TR for the last 3 days. I think I laughed and cried with you, smiled and was sad, was content and discontent, curious and knew what's going to happen next, surprised and not surprised.

You are definitely a soft man, at least inside.  At first it looked like another trip report with adventures and some of “sex-tourism”, but then it became longer, more serious and almost like you shared a huge piece of your life with us really. So many interesting details but most of all your feelings, her feelings, thoughts and emotions….

Going there and settling there for half a year is definitely not the way everybody tries to do that, but you did it and it worked for you. It might be more natural for some and probably was more natural for all the ladies you met and at the end Larisa.

You almost made me feel like I want to go to Kerch and see all the places you saw and was in.  It's like following the steps of theWongs… 

I am really sorry for that bank situation, you were down there low and sprung back with your business. Great respect for that. 

So, you never said what kind of business you have. In what field is your experience of 20 years? And at last where are you and Larisa now? What kind of visa are you doing? How does that work in the UK if you got legally married in the Ukraine?

Happy for your happy ending, that is just a beginning. 

Wow! What a fantastic reply! I am so happy that you felt what I felt, through only my words and a few pictures! I nearly had tears in my eyes reading your response... No!... I did have tears in my eyes! I  am now a very happy Wongs! My story has touched a few people and that makes every word worth writing!

I know that most guys go to Russia and Ukraine for only a few weeks at a time, but I was very lucky to have been able to do more. I have also been lucky to meet some fantastic people along the way.

I found that the response to me speaking some Russian was fantastic and allowed me to see a different side to the people. I advise anyone going to Russia or Ukraine to at least learn a few basic sentences in Russian. This is mainly to show respect for the people in the country they are visiting, but it also has the effect of making the people want to help. If you go shouting English at someone who does not understand, they will never respect you or want help you. Maybe this was the key to meeting some of the wonderful people I met during my time in Kerch?

I hope everyone feels like you and wants to "follow in the steps of TheWongs"! Kerch is a very interesting place to visit, with a long and very colourful history and I am happy that I went there. If anyone wants to, I can help with almost everything they would need.

Don't be sorry about the bank situation. It's only money. It will never ruin my life and I can always "bounce back".

My business?
I have done many things in my life. Engineering, Electronics and I once owned a computer shop. But the thing I have done for 20 years is car body repair.

When I returned from Kerch, I worked for a "friend" who had a mobile car bodyshop. We would go to customers house and fix car scratches and paint damage. He said we would start a new business together doing this, but never did anything. After wasting 6 months and not getting enough money to live on, my bank problems got a lot worse and I was not able to contact Larisa much. I decided to start my own business. A friend put the money in to get me started. So now... I have a small business. It is getting a very good reputation and gets stronger every month. My bank problems are nearly under control and I feel like I am living again.

It has been very hard work to do everything for myself, start a business, bring Larisa to UK twice, get married and keep the bank happy, but it has been worth it! Soon my wife will be here with me and that is all that I need!

Larisa is still in Kerch now and will only be there for a few months (I hope!). The UK immigration laws were written by idiots and I must get her a 2 year visa at a cost of £515! The annoying part is that if I was foreign, we would get the visa FREE! It's totally stupid!

Anyway... Larisa needs to change her name in her passport and pay back the money she borrowed from the bank. Then we will buy this 2 year visa. So we are both working hard now to find the money.

I hope this answered all your questions?  

[TheWongs]

Very nice trip report.  I think you two make a very nice couple.  My thoughts were that you almost look more like a brother and a sister or twins.   You both look very alike.  Congratulations.

Thank you for the good wishes.

It's funny, but there was a lot of people in Kerch who said we looked like brother and sister. I made a few jokes about it. I called her my sister when we were out sometimes. She didn't like that!

[dneid]

Well, I just finished a marathon read of your TR.  I was as touched as Anastassiya was.  A truly wonderful read that had me laughing and crying and cheering you on.  I learned a great deal from your TR as well.  I have one trip to UK under my belt and I am looking forward to going back next year.  Between my mother's illness and the company I worked for going under, I am strapped for funds to return this year.
I loved UK and the few women I did meet were simply fascinating.  I truly wonderful country with great people when you let them in.
I wish you and Larissa nothing but the best.  Keep posting; especially about Larissa's transition to life in Great Britain.  I am looking forward to reading anything you post!

[TheWongs]

Well, I just finished a marathon read of your TR.  I was as touched as Anastassiya was.  A truly wonderful read that had me laughing and crying and cheering you on.  I learned a great deal from your TR as well.  I have one trip to UK under my belt and I am looking forward to going back next year.  Between my mother's illness and the company I worked for going under, I am strapped for funds to return this year.
I loved UK and the few women I did meet were simply fascinating.  I truly wonderful country with great people when you let them in.
I wish you and Larissa nothing but the best.  Keep posting; especially about Larissa's transition to life in Great Britain.  I am looking forward to reading anything you post!

Thanks for the kind words.

I must say that I'm amazed at the responses to my story. I don't think I'm good at writing and I don't think my story is more interesting than anybody elses, but the responses from you guys has made writing it very worthwhile! My intention was to let people know what happened and to maybe inform or help someone in future. If I've helped one person, I'm happy.

I hope everything goes well for you and you get back to Ukraine soon. As you said "it is a truly wonderful country". I can't wait for my next trip! Next time, it will be for a holiday with my wife!

I will keep you all posted on Larisa's transition to UK life, but I don't think she will have any problems at all. Everyone here likes her very much and she loves the country.