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

[DonAz]

Hey Chris,
What I like best about your report is that you took it from day one of your first trip to the present day. It makes us feel like we are living it with you.

Yours is an amazing story with many highs and a few lows. I like the way you put everything right on the table in your trip report. You left nothing out.

All the best my Friend!!!

Don

PS: I can't wait for more!

[TheWongs]

Your wish is my command!

Sunday morning arrived and it was the first time we had thought about being apart since I arrived! I know that's hard to believe, but our minds were focused for the first few weeks on getting married and the two days after were busy. This morning it hit home to us both! We spent a lot of time on the balcony, holding each other and there was a lot of tears! 

My train was due to leave Kerch at 5pm, so we had some time together. We packed my cases, then went into the centre for lunch. Normally we would go to "our restaurant", but this time we went to a different one. I think it would have been too emotional if we went to the usual one.

After lunch, we went home again and Jenya arrived. He wanted to say goodbye and we decided it was better if he came to the train with us. My thinking was that he could look after Larisa when I left. We decided to get a taxi to the train station this time. Normally, we would ge at bus, but with my cases and the way we felt, it seemed better.

We found my cabin and put my cases in. There was a lot of other cases in the cabin, so we knew I would be sharing a full cabin. Larisa was concerned and wanted to find out who I was sharing with. She still thinks that she needs to protect me in this country!  I wasn't concerned at all and told her not to bother. I wanted to spend my last minutes holding my wife and not looking for passengers!

We held onto each other until the final moment and I was told to get on or miss the train. We had a final kiss and I climbed aboard. I ran straight to the window beside my cabin and muscled my way past people so I could wave to Larisa and Jenya. She was smiling, waving and holding herslf together very well, but I could see in her eyes how she felt.  I took a final photo as the train moved away. I watched Larisa dissappear as the train picked up speed. TheWongs has left Kerch and left MrsWongs behind! This was harder than I ever imagined!

I stood beside the window of the train for a while, then made my way to the end of the carriage to have a smoke. When I finished, I made my way to the cabin to see who I was sharing with. I opened the door and found three very pretty ladies!  I jumped up onto my top bunk and went to sleep for a while. I woke up sometime during the night and the ladies were chatting, drinking and eating. I had some food and beer, then went for a walk. After about an hour, I returned and went back to sleep.

Kiev was approaching, so I went to the toilet, had a wash and freshen up and got my cases ready for the mad dash to get off the train. Normally, I just wait until everyone gets off before I try. I don't understand why everyone climbs over each other to leave the train first! This time, my good friend Pavel was meeting me for a beer, so I didn't want to keep him waiting too long.

As we pulled into Kiev, I saw Pavel waiting and it brought back fond memoried of my first trip. I remembered being so relieved to see him there. This time was no different! I was relieved the first time because I knew nothing and had no idea how to get to the airport. I was relieved this time because I was very much looking forward to meeting him again!

We shook hands and hugged, then headed to a bar. He had left his car at home because he was going to drink beer. This was a very good idea!  We had more than a few beers and a great chat before it was time for my bus to the airport. Pavel made sure everything was ok and we said goodbye.

The bus arrived at the airport and I checked in without any problems. A few hours later, I was back in Paris 20 minutes late! I started to think about my other experience and worried about missing the connection again! I didn't want any problems getting home. I was not in the mood and would have been very upset if AirFrance / KLM messes up again. This time, I made the connection and had a good flight to Manchester.

When I went to collect my case, there was an announcment on the loudspeakers "would passenger C. Wongs please go to the lugguage information desk". The first thing that I thought was that there was a problem with the stuff I was bringing back. I had the case full of all sorts of things! I went to the desk and this lady said "I'm sorry, but your case is still in Paris". My reply was "why does that not surprise me? My case lives in Paris! I only go to visit it when I fly AirFrance! Give me the form to fill in and I'll see it in a few days". She handed me the form and started to explain how to fill it in. I told her I had done it before so there was no problem. I can only imagine what the other people waiting thought! 

I completed the forms and left the airport to be met by my friend. I was glad to be home, but missed Larisa so, so much!.........

My few last pictures of Larisa....

[docetae]

Question for you, Does your flight from Paris to Kiev was with Air France or Ukraine International with a code share  ? I had luggages issues only with Ukrainian International , all flight connecting on same company (af -> af or klm -> klm) were ok.

[TheWongs]

Question for you, Does your flight from Paris to Kiev was with Air France or Ukraine International with a code share  ? I had luggages issues only with Ukrainian International , all flight connecting on same company (af -> af or klm -> klm) were ok.

Hi there. The flights were all on planes with AirFrance markings. A few people warned me that AirFrance / KLM would loose my lugguage, so I packed all my most important things in my hand lugguage.

It's funny, but I have flown with Ukrainian International with no problems. AirFrance / KLM are the only company that has ever lost my lugguage.

I have flown to most countries in the world, using many different airlines and never had a problem.

Most of my other trips to Ukraine were direct flights from Birmingham, England to Kiev and one was with AirBaltic from Ireland to Riga, then to Simferopol. There was no problems with these flights.

[TheWongs]

Just found a picture that reminded me of one night in Kerch. It was a Sunday night and Larisa knows I usually play pool for a local team on Sunday nights. She took me to a new pool bar that opened in the centre. There, she spoke to a man who said he would be happy to play with me. We played American 8 ball and the first 2 games, he made me look like an idiot! I'm not used to this game, so it took a few games before I got the hang of it. He suggested that we play best of 9 for a beer and I said ok. I pulled it back to 2-2 and a few serious looking pool players came to watch the match with great interest, discussing various shots etc. I finished the evening with a 5-4 victory!

We sat talking to him for a while. He and his friends seemed very impressed with the way I played. I didn't think I'd done that well until they told us he was the Ukrainian champion last year! He runs this pool bar now and invited me to play anytime. Larisa said I was her hero and explained to them that I used to play in world championships for N. Ireland. He wanted photo's of us together to show his friends, like I was some sort of celebrity!

Anyway... Here's a not very good picture. If you look just beside him, you will see the reason I missed a few shots! This young lady had a habit of bending over as I was taking my shots! I think he paid her!

[TheWongs]

OH MY GOD! I don't believe three years have passed since my last post on this report! 
 
So much has happened since then, I don't know where to start, or even if I should continue the story. I'm sure it's long forgotten by now....
 
Oh well... I'l do a shortened version, instead of writing pages and pages of dribble. 
 
When I returned to England, Larisa and I kept in touch constantly. There was a lot of problems to overcome before she could get here. Of course, all the problems I talk about are money related!
 
The business was making some money at that time and I could survive, pay rent, debts and bills, but there was not much left over for saving for visa's. Thanks to a very good friend on the forum who lent me half of the money for the visa and a lot of hard work, we eventually got it at the end of January 2009 and Larisa arrived to live in England! 
 
She landed in London Luton airport at about 8.30pm and we drove until 1am to get home. The first thing she said when we got home was "Ok. Show me everything we have to pay to everyone"! We sat, surrounded by bills until about 4am! She saw everything and it was not pretty! We went to bed... For about 2 hours, then she got up, got me up and decided we should tidy the cupboard under the sairs! 
 
 
 
 

[BillyB]

Good to see you're still doing well Wong! I remember you. You're the only guy that's 100% Wong all the time!

[TheWongs]

Good to see you're still doing well Wong! I remember you. You're the only guy that's 100% Wong all the time!

You're Wight!

[TheWongs]

Not long after Larisa landed in England, the house was in order, the bills were arranged so we knew what had to be paid and when. I must admit that I had never totalled up how much I owed, but it was a LOT!
 
Larisa was a housewife for the first six months of being here, but it was driving her crazy! She is not someone who can sit in the house all day and she started going mad. When I say mad, I mean MAAAADDDD! There was depression, moods and just about anything else that's not good. One day, I was talking to a friend about it and told him she needed to do something, even if it is volunteer work, Just anything to get her out of the house. It turned out that he knew a woman who was a manager of a charity shop. He spoke to her and arranged for me to take Larisa to meet her. They instantly liked each other and Larisa'a career in England was born! 
 
After working in the charity shop for a few months, the difference was amazing! Her confidence multiplied tenfold and her mood was fantastic! She signed up for ESOL course in college and changed form being a "mouse" into a confident woman who could talk to anyone!
 
About six months after that, I changed the way my business was running. It was a very big step, but one that proved to be very good! The charity shop manager moved to the "main" shop in the town centre and Larisa went with her. There was a lottery in the shop to pick a few people that could go to a grand opening of a new wing of the hospice that the shop supported. It was being opened by Princess Margaret. Of course, Larisa is lucky, so she won a place and went to the opening! 
 
At the opening, when Princess Margaret was standing in front of everyone, Larisa was hiding at the back of the crowd. Someone pushed her forward and said "Princess Margaret, this is Lara. She works in our shop and is from Russia"! So... There was a long conversation between them about the royal family connections to Russia, Princess Margarets recent return from St Petersburg etc and a lot of photo's were taken. It ended up with an article in the local paper.
 
Shortly after, a job came up in this hospice and the manager told Larisa to apply. She knew we needed the money and Larisa could not work for free forever.
 
Larisa applied for the job and a few of the charity workers knew she had, so the main office at the hospice was bombarded with calls telling them they were mad if they did not give the job to Larisa! She got an interview! 
 
When she went for the interview, Lady Something or Other, who is one of the big wigs passed Larisa in the hallway, stopped, turned looked at her and said "Do I know you from somewhere"? Larisa explained that she worked in the shop and was only there for an interview. "Oh. I'm sure I've seen you somewhere else before". She smiled and walked away. The people carrying out the interview came to see Larisa and one of them said "Have I seen you somewhere before"? The others said the same. One of them looked up at a poster on the wall and said "There you are"! The poster was about the opening of the new wing and contained a big picture of Princess Margaret talking to.... You guessed it! She had her interview and walked home. Before she was home, her phone rang to tell her that she had got the job!
 
 

[Kineo]

 
This is an amazing story! I am glad you are sharing it!
 
 

[TheWongs]

Thank you Kineo! I'm glad someone is reading and enjoying it! 

[ML]

At the opening, when Princess Margaret was standing in front of everyone, Larisa was hiding at the back of the crowd. Someone pushed her forward and said "Princess Margaret, this is Lara. She works in our shop and is from Russia"!

Nice story, and I am happy for you and Lara.

However, how is it explained why, of all the people in the crowd, Lara was pushed forward?
Princess Margaret visits many countries and has met thousands of people.

[Gator]

Good story.
 
Many of these RW do roll up their sleeves upon arrival and get busy helping however they can. They are the real jewels.  Then other RW arrive feeling entitled and asking, "Where is passein?"

[TheWongs]

Nice story, and I am happy for you and Lara.

However, how is it explained why, of all the people in the crowd, Lara was pushed forward?
Princess Margaret visits many countries and has met thousands of people.

I'm sure it was nothing for Princess Margaret to meet another Russian. I think she was pushed forward because she was a bit of a novelty and a talking point among the staff at that time, due to her being the only foreign person working for the charity. Maybe the woman thought she would be more interesting?? Who knows?

[TheWongs]

Since getting the job and working all the hours she could, Larisa has settled down very well in England. She has a lot of friends and a lot of respect at work, so she is very happy now.
 
Of course, she misses her sons very much and gets a little depressed sometimes, especially after she has been talking to them on Skype and they have a problem of some sort. At the moment, we are doing the paperwork for her eldest son to get a visitors visa. We planned to get him here for Christmas, but that's not going to happen now. It's looking more like it will not be until spring or summer. We are planning to go there at some point soon, so it would be cool to get the visa and bring him back with us.
 
We have been back to Kerch and Ireland a lot of times over the last few years. Larisa tries to go home a few times each year. We seem to spend half of our lives booking flights or planning trips.
 
I've spent a lot of time in Ireland this year too, due to my mother having problems with her health and me setting up another business there. Some of the times, Larisa could not get the time off work, so could not come with me and I had to go alone. The frist time I went alone, I thought "Great! I can relax and have a break"! It didn't work out like that at all! I missed her sooooo much! It was like a part of me was missing! We hate being apart!
 
We celebrated our "D-Day" (Debt-free day) a few months ago and are well on the way to getting the deposit to buy our own house. If we do, then I will not be going away next summer. Instead, I will be doing whatever work has to be done on it while she relaxes on the beach. 
 
So... there you are. I think I've got things up to date, but I'm sure there are more stories I've forgotten about. If I think of any that may be interesting, I'll post them later.

[Larry1]

This was a truly wonderful story. I very much enjoyed reading it.  Thanks to the power of the Internet it can provide inspiration, instruction, as well as entertainment, for those of us seeking FSU wives for many years to come.

[JR]

Three years and still going strong, Yay!!!!
Many many more to you.

[TheWongs]

This was a truly wonderful story. I very much enjoyed reading it.  Thanks to the power of the Internet it can provide inspiration, instruction, as well as entertainment, for those of us seeking FSU wives for many years to come.

Thank you for your kind words. It makes all the typing worthwhile when I get feedback. 
 

Three years and still going strong, Yay!!!!
Many many more to you.

Thanks JR. It took a long time and a bit of work, but it was worth every bit of it! 
 
Larisa is now taking driving lessons. Not because she really wants to drive, but so we can look at houses outside walking distance from her work. At the moment, she is happy to walk unless the weather is really bad. Her own car would also save me from shopping trips and I would be able to get p***ed at parties too!!   

[Hammer2722]

3 Years!!!! Well done. You are an inspiration to us all!!!! congrats!!!!!

[TheWongs]

3 Years!!!! Well done. You are an inspiration to us all!!!! congrats!!!!!

Thank you Hammer! 
 
And that's only three years of marriage! It's actually 5 years since we met. WoW! Seems like only yesterday..........
 
28/08 every year will always be an important day for us for so many reasons... The day we met, my sons birthday, her sons birthday and of course, our wedding anniversary.