Heading towards Nikolaev and then bootcamp and A.I.T

[felix8787]

Well folks, first I want to apologize for my last TR and how long it took. When I get back from Niko, I will only be here for 3 days and then I am off for about 6 1/2 months doing the Guard thing, looking forward to that. So I will write everything in one shot.

I imagine you guys are wondering if the lady that I am going to go and see knows about this. Yes she does, she is fully aware of it and she is ok with it.

I will however with my phone be able to look and post on the forum while I am away but that won't be for about the 8 to 9 weeks out.

I haven't been to Niko, it will be a first. I will be travelling to Kiev and then fly to Odessa and then head over to Niko from there. Hm, with all of this hoopla about photos, I wonder how many consent forms I will need with me in order to get photos???? LOL.

Anyways, if anyone has info on the Niko, I would appreciate to know the place better.

felix8787

[Muddy]

I went there 2 years ago
I used athena agency and found a flat in the center street
The center is nice, there is a mc donalds there too
there is a bowling place also and a zoo in nikolaev

[Gator]

Felix,

Thanks for keeping us informed.  Have a good time in Ukraine.

And a BIG THANK YOU for serving our country in a military role.  We need you in this crazy world. 

[Vinnvinny]

Felix: I suggest you contact an American living in Nikolaev called Bill Green. He’s a member here and you can also google him for his contact details. He’ll tell you everything you need to know about Nikolaev and most of it isn’t good news (I met him after I found that out for myself). However, if you like people watching, especially pretty young ladies and your there in the summer, you couldn’t IMHO choose a better place.

[felix8787]

Well, just 5 more weeks left and I am on a plane  . I will send Bill Green a pm soon and get more info from him thanks.
Gator, you are welcome that I keep you guys informed and also found out, that after I get done, depending on my unit, I might have to go to Afghanistan????? The tour of duty I think is a year, I don't know yet.


felix8787

[Gator]

I might have to go to Afghanistan

That is where the action is.  After completing basic training as an engineering officer, I found myself in Vietnam 30 days later.  The Army in combat is much more interesting than stateside.  Everything functions quicker, paperwork and general BS is minimal, and you walk around with real bullets rather than blanks.  Food is lousy, however.

[Muddy]

Felix: I suggest you contact an American living in Nikolaev called Bill Green. He’s a member here and you can also google him for his contact details. He’ll tell you everything you need to know about Nikolaev and most of it isn’t good news (I met him after I found that out for myself). However, if you like people watching, especially pretty young ladies and your there in the summer, you couldn’t IMHO choose a better place.

what is his username here?

[felix8787]

what is his username here?

Anastassia sent me in email with his user name here, I don't know it off the top of my head right now, I will have to look at the email.

Gator,
If your talking about the MRE's, I had those for lunch at drill before and I thought they were pretty good  . Now as far as action, well I am all for it "IF" I get put in a unit that deploys, not the mention the increase in pay also and probably a promotion or 2 in rank. My only concern is if things go well with this lady, then I can only hope that she has a good understanding of my situation of being deployed, of course I will make arrangements to be able to communicate with her also not to mention the time zone will either be the same of about an hour difference. But that is something that I will discuss with her when I am there in March.

felix8787

[UTRO]

Hm, with all of this hoopla about photos, I wonder how many consent forms I will need with me in order to get photos???? LOL.

felix8787

Just 'black out' the eye section felix
Good Luck!

[felix8787]

Just 'black out' the eye section felix
Good Luck!

LOL, well that could be an option, but that would just ruin the photo. I haven't made up my mind yet as to what I am going to do about photo's, also, since I don't have a high end camera and I'm not a professional photographer, I don't want to hurt to eyes of some fellow RWD members LOL.

Anyways, times a ticken! Even though it will be my 3rd trip over, it still feels like my first trip LOL. The anticipation, nervousness, anxious. Good thing jet lag doesn't bother me at all, as soon as I hit the ground, I'm runnin!

felix8787

[felix8787]

I went there 2 years ago
I used athena agency and found a flat in the center street
The center is nice, there is a mc donalds there too
there is a bowling place also and a zoo in nikolaev

Did you say BOWLING! LOL. I went a few weeks ago and played a game, I haven't thrown a ball in about 2 years and bowled a 192. I did ask my lady about the zoo, but she doesn't know if the animals will be out in the cold? Who knows lol? I know that for womens day, we did talk about going to the theater and seeing a movie and whatever else comes to mind that day. The apt that I will be using is Nikolaevapartments, I found quite a few for 50.00 a night and she is going to check out the apartments next month to see which one is best (I sent her pic's and addresses of the apt's). They are all within 5 minutes walking distance to the center of Niko and I believe there is a Mcdonalds there also from what I read, some of the apt have a computer and free internet too!

felix8787

[Billgreen54]

Hi Felix, Thanks for the pm.....

Yes, Larisa and I live in Nikolaev.  I came here in November of 2007.  We teach English at our office just one block from McDonalds.  It's located on the corner of Sovietskaya and Shevchenko.  Look for...... Larisa, School of Language.
We would be happy to meet with you or anyone visiting Nikolaev.  And yes 3 days is extremely short to stay here.  The jet lag alone will knock you out for at least a week.
I assume you are coming to meet a girl.  Can you give us an idea of where you made contact with this lady, her age?  What agency is she from?  What web site did you find her at?  It's always interesting to hear what happens to a guy before and after he travels so far for true love.
One word of caution.....  If you or anyone makes contact through a paid web site like Russian Love Match or Dream.  BE VERY CAREFUL.  Also?  Watch out for the twenty somethings.....

[Gator]

I haven't made up my mind yet as to what I am going to do about photo's, also, since I don't have a high end camera and I'm not a professional photographer, I don't want to hurt to eyes of some fellow RWD members LOL.

Don't worry.  The mere fact that you are concerned shows that you will be careful.  Just show the photos to your dyev and ask her opinion and permission.  Her response will be interesting.

[Gator]

Can you give us an idea of where you made contact with this lady, her age?  What agency is she from?  What web site did you find her at? 

PM only, which the two of you have already started. 

Such info with a photo can identify the woman - not a good idea with all the crazies in the world, of which some could be lurking here.

[Bonddd]

Hello felix8787,
Once you are in Nikolaev, our company "Doctor English" Foreigners Support Center will provide you with all necessary services. If you are interested, visit our blog nikolaevsupport.wordpress.com

[felix8787]

Little update: The airline that I am flying with changed their service flight on the 17th and wasn't servicing JFK but instead was going to Miami. So my option was to either leave a day earlier or a day later from my original date, so I opted to leave a day earlier. Thank gawd that I did. Because today I just found out that I leave on the 17th to Tampa and will be getting shipped on the 18th.

So needless to say I honestly don't know if I will be posting a TR report when I get back. It will just have to wait. But if I do, it will be short and to the point. So as soon as I get home, the next afternoon I will be out the door for the next 6-7 months.

Take care everyone. Diplomacy, hopefully we will be able to hangout in Texas while I am there!

felix8787

[Vaughn]

Good luck, Felix - and for all your loved ones' sake, be careful.

Vaughn

[felix8787]

Thanks Vaughn,
I will hopefully see everyone in the chat room sunday morning before I take off, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

felix8787

[felix8787]

Well folks, sheet does happen....LOL...gggrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I arrived at the airport. It was a madhouse, apparently a flight going to ATL with Delta got canceled and the lines were ridiculous. So I asked a kiosk guy where I could check in going to JFK and he tells me that he can check me in and that he works for tips.

Hell yeah I thought. Because I would rather give him a healthy tip to bypass the probably 2+ hour wait just to check in. So after about 5 minutes and "BAM!" I was checked in. SWEEEEEEETTTTT!!!!! So I casually head my way over to my gate.

I stop by Nathans hotdogs and get a couple of dogs for breakfast. I take a seat and I call Anastassia for a conference call with my lady. She's excited, I'm excited. Things are going smoothly here.

As it is getting close to leaving I noticed that my departure time has changed to 20minutes later then expected, OK, no problem. As it was getting close to board, the Delta rep gets on the innercom and announces that the flight to JFK is canceled due to a snow storm. Wow didn't see that coming. So she gives out the 800 number for international flights, so that people with connecting international flights can reschedule or get rerouted, so that I wouldn't miss my flight.

I am on the phone before she finishes giving out the number and started calling like a madman, after about 10 minutes calling backing because of the line being busy, I get through and waited for 30 minutes before I got to speak to someone. Well there are no flights leaving the same day to make it there and there were no flights leaving the next day, the only available flight is on the 3rd. So my options are, take the 3rd and extend my stay another 2 days or get a refund.

Well there was no way that I could extend it because of me leaving for BCT and AIT. And I certainly didn't want to cancel my trip and get a refund, so I took the 3rd and made my stay 2 days short. At this point, as long as I am there for womens day and for her, that is all that matters.

I head to baggage claim and get my luggage, now I head outside and start my call to Aerosvit. Low and behold, they can not and will not change my flight ticket to a different departure date, if I am there great, if not, then I just lost out on my flight to Odessa. Now at this point, I was getting really really annoyed, they obviously were very strict about not being able to change the ticket because I got an economy class ticket and my options were, to be there for the flight or miss it, which obviously I was going to miss due to weather in JFK. And also it was a nonrefundable and non changing ticket. DAMN  .

So I called they guy who I am renting the apartment from (very nice fellow) and told him the situation and he tells me no problem, keep him up to date and to let him know whats going on and also offered to pick me up at Borispol, which I kindly declined. Then I called my lady and told her the bad news and she was sadden by these turn of events that were out of my control and I told her the new dates of when I would be arriving and that she was happy to hear that.

So I get home, pissed off because I shouldn't be here writing this, I should be on a plane relaxing heading over to Ukraine. So I have no choice now but to buy another Aerosvit ticket  ,
I check the prices and I could not believe what I saw, but I tried one more time to have Aerosvit change the flight date and she couldn't. So I get back to Aero's site to purchase the plane ticket and the session ran out of time. OK, maybe that was fluke and the price was wrong, I put in the new date and the same times.

SHAMWOW!!!! 26.00 usd for a round trip ticket. I jumped on that, quick fast and in a hurry! Compared to the other ticket that I got last week which was 94.40, that's a helluva deal if I was to buy it for the first time. But since this is my 2nd ticket, in total I paid 116.60 usd for a RT from Kiev to Odessa. Still not bad, but then again, this is my first time with Aerosvit.

So now everything is back on track but leaving on the 3rd instead.

felix8787

[Gator]

At least you got your baggage.  I encountered the same with Delta, who never could find my bag.

Hope it works better when it is your time again.

[felix8787]

At least you got your baggage.  I encountered the same with Delta, who never could find my bag.

Hope it works better when it is your time again.

Thanks, I will find out Tuesday (fingers crossed).

[Vaughn]

Felix, the rain just turned to snow here in Charlotte - my pals in NY are expecting quite a
few inches there today....drat the bad luck. Nice recovery on the Areosvit ticket, it could
have been much worse. Best wishes on your trip, amigo.

[Diplomacy]

Best laid plans of mice and men.  He is just playing hard to get.

[felix8787]

Felix, the rain just turned to snow here in Charlotte - my pals in NY are expecting quite a
few inches there today....drat the bad luck. Nice recovery on the Aerosvit ticket, it could
have been much worse. Best wishes on your trip, amigo.

When I got home and saw the weather report, apparently New York is supposed to be getting 7-11 inches of snow while ATL is only getting 3-4 inches. When I leave on the 3rd, even though my itinerary say Orlando-Paris De-Gaulle, there will be a quick stop in ATL for a change of equipment (switching planes).
Thanks Vaughn!

Best laid plans of mice and men.  He is just playing hard to get.

LOL!!! One plan that I didn't anticipate was waking up semi drunk from last night (little get together wishing me luck and best wishes)(ever play guitar hero while having an extremely good buzz lol) and still needing to pack for the trip, shave my scruff and think of anything else that I needed to take, oh, not to mention that on the Aerosvit flight, you can only have up to 20kilos (44lbs) per luggage instead of the normala 50lbs that I was accustomed to. LOL. Talk about time crunch!

Definitely the anticipation is a killer LOL.

felix8787

[mendeleyev]

If you ever want to see about a flight gone wrong, go to YouTube and type in "The Irony of Fate with English subtitles." That movie is long....very long.....in 2 parts, but a tradition for Russians to watch every New Year's Eve.  Talk about a flight mixup!