Russian wisdom from Natasha

[eekee 182]

mine doesn't either. it just causes leaks

i am glad that no one has tried to change my cold-beverage drinking ways. so much tastier and refreshing.

OK...here's my funny story about hot versus cold drinks for Russians.

When my wife talks to me on the phone, I stopped having a coke or ice tea while we talk to avoid getting a lecture on how bad it is for me to drink something with ice in it. If she hears the jiggle of ice in my glass, I'm really in for it. At least a 5 minute scolding that cold drinks will harm me and why will I not listen to her sound Russian advice.

I guess I'll have to disconnect my automatic ice maker when she arrives in the USA.

When Natasha was in Russia and we would talk on webcam and voice chat, I would get the same lecture as you, SCII, if I was drinking a pop. But, oddly enough, now that she's here she has dropped this particular objection, though she of course doesn't follow this practice herself. I only occasionally get the fact mentioned that it's not good for me, and even then only if I've already got a sniffle.

Luckily, my ice-maker doesn't work. :-)

[Bobalouie 0]

mine doesn't either. it just causes leaks

i am glad that no one has tried to change my cold-beverage drinking ways. so much tastier and refreshing.

OK...here's my funny story about hot versus cold drinks for Russians.

When my wife talks to me on the phone, I stopped having a coke or ice tea while we talk to avoid getting a lecture on how bad it is for me to drink something with ice in it. If she hears the jiggle of ice in my glass, I'm really in for it. At least a 5 minute scolding that cold drinks will harm me and why will I not listen to her sound Russian advice.

I guess I'll have to disconnect my automatic ice maker when she arrives in the USA.

When Natasha was in Russia and we would talk on webcam and voice chat, I would get the same lecture as you, SCII, if I was drinking a pop. But, oddly enough, now that she's here she has dropped this particular objection, though she of course doesn't follow this practice herself. I only occasionally get the fact mentioned that it's not good for me, and even then only if I've already got a sniffle.

Luckily, my ice-maker doesn't work. :-)

I went on a picnic with my fiancee and a few of her friends one time when I was in Sochi. We bought a ####### load of beer, and they were content to let it sit on the table in the warm sun and drink it like that. No ice, no shade, no cooler, nothing. I was like, nope, not gonna work for me, and took the beer and sank it in the river. It wasnt Ice cold, but at least it wasnt 90 degrees either. At first they looked at me like I am "crazy American" and after they tried the first beer from the river, I got the "maybe he's not so crazy after all" look.

Edited for spelling (as usual)

Edited April 18, 2008 by Bobalouie

[visaveteran1 33]

Kevin,

Work is keeping me busy when I'm not at home completing the "honey-do" list. Not much time to post these days. Guess I must have volunteered to give my jewels away I have not had any manhood issues nor has Tanya expressed any concern in that area. I must be doing something right. Good thing I came to this thread so I could learn how to be a real manly man, American style.

Bought Tanya and Victor bicycles. Tanya taught herself how to ride while I was at work. I was more than a little impressed. She can now get around our sleepy little town on her own until I get the drivers permits. She thanked me last night for trying to be a good Father to Victor. She said I am a good man in spite of the fact that I have no balls.

Tanya has been able to make several wonderful dishes and I have had a ton of new "experiences" but can't remember one of them at this very moment. I should probably buy stock in Morton salt and Post-Its!

Your great thread of amusing stories has unfortunately brought out the best and worst of VJ. This is sad because as I read through the thread, the humor is countered by ignorance and hostility and that just takes a lot of the fun out of it. Reminds me of the "believe in what I believe in or you will go to hell" routine so prevalent here in the South.

I will try to keep notes on the funny things that happen on a daily basis. Many are good enough to share though I might just PM them to avoid a good thread being trashed by morons.

I will leave you with a story about Tanya v. Washer & Dryer:

I bought Tanya an LG washer/dryer set (the red pair) and have them stacked in the laundry room. I showed her how to operate them and thought she had it down pat. Once you set the mode (heavy, med. or light, hot or cold etc.) you press the power button then the start button and walk away. Both units are the same. She did a load of clothes then put them in the dryer. I was doing some Krewe business on the computer when I heard that flood of Russian slang I am always glad is not directed at me. She came and dragged me into the laundry room and said that the dryer was bad (she actually used the “foo” word). I reached up and hit the power button then the start button and miracles of miracles, it started going round and round. Deer in headlights does not quite describe the look on her face but it comes close. Then another round of Russian cussing as I went back to work. Re-reading this I see that it just doesn’t capture the humor of the moment but I am sure you have several similar stories.

Hang in there and remember to keep your kids around or else you become the foreigner in the house!!!

Cheers,

Bill

Using the term "morons" reveals your own intolerance and negativity...and you slipped it in kind of sideways...not exactly man to man.

The Russian forum is not necessarily a hug feast forum...it sometimes looks at controversial and contentious issues. In fact, it often does. Those who dare to speak differently (like me) will suffer the slings and arrows for their honesty and open sharing. So far I'm "creepy" and "idiot" and now "a moron." Sounds like just a different style of negativity and intolerance to me. Guess it was important for you to get your dig in too. OK...I heard you.

I will own one thing here...I probably should not have stepped on Kevin's thread. I should have started my own thread...then people could join or or pass as they wished.

Anyway Navarreman...just needed to clear with you about "morons." One type of negativity is no better than another.

I hope you're new life with your Russian lady goes well.

[NavarreMan 10]

Kevin,

Work is keeping me busy when I'm not at home completing the "honey-do" list. Not much time to post these days. Guess I must have volunteered to give my jewels away I have not had any manhood issues nor has Tanya expressed any concern in that area. I must be doing something right. Good thing I came to this thread so I could learn how to be a real manly man, American style.

Bought Tanya and Victor bicycles. Tanya taught herself how to ride while I was at work. I was more than a little impressed. She can now get around our sleepy little town on her own until I get the drivers permits. She thanked me last night for trying to be a good Father to Victor. She said I am a good man in spite of the fact that I have no balls.

Tanya has been able to make several wonderful dishes and I have had a ton of new "experiences" but can't remember one of them at this very moment. I should probably buy stock in Morton salt and Post-Its!

Your great thread of amusing stories has unfortunately brought out the best and worst of VJ. This is sad because as I read through the thread, the humor is countered by ignorance and hostility and that just takes a lot of the fun out of it. Reminds me of the "believe in what I believe in or you will go to hell" routine so prevalent here in the South.

I will try to keep notes on the funny things that happen on a daily basis. Many are good enough to share though I might just PM them to avoid a good thread being trashed by morons.

I will leave you with a story about Tanya v. Washer & Dryer:

I bought Tanya an LG washer/dryer set (the red pair) and have them stacked in the laundry room. I showed her how to operate them and thought she had it down pat. Once you set the mode (heavy, med. or light, hot or cold etc.) you press the power button then the start button and walk away. Both units are the same. She did a load of clothes then put them in the dryer. I was doing some Krewe business on the computer when I heard that flood of Russian slang I am always glad is not directed at me. She came and dragged me into the laundry room and said that the dryer was bad (she actually used the “foo” word). I reached up and hit the power button then the start button and miracles of miracles, it started going round and round. Deer in headlights does not quite describe the look on her face but it comes close. Then another round of Russian cussing as I went back to work. Re-reading this I see that it just doesn’t capture the humor of the moment but I am sure you have several similar stories.

Hang in there and remember to keep your kids around or else you become the foreigner in the house!!!

Cheers,

Bill

Using the term "morons" reveals your own intolerance and negativity...and you slipped it in kind of sideways...not exactly man to man.

The Russian forum is not necessarily a hug feast forum...it sometimes looks at controversial and contentious issues. In fact, it often does. Those who dare to speak differently (like me) will suffer the slings and arrows for their honesty and open sharing. So far I'm "creepy" and "idiot" and now "a moron." Sounds like just a different style of negativity and intolerance to me. Guess it was important for you to get your dig in too. OK...I heard you.

I will own one thing here...I probably should not have stepped on Kevin's thread. I should have started my own thread...then people could join or or pass as they wished.

Anyway Navarreman...just needed to clear with you about "morons." One type of negativity is no better than another.

I hope you're new life with your Russian lady goes well.

Probably the closest you will come to making an apology. This is the exact reason so many people got up in arms about what you posted. Kevin is one heck of a nice man and Kirk, Jeff and Slim and several others are as well and have no problem with pointing out the error of your ways when you trash a thread like you did this one.

The moron comment was not sideways. It was a clean, clear shot. Sure we can turn this forum into a place for people to come and trash and flame everyone but many here feel that it is actually about the VJ experience and what we can do to help others and ourselves. Kevin's OP about humorous stories is an excellent example of what many of us can expect to go through during our journey. And it does not only pertain to Russian women. There are those here that find these same stories in Canadians and Thai's. To each their own.

Perhaps it was just me but I felt that your post was worded such to give the impression that unless we treated women as you feel is necessary then we are just not men. That is loading the gun and pulling the trigger. You should not be surprised by the reaction you received from us.

I need to go right now and invite clear and convincing discussion at a later time.

[Ilya R. 0]

mine doesn't either. it just causes leaks

i am glad that no one has tried to change my cold-beverage drinking ways. so much tastier and refreshing.

OK...here's my funny story about hot versus cold drinks for Russians.

When my wife talks to me on the phone, I stopped having a coke or ice tea while we talk to avoid getting a lecture on how bad it is for me to drink something with ice in it. If she hears the jiggle of ice in my glass, I'm really in for it. At least a 5 minute scolding that cold drinks will harm me and why will I not listen to her sound Russian advice.

I guess I'll have to disconnect my automatic ice maker when she arrives in the USA.

When Natasha was in Russia and we would talk on webcam and voice chat, I would get the same lecture as you, SCII, if I was drinking a pop. But, oddly enough, now that she's here she has dropped this particular objection, though she of course doesn't follow this practice herself. I only occasionally get the fact mentioned that it's not good for me, and even then only if I've already got a sniffle.

Luckily, my ice-maker doesn't work. :-)

I went on a picnic with my fiancee and a few of her friends one time when I was in Sochi. We bought a ####### load of beer, and they were content to let it sit on the table in the warm sun and drink it like that. No ice, no shade, no cooler, nothing. I was like, nope, not gonna work for me, and took the beer and sank it in the river. It wasnt Ice cold, but at least it wasnt 90 degrees either. At first they looked at me like I am "crazy American" and after they tried the first beer from the river, I got the "maybe he's not so crazy after all" look.

Edited for spelling (as usual)

Some Russians actually like warm beer, not like hot. but lukewarm.

[visaveteran1 33]

Kevin,

Work is keeping me busy when I'm not at home completing the "honey-do" list. Not much time to post these days. Guess I must have volunteered to give my jewels away I have not had any manhood issues nor has Tanya expressed any concern in that area. I must be doing something right. Good thing I came to this thread so I could learn how to be a real manly man, American style.

Bought Tanya and Victor bicycles. Tanya taught herself how to ride while I was at work. I was more than a little impressed. She can now get around our sleepy little town on her own until I get the drivers permits. She thanked me last night for trying to be a good Father to Victor. She said I am a good man in spite of the fact that I have no balls.

Tanya has been able to make several wonderful dishes and I have had a ton of new "experiences" but can't remember one of them at this very moment. I should probably buy stock in Morton salt and Post-Its!

Your great thread of amusing stories has unfortunately brought out the best and worst of VJ. This is sad because as I read through the thread, the humor is countered by ignorance and hostility and that just takes a lot of the fun out of it. Reminds me of the "believe in what I believe in or you will go to hell" routine so prevalent here in the South.

I will try to keep notes on the funny things that happen on a daily basis. Many are good enough to share though I might just PM them to avoid a good thread being trashed by morons.

I will leave you with a story about Tanya v. Washer & Dryer:

I bought Tanya an LG washer/dryer set (the red pair) and have them stacked in the laundry room. I showed her how to operate them and thought she had it down pat. Once you set the mode (heavy, med. or light, hot or cold etc.) you press the power button then the start button and walk away. Both units are the same. She did a load of clothes then put them in the dryer. I was doing some Krewe business on the computer when I heard that flood of Russian slang I am always glad is not directed at me. She came and dragged me into the laundry room and said that the dryer was bad (she actually used the “foo” word). I reached up and hit the power button then the start button and miracles of miracles, it started going round and round. Deer in headlights does not quite describe the look on her face but it comes close. Then another round of Russian cussing as I went back to work. Re-reading this I see that it just doesn’t capture the humor of the moment but I am sure you have several similar stories.

Hang in there and remember to keep your kids around or else you become the foreigner in the house!!!

Cheers,

Bill

Using the term "morons" reveals your own intolerance and negativity...and you slipped it in kind of sideways...not exactly man to man.

The Russian forum is not necessarily a hug feast forum...it sometimes looks at controversial and contentious issues. In fact, it often does. Those who dare to speak differently (like me) will suffer the slings and arrows for their honesty and open sharing. So far I'm "creepy" and "idiot" and now "a moron." Sounds like just a different style of negativity and intolerance to me. Guess it was important for you to get your dig in too. OK...I heard you.

I will own one thing here...I probably should not have stepped on Kevin's thread. I should have started my own thread...then people could join or or pass as they wished.

Anyway Navarreman...just needed to clear with you about "morons." One type of negativity is no better than another.

I hope you're new life with your Russian lady goes well.

Probably the closest you will come to making an apology. This is the exact reason so many people got up in arms about what you posted. Kevin is one heck of a nice man and Kirk, Jeff and Slim and several others are as well and have no problem with pointing out the error of your ways when you trash a thread like you did this one.

The moron comment was not sideways. It was a clean, clear shot. Sure we can turn this forum into a place for people to come and trash and flame everyone but many here feel that it is actually about the VJ experience and what we can do to help others and ourselves. Kevin's OP about humorous stories is an excellent example of what many of us can expect to go through during our journey. And it does not only pertain to Russian women. There are those here that find these same stories in Canadians and Thai's. To each their own.

Perhaps it was just me but I felt that your post was worded such to give the impression that unless we treated women as you feel is necessary then we are just not men. That is loading the gun and pulling the trigger. You should not be surprised by the reaction you received from us.

I need to go right now and invite clear and convincing discussion at a later time.

I see you're a name dropper. Well. I haven't heard from the men you mentioned except from Slim who agreed with me or sustained some of my own points. Didn't hear one derogatory comment from him...and not hearing anyone attack him for his views. Mox and I can dance the dance of disagreement without acting like school boys (at least usually ). Jeffrey is a gentleman's gentleman and has always spoken with me respectfully even if we might not agree on an issue. One thing I know about him...he doesn't do sideways or name calling.

Very few posters chose to use school yard name calling that was aimed directly at me. I don't mean things like 'wise guy' or "hot shot" but "creepy" "idiot' and your own "moron." Not a sophisticated way to make points or lodge mature complaints or rebuttals. And there's always the choice to ignore a poster. You can even block my posts. No sweat.

As you sit in judgment of my comments, you might want to look at your own civility when you drop the word "moron" into the conversation...and when you slip it in on the low low..and when you're not even part of the conversation in the first place. You chose to engage..that was your choice. Now you'll have to own your words straight up.

If I were you, I'd focus on my woman and enjoy the precious moments. When my wife comes to me the last thing I'll be doing is posting on on this forum.

[visaveteran1 33]

OK...here's my funny story about hot versus cold drinks for Russians.

When my wife talks to me on the phone, I stopped having a coke or ice tea while we talk to avoid getting a lecture on how bad it is for me to drink something with ice in it. If she hears the jiggle of ice in my glass, I'm really in for it. At least a 5 minute scolding that cold drinks will harm me and why will I not listen to her sound Russian advice.

I guess I'll have to disconnect my automatic ice maker when she arrives in the USA.

When Natasha was in Russia and we would talk on webcam and voice chat, I would get the same lecture as you, SCII, if I was drinking a pop. But, oddly enough, now that she's here she has dropped this particular objection, though she of course doesn't follow this practice herself. I only occasionally get the fact mentioned that it's not good for me, and even then only if I've already got a sniffle.

Luckily, my ice-maker doesn't work. :-)

I'm a ice drinking freak...so I'm hoping she'll "Americanize" on this one. Otherwise the summer's are going to be VERY long.

You can tell Natasha maybe she's not so far off about me being crazy! These Russian women are psychic, I swear! My wife knows stuff about me and I don't know where she gets it...but she's often right on the money.

[visaveteran1 33]

Pfff. I take a couple days off and everything goes to hell--without me.

Normally I'd have volumes to add, but Kevin (and Natasha) have pretty much covered everything I'd have had to say.

Welcome back Kevin, it's nice to see you fired up.

I was pulling double shifts while you've been loathing. I must say, I'm surprised you let surrogates speak for you. You're starting to act like a presidential candidate. Let me guess...I'm one of those bitter small town losers clinging to my guns.

Heh...I don't think that word means what you think it means. Although it's true...I do tend to loathe even when I'm away.

Also...glad I entered the field of battle with shields up.

And while I don't know you well enough to tell if you're one of those bitter small town losers clinging to your guns (I always thought of you more as a big town loser clinging to your guns ), I'll add fuel to the fire: I'm disappointed that Obama didn't stand behind his words, although I do realize the reality of the situation is that the voting public are mostly morons who can't think past a 10 second sound bite, and that it's easier to be offended by something that amounts to nothing in the bigger scheme of things, than to think about real issues that matter to real Americans. One day I hope Americans will be less dumb, but it's not looking good. Anyway. Everything he said is absolutely true. When people lose hope, they become bitter, and many do turn to guns and religion. That's why violent crime goes up in depressed areas. History is replete with examples. But even guns I don't mind so much. Religion, on the other hand, is a zillion times more dangerous than guns. Nothing scares me more than some idiot that thinks Jesus wants him to go out and hurt people. Except maybe when that same idiot wants Jesus in in science books.

mox: dragging topics off since 2007.

Loathing. Wow...quite a Freudian slip, eh? I see you got I meant loafing.

I'm numbing out on the politics thing. The whole process just takes to long. Not thrilled with any of them deep down in my heart. McCain's a brother Nam vet and I feel connected to him for that, but he's getting old. I actually liked a lot of what Ron Paul had to say but he always looked bad during the debates. Like Obama, Paul got the young folks excited.

[eekee 182]

Not that i would have voted for McCain anyway (though I am not thrilled with either Hillary or Obama), but to me it seems like he controls his temper only slightly better than Zhirinovsky does. That kind of lack of control is not something I personally want to see in a head of state.

Obama gets the young folks excited, but it all seems like empty rhetoric to me. I want to see real plans, not an inspiring speech. I think it's good that we're seeing record voter registration and turnout though.

Loathing. Wow...quite a Freudian slip, eh? I see you got I meant loafing.

I'm numbing out on the politics thing. The whole process just takes to long. Not thrilled with any of them deep down in my heart. McCain's a brother Nam vet and I feel connected to him for that, but he's getting old. I actually liked a lot of what Ron Paul had to say but he always looked bad during the debates. Like Obama, Paul got the young folks excited.

Edited April 19, 2008 by eekee

[Bobalouie 0]

Not that i would have voted for McCain anyway (though I am not thrilled with either Hillary or Obama), but to me it seems like he controls his temper only slightly better than Zhirinovsky does. That kind of lack of control is not something I personally want to see in a head of state.

Obama gets the young folks excited, but it all seems like empty rhetoric to me. I want to see real plans, not an inspiring speech. I think it's good that we're seeing record voter registration and turnout though.

Loathing. Wow...quite a Freudian slip, eh? I see you got I meant loafing.

I'm numbing out on the politics thing. The whole process just takes to long. Not thrilled with any of them deep down in my heart. McCain's a brother Nam vet and I feel connected to him for that, but he's getting old. I actually liked a lot of what Ron Paul had to say but he always looked bad during the debates. Like Obama, Paul got the young folks excited.

My feelings on the whole election is that this will be the third presidential election where none of the candidates are electable in my opinion. It is a very sad state of affairs within American politics when we cant even find a single worthwhile standout candidate in either party.

And the fact that Paul got no press time really infuriates me. All candidates should be afforded the same privledges. In this election we will be making the choice for president from the candidtates that BIG MEDIA wants us to choose from. Paul actually did well in a few states in the primaries but it often went unreported. I dont think Paul would have been a winner, but he would have done much better if he was treated equally. Huckabee was another that was often overlooked by the media.

Edited April 19, 2008 by Bobalouie

[eekee 182]

re: Huckabee, I recall him getting quite a bit of media attention. He was on the cover of several magazines, after all.

My feelings on the whole election is that this will be the third presidential election where none of the candidates are electable in my opinion. It is a very sad state of affairs within American politics when we cant even find a single worthwhile standout candidate in either party.

And the fact that Paul got no press time really infuriates me. All candidates should be afforded the same privledges. In this election we will be making the choice for president from the candidtates that BIG MEDIA wants us to choose from. Paul actually did well in a few states in the primaries but it often went unreported. I dont think Paul would have been a winner, but he would have done much better if he was treated equally. Huckabee was another that was often overlooked by the media.

[Don E 0]

I hear a statement that sounds "comfortable" for us at this moment that embraces conciliation. We're all alike overall, but unique as individuals. And of course the unique individual part is true. But the part about American women and Russian women being more alike than different is incorrect IMO. If this were true...why are American men investing so much time, money and aggravation with applying for visas and waiting alone for months and even longer if there is no discernible difference? Are we nuts? If a woman is a woman in all pats of the world, why not just stay home and date and marry at home?

The issue we as men have to accept (unless we're some of the few who just randomly met a Russian women) is that we intentionally decided to look elsewhere for a wife for clear and profound reasons beyond randomness. We have to own that American women were not what we wanted for whatever the reasons.

Maybe we like the Russian accent. Maybe we like the way Russian women carry themselves. Maybe we like the Slavic look of Russian women. Maybe we discern a different view on life. Maybe we like that Russian women seem to like older men.

Your opinion needs some clarification and elaboration to help we to see there is little no difference between a Russian woman and an American woman.

I'm not trying to convince you or anyone else of anything. I'm simply offering my opinion.

I won't pretend to speak for anyone else, but I will offer an answer to some of your questions in regard to my personal experience. I've been through the immigration process before with my ex-wife (from Russia). I really didn't want to go through all of that again, and I was sure I could find a woman that I might marry closer to home this time around. But, after some time, I began to wonder if I could. And I decided that I should be open to the possibility of finding my true love outside the borders of the U.S. By no means was I focusing on Russian women, but it so happened that Tania is from Russia.

While there are certainly plenty of extraordinary women in the U.S., I was having a difficult time finding any of them my age who were "available" to me. I do believe that there may be more extraordinary and available women in Russia than in the U.S. Simple demographics would support that:

United States

at birth: 1.05 males/female

under 15 years: 1.05 males/female

15–64 years: 1 male/female

65 years and over: 0.72 male/female

total population: 0.97 male/female

Russian Federation

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female

total population: 0.86 male(s)/female

When it comes to Russians my age, there are simply far fewer men than women. Alcoholism is a rather significant factor in the longevity of Russian men, and it was also a factor in Tania's divorce. She didn't think it was very likely that she could find an available Russian man her age or older who didn't have a problem with alcohol, and she really didn't want to take another chance on another Russian man. You might say that she was disillusioned with the Russian male. I suspect that she is not the only Russian woman who feels that way.

Just a few thoughts for you to consider.....or not.....

[visaveteran1 33]

I hear a statement that sounds "comfortable" for us at this moment that embraces conciliation. We're all alike overall, but unique as individuals. And of course the unique individual part is true. But the part about American women and Russian women being more alike than different is incorrect IMO. If this were true...why are American men investing so much time, money and aggravation with applying for visas and waiting alone for months and even longer if there is no discernible difference? Are we nuts? If a woman is a woman in all pats of the world, why not just stay home and date and marry at home?

The issue we as men have to accept (unless we're some of the few who just randomly met a Russian women) is that we intentionally decided to look elsewhere for a wife for clear and profound reasons beyond randomness. We have to own that American women were not what we wanted for whatever the reasons.

Maybe we like the Russian accent. Maybe we like the way Russian women carry themselves. Maybe we like the Slavic look of Russian women. Maybe we discern a different view on life. Maybe we like that Russian women seem to like older men.

Your opinion needs some clarification and elaboration to help we to see there is little no difference between a Russian woman and an American woman.

I'm not trying to convince you or anyone else of anything. I'm simply offering my opinion.

I won't pretend to speak for anyone else, but I will offer an answer to some of your questions in regard to my personal experience. I've been through the immigration process before with my ex-wife (from Russia). I really didn't want to go through all of that again, and I was sure I could find a woman that I might marry closer to home this time around. But, after some time, I began to wonder if I could. And I decided that I should be open to the possibility of finding my true love outside the borders of the U.S. By no means was I focusing on Russian women, but it so happened that Tania is from Russia.

While there are certainly plenty of extraordinary women in the U.S., I was having a difficult time finding any of them my age who were "available" to me. I do believe that there may be more extraordinary and available women in Russia than in the U.S. Simple demographics would support that:

United States

at birth: 1.05 males/female

under 15 years: 1.05 males/female

15–64 years: 1 male/female

65 years and over: 0.72 male/female

total population: 0.97 male/female

Russian Federation

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female

total population: 0.86 male(s)/female

When it comes to Russians my age, there are simply far fewer men than women. Alcoholism is a rather significant factor in the longevity of Russian men, and it was also a factor in Tania's divorce. She didn't think it was very likely that she could find an available Russian man her age or older who didn't have a problem with alcohol, and she really didn't want to take another chance on another Russian man. You might say that she was disillusioned with the Russian male. I suspect that she is not the only Russian woman who feels that way.

Just a few thoughts for you to consider.....or not.....

I understand what you are saying and agree. Your situation is similar to mine. There are a lot more women I'd be interested in and available in Russia but very few in the US. I also find that older US women (say 45-55) often want to date younger men (like 35-40). Not sure why unless it's ego or the fear older men can't perform...which is probably an real issue.

There is a lot more factors to choosing a mate overseas versus here in the US, but I agree with your comments.

[eekee 182]

Probably because their first husband dumped them for someone twenty years younger and they could use the self-esteem boost.

I understand what you are saying and agree. Your situation is similar to mine. There are a lot more women I'd be interested in and available in Russia but very few in the US. I also find that older US women (say 45-55) often want to date younger men (like 35-40). Not sure why unless it's ego or the fear older men can't perform...which is probably an real issue.

There is a lot more factors to choosing a mate overseas versus here in the US, but I agree with your comments.

[peejay 327]

I pretty much skimmed through the whole thread and found that my wife has a lot of similar traits that others described.

My wife often uses the "foo" word to show her dislike of something. I didn't realize it was a Russian idiom. I never heard my stepdaughter use it though. I have heard many Belarusian women use the term "oi, oi, oi" while shaking their head to convey their disapproval of something. Jews are famous for using the same idiom, but the Belarusian women I know that use it aren't Jewish. Large portions of Belarus were a part of the old Tsarist era Pale of Settlement where Jews were required to live, so that may explain that regionalism. My wife was born and raised in Russia, so that probablty explains why she uses "foo" instead of "oi, oi, oi".

My wife also distains colas, but her daughter loves them. Neither of them likes kvas, but I have a taste for it. My wife and many of the Russian / Belarusian women I know love their tea. My wife can't live without it and drinks it with milk or cream. She also likes her juice and it is drunk at room temperature. It sits on the counter unrefridgerated.

We are fortunate to live in an area of Houston close to our house that has two Russian stores that stock foods, medicines, books, movies, etc. from Eastern Europe and many of the former Soviet republics. I lived there even before I met my wife, so it has turned out to be a plus. She has discovered American brands that are acceptable to her, but has the Russian stores to fall back on for certain things. Most notably unrefined sunflower oil, halva, various sweets, church wine (Kagor), and buckwheat (gretchka) comes to mind.

Russians / Belarusians tend to prefer pork over beef. My wife seldom cooks beef. Pork, chicken, and fish is prefered in that order. I'm not a huge fan of pork, but have learned to live with it.

My wife also does not like the American health care system (insurance), doctors, dentists, or medicines. I had a real fun time trying to convince her that our American thyroxine was the same as the thyroxine she got in Belarus. While our system has a lot not to like, I think most of the distain comes from having to pay and pay and pay. My wife is also a huge believer in natural cures and old wives cures from the village. Some of it is OK for minor ailments, but it can also be detrimental if someone refuses competent medical care for serious medical conditions. We often butt heads when she nags me about my decision to go to "my" American doctors rather than letting her cure me.

My wife is also superstitious, but so are some Americans. My wife is probably one of the most superstitious people I ever met though. Most of the time I play along with it to indulge her, but I only go so far with it. There is a limit.

I could probably write a book on my many observations, but I'll stop here for now. One observation that I would like to make is that people are not entirely the same even when they come from the same country. People might have similar beliefs, attitudes, etc. they aquire from their upbringing and culture, but they are still individuals and are different in their own way. Russians are not monolithic. They are not all exactly the same.