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Sometimes it sucks to be american

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extremevx
  4/11/2016 11:52 EST

My wife and I leave odessa airport for melton beach resort on the souther tip of the sinia peninsula. It's a popular russian/ukrainian vacation destination. The prices now are even cheaper since the russian jet the crashed a few months back. The airfare, hotel resort and meals are all inclusive for $640.00 for two people flying out of odessa.
But when the travel agent faxed a copy of my passport to the resort and they found out I was american, then suddenly I am not privy to this cheap vacation. When the travel agent told then that there are 3 ukrainian girls going along with this American and if he can't go for the same price then nobody goes. After some negotiations we settled on me having to pay an extra $15 a day for 7 days. We will see if this stands when we get there, I told the travel agent to have it in writing before we give her money. But it probably doesn't mean nothing to these people in Egypt. Just goes to show you how you get hosed if your an American. I wish my ukrainian resident permit was here already so I could pass it off as a passport to the hotel when I get there since they look the same as a ukrainian passport only they are green instead of blue.

NA67
  4/11/2016 15:30 EST

But Extreme you American !!, all Americans are rich !!))). I had to deal with the same crap in December in a shoe store in Odessa. My wife wanted 2 pairs of leather boots made in Italy. When the manager heard my English, we had to haggle for an hour over the damn price before I would buy them. I am so sick of "But he is an American" "All American's are Rich". Like Hell !! I'm a poor Redneck working 6 days a week, 11 hours a day to pay the bills !!

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NA67
  4/11/2016 15:32 EST

I need a Maldova passport ))).

LuvSlav
  4/11/2016 15:37 EST

That is friggin' outrageous. When someone tries to rip me off like that I usually vote with my wallet and go spend my money somewhere else.

extremevx
  4/11/2016 15:40 EST

I hear ya. I'm on 1200 a month pension. My wife makes more than me. I think. I've learned to keep my mouth shut anytime we are buying something. When we get to Egypt, if they try to stick it to me I just might make the news. Keep an.eye out. Ha ha.

LuvSlav
  4/11/2016 15:49 EST

Ditto to what NA said!!! I worked my tail off for every penny. I scrimped and saved, never went out, no movies, no clubs or whatever, only 2 vacations in the last 30 years. And 12 to 16 hour days were more likely for me, 6 days a week too (sometimes I got called in on the 7th as well). Hats off to ya for standing up for what's right and not letting some petty thief steal your hard earned money.

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smmoravec
  4/11/2016 16:09 EST

I have learned to keep my mouth shut when I take my woman shopping. When she needs to ask me something, she just whispers to me out of earshot of any sales associates.

LuvSlav
  4/11/2016 16:30 EST

Long before I'm out shopping with a girlfriend I first let them know that wild, "the sky's the limit" spending sprees aint happening. And after I'm confident they understand that reality I just give them the cash and tell them to get what they need.

Personally, I hate shopping. I just want to get in, get what I want, and get out in record time.

NA67
  4/11/2016 16:51 EST

Taxi drivers are the worse rip off in Ukraine. My first trip I went to Odessa, my friend went to Louhanks. I paid 50 hryvnia for a taxi ride from the airport....he paid $120 American for a taxi ride. I learned fast let my Ukraine lady negotiate that price before I get in the car)))

smmoravec
  4/11/2016 16:53 EST

When I was in Kiev, I found a taxi company that speaks English, or always had someone there that did. I loved it because they would give me the price before the taxi got there. The woman I was dating at the time liked to use her service, but after a while, I noticed MY service was cheaper! Go figure...

extremevx
  4/11/2016 16:56 EST

We have our own car now, so I don't have to worry about rip off taxi. But before we had car we rode marshrutka or we got a taxi for which my wife called them on phone. Even my wife will not just walk up to a taxi and try to get a ride. She says they will tell you one price ans then want another at the destination. She says always call the dispatcher and get price there.

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LuvSlav
  4/11/2016 17:41 EST

Ok. I got it. Step 1: Get a lady. Step 2) Let her negotiate fair/proper prices.

I guess I'll be getting "American Price" screwed until I find #1 above. Or can I just rent one)))

smmoravec
  4/11/2016 18:18 EST

LOL! Yeah....I hear the rentals are cheap too....

extremevx
  4/11/2016 18:21 EST

Not that I'd want a rental, but I haven't seen one yet. Maybe I'm not in the right part of town. Lol..

MichaelTryn
  4/11/2016 20:27 EST

Good posts guys! WHAT to do about the "petty thieves" HERE in office.?Voting never does any good. The tax acct DID NOT cover up the pension money I took out as the broker sends notice to the gov.. I did NOT see any of it as I have posted, bills got paid and the wife got $8k. I had maybe 4 vacations in the last 30 yrs. and put in many days freezing in Illinois. WE americans get cheated if we go to N.Y.C. or Frisco with the prices I've heard about there! You guys are LUCKY with your cell phones, I just wrote a check for $96/mo. today to T-mobile. unlimited data for the daughter. We have ins., and some boost whatever that is, 4 gigs. It is a paid I-phone 6. Then, $133 for Comcast,with $15 extra for RT,
Al jazeera, BBC included. I take it your cable is much better priced there with SKY news, cnn, and fox. and you can get RT.

NA67
  4/11/2016 21:31 EST

Mike, drop cabel/Comcast at $133, go to Wal-Mart and buy a antena for $35. Tell the cabel company to kiss your azz. And tell Albina and your daughter to learn to live with regular TV. Hell you just gave your self a pay raise )))

MichaelTryn
  4/11/2016 21:54 EST

I'm here Nate, I would like to investigate this HULU or another service, I think the name is Rucku. Albina is set with
the EASY FOR HER clicking with the cable. She only watches maybe 10 channels, mostly BBC, RT, and the weather channel. It looks like you're putting in LONG HOURS out there doing maintenance. You otta take a break and head to Park City. The computer siad it is a place to visit a few days ago. Re: Ukraine, I read some guys were burning tires in Odessa, Kiev, Zaporozhe , and a few others places last week.
"The natives are getting wrestless."

Russophile
  4/14/2016 04:47 EST

Many restaurants in Odessa are part of the 'scam' industry. Most restaurants in the City Center have an English menu, but a few go a step farther. Their 'English' menu has prices that are 2-3 times higher than what Ukrainian citizens pay. These restaurants are also networked with the 'marriage agency' scam. The girls suggest a restaurant to the unsuspecting fool that thinks he has a hot date. While there, they order every expensive item on the menu at inflated prices. Then, after the bill is paid by the mark, the girls say they have to go to the 'powder room' where they receive a 20% kickback from the restaurant manager.

LuvSlav
  4/15/2016 00:05 EST

Restaurant scam is the purest example of scumbaggery I've heard in a long time.

Good thing I can read Cyrrillic (at about the same speed as a 3rd grader unfortunately but I can pass that off as uncertainty over what I want to eat heheh).

PS, the more I hear of the shenanigans these marriage agencies pull the more I want to avoid them like the plague. I guess Amsterdam is the only place in the world where you can window shop for a lady... but you don't get to keep her. Or at least so I'm told. Never been there. (but, be honest, wouldn't that be soooo much simpler on us guys?)

LuvSlav
  4/15/2016 00:16 EST

@Somoravec. Regarding rentals, would it be like "fake it till you make it" corporate ladder climbing. Would being seen each time with a different very attractive rental on your arm work there as it does in the west?

extremevx
  4/21/2016 08:14 EST

Marriage agency are all scams. If you want a ukrainian woman, just start a profile on vk dot com. Do a search. Pick the city, age range you want, even the name you like. Surf through all the profiles you like. Start messaging girls using Google translate at first. Be honest in what your doing. Let them know your coming to ukraine soon or most will not take your serious. Don't be surprised if many do not respond at first. If they dont, keep trying. Every day tell her good morning even if she never says anything.
This is what I did. I found a woman I liked and started message her every other day I would say hello or something. I would tell her about me, my likes desires and my history. For 3 months she didn't respond. And then one day she did. She told me she was seeing a man and thought it was the right thing to do to tell me. I told her that I hope she is happy and treats her good. Then she said a few days later that she didn't have any intentions on being serious with this man because he would never cintact her during the week but only on weekends.
But I know that a ukrainian woman craves attention, so I pored it on. After 2 weeks we were on skype together and she had broken contact with this other man. For 3 months we Skype and viber phone every day. She refused money. I came to visit and it was like we had known eachother for years. After a year and 3 visits and hours and hours of skype, I moved to nikolaev ukraine to be with her and subsequently married her here. At first I wanted to bring her to America, but when her ex woudnt let her 8 year old boy leave then I decided to move here to be with her.
There are alot of cultural differences that we argue about at times, but you just have to be patient and learn to compromise.
If anyone needs any help in doing what I just explained to find a woman, you can pm me and I can walk you through it. Don't know if it will work for everyone but it did for me.

extremevx
  4/21/2016 12:55 EST

I know there are success stories out there with marriage agencies, but they are very rare.
In the US, I dated a ukrainian in Cincinnati for 5 years that had been brought over by an American. She was from lugansk. She stayed with him for 4 years until she was tired of being treated like a trophy only to be brought out and shined when his buddies came over. In the course of our 5 years together she gave me glimpses into her life where she was sold into what amounted to prostitution by the mafia at one point. About her having multiple sponsors who were sending her money for a flat in yalta all thinking they were the only man. But most of this money she had to pay to the mafia that ran the marriage agency as most are all under the same umbrella and run by the mob in ukraine even to this day.
Even with my wife now before I moved to ukraine, when I would send her flowers or her son a cool toy, the man would call her and ask if she actually wanted the toy or flowers. Because if she didn't want the gift, they would split the money 50/50 but take photos of some flowers to make me happy. This is common practice in ukraine.

smmoravec
  4/21/2016 13:14 EST

I learned that the hard way too. The first woman I dated online I sent a webcam. She would never use it. We broke up then got back together a year later. She said she gave her webcam to a friend so I was stupid enough to send her another one. Same thing...she would never turn in on. I bet she sold it or what Extremevx said, just took the validation photo and split the money.

There are marriage agencies that are legit. I know because I am good friends with a woman that works for one. But they all work for the dating websites and that is where most of the issues come from. If a woman post nude photos, talks bad to a man online, or does not update her contact information monthly, the woman does not get penalized, the agency does. And we are talking thousands of dollars per incident. So for the agencies to remain profitable, they pressure the women to get online and chat, etc.

The agencies my friend runs will give gifts to their women, but other agencies actually pay them. That first woman I dated told me she got paid a percentage of what the men spend based on the popularity of her profile. Given the economic situation in Ukraine, it is hard to fault them for it.

But for me, it was all good information to finding women who are serious on the dating sites. They are there, you just have to be smart about it.

LuvSlav
  4/25/2016 22:42 EST

What about free dating sites? Anyone have any luck with those?

smmoravec
  4/26/2016 09:50 EST

VK is the best option free wise. Elenasmodels is really cheap but I rarely got repsonses from the women and I started getting a ton of spam after I signed up for it. I have since gotten rid of that account,

extremevx
  4/26/2016 10:57 EST

Vk worked for me. I had been on numerous sites and paid out alot of money over the years with no good luck. That's why I chose the way I went now. My wife now forbids me to even look at a ukrainian dating site. She knows all about them. She has such a good network of gorgeous single friends that she is always encouraging me to see if any of you guys on here would be interested. Her girls are always asking if she, through me, can find them an American man. It seems they are tired of ukraine men that are not serious about settling down. These of course are her friends that are now in their 30's.
I tell her then best way is to just come over here and meet some. Walk down the street and start talking to them, especially in the summer when all the lovers are holding hands on the street. A single ukrainian girl feels jealous when she sees another woman happy with her man. There will.be plenty single gorgeous women on the streets and the beach this summer dreaming to be seen with a man so she feels normal. So gets your as** in gear and come get your girl

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