More in Sochi

[Zink]

Well now that I've gone and ruined all your hopes at there being a happy ending to this I'll continue. It might be hard to believe but it actually got worse.

My lady's attitude to me fluctuated from warm to ice cold. But we still managed to have some fun together. The one night we were in the center of town and saw a mongolian artist doing drawings of people. My lady wanted to get hers done. So she sat down and got her picture drawn. It was an okay picture but not great. Then she decided I needed to get mine done. So what the hey. At this time I was still trying my best to make her happy.

After my picture was finished I paid the guy but he had to try and find change. He ran away for a few minutes and came back and gave me my change. Then he and my lady started to talk again. I was tuning it out and still don't know what was really said. The next thing I know she kicked over his equipment and he's in her face ready to hit her.

I step up close not knowing what's going on. Real fast there is a crowd around us and some of the guys start shoving the mongolian around. It looks like I'm about to be in the middle of a brawl and I don't even know why or who I'm supposed to fight. Olya slides up closer to me and I ask her what's happening. She just shakes her head. Pretty soon one guy drags the mongol off to a table in a nearby street cafe. Then the other guys start asking me what happened.

I say I don't know. Olya explains that I'm canadian and don't speak Russian. Then my lady comes over and tells me what happened. It seems that the mongol called her a very nasty name. The one guy thought he had insulted me and didn't think that was a big problem. But when he learned that it was my lady who was insulted he almost went over and kicked the little guys ass.

Eventually things calmed down, the mongol came over and gave me some of my money back and my lady tore up her picture. Then all the guys who were there invited us to go to supper with them.

It turns out that they are Armenian/Russians. We ate supper drank, some vodka and danced the whole night. A couple of these guys decided to tell me what to do with a RW. Now I've read a lot of bad things about Russian guys. But they do know how to treat a woman. These guys would do anything for their wives. They are incredibly protective of any woman. I'll write some of what they told me later. Honestly it would do a lot of guys here good to make friends with some Russian guys. You can learn a lot.

Over the next couple of days things weren't so bad. We went dancing almost every night. But then her sister decided that she needed to sleep with my lady instead of going back to her house. I was annoyed but Olya is a sweet timid little 18 year old. I didn't have the heart to throw her out of my room so I could talk to my lady. So it was three of us together almost constantly the last while I was in Russia.

The second last day I was there I finally got my lady convinced to develop our pictures so I could take the ones I wanted home and she could keep the rest. So we go and get them developed. When we get back to our room we find out that they gave us less than half of our pictures and negatives. My lady says that in Russia quite often photo places will only develop the good pictures. And they will even cut the negatives to remove bad ones. I said that this was bullsh1t. But the photo place was closed and the next day we were supposed to go to Moscow.

They had told her that many of the photos didn't turn out. I had just bought her a new camera and she gave me h3ll for not teaching her how to run it properly. Then we realized that there were a lot of pictures missing that were taken at the exact same time and locations as ones that we did have. Why would one of me be good but one taken a minute later of her be thrown out as garbage?

That night I told my lady I didn't want her to come to Moscow with me. I would only be there a day and it would be a problem for her to get home from there. She agreed because her sister had become ill and they wanted to be together.

So I called a taxi service that I have used before in Moscow and asked them to have a driver ready for me at Vuknovo airport. My last day I had to visit all my doctors again to get my files and recommendations. If I ever go to another sanitorium I'm supposed to give them this stuff so they know what's wrong with me.

More real quick.

[GeorgiaGal]

... in response to More in Sochi, posted by Zink on Nov 3, 2001

Interesting post, ZInk. It's a pity you didn't have more luck with your lady. But she is not the only one. There's someone wonderful out there waiting for you... but it just takes time to find her.

Just a side note. I am from Georgia ("Soviet" Georgia), and I've been in the US for quite a while. It's sometimes even annoying that lots of Americans think of the entire former USSR as "Russia". When I say that I am from Georgia, they say, "Ah, Russia", and it's often useless to explain that it's not the same, the cultures are very different. It's like to ask a good ole Southern boy if he is a yankee  or vice versa.

So, the conclusion is: Georgians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Moldovians, and so on are not the same as Russians, and some of them may even get very offended if called Russians.

Just my observations from growing up in that part of the world. Hope this helps somebody here.

[Go2Rus]

... in response to Armenians are not Russians, posted by GeorgiaGal on Nov 5, 2001

I propose an alternative solution of sorts.  Why don't we all not be so sensitive about this issue to begin with.  For instance, if an Armenian is living in Russia and is called a Russian, why does the person have to make such a big fuss about it?  It would be much simpler to just let it go.

In some cases it gets pretty confusing because of the confusion between where a person lives, what their ethnic heritage is and even religion.  A good example is the Jewish people in Russia and Germany.  Even before the Holocost, the Jewish people who had lived in Germany for many generations would say they were not German, and now they say the same thing with respect to those who live in Russia.  I mean what is with this?  In Zink's case he says Scot-Canadian, but some groups won't even add the Canadian part.

Why don't we all just claim to be citizens of the world and not get so hung up about all these nationalities, or at least not make an issue about it when someone innocently refers to us by the wrong moniker.

[WmGo]

... in response to To GeorgiaGal and Zink, posted by Go2Rus on Nov 5, 2001

"Why don't we just..."

Because there is no such thing as a "citizen of the world."
This is obviously so because there is no world government (yet).

I am an American of European ancestory, and if anyone tries to overthrow the Constitution, the Government of the United States, or the government of my home state, they will find themselves in a BIG war.

GG was legitimately correcting Zink, and educating those who did not know the Russia-Georgian distinction. This board is about becoming educated on the many aspects of searching for a FSUW, including knowing the geography and the differing nationalities and cultures of the nations that once were a part of the FSU. That is what people are *supposed* to be doing, not promoting this "one world" horsecrap.

Comprende`? Thanks.

WmGOjustsaynotooneworldexceptfortrade

[Zink]

... in response to Armenians are not Russians, posted by GeorgiaGal on Nov 5, 2001

I understand that Armenians aren't the same as Russians. The men I was with were ethnic Armenians. They even spoke Armenian. But I asked them where they had lived. All of them had lived their wholes lives in Sochi or nearby. Therefore I considered them Russians as well.

I understand your annoyance with some people who don't understand the differences between the ethnic groups that made up the Soviet Union. While in Moscow I met a British man who thought I was American. I told him, "no, I'm Canadian." He said, "Well that's the same thing, isn't it." To call a Canadian an American is one of the worst insults you can say. No offence intended to my friends from south of the line.

But seriously, I did encounter some of the Russian prejudice against the southern ethnic groups(Georgians, Armenians, etc). I learned a couple of not very polite terms for these people. I can easily understand why they might be offended to be called Russians.

Because I am of mixed ancestry I have often run into prejudiced people. The worst part about being of mixed ancestry is that often neither group wants to claim you. The best part is that I can be who and what I want to be.

Just some thoughts from a (partly)Scottish Canadian(which is a very different thing from a French Canadian).

[Zink]

... in response to Armenians are not Russians, posted by GeorgiaGal on Nov 5, 2001

I understand that Armenians aren't the same as Russians. The men I was with were ethnic Armenians. They even spoke Armenian. But I asked them where they had lived. All of them had lived their wholes lives in Sochi or nearby. Therefore I considered them Russians as well.

I understand your annoyance with some people who don't understand the differences between the ethnic groups that made up the Soviet Union. While in Moscow I met a British man who thought I was American. I told him, "no, I'm Canadian." He said, "Well that's the same thing, isn't it." To call a Canadian an American is one of the worst insults you can say. No offence intended to my friends from south of the line.

But seriously, I did encounter some of the Russian prejudice against the southern ethnic groups(Georgians, Armenians, etc). I learned a couple of not very polite terms for these people. I can easily understand why they might be offended to be called Russians.

Because I am of mixed ancestry I have often run into prejudiced people. The worst part about being of mixed ancestry is that often neither group wants to claim you. The best part is that I can be who and what I want to be.

Just some thoughts from a (partly)Scottish Canadian(which is a very different thing from a French Canadian).

[GeorgiaGal]

... in response to Re: Armenians are not Russians, posted by Zink on Nov 5, 2001

It looks like this is a universal problem, caused by geography-challanged (or ethnically insensitive?) people.
As I am partly Georgian, partly Polish, I, too had occasions when neither Russians nor Georgians would accept me. But it's their problem.
Zink, you sound like a very nice guy. I am sure you'll find your happiness, just don't give up.

[BubbaGump]

... in response to More in Sochi, posted by Zink on Nov 3, 2001

You post makes me wonder about the health of the average Russian.  I visited one girl's family and her mother was very sick and then her brother broke his finger but didn't bother to do anything about it.  Another thing is the men just don't live very long either, only 59.  Other guys had their girls get sick on them.  It just makes me wonder.  

I had a similar incident on a date.  I was double dating with another guy and his girl and at a cafeteria and my date is talking to some guy working at the restaurant.  Then she suddenly starts shouting at him in Russian and everybody starts looking at us.  She made us leave and go to a nicer place.  She said the man was overcharging us because we were foreigners.  The restaurant we ended up at was a lot more expensive though.  It could have been a ruse.

[BubbaGump]

... in response to You post makes me wonder, posted by BubbaGump on Nov 4, 2001

[Go2Rus]

... in response to More in Sochi, posted by Zink on Nov 3, 2001

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