Ladislav returns to Ukraine. Cool.
I also noticed that customs in Kharkov anyway, were nicer than Austrian and certainly American customs. People ask me the hardest part of my trip to Ukraine and it was actually having to deal with Americans at the airport, in both leaving and arriving home again.
Most of the women in Ukraine who made flirty eyes at me were by far, in the 40s age group. More so than all other age groups combined. I can only assume it's the man shortage in that age group there. Interesting because I look almost ten years younger than I am. So these women were interested in a man they think is young enough to be a son. (Most people guess me to be 24-27)
I don't know anything about the rest of Ukraine though. I have only been to Kharkov. But the women from Ukraine tell me Kharkov is a "gray city", what ever that means.
My Travel to Ukraine
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According to the people here in the West, no one is starving. You were in Kharkov? Well, yeah, it is a bit too gray. What they meant was 'indistrial' and biring. Also, most people there are ethnically Russian. It was, basically, part of Russia before.
There are very few actual Russians here in the Far West where I am now. All the land is privatized.
Here is a painting of Lviv from two hundred years ago when it was still newer:
Lviv is my birthplace. Here was also born Baron Von Masoch- the founder of Masochism. No connection with me- lol, Here is what the city looks like now:
The city is very pretty and Prague-like, but still run down in quite a few places. Lots of poor-looking people around, but also lots of well dressed wealthy people, as well, but no starvation. I am ashamed of what is happening when I look at the poor ones. But major changes are on the way. The Russian language is spoken again. Before it was taboo to speak it here. This means more Russian tourists will be coming and they will bring some oil money. There is an Israeli flag ( among other flags) flying over a major hotel. Holy shit! Incredible! This was unthinkable in this formerly very Nazi, very right wing part of the country. Until recently this was a VERY antisemitic, anti-Russian area. Obviously, not as much.
However, a few steps away, in the park there are hawkers selling right wing literature on park benches. Among that- anti- Russian political works explaining something like why the Ukrainians are pure Slavs while the Russians are Mongoloid mutants or something of the sorts. There are paintings of Jews hoarding gold for sale. There is the Protocol of the Elders of Zion for sale on the bench as well as badges that say-" Thank you God I am not a Muscovite" ( a Russian). So, things are not as great as they seem at first. This would even be illegal in Germany but this country is totally free with lax laws and seemingly absolute freedom of speech and expression.
The food and the music are great, though. They tried to pass a law that would forbid Russian music here but it was not passed.
About the food: just the breakfast buffet at the hotel is already something to really enjoy: the selection, the taste and just the type of food is better than in the US. The view from the hotel window is wonderful. Medieval Germanic buildings and trees everywhere.
The girls are very pretty. Mostly blonds and very thin.
There are very few actual Russians here in the Far West where I am now. All the land is privatized.
Here is a painting of Lviv from two hundred years ago when it was still newer:
Lviv is my birthplace. Here was also born Baron Von Masoch- the founder of Masochism. No connection with me- lol, Here is what the city looks like now:
The city is very pretty and Prague-like, but still run down in quite a few places. Lots of poor-looking people around, but also lots of well dressed wealthy people, as well, but no starvation. I am ashamed of what is happening when I look at the poor ones. But major changes are on the way. The Russian language is spoken again. Before it was taboo to speak it here. This means more Russian tourists will be coming and they will bring some oil money. There is an Israeli flag ( among other flags) flying over a major hotel. Holy shit! Incredible! This was unthinkable in this formerly very Nazi, very right wing part of the country. Until recently this was a VERY antisemitic, anti-Russian area. Obviously, not as much.
However, a few steps away, in the park there are hawkers selling right wing literature on park benches. Among that- anti- Russian political works explaining something like why the Ukrainians are pure Slavs while the Russians are Mongoloid mutants or something of the sorts. There are paintings of Jews hoarding gold for sale. There is the Protocol of the Elders of Zion for sale on the bench as well as badges that say-" Thank you God I am not a Muscovite" ( a Russian). So, things are not as great as they seem at first. This would even be illegal in Germany but this country is totally free with lax laws and seemingly absolute freedom of speech and expression.
The food and the music are great, though. They tried to pass a law that would forbid Russian music here but it was not passed.
About the food: just the breakfast buffet at the hotel is already something to really enjoy: the selection, the taste and just the type of food is better than in the US. The view from the hotel window is wonderful. Medieval Germanic buildings and trees everywhere.
The girls are very pretty. Mostly blonds and very thin.
Last edited by ladislav on May 27th, 2009, 9:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
A brain is a terrible thing to wash!
I just didn't have all of the facts. I thought that something horrible happened to you that made you quit.ladislav wrote:This is after 11 years in the Gulf. Also, I can afford to quit and not work for three years if I do not want to. So, there is quitting and then there is quitting. Plus I was tired working for Brits. I would much rather work for Americans.
I was once fired from my job in Oman. Well, not fired, but made redundant. They had to pay me bonuses, vacations and overtime. I left with a $20,000 check.
So, when you get fired or quit in the Middle East, it is not like getting fired or quitting in the US. You can always afford it. Then you can always come back.
Where I would like to work next? I still have not decided.
Why are you worried? Have you spent 11 years in Arabia, too? Why would you get burnt out?
Would you really want to remain jobless for 3 years? Wouldn't that look bad on your resume?
Anyway, my plan is to stay at my current job for about 3 more years, then go teach English in Korea. Of course, I have a lot of details to work out.
Well, I did not get along with the new managers, plus the job and Riyadh in general, were beginning to get on my nerves. The money- 5K a month was good but my mental health also matters and I pride myself on the fact that I do not put money above personal pride and dignity and being in a reasonably good place and with good people.
Also, I do not think I will be jobless for three years; it is just an option. If I decide to take that route, I can always put on my resume that I had tutored online and did online work. I have 24 years of ESL teaching on my resume already. This may not look good that I have 3 years not working but I still can manage getting a job in the future.
Korea is an excellent place to start although the Won is a bit low now. Have you thought of Taiwan instead?
Winston, how can I just paste an image without a URL or anything?
Also, I do not think I will be jobless for three years; it is just an option. If I decide to take that route, I can always put on my resume that I had tutored online and did online work. I have 24 years of ESL teaching on my resume already. This may not look good that I have 3 years not working but I still can manage getting a job in the future.
Korea is an excellent place to start although the Won is a bit low now. Have you thought of Taiwan instead?
Winston, how can I just paste an image without a URL or anything?
A brain is a terrible thing to wash!
Yeah, I've had those same issues with several of my previous jobs. Guess you can't escape them no matter where you go.ladislav wrote:Well, I did not get along with the new managers, plus the job and Riyadh in general, were beginning to get on my nerves. The money- 5K a month was good but my mental health also matters and I pride myself on the fact that I do not put money above personal pride and dignity and being in a reasonably good place and with good people.
Korea is an excellent place to start although the Won is a bit low now. Have you thought of Taiwan instead?
The only real problem I have with my current job is lack of vacation time. Nope, Taiwan never even occured to me. I'll look into it.
W: Just put the image URL that you posted between these tags:ladislav wrote:Well, I did not get along with the new managers, plus the job and Riyadh in general, were beginning to get on my nerves. The money- 5K a month was good but my mental health also matters and I pride myself on the fact that I do not put money above personal pride and dignity and being in a reasonably good place and with good people.
Also, I do not think I will be jobless for three years; it is just an option. If I decide to take that route, I can always put on my resume that I had tutored online and did online work. I have 24 years of ESL teaching on my resume already. This may not look good that I have 3 years not working but I still can manage getting a job in the future.
Korea is an excellent place to start although the Won is a bit low now. Have you thought of Taiwan instead?
Winston, how can I just paste an image without a URL or anything?
[img]and[/img]
Or highlight the URL and click the Img button above. I already did that for your last three images. But it has to be a direct Img URL, not a page that it's showing on.
Check out my FUN video clips in Russia and SE Asia and Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind video series and Full Russia Trip Videos!
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Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
W: Not with this version of phpBB. phpBB3 lets you upload images, and also embed youtube videos too. I was thinking of installing it. Here you can only paste the image URL's.ladislav wrote:Ok, I was wondering if I could just post an image from my hard drive without having to put it into online albums first. Or just post it from my digital camera.
Check out my FUN video clips in Russia and SE Asia and Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind video series and Full Russia Trip Videos!
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
W: No because those are URL's to pages with photos on them, not the Image URL itself. To get the Image URL, right click on the image and select "Copy Image Location" in Firefox.ladislav wrote:Are these showing?
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"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Yesterday around midnight I was walking in the beach side area of Arcadia- a Riviera type resort here in Odessa when two teenage girls sitting on the curb asked me to buy them food. It was dark and I did not see who they were at first. Then, I saw that they looked Bangladeshi or Pakistani- Gypsies! Roma!
My upbringing tells me that I have to help the poor, so I asked them to come with me to a seaside restaurant ( not really fancy or anything)and order food. We did so, and I proceeded to ask them what village they were from and it turned out they were some 100+ km away from Odessa. I used to travel around those parts when I teenager myself. The conversation became animated when something out of the ordinary happened. First of all, I did not become aware of the tension in the restaurant when I came in. But there was tension. People were watching us nervously. Then one fat woman got up and walked up to the table where we were sitting. I thought she wanted to eat with us and introduced her to the Gypsy girls. She looked very agitated and kept looking at me and them nervously then, shouted at them- "GET OUT! Now! Beat it!" I sat there in horror- this was becoming ugly. I am a foreigner here so I cannot make trouble myself. The manager did not do anything. He was just looking at us. The girls started protesting- " But we have just ordered food!" "I will pay them!" Answered the woman. "You two, get out! " The Gypsie girls and I just sat there. The woman says- "I will give you money to get out. Here is 200 grivna! ( some $24) . Take it and get the hell out of here!!!". The girls looked at me sadly and said- "Sorry", then, walked out. I was still in shock! "Why did you do that?"- I said to the woman. The woman said- "Oh, you all, just look at this bleeding heart Gypsie lover!. Where do you come from, anyway, and who are you?" She was looking at me like I fell from the moon.
"These are people, too," I said. "These-"and she pointed a finger in the direction in which the girls had left- "are NOT people!!!", the woman answered categorically.
I walked up to the manager and said-" How can you tolerate this kind of behavior?" And then, I tried to introduce some American type of ideas. I said- "These young ladies are your fellow Ukrainians, too". The manager smiled with a sneaky kind of smile and said, "By citizenship they are, but not ethnically. They are from India. They came here in the 9th century. It is highly undesirable for you to bring Gypsies in here!"
Eastern Europe 101- Bringing Gypsies into a restaurant except in the capacity of entertainers with a gong and bells and on stage with a guitar is equivalent to bringing black people into an upscale Alabama restaurant in say, 1920ies. An absolute social taboo.
Eastern Europe 102-
Your citizenship and place of birth mean jack sh*t in E. Europe. Your ethnicity will follow you through millennia here.
I , with my 'bleeding heart' liberal ideas have disrupted their social norms and order.
Eastern Europe 103-
Social classes here are clearly separated, and you are not supposed to mix them. Low social and ethnic groups are to be kept at bay and not to be allowed into any normal place here. The ironic thing was that there was an African student from Cameroon working at the restaurant and they were not bothering him. All were friendly to him. Blacks are no problem. But Gypsies!?
Tells you about the social status of the Roma here. A real shame!
Man, they need a one million Gypsie march on Kiev here.
My upbringing tells me that I have to help the poor, so I asked them to come with me to a seaside restaurant ( not really fancy or anything)and order food. We did so, and I proceeded to ask them what village they were from and it turned out they were some 100+ km away from Odessa. I used to travel around those parts when I teenager myself. The conversation became animated when something out of the ordinary happened. First of all, I did not become aware of the tension in the restaurant when I came in. But there was tension. People were watching us nervously. Then one fat woman got up and walked up to the table where we were sitting. I thought she wanted to eat with us and introduced her to the Gypsy girls. She looked very agitated and kept looking at me and them nervously then, shouted at them- "GET OUT! Now! Beat it!" I sat there in horror- this was becoming ugly. I am a foreigner here so I cannot make trouble myself. The manager did not do anything. He was just looking at us. The girls started protesting- " But we have just ordered food!" "I will pay them!" Answered the woman. "You two, get out! " The Gypsie girls and I just sat there. The woman says- "I will give you money to get out. Here is 200 grivna! ( some $24) . Take it and get the hell out of here!!!". The girls looked at me sadly and said- "Sorry", then, walked out. I was still in shock! "Why did you do that?"- I said to the woman. The woman said- "Oh, you all, just look at this bleeding heart Gypsie lover!. Where do you come from, anyway, and who are you?" She was looking at me like I fell from the moon.
"These are people, too," I said. "These-"and she pointed a finger in the direction in which the girls had left- "are NOT people!!!", the woman answered categorically.
I walked up to the manager and said-" How can you tolerate this kind of behavior?" And then, I tried to introduce some American type of ideas. I said- "These young ladies are your fellow Ukrainians, too". The manager smiled with a sneaky kind of smile and said, "By citizenship they are, but not ethnically. They are from India. They came here in the 9th century. It is highly undesirable for you to bring Gypsies in here!"
Eastern Europe 101- Bringing Gypsies into a restaurant except in the capacity of entertainers with a gong and bells and on stage with a guitar is equivalent to bringing black people into an upscale Alabama restaurant in say, 1920ies. An absolute social taboo.
Eastern Europe 102-
Your citizenship and place of birth mean jack sh*t in E. Europe. Your ethnicity will follow you through millennia here.
I , with my 'bleeding heart' liberal ideas have disrupted their social norms and order.
Eastern Europe 103-
Social classes here are clearly separated, and you are not supposed to mix them. Low social and ethnic groups are to be kept at bay and not to be allowed into any normal place here. The ironic thing was that there was an African student from Cameroon working at the restaurant and they were not bothering him. All were friendly to him. Blacks are no problem. But Gypsies!?
Tells you about the social status of the Roma here. A real shame!
Man, they need a one million Gypsie march on Kiev here.
A brain is a terrible thing to wash!
I'm in Ukraine now.
Hi,
I'm in Kiev myself. Theres amazing archeticture here too (and many stalinist buildings!). Every weekend the main street is closed and thousands just party there. I totally love it.
I'm going to simferopol and Yalta, but have no plans for Odessa - but if I can find a cheap train (of course I can!) you've convinced me to come over.
By the way, I've read you older posts and I'm wondering if you are back to visit your family, or if you will live here now? If so, you will see the crisis has had a big impact - every day I go to the main train station I see people leaving Kiev with all their posessions - maybe going back to their parents after losing their job.
I'm in Kiev myself. Theres amazing archeticture here too (and many stalinist buildings!). Every weekend the main street is closed and thousands just party there. I totally love it.
I'm going to simferopol and Yalta, but have no plans for Odessa - but if I can find a cheap train (of course I can!) you've convinced me to come over.
By the way, I've read you older posts and I'm wondering if you are back to visit your family, or if you will live here now? If so, you will see the crisis has had a big impact - every day I go to the main train station I see people leaving Kiev with all their posessions - maybe going back to their parents after losing their job.
"Woman is a violent and uncontrolled animal... If you allow them to achieve complete equality with men, do you think they will be easier to live with? Not at all. Once they have achieved equality, they will be your masters." Cato the Elder
Re: I'm in Ukraine now.
You have not been to Odessa? Oh, boy, you do not know what you have been missing. Come see this Paris. Forget about Stalinist Kiev. Yech!polya wrote:Hi,
I'm in Kiev myself. Theres amazing archeticture here too (and many stalinist buildings!). Every weekend the main street is closed and thousands just party there. I totally love it.
I'm going to simferopol and Yalta, but have no plans for Odessa - but if I can find a cheap train (of course I can!) you've convinced me to come over.
By the way, I've read you older posts and I'm wondering if you are back to visit your family, or if you will live here now? If so, you will see the crisis has had a big impact - every day I go to the main train station I see people leaving Kiev with all their posessions - maybe going back to their parents after losing their job.
I am going to Yalta tomorrow. Maybe we can meet up. You can text my Philippine ( yes, lol) card + 639217631208 to reach me here. Or give me your number. We can have a beer.
I have visited some relatives who are now very old. They are doing OK, though, most still have jobs. For now I have no plan to live here as I am still happy with the joe de vivre in the Philippines. I have a ticket back 'home' to Manila on the 10th of June.
A brain is a terrible thing to wash!
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