Webmaster's Observations
If you've read through Annushka's site this far,
as well as other sites that offer the same sorts of services,
you undoubtedly have lots of questions.
In the spring of 2001 I was in the planning phase of a European vacation.
During this process I stumbled onto web sites similar to Annushka's.
After studying these sites
I pondered many of the same things that you are now no doubt wondering about.
My exposure to these sites as well as the response that I got from e-mail correspondence
with a few Russian women
made me decide to add Russia (St. Petersburg and Moscow) to my travel itinerary.
It was a great choice. During my 5 week vacation, I visited 11 cities in 7 countries.
Russia was the most foreign and interesting of them all.
Sure I enjoy the usual tourist traps and sightseeing,
and I did quite a lot of that on my vacation.
But for me the most memorable moments of a journey are not seeing this statue or that museum.
Instead they are the chance meetings I have with local people.
Everyone knows America and everyone has an impression of us.
I never tire of hearing a foreigners view of America and Americans.
One thing is always certain, the impressions are never neutral.
It was these chance meetings at sidewalk bars that went late into the evening
that left me feeling that I had really "connected" with my host country.
My correspondence with my Russian pen-pals allowed me to make arrangements for
such meetings in advance.
Believe me, arriving in a country where you do not speak the language and don't know anyone
is a completely different experience than arriving in that same country with the phone number
for a local contact who can guide you through the maze and lead you right to the places you
should go to and the things you should see.
And hey...if that contact happens to be a beautiful girl, so much the better!
But back to your questions.
You're probably thinking a lot of the same things that I was thinking
when I first discovered these web sites.
First of all, the old adage "If something sounds too good to be true,
then it probably is." rang in my ears.
All of these beautiful girls were waiting to meet me??? Sure.
If it's so easy in Russia, then why is it so damned hard at home.
It just couldn't be as simple as that.
Skeptical though I was, I went anyway.
What an adventure! Believe me, traveling to St. Petersburg, Russia is NOT the same
as traveling to Lubbock, Texas. The conditions are very different, which creates
different attitudes, different expectations, different values and different opportunities.
Let me see if I can anticipate some of the questions you have and answer them before you ask...
Why are there so many beautiful single women in St. Petersburg?
Why are they so desperate for male companionship that they would list themselves
in catalogs on the internet?
Well, it's not like that in my home town either!
I asked that question to several women in Russia.
The explanations varied slightly, but there seemed to be an underlying theme:
there are simply not enough eligible men to go around. Why not?
There appear to be two primary reasons.
One, being a Russian man is a relatively perilous predicament.
The average life expectancy for men there is 61.3 years, 1
compared with 73 years in America.2 (Russian women can expect to live 72.9 years.)
According to the New York Times 3
"Russians are now much less healthy than their grandparents were in 1960.
In the past three decades, Russian mortality rates have risen by 40 percent.
Russian life expectancies now approximate those in Bangladesh and are below India's.
The risk of suffering a violent death is nine times as high for Russian men, compared with men in Israel.
There's an explosion of heart attacks and strokes, thanks to smoking, increased vodka consumtion,
and other runious lifestyle choices. According to Russian statistics, a 20-year-old man in 2000 had only
a 46 percent chance of reaching age 65. (American 20-year-olds had about an 80 percent chance.)"
The reasons are many fold 1, but the bottom line there is that life is hard and
support systems are simply not yet in place.
The result is, there simply aren't enough men to go around.
Two, Russia has undergone some fundamental changes in the last decade.
While we here in the States were experiencing the best economic times in recent history,
Russians were struggling with the implementation of the beginnings of a free market economy.
Things that they could take for granted in the past (housing, income, etc.)
were no longer guaranteed. The transition seems to have hit the men hardest.
Jobs are scarce and money is even harder to come by.
Many Russians have retained the mindset of a guaranteed job and are not yet accustomed
to doing the things that it takes to hold a job in a competitive job market.
They become frustrated by their inability to succeed in the new economy and often resort to
bad habits such as drinking excessively.
This makes it even harder to succeed, which propels the spiral into failure.
Russian women tend to be very traditional.
They desire the life of the homemaker who tends the nest
while the man works and provides the support.
You can see right away that these two conditions are in direct conflict.
Again from the New York Times 3,
"Between 1981 and 2001, marriage rates in Russia dropped by a third,
and divorce rates rose by a third.
Russia now has three divorces for every four marriages."
Not only is the number of men low in relation to the women,
but the number of ELIGABLE men makes the ratio even more skewed.
The result is a LOT of single women desperate to find a man!
Yes, but I'm a lot older than the girls on your website.
What makes you think these beautiful young girls would be interested in me?
That's exactly what I thought. I was 43 years old when I visited Russia.
In my home town, I could NEVER get a date with girls like this.
(Heck, in my home town I probably couldn't get a date with their mothers!)
You may have noticed that one of the parameters the girls include in their profiles
is the age range of their desired mate.
Have you noticed that they are usually interested in meeting someone OLDER than they are?
Here is one area where different conditions create different expectations.
American women tend to seek men who are their own age.
They are more interested in physical appearance, brash arrogance, exciting lifestyles,
and all of the things that accompany youth.
Russian women are interested in stability, reliability, security,
and all of the things that accompany maturity.
What a difference!
Of course all of these things are sweeping generalizations.
There are certainly exceptions to all of these characterizations.
But the general perception among Russian women is that
American men possess these qualities and Russian men do not.
I asked one Russian woman what her idea of America is.
"Sugar and candy" was her response. You and I know that's not entirely true.
But their perception is the factor that will determine how you are treated during your visit.
While in Russia,
you will discover that there is a fascination for all things American.
For Russians, each facet of American life is exaggerated.
Russians perceive America as a land of unimaginable prosperity and riches.
And there is some truth to that.
I found that among the Russians that I met, disposable income is in short supply.
In Russia, if you have 500 rubles, you're in charge! (That's about $17)
Things that you take for granted in your home town
will make you the center of attention in St. Petersburg.
I don't speak Russian. Can I get around in Russia? Will I be able to function?
Walk the streets of any city in America.
You will not see any signs in Russian. You will not find anyone who speaks any Russian.
This leads you to think that the reciprocal will be true in Russia.
It will not be.
Of course most signs are in Russian and most of the conversations are in Russian.
However, you will be surprised by how much English you will encounter
(at least in the big cities.)
Many Russians speak some English, and some Russians are fairly fluent.
They are required to learn a foreign language in school, and many choose English.
This isn't to say that you can strike up a conversation with anyone you meet.
It does mean that if you are lost and you ask several people for directions,
you can usually find someone that speaks enough English to point you in the right direction.
You will also find that they are interested in where you are from.
Most will assume you are European.
When they find out you're American, many become rather excited.
For the English speaking Russian, you provide an opportunity to practice English
as well as get first hand information about that mysterious place...America.
Even when you encounter non-English speaking people,
you will find that they are generally friendly and helpful.
Merchants and vendors typically keep a calculator at hand.
If you select something and can't understand the price they ask,
they will punch it into the calculator and show you the number.
Annushka's Introduction offers several services to help you overcome the language barrier
when meeting the girls in the club.
However it was my experience that fluency in English to some degree
was really a prerequisite to a successful date.
It's a bit awkward to spend time with someone
with whom you can only communicate with at the level of a child.
Each of the ladies listed on our web site indicates her level of English proficiency.
My recommendation is that you factor this in
when deciding which women to meet during your visit.
The world is a big place. Why Russia? Heck, Russia is a big place. Why St. Petersburg?
There are indeed other cities that are filled with beautiful young women.
I haven't visited every city on the planet,
but I had a chance to see a lot of Europe during the summer of 2001.
I visited no other place with the abundance of dream girls
combined with the circumstances that make an American man extremely valuable.
One of the first things you'll notice in St. Petersburg is world class girl watching.
There is an underlying style in their mode of dress
that is intended to...shall we say...attract attention.
When you combine this tendency with your ability to actually meet
and favorably impress these gals, you have a combination that will make
each day in St. Petersburg and adventure you will savor.
Each time you arrive at a meeting place and one of these girls approaches you and asks,
"Excuse me, are you {your name here}", you won't believe your eyes.
This is the stuff that provides you with stories
that your friends back home simply won't believe. Remember to take lots of pictures!
Yes, you could go to another city in Russia.
Moscow is larger. The rest are smaller.
Many are endowed with their share of beautiful young women.
Moscow is a more popular tourist destination.
That means that there are more foreigners (including Americans) there.
You aren't as novel.
It is also expensive, at least by Russian standards. You won't find it a bargain.
You'll find that the more "off the beaten track" you get
(in Russia, Moscow IS the beaten track),
the more extreme Russia gets.
I didn't have the opportunity to visit any of the rural areas outside of the big cities.
However I was told repeatedly that going 100 miles away from the city
is like going back 100 years. You won't find many comforts and forget speaking English.
St. Petersburg is still a big city (the 2nd largest in Russia.)
It's not so cosmopolitan that you'll disappear into the throng of tourists.
It's cosmopolitan enough that you can get what you need
and find at least enough English to function.
In short, it's "just right."
I'm not rich, and this seems like an awful lot of money to blow
on the chance that I'll get a date with a beautiful girl.
You're right. World travel is not cheap.
So what are you going to do with your money?
Save it until you're old? And then what?
Wake up one morning and realize it's too late to have the time of your life?
No one ever reached old age and wished he'd spent more time at the office!
So you saved a lot of money.
If you're single and you have kids, they'll get it.
If you're single with no kids (like me), the government will get it.
Me...I plan to die broke!
If mankind had put off "frivolous" things until all of the "necessary" things were attended to
(which they never will be),
we'd have never gone to the moon, never played music, never played sports, never created art,
and on and on. Sure you can think of more practical ways to spend a couple of thousand bucks.
So what! You won't regret a vacation like this.
What you WILL regret is looking back and realizing you didn't do these kinds of things
while you still could.
The benefits of this expenditure won't necessarily be short lived either.
You will find that not all of the women you meet speak fluent English,
but they all learn two words..."Fiancée visa."
That's right,
it's not uncommon at all for an American man to bring one of these gals back home with him.
It takes a little patience and paperwork, but you can make arrangements to bring your favorite
lady home with you for 3 months with no strings attached.
It's also not uncommon for a man to realize after 3 months
that he wants the relationship to continue.
Now you're married to the most exotic creature you've ever laid eyes on.
Happens all the time. Introduce her to your middle aged friends at a company party.
Watch the expressions on the faces of their middle aged "past it" wives.
And you're even THINKING about not doing this???
I am completely frustrated in my search for romance at home.
Why should I expect the results to be any different halfway around the world?
Look, if you're a jerk here, you're a jerk there too and you won't have any more luck.
However, if your problem is simply that
you don't have enough opportunities to interact with beautiful young women (and who does?),
you WILL have more luck.
If you feel like you could make a good impression on a gorgeous young woman if you
JUST GOT A CHANCE, then this trip is for you!
Ever notice that the ratio of men to women at social events here is not advantageous to men?
Have you noticed that? Have you noticed that even if there are a few beautiful women at the
party, club, bar, wherever...they are descended on by half the guys around?
What the heck kind of fun is that???
There are lots of reasons why American men are frustrated with American women.
It's a mistake to think that all of the reasons lie with you.
Let's face it, in America women are in charge. They can take their pick and they do.
And even on those few occasions when you get "picked",
things don't often go your way, right?
If you stop and think about how our society creates attitudes towards
the opposite gender, this all starts to make some sense.
Take the western mass media for example. 30-40 years ago the man was portrayed as "in charge."
Notice the relationship now. Even a 30 second commercial is long enough
to portray the man as the buffoon. The WOMAN is in charge. She tolerates the man.
The result of this trend is the conditioning and attitude shaping of BOTH genders.
You're frustrated by American women? No wonder!
Once again, in St. Petersburg you'll find that conditions are very different,
which creates different attitudes.
These women will perceive you as very desirable and
as a result they will treat you differently.
When you call (even for the first time) she will be GLAD to hear from you.
She will be flattered that you contacted her and she will be ANXIOUS to meet you.
If you can blow 50 bucks on a date, she'll also be very impressed.
If you are courteous, patient with her English and not overbearing,
she will enjoy the time she spends with you.
Remember, in Russia YOU have what SHE wants!
If you're well off enough to take a trip like this,
you're rich by her standards.
If you're American, you have what it takes to get her the heck out of Russia!
Believe me, you will have her undivided attention.
A Russian woman won't try to pick you apart, she'll try to impress you.
That's the way it should be! Don't you agree???
Believe me, no matter how long you schedule in St. Petersburg, it won't be long enough!
1
John Hopkins Medical Center: Reason Behind Changing Life Expectancy in Russia
2
Life Expectancy By Country - North America
3"Moruning Mother Russia" - by David Brooks - New York Times - 4/28/05
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