A BIT ABOUT US
Transcription
A BIT ABOUT US
Robert P. Herbst 101 North Jefferson St. Perry, FL. 32347-3231 (850)-584-5355 February 9, 2001 Non Fiction E-Mail; [email protected] http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Byte/4189/ http://www.storyhouse.org/ 12 Stories Here http://www.greatunpublished.com/ Publishing 750 Words FROM THE BOOK, My E-MAIL Order Bride Available at, http://www.booksurge.com/author.php3?accountID=GRTU00089&affiliateID=A000041 A LITTLE BIT ABOUT US By Robert P. Herbst This is what I looked like at 63 in 1998. I had this picture taken to send to Lyudmila. I’m not exactly pretty but there must have been something in the picture she liked. First and foremost, I got tangled up with an agency which took money to do a service. I sent the money in advance along with all my original documentation. They in turn were to file the paperwork for my K-1 Visa while I was still in Feodosia. The agency in question failed to pay their Kiev associate and the associate in turn, could not forward the documents to finish the K-1 process for me on time. This agency has long since gone out of business. The man who handled my situation is a real stinker. If you should ever meet this guy, avoid any prolonged contact he will only do wrong by. If you want his name please contact me and I’ll be happy to supply it. When the agency finally did get all the documentation needed, they suddenly refused to answer phone calls, E-MAIL or regular mail from either me, my son or their business partners. The use of this agency cost me six months of time and many hundreds of dollars. I intend to make absolutely sure no friend or acquaintance of mine ever gets burned by this outfit again. With the above in mind, I suppose I should let you all in on how I did it. As you can see, it wasn’t easy. Somehow this lady just caught my eye. I never got any further in my search. There were other pictures but these are the ones which sealed my fate. 1 The picture of Lyudmila standing was taken after I arrived in Feodosia. She was just 50 at the time. The picture was taken at the park with the “Dancing Water Fountain” near the shore of the Black Sea. There’s a picture of the fountain itself later in the story. No matter which picture she had used, I would have been hooked. To me this is one classy lady. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have found her. I’m even more fortunate, she decided to be my wife. We were married on January 11, 1999. We wrote back and forth by E-MAIL, regular mail if I wanted to enclose pictures, for about six months. After this I went to stay with her for another six months in her home in Feodosia, Crimea, Ukraine. The reason I used regular mail to send pictures is because of the expense of sending them by E-MAIL. E-MAIL pictures are horribly expensive for the lady. Although these E-MAIL relationships do work out, there are absolutely no guarantees here. One must be prepared to tread carefully. What I have set down here on paper, is the experience of living with Lyudmila in Feodosia, Crimea, Ukraine, for six months in her home. I also give a short dissertation on how and why things worked out the way they did and a brief outline of a procedure you may choose to follow. However, I caution you to remember, no two people are the same. Any advice you get from myself or others must carefully tailored to your circumstances. During my stay I tried my best to fit into their lives and not the other way around. I did this so I’d know what Lyudmila and her son would need after arriving here in the States. It involved going to the market with her as much as it involved seeing the town of Feodosia. As much as a Florida, American in Feodosia, Crimea, Ukraine could, I went native. After all, I was not there as a tourist. I was there specifically to learn as much as I could about my future wife. The last few chapters are suggestions to follow if you decide to make the quest for a Russian/Ukrainian bride. These suggestions are based on my experience and should not be taken as absolutes. Your situation may be quite different from mine and as always, one must bend the rules to fit their situation. From my own experience the end is well worth the effort. 2