Post: #1

A cautionary tale.
At the hostel, I share the dorm with one guy, a fellow Frenchman. In his early fifties, he is a pioneer of the retire early strategy, and I understand he hasn't worked for the past twenty years. On a side note, he's living proof that passive income is not all that great. Without external pressure, the guy has slowed down a lot, it takes him two hours to wake up and take a shower in the morning.
He tells me he's been in the dating agency game for about fifteen years. Met with girls from every eastern country, Romania, Belarus, at a time when telephone calls were super expensive, and there was only regular mail. With the same energy amount, he'd already be married and divorced twice, in the west.

Never sealed the deal, probably because he has unrealistic expectations. He lives full time in a hostel, and believes flashing his passport will be enough. He dresses and lives cheaply so as to stay within his passive income. He complains girls are too interested in money, but at fifty, what does he expect the girl will be looking for with him? After all this time he never put in the work to learn a local language.

As he's cooking his daily spaghetti in the hostel kitchen, I offer him to go out. He tells me he hasn't been out at night for the past month, since he arrived in kiev. But tonight he's willing to give it a go.

At that moment, I see girls arriving in their dorm.
I knock on their door and tell them, I will go to have a drink with my buddy in ten minutes, if they want they can join us. They say they will think about it, then they say yes.

So here I am with four girls and a retiree, looking for a bar in kiev. A few blocks away from the hostel I see a bar, there are people outside so it looks a bit lively, I say we go there.

The girls are four Russians, in their early twenties. One looks like a plump American male teenager, with no makeup, mid length hair and a black hooded sweatshirt. She/he said nothing the whole time and was staring her smartphone. Next girl had the double skrillex haircut with both sides cut short and length only at the top. She has a weird tribal tattoo on the neck. Third girl has piercings all across her face, dressed in black looks a bit like marylin Manson. I'm thinking, if this is the new generation of Russian girls, hard times are ahead.

Last girl is normal, and, dare I say rather cute. So now I am faced with a problem, how do I get rid of the three monsters to isolate the cute one?

The girls were speaking Russian, so the French retiree said nothing and went back to the hostel after twenty minutes. I was hoping he could entertain the friends a bit but no.

The bar was a dive bar. There were some local Ukrainian dudes and girls. Some were totally drunk but others looked normal.

I decided to apply a bit of mystery style group theory, and try to put the monsters with Ukrainian dudes, so that they would be busy.

I talked to normal looking Ukrainian dudes and we chatted a bit. I said Ukraine would be better off out of the European union, and that to bridge the gap they should talk with the Russians. This totally backfired.

One Ukrainian guy got angry and wanted to get in a fight. He was angry because of what I said about the eu and Ukraine. It was time to leave the place before he brought all the drunk Ukrainians after me. The girls were getting nervous.

The other Ukrainian seemed friendly but asked if we had hotel. I didn't get what was his point but told him, yes we have everything we need, thanks. As we were leaving, he said he wants to come with, just to wait a minute.

I was thinking ok, maybe this guy can offload a bit of the weight. So we wait for him outside. He comes soon, with a girl.
He tells me : you have nice beaches in France? Yes in the south, I reply, near the sea.
He shakes his head and says: no, these whores with you, like in France?
I finally understand. The woman with him is his wife. She looks angry. She does not want to let him go. That are both in their early twenties, but I remember in Ukraine they marry young.

So the guy thought I was a pimp, not as in, a guy who gets girls, but as in, a criminal who offers prostitutes for money.
Now I had to convince him to go away, he was very stubborn, thankfully, his wife helped pull him away. Crazy shit.

Both relieved and disappointed, I went back to the hostel with the girls and that was it.

Post: #2

Very interesting observation about the pitfalls of passive income.

Post: #3

Why would you bring up politics like that? That's the real cautionary tale.

Post: #4

If you want to build rapport with a foreigner, ask for his political views first, then agree with what he says.

Post: #5

(01-03-2014 08:23 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  Very interesting observation about the pitfalls of passive income.

For sure. I've studied retired men for years and watched what happens after they call it quits after 30+ years. Not having that 'external pressure' dulls the mind and body. Some just lay down and die, other stay active and live a lot longer. After months of fucking off, I welcome going back into the professional environment. Even reading, taking classes, working out, and normal interaction on my isn't the same as how much the mind stays sharp amongst a group of professional peers.

Post: #6

Why would you go into a dive bar in a country like this, where you don't even speak a little of the language and bring up politics? Haven't you heard what's been happenning here for the last month and a half! It's not a joke! Unbelievable! It's no wonder why I see foreigners come and go out of this country year in and year out with their tails between their legs. I wouldn't go to France as a foreigner and open up a group of guys I didn't know at table and bring up the National Front, immigration or wearing the veil. BTW, it seems most Ukrainians especially in the south and east(where the majority of the wealth, industry and population resides) are actually AGAINST the protests. Many people who live in Kiev are also tiring of the protests since it's becoming more of a nuisance than anything else. Something to think about.

P.S. That Ukrainian in the end who wanted to tag along. He probably was a bit drunk or on his way to being. His wife probably wanted to get him home. She knew instinctively that in the end, regardless of how nice he was being with you, there would have been a fight. You would have unknowingly offended him sooner or later, intentionally or unintentionally. That's just the way it usually is with these guys. You really should have thanked her....She saved your a..

Post: #7

So what was the old guy doing while you were fighting the battle?

Post: #8

and honestly, whose bright idea was it to jump into a trench with 3 grenades? ugly chix =/= no social proof

Post: #9

(01-03-2014 09:05 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 08:23 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  Very interesting observation about the pitfalls of passive income.

For sure. I've studied retired men for years and watched what happens after they call it quits after 30+ years. Not having that 'external pressure' dulls the mind and body. Some just lay down and die, other stay active and live a lot longer. After months of fucking off, I welcome going back into the professional environment. Even reading, taking classes, working out, and normal interaction on my isn't the same as how much the mind stays sharp amongst a group of professional peers.

Depends on your profession..in law enforcement your mind regresses every year to speaking ghetto Ebonics!

So I retired at 37...based on your predictions my mind will be mush in 30 years? I can live with being 71 and NOT knowing whats going on, ignorance is bliss!

Post: #10

^^^ I PM'd you about it last week. Don't you remember?

Post: #11

"The girls are four Russians, in their early twenties. One looks like a plump American male teenager, with no makeup, mid length hair and a black hooded sweatshirt. She/he said nothing the whole time and was staring her smartphone. Next girl had the double skrillex haircut with both sides cut short and length only at the top. She has a weird tribal tattoo on the neck. Third girl has piercings all across her face, dressed in black looks a bit like marylin Manson. I'm thinking, if this is the new generation of Russian girls, hard times are ahead. "

MisterFresh, sounds like you hungout with the members of Pussy Riot.

Post: #12

What you point out is correct, but for me the lesson is that I made it too complicated. It wasn't necessary to involve local guys, I could just have grabbed the cute girl to isolate.

For me the shocking part is that the Ukrainian guy seriously believed that the Russian girls were whores. Because I introduced them to him, he thought I was trying to pimp them. That's why he asked if we had hotel, I only understood later.

About the politics stuff, for one angry guy, I've had ten interesting conversations with ordinary Ukrainians. Part of my motivation for the trip was to understand current events. I have lots of video footage of the demonstrations.

By the way if you bring up the front national in France, you risk social death and maybe losing your job, but nothing physical.

All in all I've seen the best and the worst in Ukraine. Most interesting trip I've had in a while, but I'm happy to go back to the west.

Post: #13

Personally, I'm not going to agree with the foreigners political views for the sake of appeasing them.

I will say something like "Well I have heard a lot of conflicting views about the subject, i'd like to hear your opinion"

But yeah you cannot walk into a dive bar in Western Ukraine frequented by Svoboda supporters and say

"Europeans?? you guys?? Mwah haha, don't make me laugh"

Post: #14

(01-03-2014 10:43 PM)TripleG Wrote:  "The girls are four Russians, in their early twenties. One looks like a plump American male teenager, with no makeup, mid length hair and a black hooded sweatshirt. She/he said nothing the whole time and was staring her smartphone. Next girl had the double skrillex haircut with both sides cut short and length only at the top. She has a weird tribal tattoo on the neck. Third girl has piercings all across her face, dressed in black looks a bit like marylin Manson. I'm thinking, if this is the new generation of Russian girls, hard times are ahead. "

MisterFresh, sounds like you hungout with the members of Pussy Riot.

Post: #15

hahahaha great tale hehehe. I was also in Ukraine but in Crimea, Sevastopol and Yalta. I managed to score, but i think girls are very "artificial" in Ukraine.

Post: #16

So Prosal went home after only 20 minutes? I expected more out of him

Post: #17

Talking to random guys in a bar or club in Ukraine is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. So is openly expressing an opinion about Ukrainian politics, regardless of which opinion you express.

Post: #18

(01-04-2014 09:36 AM)Fisto Wrote:  So Prosal went home after only 20 minutes? I expected more out of him

I had a surreal night with Prosal in another part of Ukraine. If you get the opportunity to meet him, you might think very highly of him.

Post: #19

Why was the french guy living in a hostel? Sounds like a pensioner on a budget to me. If you have a decent passive-income, there is no reason to live a dull life like that. Invest and make more money. Learn a language. Take up a sport. Travel. Chase women in the evening. A man wont slow down on that regimen. The cautionary tale is to be 50+ years old and living on a tight budget, passive or not.

Post: #20

Not to totally sidetrack this Ukraine thread, but if you are interested in Ukraine this fellow has a blog. He posted on the forums a bit last year and then went silent. But I check his blog from time to time.

He is an American who is teaching English in Ukraine. It hasn't been all fun but he seems to be hooking up a lot.

http://eccentricxpat.blogspot.com/

Post: #21

(01-04-2014 01:06 PM)SpecialEd Wrote:  Why was the french guy living in a hostel? Sounds like a pensioner on a budget to me. If you have a decent passive-income, there is no reason to live a dull life like that. Invest and make more money. Learn a language. Take up a sport. Travel. Chase women in the evening. A man wont slow down on that regimen. The cautionary tale is to be 50+ years old and living on a tight budget, passive or not.

I would have to disagree, I find most hotels more dull than hostels.

With hostels you have instant wingmen, the guys are all looking to go out drink and have a good time. I have a 53yr old friend who is rich and almost exclusively stays in hostels, he looks and acts younger. I'm sure I will be doing exactly the same when i'm his age.

I do like to rent hotels and apartment as well personally, except if i'm in a country where getting a lay is not so likely, it's just wasting money.

All a man really needs in life is food and shelter(and some pussy and booze)

Post: #22

Ya, hostels offer an instant network of local intel, just one communal lounge room away.

Post: #23

(01-03-2014 01:33 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  ^^^ I PM'd you about it last week. Don't you remember?

No...must be the Alzheimer!

Post: #24

(01-04-2014 11:48 AM)William Windsor Wrote:  

(01-04-2014 09:36 AM)Fisto Wrote:  So Prosal went home after only 20 minutes? I expected more out of him

I had a surreal night with Prosal in another part of Ukraine. If you get the opportunity to meet him, you might think very highly of him.

He might be a nice guy, though I found his posts informative they also smacked of French arrogance too (what a surprise). Not everybody can have a apartment in Paris to bring in girls. LOL

Post: #25

I couldn't help but cringe while reading your report MisterFresh as you made every cardinal sin of traveling while there. The result you got was the mere natural consequence of your series of bad choices. Charge it to the game, to experience so that you won't make the same mistakes again. If need be, re-read some of the great tips given in here by other fellow expert travellers.

Bonne chance mec!