We are again on our trip together with Jake. We are lucky our trip is virtual one because his real trip indeed was a hard test for him.

Jake and we are going to know the following:
- traveling around the country without problems
- a gift for your girl
- how to spend time in Russia
- correct estimation of your girl. Special attention
- I’m answering your questions.

So, Jake was at a loss and made several mistakes:
- he didn’t have a notion about the country he was going to and took no simple things for everyday life here
- he combined advantages of a hotel and an apartment but ignored disadvantages.
Jake got so upset that he didn’t turn to the firm that was making his invitation and spent three days without registration here. Afterwards he left for his girl’s town and faced new problems.

The hotel his girl had chosen for his staying there refused to take him for more than a day because he had no registration. The following day poor Jake spent calling to the agency asking for help. He got very nervous! Making registration is on the firm that made an invitation but not on us. However, we had to find a car and go there to take Jake’s documents needed for registration. I’m not telling you about the efforts we had to make to register Jake in Kazan and take the car back to the town. Let alone the fact that it was free. 

The ways to avoid the problems mentioned above:
ALWAYS agree with the firm making your invitation about registration beforehand.
ALWAYS find out if the hotel you are going to stay at has been accredited by OVIR (it means it can give you registration).
If you are planning to move around the country you have to know the following:
- You have to inform the firm that makes your invitation about this intention so that they could include this item into the invitation paper.
- You have to stay in the hotels that may register you.
- If your firm has registered you in a definite Russian city or town you mustn’t stay at the hotels of other cities and towns. You’ll have to rent an apartment or stay at your girl friend’s place. 

Jake’s problems haven’t been over yet. He came to meet his fiancee’s parents without any presents and it is not typical for Russia. However, his sweetheart kept her head and took Jake on an extremely expensive shopping round.

Right gifts for your lady.

Remember: you shouldn’t buy very expensive things. Never make such presents before your marriage or at least before your girl gets her fiancee’s visa. First it’ll help you avoid scams wishing to get your money only and thinking you are too naive. They don’t want to marry you.
Second, don’t delude your girl in case you are not going to be so generous in future. Otherwise you are going to hear a lot of reproaches in being greedy.
Third, allow your woman to see your interesting personality but not your expensive presents. Let her get to know you better. It is possible with presents but not expensive ones.

Your future wife’s parents are worried about their daughter’s fate. So, videocassettes showing your house, family and parents saying hello to their future relations would be great!
You can present them with a book showing your landscape. The proper presents for men are ties, drinks (something typical to your place like gin, cognac, whisky, etc.). Women would appreciate perfumes, flowers, some small lovely souvenirs like candles, vases and so on. 
If your woman has children or younger sisters or brothers you can present them with sweets and soft toys. Perhaps, your kids can give you some ideas. You can choose something more serious, for instance a spectacle, some electric toy or a children’s camera for a boy.

Inappropriate presents.

Once we found one of our clients Guzel weeping bitterly. She was expecting her friend Guillermo to come soon. She read his last letter and lost her head because he asked her about the size of her breast and her exact height! She had been too worried about their meeting before because they had a large age difference and her English was rather poor. And his last letter was a good addition to all this stuff! She went on asking us, “He is a pervert, isn’t he?”
It turned out to be that Guillermo merely wanted to buy a blouse for her. Of course he didn’t know her size and asked for her breast size and height.
It’s hard to choose the fitting size of clothes or rings. The same is with perfumes because tastes differ. So, you have to know hers for sure to make such presents, but how can you know this? Just think if you were your girl asked about her breast size.

You can present your girl with some cheap jewelry as well as flowers, sweets and souvenirs to remind her of your love and care.
Remember: expensive presents impose a lot of obligations on both of you. You can be deluded.

If you keep on your grounds and want to take an expensive present let it be a test for your girl. Take a notice of the way she accepts it. A decent and nice girl will refuse and take it only after your long asking just in order not to offend you. By the way, girls also test their men. Once I witnessed the following conversation between our ladies-clients. One of them had just returned from Moscow where she met her man from the USA.  She made a test having asked him to buy the most expensive fur coat in the supermarket. Her fiancee replied, “Darling, this one is very expensive and I haven’t got the money with me but if you are desperate for buying it I’ll think and see what I can do. However, when we get married and I take you to the South Carolina you are not going to ever make use of it”. She was quite satisfied with the answer and informed her girl friends about it.
Perhaps, a frank talk is the best way to solve the problems arisen. However, if you are not too close for it just carefully see to your girl’s actions.

What should you do in case you feel your relations are going to fail?
If you made up your mind to see only one girl here pay careful attention to her behavior. As a rule if a girl likes a man she is pleased to talk to him looking into his eyes and willingly laughing at his jokes. She likes his compliments and occasional (or not?) touches. If she shows a living interest in your family and your life, you are a winner!
If you don’t find the signs mentioned above in your girl and have some doubts concerning her you’d better ask our interpreter or managers for advice. They know the girl better and can help you understand her.
Once you feel sure she is not going to be your wife but conceals it try to softly tell her about your doubts. Perhaps, your girl is not feeling at ease because you are her guest and she is to start an unpleasant conversation. However, you’d better know about it in Russia but not upon coming back to your place happy with vain hopes.
So, your meeting has failed. Ask the agency show you some other profiles. Try to make use of the rest of your time here. Arrange some other meetings. If you like someone else ask her to repeat your meeting here. So, for this short period of time you’ll be able to choose the woman to change your life for the better!


So, in addition to Jake’s problems with registration his girl went on emptying his wallet. They lived in a small town and had nothing to do but doing shopping. It would be awful to spend 10 days sitting in the hotel room. So, Jake spent the rest of his money in the only appropriate place in the town that is casino.
His vacation was up to end and he was looking sadder and darker from day to day. He found his trip a large commercial adventure of somebody very enterprising.

It was high time to come back to Kazan. Having entered the apartment he had been renting he immediately left because it awfully smelt! Leaving this apartment Jake and his girl did not make efforts to clean it or throw the litter, though they had lived there for quite a long time! Jake spent his night at a hotel and at 5 a.m. he was in the Kazan airport. That was the end of his travel.

To avoid Jake’s problems ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is the firm making my invitation going to make my registration as well?
2. What should I take to live in a hotel?
3. What should I take to live in a rented apartment?
4. What clothes should I take? Do I know anything about the weather in that region of Russia now?
5. Have I prepared any small cheap souvenirs for my girl friend and her family?
6. What are we going to do during my staying in Russia? Perhaps without any definite plan it’s going to be boring? (You can plan some steamer trips or camping on the riverbank).
7. What am I to do if I don’t like the girl or visa versa feel that she doesn’t like me?

Anyway you can get a FREE consultation from our managers . They’ll be pleased to answer your questions.

Now I’m going to choose several questions connected with your visits to Russia and answer them.

- What is the best way of paying in Russia: by cash, by travelling checks or with my credit card? Do you have ATM machines?
The system of credit cards is very new for Russia but it is getting more and more popular. You cannot use your card in every store but almost all the hotels and supermarkets have ATM machines. You will not have problems with getting your cash with the help of credit cards and travelling checks. It may be dangerous to take a large sum of cash. There are professional thefts everywhere. You will hardly wing your eye when find yourself without a penny. Here is the example. A month ago I was travelling by train and we had a German man in our compartment. He told us that thefts had stolen all his things and money at the railway station. His sad story touched us and we gave him food and beer.

- What sum of money should I take with me?
It’s a hard question. We can just tell you the average prices:
A hotel room costs around 50 $ per day.
A dinner in a restaurant costs in average 15-20 $ per person.
The average salary in Kazan is equal 150 $, so your are going to buy some small everyday stuff for this money.
If you are planning some cultural program you have to know that a theater ticket maximum cost is 20 $.
These prices are real for the whole Russia except Moscow and St. Petersburg. These are the most expensive cities of our country and it is hard to tell you even an approximate sum of money you can spend living there.

- I’d like to take some electric tools with me. What kind of sockets do you use in Russia?
The usual voltage is 220 V. However, if you are concerned about the compatibility of your plug and our socket don’t worry! You can buy almost any kind of transient tools in Russia. 

We are waiting for you here in Russia and try to do our best to make your trip useful and important for the rest of your life. I’m not mentioning all our services here because you can see them on the site. Just want to tell you the following: if you have some doubts or you are in two minds what to do please ask our managers for advice. We’ll do our best to help you.

Have a nice vacation!