Well a lot has happened to me since that time. I met a wonderful girl from Moscow and we are now married. I moved back home to Lousisana and we are having a great time.

For those of you who are still looking, I can say this discussion forum was a huge help for me. Not only did I receive excellent advice from some of the more experienced people such as Jack and Dan, but I also gained the confidence to travel to Russia without the aid of an agency. Without going into all the details, I will just say that I probably would not have been able to meet my wife if I had not stumbled on this place one day in early 2001.

I have started reading the posts on this forum again and I will write when time permits.

Best wishes to all.

The weather was not too big of an adjustment, but the insects are a different story. She calls them little monsters. : ) Luckily we have a good exterminator.

The biggest benefit of moving back home was proximity to my family. They all love her and she cannot get enough of them either. I can't tell you how good I feel when I see the love between my wife and family.

What part of Lousiana do you live in?

I feel so lucky that she is close to my family. It really does help a lot on the adjustment to a new culture if you have a strong support group. My parents treat her just like she is another daughter. I suppose I have a lot of reasons to feel lucky, but Ira is my number one reason.

I also agree that its good to hear a few success stories and thats why I wanted to share my story. Often we are more likely to hear about the train wrecks and I think that can create a distorted image for the guys who are searching for their special girl. Don't get me wrong, its not all easy. I have taken my tough shots too. But if someone is willing to stick with it and learn from their mistakes, this process can have a very happy ending.

Too all, keep the faith.

Try this for small town America: Ripon Wisconsin. Population 7,000, give or take.  20 miles to Osh Kosh and Fon Du Lac, both about 50,000.  70 miles to Milwaukee (1 million plus), Madison and Green Bay 750,000 plus each.

Or, Evansville Indiana, population 100,000. 3 hours to Louisville Kentucky, 5 hours to Indianapolis Indiana, 5 plus hours to Chicago, St. Louis or Atlanta.  Not small, but "in the middle of nowhere".

Ira does not mind Shreveport at all. Its a small city of about 300K so its not exactly like she is in Hooterville or something. : ) We have plenty of resturants, lot of good places for shopping, etc.

For both of us, the big thing was to come back closer to my family and to get me in a job that allowed me to consistently come home before 8:30 PM. Now that we have covered both of these points, we couldn't be happier.

I am sorry, but it was not my wife whom you met last year. She did not move to the states until last July and we did not move back to Shreveport until this past January. I have heard, however, that we have between 40 and 50 Russian/American couples in Shreveport. They hold a monthly meeting somewhere and we plan to go sometime. That being said, it does not surprise me that you met a Russian girl in Shreveport.

We filed our I-485 in January so I will probably be coming down to New Orleans in about a year. When the time gets closer, maybe you can recommend a good place to stay.

A few of the old timers are still around. Jack and I - KenC, LP, WmGO, Charles, greg (aka thesearch) and numerous others I have probably forgotten.

Stay around and pitch in once in a while.

- Dan

The person you refer to was MarkH.

He was banned after an online fight with Jack.

Jack was eventually allowed back on, but MarkH never was. No explanation for that was ever given, so I don't know why.

MarkH is back in Texas, and if you would like his information, please contact me at: markjoel60@hotmail.com