DOING THE RESEARCH.

Arriving at the airport of St. Petersburg, Russia was exciting. From now on Geert and I would try to perceive this trip as if we were Jake and Josh. How would these brothers go through all this, was the question we constantly asked ourselves.

On the way out of the bagage claim, we followed a foreign TV crew packed to the hilt with equipment, wondering how they would make their way through Russian customs. Very smoothly, as it turned out, so we immediately introduced ourselves to their local liaison, Sergei. He ended up being Emily Mortimer's location manager during the making of her documentary.

The A Foreign Affair tour company makes your adventures start with a first trip in the bus, the first visit to the AFA office and of course the first night in a Russian hotel. In the bus we found out how fairytale-like St. Petersburg could be in the winter. There was ice everywhere. Lit by weak blue-ish sunlight it all looked picturesque, unreal almost, until you had to get out of the bus and encountered the icy winds. 'Quite a contrast with the Midwest', Geert concluded with a happy smile. This movie would be something different:

AFA's Russian office manager opened the door at their office in the hotel. In perfect English and smooth smiles he explained to us how to get through the thousands and thousands of profiles with great efficiency. Showing us 'fast tricks' on the computer, and handing us maps with the newest profiles. We got a chance to talk to other tour members. Some had no time to talk, too busy rushing through the countless pictures of beautiful, marriage-minded women. 'Man, this is like being a kid in a candy store', John (54) shared. He was overweight, looked exhausted. His head had turned from red to almost purple. I was a little concerned.

That night we drank Russian beer, chatting with the tour clients. Ken (owner AFA) introduced us to the group, and shared some of his knowledge about the tricks of getting a Russian wife.

Some of the clients wanted to know if we were just researching, or if we were also going to date: As researchers they liked us better.

Back in our hotel room for three minutes, we heard the phone ring. 'Do you want us to send a young lady to your room..?' a friendly voice asked. Geert said 'No thank you'. I asked him 'who was that?' 'Room service' he answered, and started making notes. The first Russian script-pages were born.

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