Yeah, some of what I say is out of frustration and romancing ideas, and I'm old enough and experienced enough to be (sometimes annoyingly) grounded in practicality in more recent years. I would love just what you say... even the the part about people not being paranoid about someone being left alone with or expressing affection without physicality for someone who just interacts well with kids.

There's more, though. To quote an old book I once read, The Good Life. Some couple moved to the country and built a life for themselves, expending only 4 hours per day to become self-sufficient or something. I was young and impressionable, reading it in some hot tub on a Florida vacation I think, with my save the animals t-shirt, but the idea of simplicity has always remained with me in spite of hard-earned maturity.

Don't people also plant potatoes and eat sausages or something there? I saw a doc on some OLd Religion hermit lady once. There's a vast virgin wilderness where I could through logs on the fire and cuddle my girl in a bear skin blanket in our mink caps.. Just seems like a simpler life, and tbh, I've never really hated Putin as much for coming down harshly on scheming saboteurs as being put off by that dead guy with the Ukrainian supermodel on the bridge staring at the sky with his eyes open. I could never do that sort of stuff, but as Trump said, you don't think other countries do things just as ruthless or something like that?

Personally, I like how they protect the integrity of their culture, because I think it gives a valuable shared identity. Watering down collective identity allows for planted seeds of doubt with hostile ultimate intent to grow and take root. Somethin' like that. I am rambling and not painstakingly proofreading my own thoughts anymore. Gave that up years ago myself. I wouldn't have fear of Putin intruding on my personal life. I do know some with certain attractions do, and I'm not trying to be insensitive to them, but at the same time I think there's a role for that in Russia as well, as long as there's no push for equal whatever.

Yeah, yanno, on one hand I'm pretty sure it can be a ruthless tough place. I remember a Chinese acquaintance/friend telling me all the unusual countries he's been to, and he was very annoyed by having to pay people off everywhere in Russia. Little stuff, nothing big. I've seen many videos.. the drunk guy on the backhoe smashing into cars and then guys climbing up to pummel him in the face (hilarious), building code issues, people being chased by stray dogs, random fights for no reason.. mafia stuff... but I dunno, part of me also thinks this is why nobody ever has the balls to invade them, or gets their ass handed to them in the end when they try. It's also why things like NGO's can't seem to effectively finagle unrest there. Also probably why their famous authors are so hard to crack, even when the book is less than 700 pages.

No worries, it's unlikely I'll ever move there. But the girls.... THE GIRLS... They are... still such.. girls. And I miss that in my own country terribly:/

Yeah, screw the weather. Unless I had something warm to snuggle through the winter. I'd rather read an old back to the land book in a hot tub by a golf course under the palm trees. But I do often long for a simple meal of sausages with potatoes in a forest by a crackling fire with something warm and soft.

I think I'll still practice my language skills anyway.