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Women's Expectations
id: 12332

There are several simple things which Ukrainian ladies expect men to do, and you should be aware of them.
Preparing to the meeting – make sure that you dress your best

People who come to Ukraine for the first time notice that people (especially women) pay great attention to the way they look. Normally your date would spend at least couple of hours getting prepared to your meeting, so make sure you are wearing clean and well ironed clothes.

There is a Russian saying: “We greet people by the way they look and bid farewell by the way they think”, it means that the first impression is always based on your looks and so when going on a date it’s better to dress up a little rather than dress down and make a bad impression.
If you are bringing flowers to the meeting.

Make sure that you have an odd number, it has to be 1,3,5,7,9,11 etc. The even numbers of flowers are traditionally brought to the funerals and it’s a very bad idea to give somebody a dozen of roses! There is a common belief that yellow stand for separation, therefore stick with all the other colors except for the yellow!

When you greet a lady

It’s nice to establish some sort of a physical contact from the very first moment of your meeting and therefore you can give a lady a light kiss on her cheek, but this is of course totally up to you! If she is offering you a hand you should take it a give the most gentle squeeze, a lady doesn’t expect a strong hand shake!
Opening the door in front of the lady

When you are approaching a building together, you are expected to open the door for the lady, it’s also true if you are leaving a building. You will see that in Ukraine many of the doors are indeed heavy and sometimes it can be physically hard for a lady to pull the door, however opening the it is mainly about care that you show to the lady. You are also expected to open the door of the car for a lady when you are approaching the car. Give a hand to a lady when she is leaving the car- when getting out of the car don’t forget to offer your lady a hand to help her get out of the car.
Help the lady to take off her coat or jacket.
If you are going to a place where you are expected to take off the jackets, make sure that you help your lady to take off hers.
When you are in a restaurant or café

If you have drinks on the table- you are expected to pour them into her glass or a cup.
If you are invited to somebody’s home

Do not forget to take off your shoes. It’s needless to say that you must have matching socks without holes. Also make sure you bring a cake or a bottle of wine, coming over to someone’s home empty handed may not be accepted well.

Best wishes, Inga


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