I'll try to give you a few tips and ask any questions you like. First of all I would like to say that my trip there as been a success. I met a wonderful Russian girl. I have never met in my life such a more wonderful, smart, sincere and more beautiful women then Ulia.
The Ukraine/Russian women are just stunningly beautiful. Not only are their looks so pleasing to the eye, It is their attitude and femininity. I don't know how it is "down under", but the woman here seem to have (in general) lost this simple femininity. It seems that in wanting to be equal, they don't seem to appreciate this quality that we like so much.

1. Learn some Russian language:
While many of the Ukrainian woman I met speak some English, many do not. And it's more personal to be able to speak one on one with them and not have to use a translator. Although the translators are generally inexpensive. I paid around $5.00 to $10.00 an hour. Plus if you can speak Russian, then you could just stop and talk to girls where ever you meet them. You will meet nice ones in public a lot.
You might check on amazon.com or someplace for some basic conversational Russian courses or something. By the way, there is a Ukrainian language, but I found that everyone can speak and understand Russian. I tell you this tip because I couldn't speak any Russian. But I did learn some basic words by the time I left (after a one month stay).

2. Don't spend more then you have to:
This is just a comment. I ended up spending about $5000 on my trip. Not bad for a months trip o Europe. But I realized when considering that the average Ukraine wages are around $110 a month. I spent several times the yearly salary. Could have lived there for many months (see next tip). One could live like a king there on $500 a month! Here is how to stay there cheaply.

A. Get an apartment. You can get an apartment just outside of a major city for $50 a week to as low as $150-200 a month or so. I stayed in Hotels a lot. Even though they were fairly cheap ($50 a day) it adds up. At the end I got a apartment from an American guy (ask Sergey to see if it's available during your trip) for $50 a week. The apartment was the most comfortable. And there is a stigma for the girls going to Hotel because they might look like a prostitute. These apartments have all the basic amenities like you you would have at apartments in Canada, etc.

B. Now that you have an apartment. Go to the supermarket and buy your food. Prepare your own food (or a gal might cook for you). The American dollar buys around 5.4 of their dollars.. For just over $20 you can buy a weeks worth of groceries. It might be a little less for the Canadian dollar, but they will still go far. I was eating in Cafes most of the time. The cafes were excellent, and I have not seen better service anywhere. And while the cafes where inexpensive. I took Sergey, his wife Zoya and a date out one night. For four people the bill was only $22! But if you eat at Cafes all the time the money will add up. And the food is great in the Ukraine. Better/fresher then the US in a lot of ways. Also you see more of their culture this way.

C. Take the metro (if you are in Kiev, Kharkov, or other town that has them). Too the Taxis are plentiful and cheap. I could take a 20min ride for $5-10, compare that to around $50 here in the states. Yet the metro is sometimes faster then the Taxi and only breaks down to 10 cents a trip! It is only bad during the rush hours when it gets congested. But then it's one other place to check out the women on and around the metro.

D. Take the bus or Train to travel far distances. If you are going far from the Airport (I.E. Kharkov) take the train or a Buss. I paid $100 for the Taxi ride. Not bad considering it was a 4.5 hour trip, but you can take the train or bus cheaply. Although the 10 hour or so trip from Kharkov to Odessa cost me $30 because it was "first class" and I bought the whole car(room) so I could have it to my self. You don't need to buy the car for your self, but it was more comfortable for me. Although you might be lucky to have a car full of girls. As was the case I saw on the way back from Odessa. On the way back to the Airport I took a bus that only cost $13. At first the bus was bad because it was on a busy time of day and they didn't turn on the air conditioning (or what ever they had) until they picked up speed out of town. It was a great bus, it was new, they played new movies constantly (takes six hours by bus), and I can't complain because I was sitting next to a cute 17yo girl on the way back that spoke english pretty well. Also you can take a plane flight from Borispol (Kiev) airport to Kharkov as well, but I didn't look into it. If you follow these, it will keep your expenses down...

3. Plan on spending more TIME then you thought you would want too. I planed on three weeks then added another to make it a month. I wish now in hindsight that I left my apartment here in California, put my belongings in storage, and stayed there for several months. That is if you can afford/manage this. There are just so many women you will meet, and you will want to spend time with them. I can't explain it. Anyhow I might not have been so happy because my girl Ulia is actually from Russia.

4. Security risk is not as bad as some people claim. I had no problems. I found no one was trying to rob or mug me, etc. For the most part, I had found people to be more kind and considerate then the average American. Only once were some beggar kids annoying and wouldn't go away; something like you might meet in any major city. And the Taxi driver at the airport who wanted me to pay him $20 for a 200 yard trip to the hotel (I stayed at a hotel for six hours before my flight home). He tried to jack me for this fare for a distance I could have easily walked in five minutes (then I realized later). Just be smart and aware about your surroundings. Stay out of bad areas. Don't enter marked (or unmarked) Taxis with more then the driver in them, etc. You can read some of these tips on the Internet. Again, I had no major incidents. But don't be a drunk marine and get in trouble with the police. You notice they are liberal about drinking hours and in public, but notice you don't see a bunch of drunken idiots. The police are supposed to be pretty tough and don't hesitate to beat people if they are messing around.

5. You can just meet women there, or you can meet them ahead of time on the Internet. www.friendfinder.com, www.matchmaker.com are good to meet Ukraine/Russian women. Large listings. Costs about $20 a month. I wrote to hundreds of girls because I knew its like sales. I had to reach as many as I could because I knew the choices would continue to narrow down out of those that responded. Although it got hectic because I was spending my nights after work writing Emails to many women. Can't complain corresponding to these beautiful women. ... There are dozens of marriage agencies in Ukraine Russian towns, and some have web sites. But becarfull here. There are many scamming web sites and scaming women. I found some of the women I met on friendfinder or matchmaker where some of the scammers listed on some blacklist. I have never been so stupid to send some girl (that I don't know) money, but some guys do... I actually met Ulia from matchmaker.com. Right from the first I was struck by her beauty and she said some pretty cool things she said about her self that struck out to me.

6. Don't "put all your eggs in one basket". Plan on seeing several women. Even if you meet them on the Internet, you might never know how you connect when you actually meet in person. Two of the girls I had written to the longest didn't work out. One was nice (would have made a nice wife for sure), and the other was a bit of a "gold digger" with perfect "10" looks. When I met Ulia, I knew. I think I fell in love with her the moment I met her and she rested her tired head on my shoulder.

That's the best tips I can think of at the moment.

Don't worry about money, time, etc. Just get over there! I had the time of my life there. The people, culture, food and most of all the beautiful women were great! At times I was overwhelmed with the attention and just the shear amount of women that were available for dating/marriage.

Ulia is actually Russian. She took an eight hour train ride by her self just to meet me. It was like it was our destiny to meet each other. She is just so fun. She is only 20yo (I just turned 39 now) and just loves to have fun. I recommend that you go to Kharkov. Mostly because Sergey is there. He is so helpful; Someone I have learned to trust. Note that he only charges a few dollars to translate letters! Also I had spent a week in Odessa. It was nice to see the black sea, and the historic catacombs. Kharkov has a more "down home", relaxing feeling to it. I had the most fun right there in Karkov. There is a big opera house, parks, museum, etc. There is one park (I can remember the name, let alone spell it) that has a nice carnival that me Ulia liked. Plan on visiting there ASAP. As a matter of fact they are supposed to have very cold winters. It was great when I went there in April. The summers are supposed to be even better (although hot) because the girls like to wear skimpy summer clothes.

Don't pressure your self to much. I was lucky that I found my girl on my first and only trip to the Ukraine. But I have read where many guys have gone back several times and found a good wife.

May you find the women of your dreams!