Thanks, Carlyn! I also love hearing about sex and dating in different cultures. I was wondering how you'd found out about "Marko" and "Olga." That's awesome that you got an interview! I hope Olga's happy with her new love now and Marko works on himself so he can find a real partnership.

About my previous comment: living in China was wild. North American men largely didn't even approach me (European ones did, for some reason) because they were generally busy fetishizing Chinese women. Meanwhile, local guys seemed to think I could be bought; one Chinese guy literally followed me out of a Starbucks at 1am throwing words at me like, "Shopping! Shopping! I buy you things! Hotel!" (Plot twist: my female Chinese friends thought it made sense that a man would assume a woman might be interested in that sort of pickup attempt.) And the romantic dramas I saw playing out around me on the daily — e.g., grown women frequently throwing toddler-style tantrums at their boyfriends in public — was astounding.

I've been afraid to write about this, honestly, especially since I'd be writing from personal experience / observation. I'm not sure what kind of angle to take without it sounding like I was casting aspersions and calling the women gold diggers. (Something I definitely don't want to do, especially with my anthropology/sociology backgrounds.) But perhaps I should figure out an angle and attempt to tell the tales...