Any info and advice on life in Sumy Ukraine for a retired Ex-Pat

Hello there all,
Can anyone help in passing on information about life in Sumy? I may soon be living there when I get married to a Ukrainian lady, so would like any advice about general way of life and daily living.As a retired British expat I'd need somethings to keep myself occupied, so is there much variety of life there.
Also can anyone give me an approximate idea what I would be expected to pay for an apartment of size roughly 80-100sq metres?
Thanks for any help and advice you could give.
Barney

I live in Kiev but I was born in Sumy. I'd been living in Sumy more then 15 years. Feel free to ask me if you need some information.

Hi, Barney. Here's some info about living in Sumy:
if you want to rent an appartment, the prices on that you can find here (shansplus.com.ua/index.php?id=108) and if you want to buy a new one, check out these adds (shansplus.com.ua/index.php?id=101). Roughly 100-150 USD will be enough to pay monthly bills during the winter season, and something like 50-70 USD during the summer.
Sumy is definitely not the worst place to live in. It's not a very big developing Ukrainian city, quiet and diverse. But to get a well-paid job here is not an easy thing for the average person. And that's the reason why youth puts its mind on any place abroad.
We have dozens of nightclubs, lots of shops, markets, good transportation system (small buses, route-taxis or, as people call it here, "marshrutkas") and good quality tape water. Still, prices are too high comparing to what people earn here.
You may find some English-speaking people from the US here, most of them are volunteers or members of some kinds of strange churches. Starting on Sept, 1st there supposed to be held English discussion club at Krupskaya Library downtown twice a week. If you want to study a little Russian, it's not a problem to find an experienced teacher of Russian in Sumy. We have many foreign students from around the world at Sumy State University, and that's where you might find a teacher for you.

In case you have any more questions, you can reach me at [email protected]

Good luck and have a great day!

PS. Make sure the woman you are dating has serious intentions. One American guy, my friend, got scammed by a woman with name Valentina. He presented to her lots and lots of expensive presents and she was taking super-high rent from him, never let him to her bed and overall attitude was just not good at all.

Hi and thanks a million for the information and advice. I would really like to know the family name (and even postal address if possible) of this lady "Valentina" from Sumy, if you could be kind enough to tell me. I have also sent you an email to your private email address. You could email me at the address in my letter, or you could send me the info to another email address of mine, it is : [email protected]
Many Thanks for your help and advice,
Best Wishes, Peter

Hello Barney,
Wondering about an update. Did you get married and move to Sumy? How did it workout for you and are you still there?

Saw the thread, wondering the same, how did it turn out for you.