Wow - I must find out if he really is married now. Thanks for all you help and comments, everyone. No, I'm not intending to learn Russian. I know Dima through his brother, who emails me in English, but Dima's English isn't too good, so if he didn't write to me in Russian I wouldn't hear from him at all.

I certainly won't be buying him an expensive Zippo - I'm not even sure if I am allowed to mail something like that. I'll get him something else instead.

Cheers!

PS It's getting to be like a soap opera - you'll all be checking in next week to find out what else is happening in his life!