I am so sorry that you have had bad experiences with on line dating but here's another version. I met a man on line through a dating service and we began sending emails. I felt such a strong connection to this man. Not only did we meet online. english is also his second language. Dutch is his first. He lives in a little village outside of Antwerp Belgium. I live in California. When we began calling over the phone our connection became even stronger. At first I couldn't even understand everything he said but we began falling in love. The year before his company was given an option to send someone to San Francisco. He didn't get to go. Well another opportunity came up and he applied again. We waited and I prayed. Yes! He was being sent 6,000 miles around the world. We decided to meet. He stayed three days. We struggle everyday I love him and we are working on a future. It's very hard but please don't discourage others from at least trying to expand their horizons. You never know you might just meet the love of your life like I did.
PS I am learning Dutch
Tot Ziens which means see you later.