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Theatre. My going to the theatre

What a good idea it is to go to the theatre! I always feel like going out and I’m a great theatre-goer, you know. I try to see the most interesting performances that are on at the theatres of this city. I am fond of Drama theatre and the Opera and Ballet theatre, but I also try not to miss the performances of other Ekaterinburg theatres like the Theatre for Young Spectators, the Puppet Show, the Comedy theatre and the Philharmonic Society. These theatres are well-known for their excellent companies and wonderful acting. I usually go to the evening performances and try to buy tickets in advance. I like to have good seats in the stalls, in the dress-circle or in the box. The gallery keeps me indifferent, I think it is not worth taking. From its seats one cannot get a good view of the stage.

I’m fond of ballet. My favorite ballet is “The Swan Lake” by Tchaikovsky. Have an ear for music? I haven’t to my regret but I can tell the tuneful and appealing music and hear when it is richly colored. I like when the music is sweet and deep and goes to the heart. I admire the works which are known as a monument of genius and whose sonatas astonish by their originality and depth. I appreciate the classical music as well as pop, rock, jazz and blues. Rock is certainly more popular than classical music. “The Swan Lake” has a long run and is always a great success with the public. Everything is magnificent there: the music and the dancing. The leading part dancers are brilliant beyond all doubts, and when the final curtain falls, they receive many curtain calls. It’s really a fine cast. I look forward to the next going out every time as I leave the theatre, and sure I like the first nights very much. I never miss them if I’m in cash. Practically all plays always have a full house in the Opera and Ballet theatre.

Actually theatre is a place where you can see a play staged. It is also one of entertainments. Any theatre consists of two parts: the stage and the hall. They are separated by a curtain and the orchestra. Seats to the theatre can be reserved beforehand in the box-office. The last performance I saw was the “Nut Cracker” by Tchaikovsky. Now great it was! The main pats were performed by the talented dancers. But I also was impressed by very young ballet-dancers who performed the secondary parts. I guess they also deserve respect of the audience because they did their best and looked great for their young age. I had a great time there that night.

But we are to admit that theatre is not popular now as it used to be. There are many people who prefer to seat comfortably before the TV set and enjoy themselves without leaving their homes. I don’t belong to that company. The Drama theatre is sometimes rather thin and it is seldom crammed. I don’t ask the cloak-room attendant for opera-glasses in the Opera and Ballet theatre cause I have my own ones, but I always take off my things. I have got a slight idea what a complementary ticket might be for I’ve never had it. But if the house Is sold out long in advance, I at times try to pick up a ticket at the entrance. You can’t imagine how difficult sometimes it is to get a ticket to leading Russian or foreign performers and musicians.



The attendant shows you the seats, the last bell rings and the curtain goes up. Nobody is allowed to enter after the last bell has gone. The lights go down and the system of lights is rather intricate. The stage is fitted up with all sorts of devices, they have a revolving stage there. No, I haven’t been behind the wings yet or in the dressing-room but I’d love to. The sketches are drawn nicely and they change the sets in no time. The scenery is really beautiful. And making-up an actor calls for talent and artistic ingenuity. They have wonderful dresses. Artists play their parts with conviction and passion. The critics often praise their acting. The performers portray their characters with great subtlety and really attract the attention of the public with their play. The latter makes one forget that she is looking at a picture giving her the impression it is life itself. One enjoys every minute of the play. It is splendid and sometimes it’s too lovely for words. The artists are strewn with flowers, the spectator clap and cheer. Curtain call follows curtain call.

But at times the play is a failure, and people walk out in droves. It turns out strangely flat and lifeless that one can’t stand it to the end. A deathly thing that can’t be worse. Rather cheap stuff and one feels like walking out. Happily it is not always but it is. More often the new performance of the play is quite a sensation and is as popular as ever with the Ekaterinburg goers. It’s often a superb performance.

 

Cinema

Cinema plays an important and exciting part in the life of any society. It is an available popular form of art if are in cash, of course. Lots of people find going to the cinema one of the best way of spending their leisure time. The movie audience is predominantly a young one. Due to numerous video facilities, cinema attendances have declined sharply. But there is no denying the fact the cinema-going habit is still a strong one. No matter how large the place you live in is (whether it’s a big city or a small provincial town, or even a settlement) there’s most likely to be a cinema there.

There are such genres of feature films as the western, the thriller, the musical, the drama and the comedy. There is no doubt that a god cinema show is an excellent entertainment and quite cheap. Of late cinema screens in this country have been dominated by films produced in the USA and this tendency is growing. Movies, or the cinema, have been an integral part of American and the world culture throughout the twentieth century. The 1920’s was the great era of the silent film with stars like Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Clara Bow, Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers. Some famous movies of the 20’s were “The Gold Rush”, “City Lights”. With the production of Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer”, the era of taking pictures arrived. During the 1920’s and 30’s entrepreneurs formed in America in Hollywood large film companies: “Twentieth-Century-Fox“, “Metro-Golden Mayer” , “Paramount”. The studios worked on a star system and a contract system. Major American writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner did screen plays. During its golden age Hollywood was responsible for some great pictures.

The Eisenstein tradition is acknowledged by the world as one of the greatest in film making. It is actually felt in almost all the works of resent-day film producers, many of whom studied under Eisenstein. Producers like Gerasimov, Alexandrov, Yutkevich and others are the custodians of this tradition of realism. The first prize-winning film at the Moscow festival, “And Quiet Flows the Don”, based on Michail Sholokhov’s famous novel, is a striking example of this tradition. It was produced by Gerasimov, who was awarded the festival’s first prize for personal work. The Russian producers in selecting their stars for a film make it a point of looking for people who are really like their literary prototypes, not only in external appearance, but inwardly, spiritually. The film had a successful run.

It’s an open secret that we live in a very difficult time now. But people do need something amusing and pleasant, or something laugh at. That’s why I give my preference to comedies, especially the French ones, and I even take notes of apt remarks and witty jokes to broaden my outlook and make my vocabulary richer. A happy end is an essential feature of American films. The characters fall in lave with each other in the end of each film.

I also enjoy animated cartoons and popular science films. To see a good detective film is a very pleasant way of spending free time as well. When I want to go to the cinema I usually see in the programme what film is on. Then I phone my friends and we discuss what film to see. There are many talented actors and actresses not only in Russia but also abroad. You can also find the film you like among horror films that are neither for nervous persons nor for those with the mental breakdown. I am not a regular cinema-goer, but if there is a film which is a hit with the public, I do my best to watch it and I remember the good film for a long time.

As you know, the 3-hour-14-minutes film “Titanic” is no mere disaster movie. It’s an epic love story about a 17-year-old American aristocrat who is betrothed to a rich and hateful suitor but falls in love with a free-spirited artist, who won his third-class passage in a card game. It’s “Romeo and Juliet” on a sinking ship and has become an international sensation. “Titanic” is also a movie about money and its evils. With fine irony, Cameron has spent more dollars than any other filmmaker to make a film that denounced the rich. The $8,4 million costume budget alone would finance several independent movies. Production designer Peter Lamont copied real Titanic down to the exact shade of green on the chairs in smoking lounge. The sumptuous sets have made-to-order replicas of the china, the stained-glass windows – and since all of it was going to be destroyed, nothing could be rented. “To the best of our knowledge, there was no violation of historical truth”, says Cameron, – “We have a great responsibility. Whatever we make, will become the truth, the visual reality that generation will accept”. The special effects are in the service of the story. In the 80-minutes sinking of the ship, you don’t wonder what’s real and what’s computer-generated. What you feel is the horror of experience, the depths of the folly that left this “unsinkable” ship so vulnerable to the iceberg. Cameron’s lovers are an odd match: next to DiCaprio’s boyish beauty, Kate Winslet looks womanly. Cameron makes terrifying poetry of chaos with images of the ship breaking in half, the deck rising perpendicular to the water as passengers bounce off the ship’s giant propellers into the freezing ocean. The filmmaker says that if he had known what it would take to bring his vision to the screen, he would have stopped before he started. But “regret” is not in the guy’s vocabulary.

During the film I love to drink “Pepsy” and crunch with pop corn.

Holiday-making

Everyone needs at least one holiday a year, so when you begin spending sleepless nights thinking about the sun and the sea, when you think longingly of the green countryside and forget the mosquitoes and the boredom, there’s no doubt about it – you are ready for a holiday. Even a week-end is better than nothing. You need to get away from all your usual routines and get some fresh air and change of perspective.

You should also take occasional holidays without the family. Mothers and fathers, husbands, wives and children can do very well without you for a limited time and, if they cannot, they must learn to. It will be good for them to realize how much you do for them during the rest of the year. It is necessary for children to realize at a very young age that they can do without their parents. It teaches them independence.

Go somewhere quiet, where the climate is pleasant. Get to know the natives and their customs. Do a little sightseeing, even if you don’t like it. Always have a dictionary of the local language if you are abroad, and pick up a few words. It is a good idea to get to know the place as well as you can. If you prefer complete solitude, take some books and catch up on your reading. Be sure to take the necessary clothes but don’t burden yourself with things you will never use. Protective oils and creams are a very necessary part of your holiday equipment. Don’t allow yourself to be annoyed. Take note of the good and pass over the bad in silence. Don’t burden yourself with the camera unless you are a genuine enthusiast; you will be always looking through it instead of directly at what is around you. If you forget all about home, you will come back with far more interesting tales to tell.

If you are tired of your usual holiday routine, there are many things you can do to vary it. Some take a certain amount of physical energy, but think of the good it will do you. People say there’s nothing compare with a camping holiday. Personally I think it’s only for the young, and will make them appreciate home comforts. Be prepared for damp, mosquitoes, beetles and cow dung, which is never noticed until the following morning. This sort of holiday teaches the young how to survive, and strangely enough they seem to enjoy it, finding great pleasure in making bonfires and cooking barbecues.

Bicycle holidays are an excellent way of taking exercise. Bear in mind that you not a professional. And don’t try to do more than thirty or forty miles a day. Keep to side roads wherever possible, and don’t overtire yourself.

A walking holiday, in good weather with a pleasant companion or two, will do you more good than any other. Select your shoes carefully. Your rucksack should contain a change of everything, but nothing that is not absolutely essential.

The seaside is good for most people, but definitely bad for some. Don’t overdo it. Take the sun and the sea gradually, and don’t stay on the beach for to long. After the first week or two, you might begin to get bored, sunburnt, and lazy. It’s a good idea to have a hobby or interest at the seaside. Take a skin diving mask and see how many sorts of fish you can find. Walk along the beach collecting shells or interesting pebbles. On this sort of holiday you should be thoroughly relaxed, and soak in the sun and sea air. There is nothing better for giving you vitality and energy to keep you going through the winter.

A winter holiday is probably even better for you than a summer one. You need it more at that time of year. Once you learn to ski, you can go on doing to a very advanced age, as long as you don’t do it too strenuously and break a leg. If this happens it will take a long time to heal and you may never be able to ski again. There are many other things to do besides skiing. Skating is amusing, and not all that difficult to learn. You can walk on snowshoes, and mountains are particularly lovely when you get away from the crowded ski slopes. It is even easier to sunburnt in the snow than on the beach, so be careful, but do get some sun – it will keep you healthier for the rest of the winter.

My flat

In many parts of Russia dwelling houses and blocks of flats are built in a long row, each house joined to the next one, and practically each with a yard at the back, or a smaller one at the front. These are the apartments with the latest conveniences, but not so pretty and comfortable as compared with cottages in England, for example. They are often not so roomy or very small and there are often shops in the ground stories of them. Our apartment is on the sunny side of the house. The latter faces the small plant called “The Urals-cable” and I sometimes envy those whose house faces the sea or a garden at least. Ours is the corner house. It is in need of repair and it has to be done up. We don’t occupy communicating rooms, fortunately, they are separate. There are three windows in my flat and they give on in one direction. Our flat is on the fifth floor of a not so big and so beautiful, grey five-storey building. To the right of the entrance door is the door to my own room with a large mirror and a wonderful pot-flower near it.

The living-room isn’t large. Here is the description of it. It has two doors – the one on the left that leads to a small hall and the other one leads to a balcony. There is no fire-place there but dark curtains cover the window at the back and make it very cosy. The room contains a rocking table, some chairs, a television set on the other side, a suite, some armchairs and a couch, one good water-color and the thick carpets on the papered walls and painted floors. It’s a pleasant-looking room, you know. I like a down light of the chandelier and the mild one of the wall lamp. There is a musical centre in the room too and the wall units with books, the tableware and the tea-things in them. The sitting-rooms of well-to-do people, however, are much larger, prettier and more comfortable. Their houses as a whole stand a little way back from the road and some have a rather big garden round it and a smooth lawn in front of the house.

Passing through the entrance door you find yourself in a small hall where there are the racks to hang your coat and hat on. There is the door which leads to the kitchen. A central heating system keeps it warm and cosy during long winter evenings all the year round. There are a lot of useful things there, namely an icebox, a kitchen table, a sink unit with the dish drainer and tea plates, cooking pot, pans and jugs, the revolving shelves, a gas cooker with an oven, a pot plant, a coffee maker, a cooker unit, a wall cupboard, a pot holder, a kitchen lamp and a kitchen clock, a telephone, a spice rack , a set of wooden spoons, forks, knives and many other trifles. In the kitchen we cook, have our meals and wash dishes.

A bathroom is with a lavatory together and at times it seems more comfortable than when they are separate. There is a washbasin there, a ventilator, a mirrored bathroom cabinet, the Dutch tile of rosy color, a bathtub, the bath salts, a washing machine, a bath mat, the loo, a toilet roll holder, a shower, a bath sponge, some fragrant soap, a hand towel, the medicine cabinet.

As for my room I naturally find it the most attractive and quiet. The furniture Is of a nice design here, the style is modern. I know that the built-in 0f furniture gives more space but I haven’t got the one unfortunately, though my room isn’t crowded with furniture at all. I adore the computer corner in it and can spend hours working at the computer. My hobby is computer games and computer programming. The arrangement of a quite an ordinary but pretty furniture in my room makes it look brighter. There is a lot of unused space here. I have a writing table with drawers there as well and it seats two comfortable. The bedclothes, the bedsheets, the blanket covers, the pillows are in the folding furniture, out of sight. The carpet is a good match to the upholstery of the furniture. The curtains harmonize with the carpet perfectly.

The rent comes up to more than a thousand rubles together with electricity and gas. We try to be never behind with our rent. To my mind it’s a marvelous apartment indeed though the house isn’t the last word of comfort. Every time when I look round I feel happy to have the firm roof above my head, and it is not boring at all to me to live with my parents under the same roof.

 

Weather

The word “weather” means atmospheric conditions over a particular area at a specific time or over a short period. The word ‘climate” means prevailing weather conditions of a region for a long period of time (temperature, rainfall, sunshine, wind, etc.). We know that weather has much impact on people’s health and moods. Weather has an effect on certain diseases such as arthritis and heart disorders. Weather is also associated with emotional problems and disturbed behavior. It is not by itself a direct cause of mental illness, but it can create an added stress on people on top of marital, job and other problems.

Temperature is the most important factor. Heat is clearly linked to mood disturbances. We find that heat is an important factor in the increase of emotional problems. Humidity has much effect on individuals as well. Rainy weather leads to gloominess and depression. It’s not too surprising that sunshine, especially in the North, is associated with positive mood state, especially during winter months. What’s more interesting is the finding that people are more likely to help others and behave in a prosocial way.

It takes some time for a body to adapt to weather changes too. When people move from a cool climate to a warm, subtropical one, they’re very uncomfortable at first. But adaptation occurs rather quickly – within about two weeks. Some people are particularly sensitive to weather. Elderly people tend to be more sensitive to weather than younger people because their cardiovascular system is less efficient. Body weight also ,makes a difference. Heavier people have more difficulty coping with hot weather, while thin people have a harder time in extreme cold.

There is an ideal weather for physical and emotional well-being. People enjoy a slight change in temperature – but not a drastic change where the temperature rises or falls more than 15 degrees. A little bit of breeze, but not a strong wind, is also ideal. Obviously, sunshine makes people feel good – as long as there is not too much of it.

The weather is sometimes very changeable, especially in some parts of the world. In summer one day may be fine and the next day may be wet. The morning may be warm and the evening may be cool. One day the weather may be sunny, the next day it may be rainy and foggy. You can’t make your plans for the next day or for the next week because you don’t know what the weather is going to be like. Winter can be not too cold and frosty, it can be damp. Autumn is usually damp and rainy. The best season is spring in the most parts of the world. People often talk about the weather. When they meet in the street, they often say something about the weather to show their friendliness.

The weather plays an important part in the lives of people. Every day newspapers publish weather forecasts. The radio and television give weather forecasts several times a day. Every year there are weeks of beautiful sunny weather when people put on their bikinis and go out to sunbathe. Since in general the weather can be very changeable, it has become a favorite subject of conversation.

There are 12 months or 365 days in a year. Every four years there is a leap year, it has 366 days. The names of the months are: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. The days of the week are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. There are four seasons in the year – spring, summer, autumn and winter. It’s a universal truth that every season is beautiful in its own way. Isn’t it wonderful to tramp down the country lanes on a frosty winter day? Everything is white with snow and it crunches under your feet. The rime sparkles on the branches and the icicles like precious diamonds hang from the roofs of the houses. It’s a merry time for both children and grown-ups. They can go skiing and skating, sledging and having a fight with snowballs or making a snowman.

But it isn’t a very pleasant time comes when the thaw begins. Cars and buses go along streets splashing the mud and slush on the passers-by. Everyone is grumbling and scolding the weather. But soon a warm wind blows up heavy grey clouds and the sun shines brightly in the cloudless azure sky. In a few months summer will come. Summer is the most suitable season for holidays and vacations. People enjoy bright summer days if they are in the country or at the seaside. It’s unbearable to stay un the city on such hot and glaring days. Everybody droops and shambles and tries to hide in the shade.

Then after a good rest autumn and harvest time comes. The air is fresh and full of autumn fragrance of ripe apples, plums and peaches and of course, colored asters, chrysanthemums. But the weather is so changeable in autumn, people have to wear raincoats and umbrellas if they don’t want to get wet through. The dead leaves cover the ground like a thick motley carpet, the roads are slippery and wet, there are lots of puddles in the streets and again everyone is looking forward to frosty winter days and much snow out-of-doors.

It’s rather difficult to say what season is the best one, however dull and nasty or charming and marvelous the weather may be.

 

Sightseeing

Sometimes a week or two stay in this or that city can be quite a revelation. Nothing you have read prepare you for how beautiful the cities may be, with lots of flowers and colorful buildings. Any city is a large number of houses, schools, hospitals, theatres, museums, factories and works and other buildings built near each other. All these buildings are divided into blocks by streets. Short narrow streets that join larger ones together are called lanes. The main streets are usually paved with stone or asphalt. Along the streets run carts, cars, buses and trolley-buses. In large towns tramways are laid down the wider streets, along which tramcars rattle with great noise.

There are many beautiful old cities, which were the trading ones in the Middle Ages. They have preserved a great proportion of a walled castles and a walled-in cities and developed the rest of the city around it so that the modern buildings don’t clash with the old buildings. It’s really very beautiful. One thing that impress you most in any city is the variety of architectural design. In Russia, for example, there is a lot of French influence, Italian and Scandinavian, they say.

The cultural life there might be absolutely astonishing. You can go to a combination of opera and dance in the city which is more imaginative that you saw in other places, in New York, for instance, and excellently performed. In Tbilisi you can go to a traditional Georgian folk dance and you can see the care taken in preserving the traditional form of dance with costumes. It can be fantastically executed you know.

You might be also pleased to learn the national food – something you don’t expect, because you might bring along some pounds of granola bars in expectation of tasteless food. And every place you go, they have all different kinds of soups, and a lot of them might seem great to you. Now practically every city is building more tourism facilities and having better services available. Cities in Russia have a range of hotels from 1950s version up to a high-rise hotel like anything you go to in the US.

One can read about a place, hear about it and have ideas about a place, but when you’re her or there, it’s a whole different thing. All your perceptions of it may be out of date. The native people you talk with talk about how quickly the society is changing and that they are happy to see it.

In cities countless pedestrians walk along the foot-pavement. On the foot-paths, close to the gutter, stand dust-bins, into which refuse is put. The ground floor and the first storeys of the houses, that line the principal streets, consist of shops. These shops present most attractive features. The windows are very large and the plates of glass reach almost to the pavement. It’s interesting to look at the shop-windows where the articles on sale are displayed.

In the centre and in important parts of large towns, generally called cities, there are squares, gardens and market places. A city is generally situated near or on a river across which bridges are built. In almost all cities there are places of interest, which a stranger would be invited to see – monuments, cathedrals, museums, etc. A city is governed by a council, the head of which is styled the mayor.

All of us would like to go back to the city we liked most. We would want to go back on vacation, or instance, and take our family members.

 

Health

One of the first duties we owe to ourselves is to keep our bodies in perfect health. If our body suffers of disorder, our mind suffers with it, and we are unable to make much progress in knowledge, and we are unfit to perform those duties which are required of us in social life. A constant supply of pure fresh air is indispensable to good health. The house and every room in it should be properly ventilated every day. Perfect cleanliness is also essential. The whole body should be washed as often as possible. It “breathes” the way the lungs do. Therefore it should always be clean. There is a great charm in cleanliness. We like to look at one who is tidy.

A certain amount of exercise is necessary to keep the body in perfect condition. The best way of getting exercise is to engage in some work that is useful and at the same time interesting to the mind. It is most essential for the old and the young to do morning exercises with the windows wide open in the room or, if possible, in the open air. Rest is also necessary to the health of both body and mind. The best time for a sleep is during the darkness and stillness of the night. Late hours are very harmful to the health as they exhaust the nervous system. We should go to bed early and get up early. It is a good rule to “ rise with the lark and go to bed with the lark”.

Most essential to our body is food. Our body is continually wasting, and requires to be repaired by fresh substance. Therefore food, which is to repair the loss, should be taken with due regard to the exercise and waste of the body. Be moderate in eating. If you eat slowly, you will not overeat. Never swallow the food wholesale – we are provided with teeth for the purpose of chewing the food – and you will never complain of indigestion. The evils of intemperance, especially of alcohol, are too well known. Intemperance excites bad passions and leads to quarrels and crimes. Alcohol costs a lot of money, which might be used for better purposes. The mind is stupefied by drink and the person who drinks will, in course of time, become unfit for his duties. Both health and character are often ruined.

Thus we must remember that moderation in eating and drinking, reasonable hours of labor and study, regularity in exercise, recreation and rest, cleanliness and many other essentials lay the foundation for good health and long life. But if you feel bad you can see a doctor, of course. The latter receives his patients regularly and he is often a good specialist to help you to solve your problems. Yes, quite an experienced one, who examines patients thoroughly. If you are awfully sick you can call in a doctor or come yourself. It’s up to you to decide. It’s nice if you don’t seem you will have to be operated on, or you’ll feel rather scared. The doctor will check your heart and blood pressure and if they are almost normal he will give you the thermometer and ask you to put this under your armpit. If it’s necessary the doctor will give you an admittance to the hospital.

Several years ago there was general belief that “scientific medicine” would in short order obliterate just about all disease. Optimism continued to mount as new antibiotics and tranquilizers were discovered, new surgical procedures devised and perfected. For a while it seemed that if we could all live just a few more years, new discoveries might make us immune to death itself. Looking back, we can see the partly mood began to sour. It was not just innocent burst of enthusiasm. Real harm was done. Drugs, we all learned, sometimes had “side effects”. Needless X-rays were though to promote cancer. But that’s only half of the new perspective. The other half has this to say: even when done correctly, the medical approach to disease is incomplete. Wonderful, yes. But not quite the whole answer. What it ignores is the dimension of natural healing: strengthening the body’s immune system through nutritional and other natural means; physical therapies; stress reduction; diet improvement; and lifestyle change. To ignore these factors is to forgo, perhaps, a much more conservative, perhaps even more effective treatment. The battle against disease cannot be won by medicine alone.

Some people have returned to the 19th century, relying on herbs, untested diets and unscientific procedures to treat all illness. But today we are in the unique position of being able to take advantage of the best technological medical care and the best natural healing techniques. By using both approaches, as dictated by good sense, we can literally enjoy the best of two worlds.

 

Meals

Every country is proud of its achievements in different spheres of life. Russia has achieved great excellent results in the national economy and new technologies in the 20th century. This country is also famous for its Opera and ballet, space research, folk crafts and Russian cuisine.

Borsh, okroshka (which served cold) and meat dumplings are not only eatable and taste all right but are first-class and delicious. Caviare is not half as bad, indeed, and rather expensive. Russian pancakes and thick pancakes with soured cream are juicy and crisp and even nicer with condensed milk or cottage cheese (curds) or mushrooms. I think there is nothing like a Russian dinner. The table groans with food. The usual meals like are breakfast, dinner and supper. Breakfast is really not a big meal, and one would find that lunch is not small. The usual breakfast is porridge or corn flakes with milk or cream and sugar, bacon and fried or boiled eggs, omelette or sausage, frankfurters, marmalade with buttered toasts or even a sandwich of bread and butter with cheese with tea or coffee. At midday-dinner, which is at about one o’clock, some soup, hot mutton, veal, beef or fish with potatoes or macaroni or rice, salad, pickles and spices generally grace the table.

After dinner most people take coffee, though the is the favourite beverage in Russia. They have it with buns and roll with butter or without it, with biscuits and puff-pastry, sweets and chocolate, so they have something for dessert. Supper, which is around 7 o’clock in the evening, begins with what might correspond to a Russian “zakuska”, followed by some cabbage and meat soup, fish, roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables and dessert.

The English are very particular about their meals and strictly keep to their meal times. The usual English meals are breakfast, lunch which is about at one o’clock on the afternoon, tea and dinner. There is nothing like an English tea-party, be it at home or in the open air. Such little at-homes and outings do much to further sociability and make you feel on good terms with all the company an a short time, which is very helpful to a foreigner in England. Afternoon tea can hardly be called a meal. Tea is made at the table. It is very strong and mostly drunk with sugar and cream. It would be an offence to take lemon in your tea. Most English people put milk in their coffee too – this is known as “white” coffee. Waiters will ask you if you wasn’t your coffee “black or white” rather than “with or without milk”.

When outing, that is, on a picnic, the English load their luncheon baskets with all sorts of sandwiches made of thin slices of bread (as thin as a sheet) and butter with meat, ham, raw tomatoes or even cucumber in between. The latter are, of course, more refreshing than nourishing. There in the basket you would likely find, besides cakes and biscuits, some bottles of ginger beer (wine is very dear in England as it is being imported from overseas).

In simpler home the schedule is somewhat different. In the morning they have breakfast, at midday-dinner, which is considered to be the chief meal, tea in the afternoon and supper in the evening. Some people have the so-called “high tea”. It’s a meal taken between five and six if a dinner is not taken in the evening. Usually it’s a more substantial meal than afternoon tea. Almost every meal finishes with coffee, cheese and butter.

Americans usually have three meal a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. All these three meals are served almost at the same time as in Britain. Usual breakfast in the Unites States is orange juice, toast and coffee, or juice and dry cereal with milk, or eggs. Lunch is usually a small meat – a sandwich, salad or soup, hamburgers and sausages. Brunch in America is a combination of breakfast and lunch that many Americans enjoy on Sunday. It is usually served at about eleven in the morning. Scrambled eggs or omelets are often served along with other regular luncheon dishes. In many restaurants brunch is served from 10 a.m. until mid-afternoon. Dinner usually includes a main course of meat or fish accompanied by side dishes as soup, sald and vegetables. There are two main types of restaurants. A fast food restarant is much like a cafeteria. Items such as hamburgers, hot chicken sandwiches, pizza and salads are typical of a fast-food restaurant. Eating in a fast-food restaurant takes less time and is less expensive than in a full –service restaurant.

It’s nice to sit and talk over a cheerful glass of wine too even if you are a moderate drinker and abstain from taking wine. Here’s to our studies.

 

Post office

You can send and receive mail through a post. If you call at a post office or the General Post Office (G.P.O.) you‘ll see a number of windows with notices in big letters showing the operations handled and you’ll see the post office clerks behind the counters. The windows are marked, “Stamps”, “Postcards”, “Envelopes”, “registered Letters”, “Air Mail”, “Telegrams”, “Book Post” and others.

In England you can buy stamps at the post office or from a mall automatic machine by the side of a pillar-box, a round red letter-box standing in the corner of the street. There are two kinds of a stamp – the first class and the second class. First class letters are more expensive and quicker. They usually arrive with the first delivery next morning. Second class letters are cheaper but they are slower. If you are in a hurry and have no stamps at the moment, that does not keep you from sending a letter. Just mark it “Collect” and the addressee pays the postage. As a matter of fact, there is no need even to mark it “Collect”, for if there isn’t enough postage paid or no stamp at all, it’s always the addressee who pays the postage.

When sending a letter to a foreign country you should know the postage on a letter to a particular country and you may ask the clerk: ”What is the postage on this letter to France (Italy, Russia), please?” After having written an address on the envelope you drop your letter in the post box (pillar box). By the way, all post boxes in Britain are painted red, and all postmen wear dark blue. If you are sending a letter of particular value, you may send this letter by registered mail. In this case you have to fill in (A.E. – out) a form. The sender may be given a receipt or a return receipt. A return receipt is a receipt signed by the addressee when he receives a registered letter. So the sender can always trace the letter.

At the Poste Restante (A.E. – General Delivery) window they keep mail until called for. You can have mail sent to you by Poste Restante in any town and you should pick up your mail at the post office. In this case you must produce your indentification card or any document with your picture.

To send and receive mail in Britain and the USA you need to use a proper mailing address, which includes the full name of the addressee, a street address ( a house number and street name), city, state, zip code, country. In the USA the addressee’s address is usually written below at the center of the envelope. They write the sender’s address in the top left corner. In Britain they sometimes write the sender’s address on the back of the envelope.

The most famous stamp. It was in 1856. The Postmaster Of British Guiana was in a difficulty. He had used all the stamps, and new stamps, which they usually got from London, did not arrive yet. He did not know what to do. But then he found a way out: he asked a local printer to make some stamps which he used until the new ones arrived. Seventeen years later, a schoolboy who lived in British Guiana noticed on an envelope of old letters a strange stamp. It was dirty but the boy liked it and added it to his collection.

Some time later he showed his stamp to a well-known collector. This man gave him six shillings for stamp. The boy took it for he hoped to find another stamp among those old letters. But he did not find it. That one which the boy had sold became the most famous of all the world’s stamps. The stamp collector who bought it for six shillings did not know how valuable it was. Some years later he sold the stamp. The man who had bought it later sold it in Paris to Philip von Terrary who had the greatest stamp collection in the world. The stamp was in a poor state. But Philip von Terrary was very proud to have it, because he knew it was unique. Philip von Terrary died in 1917 and the stamp was offered for sale. It was bought for 7.343 pounds by a collector from the United States of America.

 


Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2226


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