New is always good

I'd better calm down.........

2008-04-10T20:56:00.001-07:00

Hi guys! How are you doing after our presentations? Studying hard before final writing exam?
I think it was a really good experience for us before going to the University. As Murray said it is very difficult to make your brian and our mouth work together at the same time. The worst is when you stuck and do not know what next to say. In this case you are standing like an idiot and cannot think about anything at all. It happened to me and I was lucky that I had my notes. Ha-ha! :) Anyways we need to be able to present our ideas even if we are shy and even though English is not our native language.
What else I want to say is that I am a little bit nervous about tomorrow's writing final. I know we have written a lot of different essays and assignments on various topics. Moreover, it's not the first that we are having a test, yey? We had EAP2 and half of EAP3 so we may concider ourselves a kind of experienced people. BUT... The pressure of time is very hard to handle. I'm thinking about the topics trying to guess what our dear teachers created for us. Anyways, I'd better calm down................
Wish you good luck tomorrow! We are smart, guys! We'll do it! I'm 100% sure!

Large Double-Double 1 Soft 2 Hard

2008-04-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

What is the easiest way for you to remember things? What are special moments associated with in your mind?

I was thinking about this today... And finally I decided that for me it's music or I can say sound in general. I remember very clearly the way my Mom sang me a song and I remember her voice. I would never forget those sounds. They are immortalized in my heart :). Another melody that I remember from my childhood is my brother's song about me. He used to sing it almost every day, so it is in my mind forever. My father always whistle a particular melody when he is angry or irritated with something or even a bit nervous. So if I hear those sounds I can easily understand that he is not ok :(.

A lot of the best moments in my life are assosiated with a particular song. I'm sure it happens to everybody as well. Very often when I hear a song or a melody, I can fly to another place in my mind in the past. Finding myself in a place where important events happened, I start to live over those moments again while the music is playing. Ye, music is a kind of long term memory for me, the strongest and the most sensitive one. By the way, I mixed up the words sensitive and sensible recently. Anyway, in this case I intended to use sensitive....Now I know what they means. It's better late than never, yey?

The last idea that comes out of my mind is that I am very tired of working in Tim Horton's and Taco Time today. I worked 2 hours in THorton's where the line up is always. Then I moved to TacoTime. The line there was even more crazy. So... I like customers and I have to smile to them no matter what's going on in my mind. Anyways, large double-double and one soft two hard is my today's sound assciations. Ha-ha! Anyways, the fact is that women's ears are too sensitive. That's why they fall in love through their ears. Ooops! I have to stop writing now. I'm getting too far ............

Artist or Monkey

2008-03-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! To be honest I don't have any special ideas in my head right now, but after having read Scott's blog about the purpose of blogging I decided just keep typing. That's why you wont find anything interesting. HAHA!
Anyway, I want to say that I really liked today's Reading class about the monkey and artist. I made one mistake - in the second painting. I saw a woman in it with long hair. It was a reason why I thought it was painted by the artist not by the monkey. Hihi! I was wrong. Monkeys are sometimes as creative and talanted as people... They can even paint people with long hair :) It is proved that we came from monkeys, but because I'm a religion person I don't believe in that. I think it's just an scientific opinion. I believe God created us.
And now I'm thinking about people in general and why thay have different languages and cultures. There are a lot of stories about that. In the Bible a story about the Tower explains that fact. A long time ago people used to have one language and they understood each other easily. One day they decided to reach God on the heaven, so they started to build a tower. They were trying to make it as high as possible in order to get into the heaven. They thought they could do that. God punished people for their self-confidence and separated them by giving them different languages. After that people could not understand each other and now we have what we have. Everybody has to study foreign languages to be able to communicate with others. Now we have to study English. Just imagine - all of us have the same language and background. Less problems, less disagreement. Life would be perfect, but boring... Yey? I cannot imagine myself do not studying English now .... ........... .................. :)

Back home ticket

2008-03-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today on my way to the university I was thinking about my native country Ukraine. I'm going back home in May but I don't know the exact date yet because one part of my ticket is still on the waiting list. To be honest, I'm so exited going home that I even couldn't sleep last nights :)
It sounds strange but I was thinking about what had changed in my city as well as in Ukraine in general for the last eight months that I've spent in Canada. Are these changes positive or nagative? Will I be able to distinguish them? Of course, I will. However, my evaluation scale changed for the last months that's why I'm not sure what kind of impression I'll get.
Another thing I was wondering about is my parents. Even though I talk to them very often and they know almost everything that is going on in my life - I should emphasize ALMOST everything :) - I cannot believe that we'll see each other pretty soon. I missed them so much all this time that it sounds a kind of unbelievable for me now. And my brother... He became more mature. I know that for sure. So this change is going to be the best and pleasant change which I'm going to face.
Ye... My new life started here and probably in a month of being in Ukraine I'll tell my parents that I miss Canada... Probably... But I'll not do that. In order not to make them upset...
Going back... home...

Broccoli

2008-03-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

Why I decided to write about broccoli? The first reason is that I have run out of interesting ideas. The second one is that green is my favourite colour after red. Another reason is that I really like broccoli. It is a nice vegetable, which is very delicious and good for pople's health. Moreover, a good example was given about children who do not like broccoli because they have never tried it before. But... how can they know the taste of broccoli if they do not had a chance to try it?

Tomorrow we are going to have changes in our EAP 3 life because we'll have class with other teacher. To be honest, I am used to Scott's classes and to his good way of teaching us. Now I don't know what to expect. The only thing that I know for sure is that I will be comparing the new teacher with him anyway. Of course, in order to say if the broccoli tastes good or not really, people have to eat it at least once. Only after having done that they'll have their own opinion about it...

I'm a person who likes changes. I get bored very easily and quickly. However, I don't like to change anything that I like. For example, our classes with Scott.

I strongly believe that the changes, which are going to happen tomorrow, will influence our knowledge of English in a positive way...

Good teeth smile

2008-03-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

It happens a lot of times... When I'm in a bad mood I don't want to smile. However, a smile can be the best helper in life due to several reasons. That's why I’d like to suggest that people smile more often.
Why, might you ask? Simply because a smile can do a lot of things for you and for others. Other than working out your facial muscles, here are a few things a smile can do:
+ A good smile makes you more attractive! Well, sort of… As long as you have good teeth behind that smile, then you’re ready to go. Otherwise, you might want to work on the closed mouth smile (JK) :) haha :)
+ A good smile will brighten the days of others! How many times have you had a bad day, but then seen a friend who was smiling. For a few moments you’ll most likely forget about your troubles and smile back at your friend. Smiles makes people happy! So spread some smiles!
+ A good smile often helps to feel more confident! A weak smile only shows insecurity.If you’re meeting people for the first time, you want to give a good first impression, one that says you’re confident, not one that says you’re scared. This comes in extra handy at those interviews!
+ A good smile can help to lighten the mood. If everyone’s talking in straight faces, and one person’s smiling while they talk, the tone of the conversation will definitely lighten up, or “cheer up”. While there’s nothing wrong with serious conversations, it’s always good to lighten up once in awhile.
+ Smiling leads to laughing. Everyone should have a good laugh everyday. It’s not only fun, but it’s healthy to have a good laugh. So not only are you having fun, but you’re helping everyone’s health out by leading them to laugh!
+ A good smile can also help how you view life. If you’re walking around with an unhappy face, then you’re obviously looking at life through sad eyes. All the details you see will have a sense of sadness to you. So why not smile, and view life with a more cheerful attitude?
So I'm going to smile as much as I can tomorrow. :) Hopefully all of my teeth will stay in my mouth till tomorrow. Not funny? I know....

Who is more romantic: men or women?

2008-02-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

Last semester we had a very interesting blog discussion about how smart men and women are. Due to the result of students voting that were arranged by Amin, men are smarter than woman. However, some of male students voted twice from different computers. Could the final results be considered as true? I don't think so ........ :) Yey, ladies?
Anyways, what I was thinking about today was romantism. Who is more romantic: men or woman. The first idea that came into my mind was WOMEN! For sure! They always want to have a romantic dinner, a romantic surprise, a bunch of flowers with a romantic note... However, after I read some articles on this topic, I found out that my first thought was completely wrong.
Who Falls In Love Faster? Men!In one study, seven hundred young lovers were asked, “How early did you realize you were in love?” Men fell in love faster. Before the fourth date, 20 percent of men had taken the tumble, whereas only 15 percent of the women realized Cupid had stung them; 43 percent of the women still didn’t know they were in love by the twentieth date, compared to only 30 percent of the men.Women are more cautious about getting involved.
Who Is More Idealistic About Love? Men!Another study determined that men had a far more idealistic and less practical view of love. Men were not nearly as concerned with a woman’s social position or how much money she made.More men felt that as long as two people truly love each other, they should have no trouble getting along in marriage.
Who Usually Initiates the Breakup? Women!A group of Harvard scientists vigilantly followed the affairs of 231 Boston couples. Of those who split up, usually it was the woman who suggested the separation. The men wanted to stick it out to the bitter end.
Who Suffers More From a Breakup? Men!The men felt lonelier, more depressed, unloved, and least free after a split. The men reported that they found it extremely hard to accept that they were no longer loved and that she had really gone. What disturbed them most was that they felt there was nothing they could do about it. They were plagued with the hope that if only they had said the right thing… done the right thing….In fact, three times as many men commit suicide after a disastrous love affair as women do.
Who Loves Their Lovers More? Men!Men love their lovers more in relation to others in their life. Several researchers at Yale University polled male and female participants from age 18 to 70 and asked, “Who do you like, and who do you love, most in your life?” The choices were lover (or spouse), best friend, parents, and siblings.Men, it turned out, loved and liked their lovers more than their best friends, whereas, with women, the rankings were about equal. Many women liked their best friends more than they liked their lovers!
Gentlemen, the next time your lover complains, “You men are so unromantic,” just show her these statistics and say “You know, dear, you have a good point. I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more romantic. I love you.”
:) :) :)

Yulia Tymoshenko's style

2008-02-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

Sienna Miller

Yulia Tymoshenko is the elected Prime Minister of the Ukraine, voted by Forbes Magazine in 2005 as the third most powerful woman in the world. But what Yulia Tymoshenko is most noted for around the world, is her hair or rather «the braid».

Tymoshenko was an extremely important politician in the Orange Revolution of 2004, when her beauty was commented nearly as often as her role in bringing down the post-Soviet government in Ukraine.
The braid has become such a staple of her persona that her Web site features articles about it, including some claiming that the braid has influenced designers like Narciso Rodriguez and the actresses like Sienna Miller.

Yet the braid is not just a fashion statement. It is a calculated political tool with significant cultural resonance, one that has helped turn her into more than a candidate. To her supporters at least, she is regarded as a kind of Lady Liberty.
A braid is a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle, and by adopting it, Tymoshenko has been able to underline her nationalist credentials, drawing a contrast with her main opponents, who are more closely linked to Russia.
Tymoshenko has tried to play up that view with her other signature look, white clothing, which is intended to show her purity in the face of what she has called a corrupt political and business culture.
Tymoshenko's hair color has varied over the years, from dark to blond, but lately she seems to be keeping it almost as light as her clothing.
Still, she is regularly asked that most frivolous of questions: Is the braid real?
"Everything that I have is natural - braid, nails - I practically never use cosmetics," she once said at a news conference. "They often ask me in the provinces about my braid. Now, once and for all, I am going to lay to rest these rumors."
With that, in front of the cameras, she let her hair down, for all the world to see.

The Snow Castle

2008-02-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was thinking about my childhood. We used to have really good times together with my brother, specially in winter. We used to spend as much time as possible outside, playing snowballs with our friends — girls against the guys, skating, making snowmen and snow castles. It was extremely happy time of our life. So... I decided to make the snow castle for my nephew Dimitri, as he is only 3 years old and cannot build it by himself.
The snow wasn't wet enough to make the castle easily, but we decided to do our best. My cousin and our friend from Ukraine helped me. Of course, the best helpers ever were Dima and Ivanka — Dima's «girl friend», if I can say like that:). We spent more than three hours bulding the castle for our prince and princess who couldn't wait it to be finished. They were extremely excited and kept saying: «Let's pretend we are in the tale about a prince and a princess!». Later on, when the castle was built we put the blue-and-yeloow umbrella on the top as well as the huge blanket instead of the roof. The constructors were too tired to do the roof, and as a result, they cheated a bit.
Dima and Ivanka were jumping like crazy when they came in there. We made two small shelves for snacks inside and put the wooden board on the wall telling them it's going to be their TV. It was funny, but the guys sat on their small chairs, took their chips and started watching TV. Their imagination helped them to watch their favourite cartoon «Diego» for more than half an hour. When I asked Dima if I may come in, he answered me very seriously: «Yes, Sanka, you may come in, but for a few minutes because you are too big for our house».
I was happy! I'd been for more than half a day back in my childhood. I'd met the real prince and princess on the backyard who were so happy that I understood the tale could become true sometimes...

Once upon a time...

2008-02-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of stories that people create using their imaginatoin. They are not true, and very often cannnot happen in real life. Although, some of them are results of human activities which are written in order to provide future generations with good and useful advice.
Sometimes on Sundays we are going to church with my cousin. We would like to go there every Sunday. Usually it happens twice a month though (we are lazy and want to sleep till late during weekends). We went to church today in the morning where the priest told people a very interesting story. I want to write it in my blog as I think it's a really useful one for us, guys...
Once upon a time... In a nice town with a lot of green trees and colourful flowers lived a man who worked at the construction company. You ask if there were construction companies at that time? Don't ask, please, but read till the end. The man was almost at his age to be retired. He was tired of his job and didn't want to work any more. He dreamt to be ritered as soon as possible. His job was really important because he built houses for people. Therefore, the better quality of his job, the happier people would be in the future as they had a good and warm house.
It was Monday... The manager of the construction company came to the man and asked him to build one more house - the last one before being retired. He told that this house would be a home for a family with 3 kids that are poor, and asked him to do his best while building.. The man was upset and with every minute he became more and more angry. "Why should I? Oh no, I'm fed p with everything! I want to have a rest", he thought. He couldn't say 'no' to his manager though, so he promised to build a good and nice house.
On Tuesday he started his last job. He didn't know at that time it will be important for him but not for other people. He wasn't enthusiastic about building that house. As a result, he used the cheapest materials and did everything very quickly. Till the the next week he finished the house. The manager was shocked. "Oh, good job! You must have been working really hard", he sad. "I have good news for you. " The man was happy to hear that. "What kind of news? Tell me, tell me, please! " "You were a really good worker, and you always worked so hard. Our company is thankful for your devotion to what you have been doing. We decided to make a present for you: here's the key of the new and nice house you have recently built." .
And now it's time for us to think about everything we are doing for other people. Very often we don't know that we are doing that for ourselves.

HF!M

2008-01-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

I've made a new acronym for myself. Why? What's the reason I did it? ...I was thinking about the life. Ye, I like to think about my life and people's life in general, sometimes, not very often. I decided there are a lot of things which are important for me. I tried to do my best to cut it as much as possible, and I've got the short word HF!M which stands for:
I hate days when I have headache. At this time I cannot think at all. I want to stay home doing nothing and do not go anywhrere. I do not expect any good emotions or feelings as well as any positive and useful results. Even though it's just a light headache and not a real desease... As a result, one of the most important things in my life is Health. However, what's the more interesting is that I don't usually like to act in order to improve my health or at least keet it at the same level. I have to put a lot of clothes when it's -20 outside, but I hate that. I should wear two pairs of trouses not to get cold. I like ice-cream and chocolate. Of course, I know it's junk food that influences my helth badly. Still I'm keeping eat it. That's ok, right? Nothing wrong with that. I was just trying to make an acronym. I wasn't trying to change my life habits, no matter what they are.
I like letter F. Many good words start with this letter like Family and Friends - F! These people mean a lot in my life. I would not be myself without them. I think everybody knows that only having lost something, you can understand the real value of it. I totally agree with this statement. I didn't lose my family or my friends - they are still living somewhere (in Ukraine, as far as I know). The only thing I've understood being in Canada, far away from them, is how much I love them and how I appreciate evrything thay are doing or have done for me. Probably, one of them is reading my blog now - am I right, Yulia, and understands everything... And my family. It was the castle full of love and kindness. So... what could be better?
Ok, I'm almost done with my explanation. The last letter and the last important thing for me is... You may not agry with me, guys, but be honest! I don't want to be involved in any suspicious thoughts like 'Oh, she likes Money!' It's natural to want more than you have. Does everybody like money? Let us think. Does everybody would like to live in the huge house with swimming-pool and bowling room? No, because not everybody likes to swim and to play bowling. In this case, the acronym would be different than mine. I like to swim and I love bowling...
Cheers!

The Best Advisor

2008-01-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Very often I like, it's even better to say I love, to spend my time doing stupid things... like shopping. I can spend many many hours in the malls watching stuff and deciding what's better to buy, what's more useful and has better quality. The ladies can understand me but not the gentlemen who usually hate shopping.
I spent more than 4 hour on Saturday doing that with my cousin. And I should have spent those 4 hours for studying English :) specially on improving my writing skills. Even though there was a lot of snow on the roads, and it was not really safe to drive, we couldn't stay home and do not go shopping. Sounds funny but I guess it's one of my hobbbys. Probably the worst one but I need it like water.
I should say that shopping is not totally wasting of time as people sometimes consider bacause it makes you think a lot. You have to watch all kind of stuff, to choose, to remember what you need for this week, do not forget to buy anything. So I'm usually trying to think about what I need before and to make a kind of list. Ye, sort of. But it doesn't help lots because I will forget something for sure every time. There is no help for forgetful people ):
One more reason why I think it's the worst of my hobbies is that it makes me tired. Very tired! Every time I'm coming back home I think why I spent some much time in the shop. I have a lot of thinks to do that are important and should be done. But now no time for them left and I have to do everything in a hurry because I was doing a funny thing - shopping. I want to have a rest after that. A long and good rest. Then why I still continueing to go shopping for many hours and to enjoy that activity, if I can say like that, every single week. I guess if I am not studying and working I would spend at least 10 hours out of 24 in the malls every day.
Ladies, say I'm not the only one like that. I know there are many of us. But why? What's wrong with our minds? I know some guys who enjoy shopping as well as me, but not a lot. And they are not my father and brother whom I drove crazy while taking to go shopping with me.
The one thing I know for sure is that if you don't know which dress to buy and you are still deciding between two of them: the red one or maybe green...? Ask the guy. He is the best advisor. Right, guys?

The best way of English

2008-01-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

When I'm thinking about English I always remember the first time I started to study it - it was in school when i was 7 or 8 years old. I hated that time because I couldn't understand what the differende between do not and does not. When should I use that? It sounds funny but I failed my first test in English and I was crying the whole way back home.
Now I like studying English. And I know where I have to use do not and where does not, even though there is a lot of problems with this language as it's completely different from my native Ukrainian. What's the best way to study Foreign language? I think you'll do it faster if you go to the country where this language is widely used. I remember my own experience when I was working in the US with children in summer camp. After caming back home I felt like I was really lucky cause I could spend the whole 2 month in the English enviromnmental. I hate American accent, but I made my best to get use to it and to express myself as clear as possible for American people.
I think that good teacher give a lot to students in the field of studying. They are like advisor that show the way you should follow and then it;s up to you if you want to take their advice and knoledge and keep it for future or leave and don't care. Sometimes I did like that. I mean I didn't care. If I had studied harder in the past and been more responsible for everything, I would have had different life now than I have. But I dont want to have the different life. Im happy with what i have and what Im doing, so,.,, maybe it's a good idea to be sometimes unresponsible and do not care? :)

Not a lot about Ukraine

2007-12-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Yesterday I said to you hello for the last time, but then I counted my blogs and it was less than 12. So I need to write something ano more time. I promise, for now its hello the last time... :)
I like my native country very much. Even though it's nor perfect, the best time I had in my life was while living there. What can I tell people about my country?
The first thing is that Ukrainians are really friendly and generuos people. They like to have guesta at their houses. If you want to go to your friend's house, you shouldn't give a call before that. You can come in without saying in advance and it will be normal. Usually there are a lot of different dishes when Ukrainians have guests. And they are unbelievably delicious! There is a special kind of soup called borshch. It's my favourite soup maybe because it's native or because it's really good :)
No I want to change the topic a little bit. The averege age of getting married in Ukraine is 19-23 for girls and 24-29 for guys. Right now there is a tendency that young people want to get their education and job before getting married, especially in big cities. In the villages young people still are getting married early. I think it's too early: 18-22 ( girls), 22-25(guys). At that age they are still dependent on their parents and are not mature enough to have children. On the other hand, how can we judge them? Everybody has a right to define the life highlights. When I was leaving the Ukraine, in the airport my father was really sad. I asked him 'why', he told me that he wanted to have the grandchildren. I smiled. Hm! I decided to study more. This decision made my father sad, but I promiced him he will get grandchildren pretty soon :)
Ok! I need to go. Yun is waiting for me. Even though I did not right anything special in my blog, I did not feel sorry about that. Why? I have no good thoughts in my head right now. Why? Because of the final? Probably... Anyway, thanks a lot for raeding that.

AHA!

2007-12-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Hello one more time! And... Hello the last time here!
We are almost done. The holidays are coming, so pretty soon we can sleep as much as possible and do whatever we want.
It's unbelievable for me that the time is not going but running too fast. Remember the first day I came to the University on the 5th of September and now our EAP2 is finished.Almost! Not yet! ...We have to do well at finals but I'm sure we'll be ok, right?
I am thinking right now that there were a lot of happy moments while studying together as one big group. We had a great time and I really want to thank everybody for that. We'll have even better time on the next level, won't we? AHA!
I wish you, guys, to have a great holidays and all the best!
Believe in yourself and we'll be OK!
BYE!!! And see you tomorrow :)

My Brother

2007-12-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

Hello here almost the last time:)! Almost as I should do one more entry so it's going to be 'hello' again... :)

I thougt today about the trees. There is a lot of snow on them. Aren't they cold? I think they are, but they should stay beside the road. They cannot move, so the only choice they have - just stay there and be cold. Poor trees...

Ye. Then I suddenly thougt about my brother. I don't know why? Because I missed him or... because I talked to him today. Anyway, my brother's name is Andriy, and he is one year younger than me. However, to tell the truth, he is much more smarter than me. Of course, because he is a boy, and I'm a girl :) He is very serious guy. We are different, even though everybody says we look similar.

We used to fight a lot in our childhood. The first time I was stronger than him, so I always was a winner. I enjoyed our fighting on that time. Later on, Andriy became stronger, and it wasn't really funny to fight with him then. So I told him that the gentlmen are not allowed to fight with ladies. Did it help? For sure, my brother was a real gentlman.

If anybody asks me if I would prefer to have sister instead of brother I would say"No, no, no. Never ever." In the future, I really want to have a son and a daughter. Ye, later, some day...

No choices

2007-11-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

Today I've got a parcel from my parents full of different presents and some e-mails from my Ukrainian friends. It made me sad... I don't know why, but I'm not sure about the choice that I made about my future. I'm not sure it's the right one because I could have been studing at one of the best Ukrainian university doing my Master without any problems. And here I cannot even imagine myself studying economics in English. I could imagine it yesterday, the day before, the month before but not today. It's crazy! I don't know what's going on?

I think I began missing my parents, my brother and my friends so unbelievable stronly that I want to ... not cry, but to go in Ukraine at least for one day. But forget it, not sooner than in summer. And where is that summer? So far away from here...

Sometimes I think it's better to have no choises in your life, just one road from the beginning till the end. It's easier; and moreover, it makes you being happy all the time bacause you know that it's the only way for you and, as a result, it should be right one. But how can you know which one is the best for you if there is a lot of choices???

I know I have to wait and see the result later on... It's so hard, specially when a lot of heavy thoughts are flying into your head in the Monday's evening. The presents are all over my room and I'm going to leave them like that. Also I'm going to attach the foto in which you can see some of my friends. Hope tomorrow will be better than today...

Spontaneous decision

2007-11-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we had a small party... EAP friends... From different countries with different traditions, but having a lot in common!

It was a spontaneous decision to go somewhere to relax, that's why it was a little bit hard to find a good place available on Friday evening, but Yun and Lana were good at arranging it. Amin and Behzad made us laugh all the time, and later on I had some problems with my mouth bacause I laughed too-ooo-o much. Mahmoud was really nice, except the moments when he made me red, but that's ok, I forgave him :)

The one thing I'm even more sure now, that to have a fun you don't need a nice place. The one thing you need is nice people.

We had a great time. Thank you, guys, for that!

P.S. Special thanks to Behzad and Amin for driving me home safely :)

Good Luck!

2007-11-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Do we need to work hard in order to succeed???
This idea was being constantly promoted by my parents and my school teachres who always stress the importance of hard work. However, they rarely mention LUCK. But the question is that I'm not sure this concept of hard-working person is correct?
Personally I truly believe that hard work is very important. It's much more better to work hard than to do nothing. But why don't we recognize the importance of the luck factor at the success path? Not all hard-working people are successful. In fact, about a half of them come to a certain level of success and only a few reach the peaks. I'm sure to have a good career one needs to have good luck.
I liked bowling so much. It's one of my favourite games. I was playing bowling on Sunday with two guys. Even though I'm not good at it, and they are almost professional players, I won 2 games. I was very happy bacause of that! I did it! But how could it happen? Just simple luck! That's it.
Sometimes wins come from pure luck. We need to understand that this happens not only only in sport games or on our career paths; but it exists in the much greater area called a "game of life".
Good luck, guys!!!

The Special Egg

2007-11-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

[Photo] Some people come into our lives and quickly go...
Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful, the flowers more colourfull... They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same.
What is friendship? There is no definition for that, but I know for sure that it's a special life gift which cannot be bought when you need it. It's a special gift that doubles your joys and divides your sorrows. Only a real friend, reaching out for your hand, touches your heart.
It seems to be strange, but very often two may talk together under the same roof for many years, yet never really meet, and two others at first speech are old friends. Why is it like that? Who knows? The same language, the same culture? Not the main reason. The same experience? Maybe... Or just the same small worlds that need each other to be more happy....
A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.- Bernard Meltzer - If you have at least one real Friend in your life, than, believe me, you are a Special Egg! :)

Ruslana

2007-11-04T12:16:00.001-08:00

This blog, in the biggest way, is the answer for Behzad's question about the music in our countries. My favourite Ukrainian singer is Ruslana. I think she has a unique talent of reflecting a real Ukrainian spirit.
Ruslana Lyzhyzhko is the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 from Lviv, Ukraine. She is a singer, dancer, producer, composer and pianist. She writes, composes and produces her own songs and music videos.
Her music is inspired by the traditions of the Hutsul people of the Carpathian Mountains.
Ruslana started her career as a winner of Slavyanskiy Bazar song competition in 1996. Her first album 'A moment of spring' received high praise from crities. It was a real success given the overall state of Ukrainian music market of thet time. Her album 'Wild Dances' which was issued in 2003 went double platinum in Ukraine, selling over 200,000 copies. According to the latest sales results (as of 2005) over 500,000 of 'Wild Dances' were sold in Ukraine, making the album 5x platinum.
In 2005 Ruslana appeared at the Eurovision Song Contest held in Kyiv. She performed her new sinle 'On fire'.
This year I was at her studio in Kyiv. She sang and danced for us. It was unbelievable! Later we had some snack she could find there - fruit and wine. Ruslana was really friendly to us. After that I like her much more because she is not only the talented, strong and hard-working person, but a beautiful lady at the same time.

Angry cats

2007-11-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

We had a small Halloween party at our house. Together with my pretty cousin Ulyana we were angry cats and even got some candies from our guests.
It was the first real Halloween in my life. Be honest, there is nothing special but just a fun. That day I was really tired after my work but it helped me to feel better. :)

My cute Dimitry

2007-10-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

I was staying at home today with my cute nephew Dimitry...
To tell the truth, I understood a lot of being with him alone! And the most important for me is that I love him very-very much! I love Dima, maybe, too much, but what can I do? I cannot imagine how much I'll lome my own children then!
Sometimes adults think they know everything, they can answer all questions children ask them, but I know for sure they are so wrong! Today's children are really smart, they know a lot from the very beginning of their life and are interested in everything. They want to try a lot of things and, being opened to new, they are like the white papers for adults to write. We are responsible for our child bacause his or her small new life is like a reflection in the mirror of our own life.
Dima helped me today to clean the house with vacuum, to prepare tosts for lunch and even to study. He loves my EAP books. His favourite one is Writing - a purple one :).
He is really a funny guy. The greatest talent is to put him in the bed for the nap-time. Dima hates it. So I should have been laying near his bed on the floor during his nap-time today pretending I'm sleeping. But the problem was that I fall asleep and did it faster than my cute Dimitry. I woke up because of his favourite words "Oksanka, what are you doing?" I smiled to him and ... couldn't believe that happened :).
Do you, guys, have some funny stories with children? Do you like them? I'll be really happy to share your opinions about children.

The Best Feeling

2007-10-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today me and my sister went to the Drop-in centre (a place for poor people to eat and sleep) as volounteers. There was a group of people from the Challenger company my sister works at and I decided to join them. It was really great to do it bacause you are helping others, at the same time you are helping yourself!
That Drop-in centre is huge. There is enough space for everybody and even if you are not poor you can have some dinner or lunch there. The food they serve is pretty good and the portions are big enough. It's a good idea to have such kind of places for poor people to sleep and to eat. But the problem is that they feel themselves really relaxed and they are getting used to it. As a result, why do they need to go to work or to find the place to live as they can do it for free, drinking and smoking instead?
There are two ends of this stick... As usually... But I just want to say that a good idea is to make them find a sense in their lives! To help them not just get some food but get some meaning of living and being in the world. It's not easy but we should try.
Our life is a big value. You are born into this world by your mother and father to be happy. Very often I'm thinking about Sense of my life. I guess I found the answer recently. To have the meaning of your life means to live and to be happy! And isn't that true, the biggest happiness you have when you are making others happy?
We were really happy when going back home after lunch among those poor people we heard them applauded us. It's was the best feeling ever can be!

It's me in general

2007-10-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Optimistic
Kind
Sensible
Attractive
Nice
Ambitious

Free ball

2007-10-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

I like bid tennis, but every time playing it I feel really tired and... free. I like that small tennis ball, because you never know the way it goes in a second. It's like a free-going, free-doing, free-living, free-feeling...

What's freedom? For me, it's the best feeling ever can be in the world. Only the person who has his or her own opinion about everything can be Somebody in today's life. Freedom, I think, is a free thinking of your heart. Some moments we are like in the frames which don't allow us to live our lives the way we prefer. The most important and difficult is to find our own heart's freedom and not lose it going step by step our life's way...

Hello my new friends

2007-10-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody! :)
For all of us the new period of our life has already started. A lot of good days we left far away from us - at our homes with our parents, relatives and friends. But many interesting and special moments are waiting for us in the future and I think new is always good!

Somebody of you is really lucky to be in Canada with a family. Either do I. I live here with my cousine, her husband and their 3-year old son. So it helps a lot not just to study but to feel yourself happy and do not miss home so much. But to tell the truth, every time I call to Ukraine, I feel that I for me Ukraine'll be the best country in the world :)

I like autumn, but I don't like winter. Calgary's autumn is very similar to Ukrainian but our forests have a lot of red trees. Here are just a little of them. What can I do? The weather doesn't depend on us, it's free to colour the trees the way it wants. I just really miss the red trees...

I like weekends a lot because you shouldn't think about time and do whatever you want. You are free in your choices and I want to wish everybody to enjoy the long-weekends and have a good Thanksgiving day. For me it's the first Thanksgiving in my life and in an hour we are going to have a dinner with the Canadian family.

Ok, guys, have a fun! See you on Tuesday.