Let’s talk about modern means of communication.

To begin with I’d like to point out that means of communication have changed greatly.When we think of it we cannot understand how people who lived 50 years ago were able to keep in touch. Nowadays we cannot imagine human contact without modern technology devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, i-Pods, i-Pads, Tablets, laptops and so on.

Thanks to the new technologies people are communicating more than ever before. Modern means of communication have made the distance between people unimportant. Unlike 20 years ago we usually call someone, not visit. Mobile phones are portable and let us contact others wherever they and we are. Furthermore, mobile phones offer the possibility of texting. Text messaging is the most convenient and the cheapest form of communication when we need to pass a quick note containing only a few words.

Emails have replaced letters and postcards almost completely. People prefer emails, which are quicker to write and send and more sure to reach the addressee.

Video conferences are often used by business people and scientists and they don’t need to travel to remote places.

To keep in touch with our families and friends that live abroad we use the Internet and such programs as Skype or Messenger, we use video chats or instant messaging. Thanks to them we can talk with our relatives for free and without time limits.

A lot of people especially teenagers communicate in social networks such as vkontacte, facebook, twitter, odnoklasniki. They share the news, pictures, funny videos, jokes, songs and so on.

The Internet is very helpful for those who have a hobby. You can communicate with those who share the same passion from all over the world. You can learn the news and discuss your favourite pop star, or a movie actor, a tv show, sport competitions and what not. On forums people share their experiences and help each other to solve the problems they have run into.

To sum it up I’d like to point out that modern means of communication have changed our life, they influence our social life, politics, commerce, everything.

A question of taste. Fashion.

Fashion is something we deal with every day. Even people, who say they don’t care what they wear, choose clothes every morning that say a lot about them and how they feel that day. What influences our choice of clothes is an interesting question. I believe that most of the people do not follow the fashion displayed on the catwalk. That kind of clothes is a product of famous high-class designers’ work, it is often very extravagant and extremely expensive. It is also not designed to be worn every day, but it is suitable for some special occasions.

However, we definitely borrow some ideas about fashion from music clips, videos, books and television. Movies also have a big impact on what people wear. For example it is known that more sunglasses were sold in America after the movie "Men In Black." Sometimes a trend becomes world-wide. Back in the 50's teenagers everywhere dressed like Elvis Presley. Musicians and other cultural icons as well as political and royal figures have always influenced what we are wearing. Newspapers and magazines reported on what Hillary Clinton was wearing when she was the 1st lady. The death of Princess Diana was a severe blow to the high fashion world, where her clothes were daily news.

Depending on their attitude towards clothes and fashion, people can be divided in three groups: fashion slaves, spending all their money on the latest clothes even if they don’t look good in them; fashion fans, who enjoy wearing modern clothes but not obsessed by them and people who just don’t care how they look. Personally I place myself between fashion fans and people who don’t care how they look. Although I enjoy shopping very much and like to try things on, especially when I look good in them, I don’t spend much time choosing and buying clothes. And of course I do it only when I really need something new to wear, and not in order to kill time.

My style and the range of clothes that I have are defined by the activities I engage in. Work occupies most of my time and therefore most of the clothes that I have corresponds with the dress code, registered in the policy of our company. According to the dress code, an employee is not allowed to wear certain items of clothing to work. For example, men are supposed to wear ties and business suits, and nobody is allowed to wear jeans, except on Fridays. Women’s clothes are not supposed to be skin-tight, too short and too open. All of the shirts are supposed to have collars. Clothes also can’t be too bright, the colors should correspond to the corporate colors – dark blue and white.

My diet

People in different countries have different ideas about what is good to eat and what is the best diet for them. So, we live in a country where breakfast is a very rich meal. We have not only roll with butter, jam of honey, but ham or sausage and fried eggs or porridge as well. Tea is taken at breakfast more often than coffee. Well, when I get up in the morning the only thing I can face is a glass of some juice or mineral water, it raises my spirits a bit. Then, several minutes later I have my typical breakfast. A cup of tea with some sandwiches or scrambled eggs with milk.

Lunch is not very popular in our country but when we have some breaks at university called “windows” we have lunch in our university’s canteen, we have a bit of choice there.

The main and the most abundant meal of the day is diner, but as we are students it’s better to call it supper. A full typical dinner comprises soup, a main course and a dessert. My favourite soups are: red beet and mushroom soups. For the main course I typically have some meat or fish, potatoes and vegetables. The most typical meat is a pork or veal chops or chicken. Some other dishes served as appetizers for dinner or for supper are different kinds of salads. According to our tradition, good food should be accompanied by good drink. For dinner or supper people sometimes drink vodka, wine or beer. As for me sometimes I drink vine with my Mum after supper.

As for my eating and drinking habits, I can tell that I’m not into sweets and as most men think that chocolate is nothing else but a kind of sweets. I dislike any kinds of rolls, buns, cakes and pies. But I’m into hot Mexican and Chinese food, hot pizzas, chilly and sushi. On special occasions, my family goes out to eat in clubs and restaurants. I like trying cuisine of different countries. And while being in different countries I always trying their national cuisine. I don’t think I’d like to eat this every day but it’s really good for a change. In the end I should mention that we always should remember that we eat to live but not live to eat.

 

SPORT IN MY LIFE

Sport is a special world of its own. All people are fond of sports and games. Sport makes us healthy, keeps fit, more organized and better disciplined. It unites people of different classes and nationalities.

Many people do sports on their personal initiative. They practise skiing, skating, table tennis, swimming, volleyball, football, body-building, etc. All necessary fa­cilities are provided for them: stadiums, sport grounds, swimming pools, skating rinks, skiing stations, football fields. Sport is paid much attention to in our educational establishments. Gymnastics is a part of children's daily activity in the kindergartens. Physical culture is a com­pulsory subject at schools and colleges.

Professional sport is also paid much attention to in our republic. There are different sporting societies, clubs and complexes. The most famous of them are the Olympic complexes "Raubichi", "Staiki", "Dinamo" stadium, etc. They are used for international matches and contests as well as for world competitions.

In the last years Belarusian sportsmen take an active part in the world sports movement and in the Olympic Games. Major victories have been won by our gymnasts, weight-lifters, wrestlers, chess and tennis players. O. Korbut, V. Scherba, I. Ivankov, T. Samusenko, A. Med-ved, N. Zvereva, B. Gelfandt — these are prominent names in their own fields. They won fame for themselves and for our republic. Vitaly Scherba, for example, won six gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. We are all proud of his victory.

But sport is not just for participants; it's for specta­tors too. Millions of people all over the world spend hours every week watching sport events on television, or at sta­diums. They enjoy being "fans" or supporters of this or that team, and many professionals are now as popular and famous as the greatest Hollywood film stars.

Of course, spectators particularly enjoy watching in­ternational matches and contests. Such events as the Olympic Games or the Football World Cup attract more and more spectators as time goes by.

Sports are very much the same in most countries, but some sports are more popular than others. Nowadays football, gymnastics and tennis enjoy the greatest popu­larity in all countries.

As for me I go in for table tennis (ping-pong). It needs mobility, liveliness and much energy. It keeps a person in a good form. I have been playing tennis for five years, but the more I play the more I like it. I get a real joy taking part in competitions or simply playing with my friends. Sometimes I go to tennis courts. Certainly, it's a great distance between my manner of playing and such favouri­tes as Jim Courier, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampas, Boris Backer, Per Korda, but I do my training with great plea­sure and hope to play as well as the best players do.