One Day in Izhevsk

Our free time: bowling alley

2006-12-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Not all Russians figure skate or do gymnastics. We are also normal people and we also do normal, ordinary things….. such as bowling.
Though Izhevsk is definitely not a “big apple”, it still has something to offer for going out. There are movies, theatres, cafes, night clubs and bowling alleys. The question is what to choose. In my opinion the best place for a group of friends is the bowling alley. There you can share the latest news, have some drinks, listen to music and of course bowl. This is not just an amusement, but also a sport. So you have some excuses for eating at least one extra brownie, still you are doing sport when bowling and need some energy. The next thing I like about this game is the excitement. I can hardly remember a game that was not loud; we always made a stir.
There are several bowling alleys in Izhevsk – Pepelaz, Sharokatiza and Pharaoh. The last one is situated not far away from my home. I often go there to have diner. This bowling alley built in Egyptian style. It even has two sphinxes near its front door.
I remember my first time bowling. I went with my friends Masha and Paul, he is from America. He said that if we, girls, won, he would take us to diner. However results were quite predictable as Masha also hadn’t played before. We started the game. First was Maria’s turn. You won’t believe it, but that was a strike. Next was me. Try to guess. Yep, it was the strike again. Could you imagine the expression on Paul’s face? He was sure that we had spent all our evenings bowling. Beginners are said to be lucky. But our luck ended very soon. Yes, he ended up the winner. Nevertheless WE ended up by having dinner.

Our free time: Movies

2006-12-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

Here’s the way we can decide to go to the cinema. We’re in for dreadful impossible vocabulary test or lexicology seminar. Afraid and all gloomy. But there’s obviously someone sympathizing students – he who rules the universe. So, the best news possible – the double period is cancelled. Hurrah!!! An event calling for celebrating, probably in the cinema. In Aurora. Far from the uni but reasonable prices, discounts for students and prolonged terms of film showing. So here we are in trolley or bus (blessing and cursing public transportation. Reasons? You’ve already learnt about it, haven’t you?=) shining with expectation of pleasure. And here we are at the box-office not immensely happy to find that there’s nothing but a horror film available this evening. God above! Not that we’re cowards, but.. And here we’re in auditorium (three or four of us and also a pair of brave schoolboys and a young couple embracing constantly) sitting on the chair with our legs, our eyes closed, our ears stopped, asking each other at intervals: “What’s happened after he..?”; “Did it kill them all?”; “Was he there alone?” The whole content and concept of the film is nevertheless perfectly understood, the most terrifying and disgusting scenes are somehow perfectly remembered. And here we’re leaving auditorium giggling hysterically at each other. Just as the boys and the couple hand-in-hand rushing for the tram.

The place we live

2006-12-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

Would you like to live in dormitory? Do you think it’s not exciting? You might suppose that living in a tiny room of fifteen square meters with three or even four fellows is not that great when you face up with daily routine. But it turns out to be such a fun in the evening when you meet together: laughing, chatting and listening to music all night long. Isn’t it a sort of relaxation? Of course you never have enough meal and money to buy it, you seldom have a chance to stay along and enjoy only yourself, but it’s not worth paying attention to it! Almost half of our group lives in such conditions: Ann lives on the ninth floor, Naomi – on the sixth floor, Valerie – on the fifth floor and Elvina is on the second, so we’re always guests of each other. More than that, statistics shows that living in dormitory brings up at least ten new friends in your life. So don’t be afraid – we’re having fun!!!

Unusual monument of our city

2006-12-06T01:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed that sculptors in our days tend to make unusual monuments? I think there is at least one unusual monument in each city. Recently I found out that there are plenty of such monuments in Moscow. One can see a monument devoted to a special kind of cheese in Moscow, we call that cheese “plavlennyj” or a monument devoted to a bee as Moscow’s mayor likes bees. Our city is not exception if to speak about unusual monuments. If you one day go along Sovetskaya Street, you will see a real crocodile sitting on the bench! It’s very strange to place a crocodile in such northern region, isn’t it? Our crocodile is very famous and people continue to take pictures with it even though the monument was opened at least one year ago. Another monument reminds you about lunch – it’s a “pelmen” on a fox placed near one restaurant. Pelmeni is a kind of food and it’s like ravioli; you put meat inside it and boil it. Mm, delicious!
This is a brief summary of the most unusual monuments of our city. What unusual monument can one see in our city?

How we get to the university

2006-12-06T01:14:00.000-08:00

Public transport in our city is a great problem, because it’s always overcrowded and really old, especially buses. People often shout at each other and yell: “Don’t step on my toes!” But, you know, lots of funny and unexpected events happen there.
One day early in the morning three of our group mates, those who live in the dorm, were going to the university. They came to the bus station and spent there almost thirty minutes because all the buses which came to the station were so overcrowded, that it was impossible to get into the bus. The bus, which they took, was full as usual and you even don’t need hold on to the handrail as there was no space to fall down. The conductor of the bus was going to and fro selling tickets. And every time she passed people she pushed everybody and stepped on their toes. So as a result everybody was nervous because of her. The bus stopped at the next bus station and the doors didn’t open. As the bus was overcrowded the conductor decided to get out her end of the bus to another through the street. She got of the first door open and while she was running to the second one, the doors of the bus closed and the bus departed. The conductor was left on the bus station, she cried: “Wait for me, wait for me!” Nobody heard her, because everybody in the bus was laughing. This funny event put our girls in good spirit and the rest of the day was joyous and happy!

Halloween

2006-11-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

Recently in Russia we began adopting and celebrating foreign customs and traditions including most popular West holidays such as Halloween, St. Valentine’s Day etc. The reason is not that we are suffering from the lack of our own customs (we have A LOT OF THEM), but that the knowledge about other countries has been growing. That fact demonstrates the results of positive integrating processes between different countries.
In our country we have a lot of holidays which are Christian, State and Pagan. We even have a holiday in winter time that we could call Russian Halloween but it’s not as popular as the West one. Why did we decide to celebrate it? We chose it because we can celebrate it together with almost the half of the world. It‘s much more fun, isn’t it?
Now we wear costumes when we go to Halloween parties or sometimes when we go to school, university etc. Some of us decorate our homes a bit, prepare pumpkins to cut out Jack’-o-Lantern’s head. Of course this holiday is more popular among young generation, nevertheless it doesn’t make the holiday worse. We just know that every holiday has its mysterious power which it spreads wherever holiday is greeted heartily, so we can enjoy a special atmosphere there and spend the time with all the pleasure it can bring us.

let's get it started.

2006-10-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

We thought a lot while creating the blog. And now it’s gonna be a story about our life inside and outside the University. We’ll tell there about our holidays and vacations, about our homework and daily routine, about places and people of interest in Izhevsk. And so on and so forth. As usual any notes and comments are welcome.
For group consisting of nine girls and a boy (each is a bright personality – or, at least, is convinced in the fact) it’s rather difficult to find serious and important subjects to discuss. And in equal measure, it’s difficult to come to an agreement. Still, the result.
Here we are.
And our Universe – University. Not that old and famous as Harvard, but in terms of the quality of education, as our teachers say, is its twin brother. Do you believe it? Do we believe it? No comments there.