My appreciation....

Today is December, 13-th , 2 days ago we finished our exams and EAP program. I want to say that for me it was a special and unique program and I really learned a lot. Exactly one year ago, my English was at such a low level, I couldn't imagine that I can improve it significantly and would be able to write, speak and read like I do now. I was eager to achieve English proficiency in order to have a chance to become a student at the university. I know that it is important to continue improving English skills further, but things I have learned till now are so valuable that without them I would have been completely lost! I feel lucky that I had such professional teachers with great personalities and remarkable qualities who made it possible for me. Scott and Sandy, thank you so much!!! Thank you for motivating and inspiring me, for helping me and making the learning process so interesting!! You are such great teachers. I am sure, everyone who gets a chance to be your student is very lucky! And we definitely were fortunate, because not always a person gets a chance like we got in EAP3 with the teachers. And as I have said before, I feel extremely lucky that I had such wonderful instructors ( through the whole program)! I wish you all the best!!! Also, I wish everybody to have great, unforgettable holidays and good rest!
Julia

The Writing exam is over now...

Hello everybody! Can you believe it, the first and one of the most difficult tests is already behind us, yeee! I was so nervous in the morning, but forced myself to calm down. You know when I am nervous, I feel like this nervousness is killing my brain or something, so I was afraid of situation being stuck while I am writing ( you know like a black out). The day before I reviewed a lot of material about mind and everything that connected to it, and thought that I would probably write an essay related to dreams, like interpretations and stuff. May be I should have... In this case it could have been more interesting for me and for Scott, but when I saw the question about the energy source, I thought it will be easier to write. So, I changed my mind, and wrote an essay about the geothermal. I decided, since it is a final -more importantly is to follow the rules and do not try to write something extremely interesting! I have only one regret, I wish I could review this topic one more time yesterday. But, hopefully everything will be fine with it ( fingers crossed). Monday is going to be also very intense, I have 2 exams: the reading exam and also the oral interview. I must stay positive and believe that everything is going to be fine! I will rest tomorrow and will obtain some energy from sport ( Maja, don't forget about scatting tomorrow) and on Sunday I will review some reading strategies! I am so tired and need a lot of energy to finish the exams! I wonder, what is the best source of energy for humans? Food and sleeping is obvious, but what else? Good mood, sports and fresh air I believe. I guess, I could write an essay about it. It would be more interesting, imagine my thesis statement: Positive thinking, sport and fresh air are the best sources of energy which a person needs in order to be strong and survive in this world ......ha-ha Do you agree? So get some extra energy for yourself during this weekend. OK, I wish everybody a good weekend and a lot of luck in the upcoming tests!

CATS or DOGS?

The finals are approaching and only a few days left till the writing exam which is the most challenging one. Scott said that he might give us a topic to compare things ( contrast or comparison essay), so today I decided to practice a little bit and compare cats with dogs -kind of childish, but useful. Moreover, I couldn't resist and wanted to dedicate at least one column to cats -my favorite creatures. I do like dogs too , but cats - I just adore them, may be I was a cat in my previous life or just because I have always had cats since my early childhood, I don't know. What I know - they are smart, sweet, graceful pets who possess the greatest qualities in the world. One who says that dogs are superior to cats, I won't argue, I will say - may be, but any way it's debatable. We can't say for sure who is better, it is silly, but I want to present some benefits of having a cat over a dog from my personal point of view. Unlike dogs, cats are usually indoor pets and don't have to go out. It means two things. First- you don't have to get up early in the morning in order to walk a dog( imagine if it's freezing outside) as well as to find time to do it in the evening. Second- if you decide to take a trip ( up to 3 days), you can easily leave a cat along at home with no fear, you just have to provide him/her food, water and a litter box. Isn't it simple? In contrast to cats, dogs cannot be along at home more than a day, they are not independent as cats. Another special quality of cats is that they have an ability to reduce stress. I think it has been proved that they have a special influence on people, they actually reduce blood pressure!!! Have you heard an expression - "therapy cats" who can cure? Honestly, when you are patting a cat, you feel relaxed and get the feeling like all your stresses flow out. Although dogs might also have these abilities, I believe that cats are more tranquil than dogs. Many people say dogs are smarter, however if you have a goal to train your cat, it is absolutely possible. Similar to a dog, a cat can understand perfectly your intentions or feelings. Also, both dogs and cats are very loyal to their owners. OK, in conclusion I must say that in spite of the big responsibility, having a pet is a great joy. Each person chooses according to his/her preferences, but I am definitely more attracted to cats rather than dogs. They are sooooooooo cute!

Two weeks left..........

I can't believe it, only 2 weeks left until the finals... It sounds surreal to me because it seems that we just started this semester a few weeks ago, so to say that 3 months are almost over - kind of unbelievable for me. I thought it will be like forever in the beginning, I got used to go to the classes every day. Just imagine, in 2 months from now it is going to be totally different, we are going to study along with the native speakers ( hopefully all of us will pass this level). I feel scary and excited at the same time. I wonder what do you feel? Probably, we'll have more homework than we have now and it will be much harder because we will have to deal with so many things. We obtained our language skills in order to understand lectures and absorb information in our future studying. In fact, we learned so many useful things, so many strategies which I am sure will help us. I am really amazed by international students who just pass TOEFL and start studying without any preparation. There are so many rules we need to know as international students, I personally believe that if I had tried to go straight to my faculty, I would have probably failed everything. Now I feel more confident and know for sure that I will perform better. Also, I am amazed by the students who manage to study successfully and work many hours simultaneously. They deserve praise with no doubt. I have a great example - my sister. She is working full time ( sometimes even overtime), she has a child and a house to take care of, plus she is doing her Master Degree. I call her a super woman because I don't think I could do the same. I know there are many similar examples that show it is possible. I wonder what is the secret- strong mental or physical health? I know that sometimes there are cases that you don't choose, you just have to do it. Part time job I guess is OK, I had this experience before, I studied and worked, but I didn't have such intensive studying though. Hmmm, depends on many things, like how many responsibilities do you have? If you have too much, it is really hard to cope with all, only the strongest individuals can do that.

Four perfect seasons in Calgary!

Today I decided to dedicate my topic to the weather in Calgary. Since I've been here almost a year and had a chance to observe all 4 seasons, I can surely say that I am pleasantly surprised. I know that the weather could change unexpectedly, but even if tomorrow will be heavy snowstorm, still, I will say that I am happy with the weather. The thing is, before I came in Canada, I had heard many complaints about the climate in here. So I expected that it will be something like in Siberia. Instead, I found that it is mostly shiny and the air is dry, as a result lot's of sun and low humidity soften the severe cold in winter. In summers there are some really hot days, but not so many. This fall season - is the most beautiful and soft period I've ever seen in my life! I wonder, if this year is kind of an exception or may be it is indeed the result of Global Warming. Well, I am curious whether we will have -40 this winter or not? By the way, I have no idea if there is a rule that tells you to stay at home when it's too cold in Canada. For instance, I remember when we had something near -35 in my country, we remained at home because all our classes at school would be cancelled. Many of us wore special boots during the winter, I think in English they are called "felt boots" (from special wool), actually I really miss them, they are funny but so warm! Also, I remember that when it was too cold - wearing 2 pairs of gloves didn't always help me and the first thing I did when I entered home is running to the bathroom in order to put my frozen hands under the extremely hot stream of water for a few minutes. So, I haven't experienced such things in Calgary yet, may be I will , I don't know. In the meantime I enjoy the weather...Actually my main point is that despite everything we can always find beauty in every season and I am glad that they are changing 4 times a year in Calgary, otherwise it would be boring.

Vision or my new "eyes" !

This week was kind of difficult for me because my headaches increased, so on Monday I realized that I couldn't read nor could I look at the computer any more. I felt terrible pain and pressure in my eyes , mostly when I was reading or tried to focus on something for more than 5-10 minutes. I felt lucky that I had managed to do the most of the "due assignments" during the past weekend, and honestly somehow despite the discomfort I could hand in everything on time ( I just hate to postpone things). So , again, I felt no energy and was scared what is wrong with me, so I called to the ophthalmologist ( an eye doctor) who said that they cannot accept clients without a special letter from a family doctor. Ok, I went to see a family doctor who said that I need to see an optometrist - one who gives prescriptions for glasses and contact lenses. So I called to a clinic to make an appointment and found out that the next available date is only next week. I knew that I can't wait any longer and kept searching for other places until I found an optometrist for this week (for yesterday). Unfortunately, I had to skip listening quiz, but I was so desperate, I couldn't relax, my eyes were so tensed and my brain couldn't think of anything else except this discomfort. Finally I was examined by a doctor who said that it could be migraines that caused the pressure as well as my vision decreased in one eye significantly. Eventually, I got new prescription and ordered new glasses. Actually, a sales person said at first that they should to be ready in a week or so, but seeing my reaction changed 1 week to 1 hour!!! Yeees, I was so happy! So I got new glasses, and I think I feel better now although it always takes some time to get used to the new pair of glasses. I don't know, may be I have to change lighting on my desk and stop reading in the bed in a horizontal position ? The one thing I know for sure, when I studying intensely I must let my eyes rest or make some special eye exercise every hour or two. Otherwise it will cause another impairment of my vision. People who have 100% vision - it is such a gift! You should be careful and follow all the rules in order to keep it. I wasn't following them and it turned out badly. The thing is I won't be able to study if I disregard these important things such as to keep a proper distance when you read ( at least 30 cent.) or sitting up when you read, etc. In short, take care of your eyes carefully, protect your vision! I know it's hard, especially when you read something interesting or surf the Internet ( you kind of forget about time), but we must remember how hard our eyes work........ I am so glad we have 4 days off and a small amount of homework because my eyes are still very tired and I'll just let them rest for a while.

Dreams!!!

Dreams.....so interesting! I had never thought about it so deeply until we started studying this topic in class.Now I know many versions why people are dreaming, how many times at night and what dreams can mean. Some people believe that dreams can predict the future. Others just associate images from a dream with the events that happened recently. Honestly, I looked at a dream-book few times, but all seemed kind of silly to me so I just dropped it. Moreover, many times it predicted me such terrible things and I thought if I read it, it might effect me and change the reality because I'll start to believe in it... So it is better for me not to turn to the dream dictionaries. In my opinion, dreams could mean unresolved problems and reflection of our daily life, or just the fact that our brains stay active during the night and try to select the whole information obtained during the day. Usually, if I think about something too much ,99% I will see it in my dreams . What worries me - why does my mam frequently see terrible things that related to me in her dreams( especially in the last year)? For example, in her dreams I emerge as injured or almost dying, or crying for help. She always calls me after these scary dreams and checks if I am OK, and also begs me to be extra careful. Why does she have these dreams? Does she worry too much about me all the time, or may be it is kind of warning? For sure, I don't want to search for the answers in the dream-books. They will probably foretell something unpleasant or frightening. Since I am really impressionable person, I would prefer not to know... But it is really interesting to write an essay about dreams , if someone sees fire in his/her dream is welcome to ask me about it because I am already an expert.....

Have sweet dreams!

A Beautiful Mind...........

Hello, everybody. Are you relieved that our midterms are finally over? I certainly am, I am getting really tired from exams, because they are taking so much energy from me, especially the tests that we experienced few days ago. I would say it wasn't easy, it was challenging.

Ok, what should I write about? Again, I couldn't find some particular topic, so I am just going to write down my recent observations. At first, the weather is still amazing! I can't forget one morning a few days ago after a snowing night when I went outside and the air was soooo fresh, this moment was just breath taking for me and reminded me winter days. I do love summer , but I love winter as well and can't wait it's coming. Actually for me the time when snowflakes are falling down from the sky - is the best time ever, so beautiful, everything is so calm,white and downy......... Second thing is that we are almost done with our presentations ( there are few left on Monday), but what I've listened till now was really cool, the topics were awesome: how to improve the physical appearance, plastic surgeries, language studying, architecture,etc. Also, we have been asked to evaluate each of the student. Doing it I felt like a teacher. I am definitely not jealous of them, apparently this is so hard ( Poor Scott, he has so much to mark ...) I am not use to it, but I tried to be objective, fair and give strong arguments for my evaluations. Anyway, I have to say, it was fun and everybody did well! The final thing that I want to mention is the new topic which we started studying this week - The mind! I find it as the most interesting and intriguing one! It is hard to understand human brain, so I am sure we will learn something new about it. After we learn more about our brains, we will understand better how it's functioning, and this knowledge, in turn, will allow us to improve our learning skills and study effortlessly!!! I just hope that my brain will be able to survive till that moment, because sometimes I feel like it is going to explode, especially on the tests....... ( and then I have headaches almost every day) Actually studying is developing our brain, it is amazing to discover what it's capable of..... You know what, I think I am going to watch a "Beautiful Mind" again, such a great movie with a very strong performance by Russel Crowe. If someone haven't seen it yet - you must watch it! ( kind of relevant to our topic too) And don't rack your brains too much, it can be very unhealthy!

Have a nice and relaxing weekend!

The Midterms!

It's hard to believe that we are already in the midterms. Time just flies , and I start questioning myself: have I made a progress in English till now?We don't have much time till the end of the semester, so I must make a big push and study hard. Hopefully, I will be able to do my best on the exams and not be nervous too much. The thing is that when I am nervous , it takes a lot of time for me to concentrate, and because of that I can miss some important things.I am really glad that we have an extra half an hour in our writing exam, it will give me the opportunity not to freak out from the time limitation. Also, we are going to have 6 choices of different topics, so it kind of enough. This week we started writing our 3-rd essay. I admit its getting harder and harder every time, as it should be I guess ... ( can't imagine what is waiting for us in the end). The thing is that we have to do some research, which is obviously takes more time. But also it is very useful, we can obtain lots of information and facts that we didn't know before. Also, today we finally picked out the topics for our presentations. I am really looking forward to hearing my classmates presentations, it should be very interesting. Pooh, if this post is too boring, sorry, just couldn't find anything to write about, hope that it won't happen to me tomorrow on the test...So I wish you all good luck and success in the mid-term exams!

Trains and animals!

We have a really big break between classes now, so I can use this time and write about something. After writing about a chicken statue, I decided that I am going to write a blog about a bear. Simply I remembered something that I can share. Not such a long time ago my sister came to visit me and I decided to take her to Banff and Lake Louise. So we were driving there and suddenly we saw many cars parked on the side of a road with dozen people on the hill looking at something. Of course we ( as curious creatures) also pulled over aside and decided to check it out. We climbed the hill and realized that everybody was looking at a middle sized bear who sat exactly on the railway tracks and was eating something not paying much attention to surroundings( you can see the picture). Honestly, I was really scared and thought that in any second a train could arrive and hit him, in front of my eyes. I've heard many stories before about these kind of accidents when even the whole bear families had been killed on the railroads of Canada. I looked around, but people snapped photos and continued staring at the bear. Really, I didn't know what to do. I wanted to make him leave somehow, just to see him out of the tracks. I even tried to yell at him, but obviously he didn't understand English or Russian. One moment I even wanted to throw a stone toward his direction , but wasn't sure that it will be considered as a proper behaviour. Unfortunately, he hadn't moved and we had to leave after spending about a half an hour trying to hypnotise him and make him go back to the woods. I hope that he had left before a train came. By the way, I know that grammatically correct to say it about an animal, but I guess I have a trouble with it, I keep saying he or she, like with people, they are not things, right...? I think that Municipality or other organisations should take some actions and built a security fence or something in order to protect animals from these kind of accidents. I feel really sad about this......

Hiking !!!

I am glad that we had a long weekend this time because I needed it so badly, I felt torn and really tired. So these holidays gave me an opportunity to rest, I must admit I didn't study hard, just a little, but it was important for me to save some energy for the next week. The most exciting thing that I did was yesterday, I went hiking with my friends to the Grotto Creek trail. I just loved it, especially when it was not too hard and not too easy trail. My previous hike was kind of tough and I couldn't move for 2 days, but this time it was exactly what I needed. We were 5 people ( if you run into a bear this is a perfect number to scare the animal), and we walked along the long narrow channel ( between canyon walls) stepping on rocks most of the time. The view around was so beautiful. At the finish of the trail there is a cave on the hill where, I guess, native people lived, and also some of the walls in this canyon are carved with different drawings. So, it is important historic place. In spite of the very windy weather it was shiny and warm enough. Anyway, hiking is a good exercise for everybody as well as a possibility to get away from the polluted city and to breathe some fresh air. Also, you are moving constantly making your muscles work and stimulate your blood circulation. I always feel great after these little trips ( ok, may be one time I felt like a dead person because of the really slanting trail). After we finished hiking we visited Canmore, which reminded me Banff, also a very charming small town. I am glad that the perfect weather of the Saturday allowed me to enjoy it.

Parasailing is almost like Parachuting!

This week I didn't have much time to write mostly because it was kind of busy week, lots of homework, especially writing an essay. Also, I didn't have inspiration to write because I felt really tired all the time and couldn't find any topic to write about. Today was the most difficult day in which we had 2 tests and a mini-presentation. Grammar quiz was quite OK, but reading was little bit challenging ( I couldn't concentrate for a few minutes), and finally the presentation.... It was short one, each of us should have spoken not more than 4 minutes about some thrill seeking adventure or daredevils. It was interesting and I got a lot of interesting information about danger, extreme sports as well as a few personal stories. At first, I thought that I am going to present about some famous daredevil or the most traumatic sport ( which is surprisingly considered to be the basketball according to US statistics), but I changed my mind and decided to share my personal experience in "extreme" sport - parasailing. This type of sport is very popular and I think many people are familiar with it. It's when you are attached ( along with the parachute) to a speeding boat with a long rope and when the boat drives off you are carried up into the air. Isn't it cool? You feel like a bird flying above the sea. So you enjoy the flight and a spectacular !!!! view around, it is so beautiful. Also, a person who is in charge of the boat is controlling the height of your flight, so you can go up and down, you may even touch the water or go up really high and almost "touch the sky". This sport made me desire to try a real parachuting, but as I wrote before I don't have courage for it. Parasailing in contrast to skydiving is not scary at all, and the fact that you are actually above the water gives you sort of protection, in other words you feel more secure, because you don't have to land as in a real parachuting. So, if you will get an opportunity to try this kind of sport, you will enjoy it for sure. As I said in the class, a few months ago 87 years-old man from India took a parasailing flight and made a world record. So, it is safe and really exciting activity! Try it and you defenitely won't regret it !

Danger and Daring !

I am glad that we had such an interesting topic today in class, which made me think and write little bit about it. So, daring and danger...I just remembered that when I was a little, about 3 or 4 years old, I liked to tease dogs, especially big size dogs until one of them bit me. Also, I liked to climb up my wardrobe and jump down from it. But than I was a child , and as we know, children are usually fearless in contrast to adults. Now, I am a different person, who is trying to avoid danger. Why is that? I have always been amazed by people who like extreme sports or do some crazy stuff ( I am talking about parachuting, climbing or Bungee jumping and other adrenaline sports) Actually, I have a couple of friends who always need to feel the adrenalin in their blood, so I will have to ask them more about this need and their motivations, just out of interest. Also,I have always wondered , why some people afraid to experience danger and some people don't. For example, I would love to know what is like to jump from an airplane with a parachute or from the bridge, but I guess I will never experience it because of my FEAR. OK, question, fear of what? I can tell- what if my parachute will turn to be with holes or will not open up at all, or I will not land properly and break my legs. So, people who are ready to take these risks are really brave! Or may be they are little bit crazy? Unfortunately or may be fortunately, my fear is above my motivation, and I let my fears to take over me. Hmm, too bad. I wish I could overcome my dread and jump in order to feel the ''high'' ( I've heard it's unbelievable feeling, specially the skydiving). Clearly that the first time is always the hardest one , like in everything we do,but then I am afraid to become addicted to it and this is another fear and another topic......Another thing, after watching these kinds of videos, I will definitely be afraid even more. People who are impressionable or have very delicate nerves ( like me) do not watch this http://www.metacafe.com/watch/256402/the_ultimate_bridge_jump/

Please don't do crazy stuff and have a nice weekend
Julia

Studying and time management !

Hi, everybody. I must admit that I have never been using blogs before, so this blog is my first one ever. I am not that kind of person who likes to write journals or keep a diary, but in order to upgrade my writing skills in English, I do agree that this is a brilliant idea! Moreover, we can write freely and be relaxed, which means I don't have to worry about my mistakes and spelling, yeeees! Also, I don't have to stick to the one main idea, I can write about anything I desire, like what I am doing right now. So , what am I getting at........ ( something that we learned today in class) .

Well, I 'm trying to learn English again after a quite long break, and I would say we have started studying in a very intensive manner ( which is good, of course). We have already got lots of homework, which hopefully I will manage to complete on time. I am very glad to have such an advanced classmates from different countries studying with me and it is a big challenge for me. So, I just rolled up my sleeves and prepared myself for the hard work. For instance, on weekend we had to do a book report, to write an essay, ect..... The thing is that it took me longer than I expected, I wish I can learn faster so that I could have more time for pleasure.

After viewing the short video about the time management the other day in the class, I realized that I must make a "TO DO" list. I have practiced it before, but not for the long term periods. Undoubtedly, this is a very valuable advise for everone who has a lot of things to take care, especially for students. After you plan your essignments, you fill more confident and sure that you didn't miss anything important. Needless to say how happy and proud everybody feels after putting a check mark in front of the accomplished mission. So, any way, I will emphasize my main point in this blog: please use this advice and do manage your time properly by making "To do" list, but also don't forget to spend some quality time resting and doing other activities.

Julia