Чем мне запомнился уходящий год
Сестра моей жены Юля написала весьма любопытный пронзительный текст и попросила меня разместить его в блоге.
Дело в том, что она участвует в открытом конкурсе на лучшее сочинение на английском языке на тему «Чем мне запомнился уходящий год». Конкурс организует сайт «Английский без дураков», где люди с энтузиазмом, весело, а главное, с пользой и совершенно бесплатно изучают английский язык.
Условием конкурса является его публикация в интернете, что я с удовольствием и делаю, поскольку нам с Валькой посвящена немаленькая часть.
Me and the World in 2009
Oh yeah, what we're living in (let me tell ya)
It's a wonder man can eat at all
When things are big that should be small…
Jamiroquai, Virtual Insanity.
Well, it is a big challenge to manage to encapsulate the year 2009 within some sort of a student assignment! It makes me feeling confused once I imagine all these astonishments and expectations, surprises, difficulties and anticipations, disappointments and hopes, big and small human tragedies are all to be well put together in 3 print pages.
I want to say straight away that 2009 started for me in the most extraordinary way and there were two once-in-a-life time events followed one after another right in the very beginning of the year. So I can’t succumb the temptation to tell about it here thought It might seem quite usual to the audience but not for me. And I can explain why.
The New Life
Imagine you have a boat. Imagine it is a stunning boat built by you. And after years of trainings you have become skilled enough to sail it. And your team got on board and everything is ready to cast off. But the departure keeps failing! It is mysterious but you cannot lunch as inevitably some kind of something appears there to prevent your departure: the weather was bad first and while waiting for the weather to get better most of the team caught, say, mumps and fell into the sick bay for uncertain period of time. Then you realize the foodstuffs are running out and you need to stock up again. Then you realize your visas have been expired and you must wait for the new ones to be granted. And at the end of the day you learn that while you were swallowing pills, stocking up for the food and waiting for the visas some other disaster has happened and there’s an uncertain delay again!
So, after the 9 years of the severe struggle and suffer along with the neural distress and rather persistent twinges of angst you finally understand that if you don’t stop being co-dependent on every single rain and sneeze, then your beautiful boat will rot down in the twinkling of an eye right here. And you take an axe and cut the rope down to let the boat launch. And you can hear the parting words scarcely reaching you from behind and melting in the favorable breeze. And you just turn around to give a glance towards the shore where the bunch of those who have come to see you off stands sobbing. What would you feel then?
Now you must be able to understand what I felt when after 9 years of the exhausting peripetias me, my husband and our 6 years old daughter have finally moved to live on our own. We settled in a lovely flat all occupied with the cartons - a piece of happiness on the 21st floor with windows facing the majestic building of the Moscow State University looking that mysterious in the morning mist. When our daughter first saw it she yelled: “Look, there’s a castle out there!” Since then we keep telling her that if she is a good girl she will definitely get up there. J
Well, I just need to say that all this happened not long before the New Year’s Eve, so 2009 was the very first year in my life which I celebrated in My Home! The three of us were sitting face to face as the only thing that could be used as a table at that moment was the children’s desk 50 cm high though still able to accommodate some candles in addition to as much meal as it could stand. The New Year night was enchanting! I suggest I wouldn’t have been surprised if, say, Her Majesty The Queen Elisabeth arm-in-arm with Hugo Cavez had come to wish us a Happy New Year!
Well, this was how my New Life started.
Wedding
And then the New Life knocked into my younger sister’s door, our sweet little girl which turned out to have intangibly grown up and was being grasped with utter love and the decision to get married. And she did it! I sincerely beg your pardon for going too far speaking about domestic life here. However the topic would not be complete if I do not mention my new relatives that are my brother-in-law family which certainly deserves the consideration for they are definitely the second in the list of my great impressions of the year. I cannot tell what a lovely, endlessly kind and extraordinary people they are. Is it often that you can meet people who gets on well with the new families of their “ex”s including wives and husbands and all children and gathering every week all together alone with their friends to listen for the Gospel stories and discuss it then. They go to the church on Sundays and are engaged in charity. They are truly sincere. I am really glad I have met such people in my life.
Crisis
{Do not want to tell about world financial crisis here as fed up and consider it boring and annoying especially that there are two in our family who had fallen innocent victims to it}.
New English
Although I was always concerned with English and loved English and loved all English I’ve never been such involved into it as I am during this year. A new wave has captured me. It has been involving me for several months yet. I don’t want to hide that it comes up against the housekeeping and the family is not that happy about it as I am since there’s more mummy in the computer and less mummy on the kitchen. And to be straight I am suspicious about this as I don’t believe such thing happen for no particular reason. Well, time will show!
New reality
I can’t help recalling the events of this year which logged 2009 down to the fearful list of those to clearly demonstrate that the world is obviously not the same any more. It seems that the grief was everywhere - plane crashes, unceasing clashes and acts of terrorism in the Middle East, Sayano-Shushinsky power station, “Neva express” and Perm. Not the fearful numbers itself but the fact that there is nothing to do with the madness of nature’s violence has shaken the society up. The acts of monstrous irresponsibility, criminal negligence, indifference and stupidity are those to blame here. May the memory of all left us be for a blessing!
New era
There’s a new trendy topic appeared recently - year 2012. You may find about 31 800 000 results offered by Goggle search for «2012 end world» request. What cannot be written! Internet was born to be even more patient than a paper. The Maya Indians and their legendary calendar are the most mentioned ones followed by Nastradamus and Granny Vanga. I suppose if only poor Indians had known how debatable their writing would become they would certainly have been more accurate to explain what they meant indeed. But I do not trust in gloomy predictions. I believe a new era will begin. I am sorry for the cliché but I consider we all must think of better things now.
A year ago in the New Year’s Eve my daughter asked me what gift I would like to have. “Wish you were healthy, my dear” - I replied. She looked at me as if I was a dummy, then sighed and said: “A gift is something you can use!” I thought then that it makes sense really as there are some gifts which are happily not concerned with this rather useful property. However I tried to explain her that a gift may not be a thing and that the most precious gifts are those you can never buy for any riches. This New Year I sincerely wish you to be presented this kind of gift. And the rest would be something you can use. :-)
Дело в том, что она участвует в открытом конкурсе на лучшее сочинение на английском языке на тему «Чем мне запомнился уходящий год». Конкурс организует сайт «Английский без дураков», где люди с энтузиазмом, весело, а главное, с пользой и совершенно бесплатно изучают английский язык.
Условием конкурса является его публикация в интернете, что я с удовольствием и делаю, поскольку нам с Валькой посвящена немаленькая часть.
Me and the World in 2009
Oh yeah, what we're living in (let me tell ya)
It's a wonder man can eat at all
When things are big that should be small…
Jamiroquai, Virtual Insanity.
Well, it is a big challenge to manage to encapsulate the year 2009 within some sort of a student assignment! It makes me feeling confused once I imagine all these astonishments and expectations, surprises, difficulties and anticipations, disappointments and hopes, big and small human tragedies are all to be well put together in 3 print pages.
I want to say straight away that 2009 started for me in the most extraordinary way and there were two once-in-a-life time events followed one after another right in the very beginning of the year. So I can’t succumb the temptation to tell about it here thought It might seem quite usual to the audience but not for me. And I can explain why.
The New Life
Imagine you have a boat. Imagine it is a stunning boat built by you. And after years of trainings you have become skilled enough to sail it. And your team got on board and everything is ready to cast off. But the departure keeps failing! It is mysterious but you cannot lunch as inevitably some kind of something appears there to prevent your departure: the weather was bad first and while waiting for the weather to get better most of the team caught, say, mumps and fell into the sick bay for uncertain period of time. Then you realize the foodstuffs are running out and you need to stock up again. Then you realize your visas have been expired and you must wait for the new ones to be granted. And at the end of the day you learn that while you were swallowing pills, stocking up for the food and waiting for the visas some other disaster has happened and there’s an uncertain delay again!
So, after the 9 years of the severe struggle and suffer along with the neural distress and rather persistent twinges of angst you finally understand that if you don’t stop being co-dependent on every single rain and sneeze, then your beautiful boat will rot down in the twinkling of an eye right here. And you take an axe and cut the rope down to let the boat launch. And you can hear the parting words scarcely reaching you from behind and melting in the favorable breeze. And you just turn around to give a glance towards the shore where the bunch of those who have come to see you off stands sobbing. What would you feel then?
Now you must be able to understand what I felt when after 9 years of the exhausting peripetias me, my husband and our 6 years old daughter have finally moved to live on our own. We settled in a lovely flat all occupied with the cartons - a piece of happiness on the 21st floor with windows facing the majestic building of the Moscow State University looking that mysterious in the morning mist. When our daughter first saw it she yelled: “Look, there’s a castle out there!” Since then we keep telling her that if she is a good girl she will definitely get up there. J
Well, I just need to say that all this happened not long before the New Year’s Eve, so 2009 was the very first year in my life which I celebrated in My Home! The three of us were sitting face to face as the only thing that could be used as a table at that moment was the children’s desk 50 cm high though still able to accommodate some candles in addition to as much meal as it could stand. The New Year night was enchanting! I suggest I wouldn’t have been surprised if, say, Her Majesty The Queen Elisabeth arm-in-arm with Hugo Cavez had come to wish us a Happy New Year!
Well, this was how my New Life started.
Wedding
And then the New Life knocked into my younger sister’s door, our sweet little girl which turned out to have intangibly grown up and was being grasped with utter love and the decision to get married. And she did it! I sincerely beg your pardon for going too far speaking about domestic life here. However the topic would not be complete if I do not mention my new relatives that are my brother-in-law family which certainly deserves the consideration for they are definitely the second in the list of my great impressions of the year. I cannot tell what a lovely, endlessly kind and extraordinary people they are. Is it often that you can meet people who gets on well with the new families of their “ex”s including wives and husbands and all children and gathering every week all together alone with their friends to listen for the Gospel stories and discuss it then. They go to the church on Sundays and are engaged in charity. They are truly sincere. I am really glad I have met such people in my life.
Crisis
{Do not want to tell about world financial crisis here as fed up and consider it boring and annoying especially that there are two in our family who had fallen innocent victims to it}.
New English
Although I was always concerned with English and loved English and loved all English I’ve never been such involved into it as I am during this year. A new wave has captured me. It has been involving me for several months yet. I don’t want to hide that it comes up against the housekeeping and the family is not that happy about it as I am since there’s more mummy in the computer and less mummy on the kitchen. And to be straight I am suspicious about this as I don’t believe such thing happen for no particular reason. Well, time will show!
New reality
I can’t help recalling the events of this year which logged 2009 down to the fearful list of those to clearly demonstrate that the world is obviously not the same any more. It seems that the grief was everywhere - plane crashes, unceasing clashes and acts of terrorism in the Middle East, Sayano-Shushinsky power station, “Neva express” and Perm. Not the fearful numbers itself but the fact that there is nothing to do with the madness of nature’s violence has shaken the society up. The acts of monstrous irresponsibility, criminal negligence, indifference and stupidity are those to blame here. May the memory of all left us be for a blessing!
New era
There’s a new trendy topic appeared recently - year 2012. You may find about 31 800 000 results offered by Goggle search for «2012 end world» request. What cannot be written! Internet was born to be even more patient than a paper. The Maya Indians and their legendary calendar are the most mentioned ones followed by Nastradamus and Granny Vanga. I suppose if only poor Indians had known how debatable their writing would become they would certainly have been more accurate to explain what they meant indeed. But I do not trust in gloomy predictions. I believe a new era will begin. I am sorry for the cliché but I consider we all must think of better things now.
A year ago in the New Year’s Eve my daughter asked me what gift I would like to have. “Wish you were healthy, my dear” - I replied. She looked at me as if I was a dummy, then sighed and said: “A gift is something you can use!” I thought then that it makes sense really as there are some gifts which are happily not concerned with this rather useful property. However I tried to explain her that a gift may not be a thing and that the most precious gifts are those you can never buy for any riches. This New Year I sincerely wish you to be presented this kind of gift. And the rest would be something you can use. :-)