Back to blogging...

Hi Everyone,
Since I have realised that it is a great honour to be included into the list of EAP students who are actively blogging I would like to put some notes, although I am not sure that somebody will read them.
Blogging is a very good thing. You can write whatever you want, argue about everything, insist on something without any responsibility for wthat you have written, because it is a free writing, and depending on in what mood one was creating or reading a blog, this blog could carry out absolutely different meaning. Blogging can unite different people, because the themes dicussed in the bloggs are about our life experience and future expectations, about our relatives and friends. They could be funny or joyless, but they are always true, and thus makes them really interesting. I started blogging for the first time in my life during my education in the LEAP program. I am very grateful to Scott ( and this is the statement which doesn't depend on my mood), who taught me and my classmates how to blog, and for his enthusiasm and supportive attitude to his students.

Thank you

I also want to say thank you to all our instructors.
To Scott who managed to turn borring grammar and writing into wonderful subject.
To Dr. Sengupta who brillianty taught the students not only reading and comprehension, but also how to survive in future at the University.
To Pam whose soft voice with mild British pronunciation sounded like a lullaby especially during quizes.
My special gratitude to Mrs. Gordon.
Mrs. Gordon was the first person I met at the University. She accepted me to the LEAP program and provided with moral support which I really needed at that time.
Thank you very much.
I wish the LEAP program prosperity and successful future.
Yulia.

Paskha Means Easter

On coming Sunday the Russian Orthodox Church is celebrating its most important Holiday - Paskha (Easter). It's realy symbolic that my last blog is devoted to Russian Easter. The last week before Paskha Russians call Holy Week. Each day of this week has its own meaning reflecting the last days of God' s life on the Earth. This week on Thursday the special service is performed in the Church when Russian Christians can ask for forgiveness, confess in their sins and recieve communion, and with the pure conscience start preparing to meet Paskha. Paskha is also a dessert, a sort of cheesecake, which is traditionally eaten on Easter. The word "pasqua" is actually of Jewish origin, meaning passing with Christ to the other life, or deliverance from death. The Russian Easter church service starts the night before. According to the ritual all Christians when meet each other during 40 days after Easter say: "Khristos voskrese!" ( Christ is risen!), and the other person answers: " Voistinu voskrese!"( He is risen indeed!). All Paskha week celebratory tables are full of different dishes, including meat, eggs and other items which were forbidden during 48 days of the Lent. For the Easter celebration there are more people in churches than usual. For me Paskha is a new life.

The Sky and the Mountains in Calgary

Have you ever mentioned that the sky in Calgary each day is different. Though the coulors does not vary so much, but there are enormous amount of shades. And the mountains changes every day, they are not similar. The sky and the mountains live their own live and the city of Calgary does not prevent you from of observing them. On the contrary, in Moscow city dominates: sometimes you could even pay no attention to the sky, you dont see it ( in Calgary it is impossible). I've noticed that in Calgary people usually live in very comfortable but modest houses, in Moscow, especially in the Moscow region they usually built "palaces"which hide the sky.( Unfortunately there are no mountains in Moscow.) Maybe calgarians better than we, moscovites, understand that it is imposible to compete with the beauty of nature; and they dont compete and let us all enjoy the veiw?

Grades

Today we received the last result of the mid-term exam in writing. When a week ago Scott said that some people had not passed this exam, it made me really nervous. I dont like writing exams because writing is not my strong point. During my previous pedagogicla experience at the Moscow Medical Academy I always wondered how my colleagues managed to put marks to their students. For me it was like a torture because I was young and treated my students as friends. They always asked me to let them go earlier ( especially girls) or to miss the session, and I really could not refuse. (Now I understand that I had problems with boundaries.) It is a very hard job to evaluate the knowledge of a student. Usually they themselves know which mark each of them deserves. In Russia we did not use percentage in grades, but only "excellent", "good", "satisfactory" and "unsatisfactory". When you speak about a future doctor you cannot avoid considering his or her personality, because for common Russian people the personality of a doctor means more that his or her professionalism (though it is wrong). But life is a chalenge, and education is a part of life and you have to compete with the other students. Marks could not be always absolutely fair, but the system of marks must be reasonable, clear and not formal, if only it could be achieved in the real life.

"The Golden Ring" of Russia

One of the famous tourist route around Moscow is known as "The Golden Ring". This route includes the ancient Russian towns of Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov Velikiy, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Suzdal and Vladimir. They are realy gold because of their role in the development of Russia as a whole state. They survived during the most difficult historical periods of the country. They were conquered by Mongol hords, treacherous neighbors and Polish invaders. They were burnt to ashes but rose up illustrating the strong will of the Russian people

and their faith. These are the pictures of the main Russian Monastery - The Lavra - which is in Sergiev Posad. Among the treasures of the Lavra is the famous icon, "The Trinity", by Andrei Rublev. A lot of pilgrims visit Lavra during a whole year. This is a fine example of a working Orthodox monastery where the services didn't stop even in the Soviet period of militant atheism.

Those who have visited the Monastery could confirm that in reality it is more beautiful and magestic than on the photo.

A Room with a View

It's so hard for me to start writing the essay, that as an excuse I am writing blogs one after another. Yesterday, when I was dreaming about dreams, I suddenly recollected my life in Moscow and started to compare it with my local life. They differ in the same way as the two pictures above. I am so happy to stay in Canada, that I dont even pay attention to the problems that I have, though they are very serious, and I really haven't decided yet how I will solve them. No, of course, I know the way I have to pass to reach the goal, however, there is no garantee that I' ll succed. My decision to study English at the University was absolutely right ( thank you very much for the Faculty of Education, that you have accepted me), on the other hand it occupies all my time and I have to postpone my medical exams, because it is useless to try passing them not being well prepared. On the third hand ( or leg) when I first started reading this "holly cow" "Toronto Notes" I was shocked, because of a great amount of new words and terms. I was sure that I would have never learned them ( I mean in English). Now the process is going unexpectedly fast, (thank you very much for the LEAP program). Maybe the next presentation I will devote totally to the medical aspects, like analys of electrocardiogram or examination of the patient with jaundice.
As far as above pictures are concerned, these are the views from My windows in Moscow and in Calgary.