Unexpected Circumstances

   I'd like to tell you about one of my funniest memories. Two years ago I regularly went to the swimming pool. It was nearby my house and I attended an aqua-aerobics class two days a week. The receptionist was a middle-aged woman, she rarely smiled and looked very unfriendly.

   It was a typical day when I entered the swimmingpool's hall. She was sitting there. As usual I had to bring along some necessary things like a swimsuit, a bathing cap and flip-flops. She looked at me strictly up and down and asked me if I brought flippers and a mask for swimming. Her words surprised me a lot because we had never used them in our aqua-aerobics class. Can you imagine me with these absurd things on doing some exercises in the water? I couldn’t imagine either. But the receptionist insistently said it was a rule for that day so it was impossible to enter the locker room without them. I started to feel nervous and frustrated. Our trainer couldn’t say it.

    Fortunately, the other receptionist was sitting next to her. I cast a questioning look at her - but she confirmed the words told by the first woman! I lost heart and had no idea what to do next. I was feeling a bit confused – I didn’t want to miss my classes. Suddenly I noticed that the second woman tried to hide a smile. So I remembered – it was the first of April! We began to laugh and the ice was broken.

Celebrities' scandals in the press

   There are many different opinions about this problem. Some people suggest that reporting of celebrities' scandals is not a good idea and they can do without this sort of information. They claim that it's a rubbish and it can have corruptive influence on teenagers who blindly look up to pop stars. At the same time, others say that is only the personal choice of everyone: to read or not to read about gossip, because it would be hypocritical to claim that anyone is never interested in some private facts of celebrities' lifestyle.

   In my opinion, it is true to say that many celebrities are famous not only for their achievements but for their defiant behaviour. Moreover, many people strive for success by all means and encourage the press print information about them and even sell their stories to journalists. Although I could do without tabloids, I doubt whether the press and stars could do without each other. However, many papers are out of control, invade people's privacy, provoke and pursue stars in order to earn big money. They also spread a lot of immoral and lying information which might ruin their reputation. As a result, many celebrities go in law with tabloids.

   Personally, I believe that sometimes it's useful to know about celebrities' and politicians' private life. They are the same people as we and they do ordinary things too and make mistakes as well. Perhaps, the most important point is that the fame is not only a pleasure but has its negative sides. If somebody is at the height of his fame he should remember that he's a role model for some people so he can't hide his activities. On the other hand, admirers shouldn't judge their idols: as far as I know, some of them can seriously interfere with celebrities and even threaten them.

         All things considered, I feel that scandals shouldn't be banned, otherwise the censorship could become a rule for press. Papers' freedom should be restricted somehow, although I guess it's a long way for a democratic society to find the borders of permissible. 

My Family's Roots

   I grew up in a nuclear family. I have a family of four members: my dad, my mom, my younger sister and me. I was very happy to have a sister because we often created a lot of things to do and I always had a companion to do stuff with. For my part, I think if you have someone to share your thoughts, things, and toys, you learn to be outgoing and tolerant. And one day you realize that your toys belong to someone else too.

   I was named after my great grandmother. I was lucky to know my great grandparents on my father's side of the family. They migrated from Western Ukraine to the Caucasus during the World War II. My great grandma used to tell me folk tales with the slight accent and she used some words the meaning of which I didn't understand. And she was a great cook.

Some of other relatives were Cossacks and lived near the river Cuban. And my sister inherited dark hair and black eyes from them, whereas I have the opposite in appearance because I take after my great grandmother. The main characteristics of my father's side of the family, as I think now when I look back, were grit, firmness and practicality.

   As to my mother's side, her parents lived near the Caspian Sea. My ancestors came from Russia but it was sort of places where people lived in exile. There was a mixture of nationalities so I think these people were quite tolerant to each other and broad-minded as they had to live with different cultures side by side. Because of that, I suppose relatives of my mother's side are more uninhibited, imaginative and good-humored. In my childhood, I enjoyed spending time with them a lot.

   The older I get the more I want to find out about the history of my family because if you know where you come from, you better understand where you are going and who you are, I think. And now, I can imagine a little more about how my ancestors lived and in what sort of settings they lived, and what influenced them.  

My close friend

  Masha is my friend who I've known for some years. We were two young girls who used to go out together. I was crazy about music and enjoyed visiting live concerts. Once I met Masha. We hit it off immediately because we found out that our lifestyles were so similar. Only our personalities are different – she is high principled and honest, but I'm more calm and tactful. What particularly I liked about her was her straightforwardness. We shared the same interests in music, books, fashion. We never fall out about boys – fortunately, we fancied different boys. Our friendship seemed to last for ever.

  But she fell in love with a boy and we started to drifted apart. Her boyfriend affected her deeply and she changed her likings. We argued about trifles and it was shame. Our relationship started to get worse and one day it was over. I moved to Moscow whereas she was keeping on living in our town. She married this boy and we went our separate ways.

  Now we live in different cities and rarely see each other: about twice a year. We joined the social network and started to communicate via the Net. She became less firmer and more thoughtful. We became adults and I think we became wiser as we let each other to go our own ways and not to change each other. Recently I was amazed by news that she entered the university to study Spanish. I was very glad to hear this because we are both interested in languages and I think we still have much in common.