RussianStudent

Alanis Morrisette

2005-12-12T19:48:00.000-08:00

I just fell in love with Viviana's post about Alanis Morrisette's concert. I could really feel those emotions she had on the concert, how colorful she wrote about that. To tell the truth, I have never heard about that singer. But with what a great ideas Viviana came up! She posted her video song. I was impressed. Actually I did like this song. On the video Alanis Morrisette looks like an young singer but no doubt she sounds talented. Her song is full of emotions, that's really touched.

Christmas Tree

2005-12-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

I like winter a lot, especially for its holidays. In Russia we celebrate The New Year Day: Dec,31- Jan,1. Living here, in the USA, I have noticed that most of the people celebrate Christmas. It looks like now I am going to have two holidays. To smell and feel the holiday atmosphere we bought a Christmas tree yesterday and were decorating it till late at night. Also we bought a lot of toys and lights for the tree. At the end, it looked beautiful and gorgeous. But we did not know that our little dog would like that tree as well... We were so upset finding our Christmas tree on the floor in the morning. I think at night Saki (it's the dog name) was playning with it and push it. Tonight we started the whole process again. And probably this is fair... since we are going to celebrate twice: Christmas and New Year Day.:)))

Thanksgiving Day

2005-12-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed Neha’s post about Thanksgiving Day. I think it’s a wonderful family holiday to celebrate. On this day families get together to say thanks to each other and to everybody around. To my mind it’s very important to get together and discuss what have happened during last year and be thankful for everything we have achieved. This year I spent Thanksgiving Day with my friends and was told the whole story about the pilgrims. I was so excited. Turkey in cranberry souse was so delicious. It’s a pity we do not have the same holiday in Belarus.

Native Son

2005-12-03T18:50:00.000-08:00

I’ve read the novel “Native son” by Richard Wright. I did enjoy the book and appreciate the talent of the author. So, if Mary’s death was accidental or intentional? you would ask me. I truly believe that the murder of Mary Dalton wasn’t intentional. Bigger did not come to her bedroom with the intention to commit the crime. He was filled with the fear of being caught in a white girl’s bedroom. From the other side, it wasn’t accidentional as well. The way Bigger spent his life led to the bad ending. It was fate. Society created an opportunity for this murder and Bigger was too weak to confront his society.

Jealousy

2005-12-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

During the “Contemporary Health” class we considered the concept of jealousy. What is jealousy? Why some people are more jealous than another? Different schools have different explanations of jealousy. For example, Freudians think that jealousy originates in childhood after we understand that we are not our mother’s or father’s favorite. This fear and insecurity is unconscious and growing during the life time. The Family System therapists consider both partners are responsible for jealousy-producing situation and if one partner cheats it reflects troubled relationships for both. Behavioral school observes partners behavior and look for different techniques to reduce jealousy response. Sociologists emphasize cultural differences. They insist that all cultural societies experience jealousy but in different circumstances. Darwin, as a sociobiologist, insisted that jealousy as an emotion is very important for genetic survival. Men are supposed to be jealous because they want to get exclusive woman to pass their genes and women need devoted helpers to protect them and their kids.

Winter

2005-11-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

Neha wrote very nice paragraph about winter. I think winter is very beautiful season. It contains something pure and clear. It looks like the nature cleans and purifies itself. Personally for me, winter is associated with a lot of snow all around. It happens because we have plenty of snow at winter in Belarus. I do enjoy some winter kinds of sports like skiing and skating. I love skiing in the mountains, not far away from NJ, in Upstate NY. My favorite mountains are Hunter, Bellaire, etc. The weather and temperature in NJ at winter is pretty close to the weather and temperature in Belarus that’s why I feel myself comfortable over here.

Group web project

2005-11-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

As per Neha on Tuesday, November 22, we had a class meeting instead of regular class to get ready with our group web project. Surprisingly, everybody was being able to come and we worked hard to get it done. The name of the web project is “Invention of new ideas and writing habits”. We had a really great time doing that project all together. We shared our own ideas and the information we got from another sources. Finally, we have created really knowledgeable and interesting web pages about invention of new ideas and writing habits. I hope this web project will be very interesting and helpful for another student to get the information about writing habits and how to generate new ideas.

Freewriting

2005-11-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

Freewriting means writing freely. It is an extremely useful strategy in generating or, another word, inventing new ideas. Invention new ideas take some time. It involves relaxation not only the body but also the mind. During that process writers shouldn’t pay much attention on an organization, grammar or structure of their notes. It is all about relaxing and writing as much ideas as possible without evaluating of the thoughts. This relaxation helps writers put their ideas on the paper as easy as they talk with their best friends. Later they will come back and choose what they really like and need for their papers.

Tagmemic Method for generating new ideas

2005-11-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of strategies of generating new ideas. One of them is method created by Richard Young, Alton Becker, and Kenneth Pike. It calls Tagmemic method. Tagmemic method includes six topics on which we can break down our subject to. Those topics are:
1. Contrast. In this topic we discuss how much our subject differs from other ones. Also, we figure out what ways it differs.
2. Variation. In this part we find the ways how we can change our subject without changing the essential idea.
3. Distribution. This topic answers the question about how often and in what places we can observe the subject
4. Particle. In this topic we identify the features of the subject. Those features have to distinct and define our subject.
5. Wave. Nothing is constant; everything has a tendency for changing over time. This topic involves considering changing the subject over time.
6. Field. We can break the subject into some parts and then analyze how they interact as parts of whole.
As we can see above breaking the subject into many topics helps generate plenty og new ideas.

Ermitage

2005-11-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

The weather last weekend was beautiful and I came up with the idea to go to Brooklyn to meet with a good friend of mine. We were thinking for a while what to do in the evening and finally decided to visit the most beautiful and expensive Russian restaurant in Brooklyn, “Ermitage”. Ermitage, from the French word “Hermitage”, means “Pleasant retreat”. The owner took the name for this restaurant from the name of the biggest and fabulous museum in St. Petersburg. Actually, he is definitely right, because the entire interior reminds me that beautiful and elegant palace in St. Petersburg. The restaurant is located in two levels, each of them represents particular cultural period in the history. In the Menu, you are going to find French and Russian dishes cooked by famous Head Chef, Gennady Sternstein. Finally, I was surprised by the night show at the end of the dinner. Talented artists made my evening special and completed. I would recommend everybody to visit this restaurant.

Japanese Geisha

2005-11-08T00:38:00.000-08:00

This is so exciting that online we have the opportunity to meet people from different countries who represent different cultures. Japanese culture is very interesting to me. Tonight I read the post “Geisha: The Traditional Japanese Ideal of Beauty” written by Setsuna. It tells us about the Geishas as traditional Japanese ideal of beauty. They are so mysterious for us with their fancy hair-style, white-panted skin and silk kimonos. According to Japanese tradition Geishas have to be trained in dancing, singing, and playing some musical instruments. They are considered as an amusement to paying customers and live in matriarchal environment. Statistically the number of Geishas has dropped during the last years because of westernizing of Japanese culture. I did enjoy reading about Geishas as an important part of Japanese culture.

Faith to survive

2005-10-31T19:57:00.000-08:00

I completely agree with Liliana that everybody has to have somebody or something to believe in. Our life is a big challenge, it's ups and downs all the way. Some difficulties can make a person weaker or even break him inside. That's the case when a person loses his faith. In those situations people really need some energy power inside them. It doesn't matter how we call this energy: God, Christ, Allah, Buddha, Lord. Liliana has a strong faith in God. When she feels herself lonely and depressed she comes to him in her thoughts. Faith in something extraterrestrial or somebody kind and fair makes people stronger.

Good writing skills

2005-10-31T19:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Viviana, I think your writing skills are pretty good. I was enjoying reading all your postings. They are very interesting because you have based them on your own experience. This is a perfect strategy to capture your readers attention and make them interested. Your language is simple and coloful. I can say for sure, that English Composition class will increase your writing skills even more. I think, learning the "good writing rules" will improve your papers making them more structural and organized. More over, studying hard and practicing a lot will increase your confidence as a good writer.

Business Simulation Game class

2005-10-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

I have been studying hard for three years and finally became a graduate student. In the last semester I am taking a very interesting class: Business Simulation Game. I do really enjoy this particular class. The whole idea of this class-game is in dividing all students into five groups. Five groups represent five competitive companies. The company can produce either high-tech sensors or low-tech ones or both. We can choose the size, performance and reliability for our sensors. Also, we have to buy capacity to be able to produce them. Every student in the group represents a functional manager, such as: Research & Development Manager, Marketing Manager, Finance Manager and Production Manager. The goal of the game is to create a strategy that will bring the company on the top position in sales and profit. We, as managers, have to be affective and efficient in our decisions.
All students really enjoy participating in this class-game. I think this class is very important and useful for us. During the studying period in the college we have to take different classes that cover different fields of business (since I am a Business major). And now, we can get together and use all our knowledge to understand better how the real company operates. I think this is the main idea of this class.

Life priorities

2005-10-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

What are your life priorities? To my mind, it is very important to everybody to know what he or she really wants from his/her life. Our life is full of different opportunities we are trying to pursue. And sometimes we are wasting our time and energy for something, that is not very important to us at that moment and losing another, very important opportunity. It’s up to everybody to pick up what he really wants. Every person is just a human being and have particular energy level. More over, we all will always limited by time to experience all our opportunities. That’s why I truly believe that prioritizing is a great strategy not only in business, but also in everyday life.

Voluntary death

2005-10-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Do we have the right to die? There are a lot of debates around this question. Accordingly to french philosopher More, any person should have the right to voluntary death in the case when a person suffers from a disease which is both incurable and continually excruciating. Moor was sure that to choose death under these circumstances is honorable. It is not a secret that Oregon State has passed “death with dignity law”. Accordingly to the law, a doctor in Oregon State can give a patient a fatal medication. It’s only can happened under next circumstances: if the patient is adult (18+) who is capable, is a resident of Oregon State, and has been determined by the attending physician and consulting physician to be suffering from a terminal disease. More over, a patient has voluntary express his wish to die and make a written request for this fatal medication for the purpose of ending his life. Don't you think it’s up to a person to choose between life and death when suffering from a terminal disease?

Belarus

2005-10-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

I came from a small and beautiful country named Belarus. More than 10 years ago it was a part of former Soviet Union but now it is an independent country with a heroic past and difficult present. Belarus borders Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia. The capital of the country is Minsk. Minsk is an industrial, cultural and educational center with the population over two millions. There are a lot of museums, cinemas and green parks. Belarus is known for its beautiful lakes all over the country. It’s even called “The land of the lakes”. You are very welcome to visit my country!

Favorite subject

2005-10-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

What was your favorite subject at school? I have had a fascination with mathematics. This fascination I perhaps owed to my school math teacher who loved math and encouraged me to study it extensively. I love mathematics because of its absoluteness, perfection and rules of logic. There can be no differing opinions in mathematics. I think because of my fascination with math I chose my carrier path in Accounting where I have to deal with numbers all the time.

Do you like to read?

2005-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

I do really like to read. I am sure reading expends the boundaries of the familiar world and fills my life with joy and happiness. I do enjoy reading detective stories. Now I am reading very funny detective story written by Russian author D. Dontsova. It is amazing book and it helps me relax after busy working day. Also I like to read history books. You can get a lot of useful and interesting information about the way people lived and worked in the past. To my mind reading is very entertaining!

Toyota Camry

2005-09-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Nice blog. Very interesting, easy and entertaining to read. Language is pretty simple even with some technical details. The author brings very important points why we could rely on this car. (Toyota Camry)

To my mind it is pretty boring blog. The language is poor. I was expecting at least the picture of the car. (2005 Toyota Camry)

I think it is very informative and just-in-time blog. You can get a lot of useful information. The language is simple. The author let us know how important could become hybrid cars since we experience oil deficit. (Hybrid version of Toyota Camry being planned)

Why do we live?

2005-09-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

..........Nice philosophical question, right? Have you ever questioned yourself? Well..... Somebody will say: What are the other options? But still... To my mind this is very important question and every mature person has to ask himself about the purpose of his life. Different theories give us different answers. For example religion theory prepares us for the living outside this world and considers this world only like a not important transition. But I think we have to enjoy and appreciate the life we have on the Earth... The reason for living is in achieving your goals! Prepare yourself for difficulties... Set your goals and work to achieve them!!! This is really enjoyable... Especially when you can look back and see terrific results!!! So, go ahead and do it now!

Excellent Writing

2005-09-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

What is excellent writing? Good question! Let's see... Definitely good writing skills are extremely important in our lives both profesional and personal. No doubt, English Composition class should be taken by each student pursuing his college degree. The purpose of this class is to explain what is good writing and how to achive good writing. You can do that by working hard in the class, always being prepared with your homework doing a lot of reading and analizing.