Terra Nova

Hm. This status made me to think .

"Made me think" would be correct.
The status is nice, indeed

What about mine? Do you recognize where it is taken from?)))

No, I did not recognize it.

Yes, it is funny .

It's "Don't worry, be happy"!

One time I changed the words of this song: "Don't worry, be hippy" .

Teaching advanced level is fantastic I'm really enjoying the process of getting ready to the lesson right now, there's no joke or exaggeration in it. And I wonder when the girl who I teach will finally understand that she needs only a native speaker teacher and nobody else

Well, guys. It's a bit out of my rules to describe any of my journeys here, but this time I'd like to violate the rules (once again ). Anyway there will be few people who will read this
I'm in New York
It's my first time in America. So impressions are fresh.
We're renting a flat in Brooklyn. If you ever go to NY, don't do this! It's a poor, disadvantaged and absolutely black district. I guess it's one of those districts which people warned me not to ever enter : they say there are such districts in NY that whenever a European-looking person enters it, he's in danger. There are 100.00% afroamericans in the area where we live. We are the only and inappropriate whites. I guess it could cure anyone from any type of nationalism It would be very interesting to visit this area once (it's so atmospheric), but not to live here: some feeling of hopelessness is in the air. And it's far away from the center!
As for the center. We arrived in the afternoon, but got to the center only in the evening. When we first got out of the subway at Times Square (NY "main square"), we congratulated each other on the fact that NOW we've arrived to NY Everything which had been before doesn't count. I don't know how to describe it. The skyscapers, neon lights making night as light as day, crowds of very different people, mixture of cultures. It sounds trivial, but it doesn't feel like this. It feels dizzy. Even after Moscow.
We are three girls, my friends and me. We've banned the usage of Russian while we are in America We speak English among us, to other people of course and even to our friends whom we call from here. The only exception is parents. The lack of my native language made me feel awfully homesick for the first couple of ours (since we left the plane) But then it turned out to be so nice, convenient and natural I definitely like the game It doesn't hamper communication at all. We are constantly joking - nice stupid jokes of a very Russian spirit, but in English I'm surprised that it's possible. At first it was difficult to remeber what language to speak after you wake up. Some of us began speaking Russian, and we went on for a minute or two until somebody else remebered and said something like: "What are these strange sounds coming of your mouth?", "What is this language? Is it Chinese?", "Are you possessed by aliens who force you to speak a nonexistent language?"
Yesterday we were walking around Manhattan and discussing our impressions. One of the girls said that she likes the city but doen't think she'll miss it. My feeling was (and is) the opposite: I doubt if I like the city, but I guess I'll miss it. Much. The other girl agreed with this
That's enough for the first time, I guess I will write more some time later
And if I have anything to say on any of the topics being discussed, I wil say it here and in English, cause I'd like to fall out of the game as little as possible

Enjoy the time and report again!

I wonder why?.. See, I even try to support your game, not without the help of online services...

Shu, I'll speak (and write) as well? as I can. I think, it will be not English, it will be only poor translate word by word from Russian But I decide not to become red (my face).
I know NY by movie "Sex & the City" Is it really such?
So, I wait your impressions! Sorry for my English, but I don't want to use help from net

wow, shu )))
has anybody guessed you're non-natives yet?

Ahrenet!

Wow that's great! Please make some photos! No, better make lots of them)) I'm surprised that you don't like the city though. Why is that?

Going to the US is my dream. Hope I'll visit it one day! By the way, did you go there as a tourist, or is it a business trip, so to speak?

Shu!! It is an excellent new! NY -is my dream too....But I am afraid 10 hours in plane ....panickally!! By ship -more panick than plane....

What about me - IMHO, my "dream" could be the travelling by planes (especially with camera and without cruel customers control ) but not living in the megapolis .

I am so jealous! I knew I would be... I should have come with you!

Thanks for the answers! As a tourist.I don't actually know... Probably, there are too much of them It's the..... fourth..... this autumn There should have been 5 of them, but one business trip out of 2 has been cancelled.
Or I just wanted to have some part of my life really private Do you think we speak English so perfectly? We don't People mostly guess that we are Russians (the accent!), sometimes we are mistaken for Spanish. Or just ask us where we are from. If they care
It's a really interesting experience of speaking English all the time. I would say it's the first time of my life, because even in the most international companies where I turned out to find myself there were some Russian guys, so we spoke at least a little of Russian. Here I have really very little exception (a student of math via skype - I cannot quit working comletely - and actually that's all). I've of course switched to almost complete thinking English. The most amusing thing is that some texts or past conversations, which were in Russian in reality, come up to my mind in English! Then I start to think of back translation! And I need to make an effort to remember the actual Russian words!
Nevertheless, I can't say that my English has improved. It has, in a way: passive vocabulary is being actualized, and so on. But sometimes I feel like I'm speaking something awful, a jargon, not a language. We all feel the same. Terrible That's the consequence of speaking mostly to non-natives: we are inventing kind of our own language. That's probably how pidgins appear!No, I don't dislke it. I just haven't fallen in love with it, so to say. Now I like it more than in the beginning, I would say that I like it. I guess I wouldn't even mind living here.I'm not sure what was there in the film. I watched it, but I guess I paid much more attention to sex then to the City What is such? Glamorous? No, I'd say it isn't. It's very different. Many different worlds in one, as is usual for a megapolis, but here it seems to be especially true. And the mix of cultures is felt very much. A modern Babylon. Every race, every nationality, every native language, every origin. But not separated. United. I like it. I feel comfortable in it. It was not shown in the film, I guess

I have MANY photoes, and it's a difficult and time-consuming task to choose what to show I'll do it later. I'd like to show you all the variety of NY as much as possible, all the different moods...

Hmm... You are saying that every nationality, race and culture are united, right? Do you mean that there is no intercultural tension or intolerance? Are people mostly friendly or at least tolerant?

I'd say that in Germany people are not that happy to have all those immigrants from Turkey, Russia, Romania etc. I guess that if you are visiting the country as a tourist, you would probably not feel that. However, if you are living there, once in a while you'd feel that attitude. So how about the US?

Boy, you are such an inspiration, Shu! I want to traveeeeelllll!!!:)))

It's hard to wait, but I guess I have no choice .

Well, of course, I cannot really know. Seems like people are mostly really friendly. Maybe because it's the very essence of America - to be a "melting pot". Well, we all know the story of dangerous black - oh, sorry, afroamerican - districts... I don't know. I haven't seen it. As I've already told you, the district where we rented a flat is 100% such. We felt no danger, nothing hostile. Maybe it was just our luck, God knows. At your service

To make it worse, have my further report
We've seen one of the girls off back to Moscow and rented a car with the other one. And are now driving across America))))) And only a couple of people in this world approximately know where I am))))) Until I have a check-in in my vk account, which I seldom do
So now we are in Buffalo, which is near the Niagara falls))) I'm kind of destroying a mystery, but it's only for tonight, cause tomorrow we'll go on))) And we're travelling in such a way that we don't know ourselves where we are going to spend the next night)))
I don't know if we'll be able to see the falls, cause it's snowing, and there's a fog... There is a "winter storm warning"... We are lucky But yes, we are careful on the road, and we do have suitable tyres!
Most of all I liked Boston so far. It's the city I'd really like to live in! Of all the cities of the world I've seen (not so many, but not very few) there used to be only one such city: Prague. Now it's also Boston. Not NY Maybe later I'll try to tell you what is so special about it

We are constantly using two phrases. The first is "I'm so happy, I'm so happy!!!", and the second is "awful-awful-awful!!!" They seem to perfectly describe both our journey and all the aspects of at least my life in general... Probably, I could limit my vocabulary to these two phrases, and they will be enough to convey every shade of meaning that I'd like to express

For those who wanted my American photoes Finally - here they are!
http://vk.com/album1011380_184485644
(it isn't necessary to have a vk account to see them!)

Thanks for sharing! Pics are great, I loved the park, and skyscrapers, and the view from the empire state building... and Niagara Falls, or course!

Thanks, Frosya

I did not come here, I do not know, what here photo
It's great

Niagara Falls?? It is situated in Canada