minats_zone

Well, our flight to Hanoi was smooth and uneventful, thanks God! Then we were driven to Ho Long, which is 300 km further to the North of Hanoi. It's a unique place where numerous rocks and rocky formations are scattered across the Ho Long Bay. The place itself is considered the 8th Wonder of Nature and is, therefore, protected by UNESCO. We're staying in a local resort owned by Malasian company ("Holoday Villa"'s chain). We have our own beach and swimming pool and almost nobody around as it's not the top season. The weather was good for the first 2 days but now it's raining endlessly and the sky is heavy. We hope it'll change soon, otherwise there is little if anything to do. We took some nice pics as there are beauty spots all around here (not in the bay, but around the hotel, we're planning to go there soon). Love you and hope to hear from you soon....

Gmail - Minats ICT for ELT Weekly Digest - minats09@gmail.com This is my WIKI site which I have been using for a while (since March to post and receive online tests) Welcome!!!

Well, the Big Easter Day is over and many other busy days in April are over, too. It's extremly chilly for April in Moscow and though it's sunny, the air is very cold and winds are harsh. We've started getting ready for flying to Hanoi (25th April) and now are packing the cases. I've enrolled for quite a large number of ESOL exams in May-June and even for a couple of off - site sessions in Krasnodar and Saratov. Now that classes at HSE have finished, I can look back on the time I spent teaching there and say that it was somewhat productive for me as I learned a few good things from both my students (IT) and the new environment. So thanks God everything has been going smoothly. Have a look at some funny shots I've made at dacha and in Moscow these days. I'm looking forward to obtaining USA visa in May-June and going to see Olia in SF in summer. Hope things will work out for us.... Love you all and hug you...

It's only now, after 5 days've passed, I set about writing about our trip to Belgorod. We stayed there for 2 days (3-5 April) with Alya,Stanislav's sister,her daughter Irina and their grandson Kostya. Everything was OK with them, thanks God. They are doing well and are looking forward to moving to a new flat in a year or so as their old house, just in the city centre, is going to be demolished to give a way to a new tower block. However, the biggest surprise for me was the life in this provincial town, just in mid-Russia. It has become very clean and more modern, but more importantly, more cultural and very quiet, unlike ever busy and noisy Moscow full of strangers and ex-soviet people. We enjoyed their theatre and went to see 2 wonderful performances in the Local Drama Theatre.The play of the actors was really convincing and I wish I could have this in Moscow, too... Can you guess the price for the best tickets??? Only 200rb!!! Well, people don't earn same salaries as ...

Hi, everybody, I've been really busy doing my medical ckeck-uo at HSE. Some doctors scared me saying that sth and sth needs to be given much care and attention. But thanks God - nothing terminal or extremely serious. In addition to this, I've been busy putting content in my new WIKI site, specifically designed for ELT. I love doing it, though I haven't mastered all the options so far. Hope it's just matter of time.The good news is that some of my Ss are already active doing tests on it. Anyway, Spring & Easter are getting closer and closer. The sun can be really bright on some days and this lifts the mood up. Stanislav and I are going to Belgorod by train for a weekend to see his sister, niece and her small son. He's only 3 years old. I'll take some photos there and post them. Bye for now....

Hi, this weekend was really very busy as I examined for three days, since Friday till Sunday. A Saturday I spent in NN examining YLE (Young Learners, kids under the age of 12). Those were Starters (aged 7-9) and it's real fun to deal with them at this age. They are funny and shy at the same time. But it was a welcome change after all those freezing early spring days in Moscow as I could look at the beautiful Volga river, though NN is full of snow and the sky was not clear. There are lots of old buildings in NN converted into offices overlooking the Volga, so the overall impression was very good, as usual. I really love this city. The comfort on a train was just unbelievable. I think the service has improved dramatically as I rarely use trains and could see it at once. Olia sent a splendid photo of the view from the hill in SF full of sun and flowers? Surprise, surprise...

Hey there, I'm really proud of my HSE IT Students (group 172) who performed today the one-act-play "A Bad Dream" at the faculty of Economicts at Pokrovka. With Artem Dyatlov and Maxim Maron - in two major male roles and Dasha Kobyakova and Nina Buchina in the female roles respectively. They acted so confidently and spoke English so fluently that one can easily forget that they came on September 1st with little if any spoken English at all. Once again, they proved that gifted people are gifted in many respects. I skipped two classes with 2d year students to support them there and see them play. Next year we'll try to arrange the same event for IT students at our premises on Kirpichnaya!

The performance is on till March 15th at the Moscow Youth Concert Hall. I've wanted to see it for a long time but had no chance to do so as kept putting it off for some reasons, largely because of my 'busy life'. But when sth you've always really wanted comes true by chance, due to the mercy of God or some good occasions, it is a real good luck. So I managed to see not only a high-tech performance with amazing costumes but also enjoyed Ekaterina Guseva (our top star) appearing in the main role of the Beauty. The play is sth like a good fairy tale, which it really is, yet with some bits of modern life and modern humour.On the second thought, I regretted not having had more opportunities like this as they really brighten life. Another good news is that my FCE group are sitting exam on March 13th and 14th. I'll keep my fingers crossed for them. Some of them are really bright and I'll certainly miss them after so much time spent together. Bye for now...

Hi, there. We've been celebrating Women's Day for three days already here, in Russia! Our government loves women so much that they arranged these long holidays. So we had some time to let our hair down and enjoy time outside Moscow. I made some splendid shots with my new camera (10.2 pxl) and want you to have a look at them, too. The main idea there is - "Spring is supposed to have come but winter is still here to stay, but not forever!!!" This feeling I wanted to convey through my photos. Don't be judgemental, though. I'm a beginner. Love and miss you...

Dear all. We've just received some good photos from the most recent birthday party we celecrated at the same cafe as Dad's birthday. It's a good sign as my own birthday (which I wish I could never celebrate) took place on February 27th and we didn't have anything special on that day, I mean a party with guests and drinking, though Dad gave me a long awaited I-phone. Yet I had a kind of second thoughts as so many dear people either called me or sent their e-mails. For this reason, I decided to post some of the best photos from Oxana's birthday which was on February 16th. Have a look at the happy faces there. Oxana is a really bright girl and Dad's postgraduate student. Her Mum (who arrived from Kazakhstan)and friends are there, too. Meanwhile, spring has come and we have many bright and sunny days here. Miss you and love you...

Well, the Shrove Tuesday is coming. In Russia it's called the Pancake Day. Actually this is the whole week when people are eating, going to see relatives and friends and drinking. This time is before the Great Fast, which proceeds the Big Christmas Day. The latter is going to be fairly early this year, on April 19th. So the incoming week will be full of fairs all over Moscow where people can eat pancakes with honey, butter, caviar, or even Russian herring. I love this holiday, though it's pagan (non christian) it's typically Russian and there is usually a lot of show and sun on these days. We walked around our dacha and took some nice photos of the snow drifts and some places with lots of snow. Now it's -12C. So, we love such weather. Anyway, remember and love you all and look forward to hearing from you...

Well, today I've been following Christopher Graham to RMAT (Russian International University of Tourism and Hospitality). Their building is outside Moscow, in Skhodhya, Leningradskaya highway so we had to spend quite a time driving there.. Christopher is a freelance teacher trainer from London. He works not only for Garnet but for other publishing houses as well and also writes his own books about Russia. He has got his little office in Moscow and rents a flat not far from Prospekt Mira metro station. He seems to be a very intelligent professional in Academic Literature. Women in RMAT were impressed. The strangest thing on our way to Skhodnya was that we got lost 2-3 times as all roads in Moscow seem to be under construction and no signs at all. He was shocked, me either...