Russian Museum

The State Russian Museum (Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III) is the largest depository of Russian fine art in Saint Petersburg.

The museum was established on April 13, 1895, upon enthronement of Nicholas II to commemorate his father, Alexander III. Its original collection was composed of artworks taken from the Hermitage Museum, Alexander Palace, and the Imperial Academy of Arts. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, many private collections were nationalized and relocated to the Russian Museum. These included Kazimir Malevich's Black Square.

The main building of the museum is the Mikhailovsky Palace, a splendid Neoclassical residence of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich, erected in 1819-25 to a design by Carlo Rossi on Square of Arts in St Petersburg. Upon the death of the Grand Duke the residence was named after his wife as the Palace of the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, and became famous for its many theatrical presentations and balls.

Some of the halls of the palace retain the Italianate opulent interiors of the former imperial residence. Other buildings assigned to the Russian museum include the Summer Palace of Peter I (1710–14), the Marble Palace of Count Orlov (1768–85), St Michael's Castle of Emperor Paul (1797–1801), and the Rastrelliesque Stroganov Palace on the Nevsky Prospekt (1752–54).

Nick Vujicic

Nick Vujicic

Nick was born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia, without arms and legs. Three sonograms failed to reveal complications. And yet, the Vujicic family was destined to cope with both the challenge and blessing of raising a son who refused to allow his physical condition to limit his lifestyle.

The early days were difficult. Throughout his childhood, Nick not only dealt with the typical challenges of school and adolescence, but he also struggled with depression and loneliness. Nick constantly wondered why he was different than all the other kids. He questioned the purpose of life, or if he even had a purpose.
According to Nick, the victory over his struggles, as well as his strength and passion for life today, can be credited to his faith in God. His family, friends and the many people he has encountered along the journey have inspired him to carry on, as well.

Since his first speaking engagement at age 19, Nick has traveled around the world, sharing his story with millions, sometimes in stadiums filled to capacity, speaking to a range of diverse groups such as students, teachers, young people, business professionals and church congregations of all sizes. Today this dynamic young evangelist has accomplished more than most people achieve in a lifetime. He’s an author, musician, actor, and his hobbies include fishing, painting and swimming. In 2007, Nick made the long journey from Australia to southern California where he is the president of the international non-profit ministry, Life Without Limbs, which was established in 2005.

Nick says, “If God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet, then He will certainly use any willing heart!” Nick’s latest foray into radio will expand his platform for inviting men and women all around the world to embrace the liberating hope and message of Jesus Christ.

Elizaveta Popova

UNUSUAL COLLECTIONS

A lot of people adore to collect things like stamps, postcards, coins and so on. Some of them've got very original collections
The man from Novosibirsk amasses newspapers with word "truth" in the title. He's got more than 800 newspapers from different countries.
The policeman from Ireland has 3000 small bottles of whiskey.
The funniest collection belongs to the teacher from Russia. He has worked as a teacher for 30 years and has collected 6000 cabs!
The dentist from Michigan collected 1800 tubes of toothpaste.
Some guy frome England has 530 darbies from different countries and different ages.
And the most weird collection in the end. The man from Connecticut collects famous people's hair! He's got hair of Marilyn Monroe, Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein!
This collections are really incredible, but maybe they are not the strangest, who knows :)

The ll international youth student festival "People of the world"

     

                                   The ll international youth student festival "People of the world"

        At 17^th and 18^th april in St. Petersburg was the ll international youth student festival “People of the world”. The festival was hold by Hidrometeorological university. In  this  event took part students from Syria, Palestine,  Jordan, Israel, Ghana, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Congo, Mongolia, China, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Azeybardzan, Armenia, Iraq, Iran. Also participants from Russia could prove themselves.

        At the festival were following nominations: national poetry and country presentation, national dance with showing national suit, national song and national dish. All performances were bright and interesting. Viewers could vote and choose the best numbers.

        Thanks to this event, students from different countries were able to communicate   in formal and in informal settings, learn about the culture and traditions of different countries, make new friends.

        The team of the philology department of the Herzen University took part in the festival. We talked about our country, about the beauty of its nature, about the great men and the great Russian spirit. Our performance left a lot of positive emotions and accompanied by thunderous applause.

        I, as a participant of the festival, received a good experience, spent time with the benefit and interest. I especially liked the performances of foreigners who sang Russian songs. I will certainly take part in the festival next year.

First line v.o, 52

 The area of the building 52, first line of the Vasilievskiy ostrov used to belong to D. Trezzini, the first architect in Saint-Petersburg, in the beginning of the XVIII century. After that, the Moscow Bishop Compound ruled it, and since 1795 it had been rented to private persons. On the July 10, 1800 emperor Pavel I granted this area to the Russian Academy, which was doing researches of the Russian and the literature.
From 1802 to 1804 the new two-storied building was made there by the project of A.A.Michailov. There were five statues in front of it: Apollo, Polyhymnia, Calliope, Clio and Melpomene (god of light, healing and poetry, muse of sacred poetry, dance and eloquence, muse of epic poetry, muse of history, muse of tragedy). The facade was decorated with  bas-relief. A flat of secretary of the Academy was on the ground floor, meeting room of the Academy was on the first floor, and library and waiting room were on the side places.



From 1811 to 1814 the fence with the gates and semicircular arches of mews were builded up by project of V.P. Stasov. In 1819 K.A. Ton built one more floor under mews for printing house and typefoundry.

The greatest, the most intelligent people of those days such as G.R. Derzhavin, I.A. Krylov, N.M. Karamzin, A.S. Pushkin took part in activity of the Academy.

 

From 1842 to 1844 H.F. Meyer recreated building for the Roman Catholic Academy. Не built crossings, yard housings. Five sculptures were replaced with statues of Saint Peter and Saint Pavel, bas-relief  was got down, a church was built, etc.



After 1918 there were Estonian Pedagogical College, Regional Pedagogical institute, hostel and faculties of the Herzen State Pedagogical Institute. Nowdays the philology faculty of the Herzen State Pedagogical University takes place here.

Photo nowadays.

Photo nowadays.

The photo became popular mass art. All implicitly recognize the full picture art. How did this happen? This is explained as follows: firstly, photos recently managed to escape from the clutches of the other fine arts, and secondly, photography as a subject has received surprisingly widespread. Photo art captures the position everywhere - in museums, universities, offices and private homes. Without the photographer does not do any event. It records every event, every step, constantly suggesting that we exist in space and time.

Man is hard to imagine life without pictures, because it accompanies each of us from birth, throughout life and into old age. For most people, the photographs are valuable documents, evidence of their personal stories of a lifetime. Proof of this is that every event of our everyday life, for example, is just a walk in the park or a tourist trip, visiting various concerts, theatrical performances, birthdays, weddings, etc., man always seeks to capture yourself and all that it takes in the photo.

Photo - it's not just a good picture, in which someone is not very well or looks, and a particular moment, the material embodiment of the state, feelings, desires, emotions, feelings ,a piece of inner peace. Photographing each other and the world around us, we are able to feel the joy, inspiration and creative attitude towards life. Thanks to photography, to some extent, we can create a new reality for yourself, see and fix the world, a man with different parties, with different emotions, experiences in other colors, with other features.

Photo - a way of communication, dialogue with themselves and with others. Study yourself, your feelings, emotions, feelings, creative possibilities.

Photo gives a person objectively look at themselves, their feelings and emotions. Makes visible manifestations of personality, which are reflected in the appearance through facial expressions , gestures, status , clothing, hairstyles, makeup .

Photo allows you to stop a moment to focus on him, that in everyday life, just can not make. And most importantly, picture allows a person to feel like the center of attention. Self-esteem, to draw attention to themselves other people and sometimes the world.

Photo - this is a safe environment in which everyone can afford to be spontaneous, to freely express their feelings, desires, fantasies, playing with reality, to experiment with new forms of experience.

Photography is an art - a boundless medium for human creativity. Be the creator of photos or her creation, and maybe both, try to be as open and sincere. Make your life an art, and the art of life...

Talent competition

X – Factor: USA vs. AU

Everyone heard about those talent shows. There are a lot of them like dancing, singing, cooking, extreme – things and just some weird talents like tricks with cards, flexibility, etc.

But today I’m going to show you the type where judges assess your ability to sing: X – factor. The ones from English speaking countries: USA and Australia. They are not really different but the judges are different and the point I look for in those shows is accent: Australian and American.

Well you’ll see what I got for you.

AU

USA

Friendship bracelets

A friendship bracelet is a bracelet given by one person to another as a symbol of friendship. Friendship bracelets are often handmade, usually of embroidery floss or thread and are a type of macrame. There are various styles and patterns, but most are based on the same simple half-hitch knot.

The amount of thread used in bracelets varies depending on the pattern. The smallest pattern, a double chain knot, requires two strings while the candy stripe can have as 3 or more strings depending on the desired thickness.

Friendship bracelets first became popular in the United States during the 1970s and are commonly worn by both male and female teenagers. They are now popular throughout the world and are not only popular among teenagers but among the older generation; they are popular among celebrities as well. Friendship bracelets can be worn on various occasions; for example, they are ideal as a fashion accessory at the beach because they are made of materials that will not be easily destroyed and with which one can swim freely.

Friendship bracelets are ancient, but their resurgence is modern. The fad of friendship bracelets reappeared when they were seen during protests about the disappearances ofMayan Indians and peasants in Guatemala.The friendship bracelets were brought into the United States by religious groups for use in political rallies.

Friendship bracelets can have many meanings and symbolic uses, such as friendship, folk art, or social statements. Although it is generally accepted that the origins of these colorful bands lie with the Indians in Central and South America, some decorative knots can be traced back to China from 481 to 221 B.C. According to tradition, one ties a bracelet onto the wrist of a friend who may wish for something at that moment. The bracelet should be worn until it is totally worn out and falls off by itself, at which moment the wish is supposed to come true.

The meanings of colours:

• Black: loneliness, sadness, fearlessness
• Blue: purity, friendship, water
• Green: youth, nature, harmony
• Grey: age, punctuality, insensitivity
• Orange: energy, sexuality, fire
• Pink: love, tenderness, attachment
• Purple: dreams, wisdom, mystics
• Red: joy, love, passion
• White: purity, truth, independence
• Yellow: hope, sunshine, beauty

Daria Senchugova

The ferry “Sevol”

There is a big disaster in South Korea now. On April 16 at the south-western coast in South Korea the ferry “Sevol” had sank. Among the passengers there were mostly children: students and their teachers. The hole school are going to a trip to an island Chegoodo. It was also reported that there is a Russian boy Vyacheslav Sercov who was born in 1997, now he is still missing. There was 475 people on the ferry, 179 are saved now, 26 people are dead, and 270 are still missing.

According to preliminary version, the cause of the wreck was a collision with an underwater rock.

The investigators learned that before the crash at the helm of sunken ship was not the captain, but his third helper. Why it was like this – nobody knows. When the ferry started to sank, the ship's crew required the passengers not to leave their rooms, so children didn't have an opportunity to save themselves. And the most unbelievable thing is that the captain and the crew left the sinking ship one of the first.

By now the saving operation is still undone. Many people hoping that in the ferry there are still alive people.

Lesko Anastasia

Two places which you may visit in St-Petersburg at the weekends.

South-Seaside park.

In St-Petersburg was opened the alley of art-benches in the South-Seaside park. It opened on April 12. All the benches are different: for people, who just have married – with two rings, for those, who love life – with shelves for books, for lucky ones – with four-leaved clover… Now there are seven art-objects, all in all it is projected to place nearly thirty. One of the benches will come from Moscow. Every bench will be the work of art.

Authors of this project are ordinary inhabitants of the city, which were united by idea of creation unusual space for people of different ages. Twenty five persons work with their own projects of bench. All of them work without pay. More than ten concerns are not only from St-Petersburg, other cities of country are also ready to finance this idea.

One of the most famous authors is Artemiy Lebedev. Hi not only thought out, how his bench will look, but find a sponsor company.

House upside down.

There is house upside down on Nevsky 5. When you enter the unusual museum, all comes from its feet on head. There is furniture on the ceiling in every room: a cot in nursery, a fridge in the kitchen, a sofa in the sitting room and even a toilet pan in the toilet. But you should walk around this museum very carefully, because you can step on a chandelier.

Similar projects are very popular abroad. Moscow also has such house. In every room you may open doors of cupboards and look inside. There is a fish in the oven and food in the fridge, which also were reversed by authors of the project. They very carefully were working under design of the house, constructing and trading places of things. Almost all furniture were made on order. 

OUR VIDEO

The link

Spanish dances: Flamenko & Paso Doble

One of the most recognisable dances in the world, Flamenko and Paso Doble became a national symbol of Spain.

Specific features of Spanish art developed as a result of the national liberation struggle of the Spanish people against the invaders-Moors - Reconquista. Which lasted from 8 to 15 century, it has contributed to the strengthening of identity and pride of the people, forming so popular base culture. And because the state did not have a strong centralized authority, the folklore of each province retained its customs, culture and mentality of the particular mini-region.

Flamenco is Spain's most popular art form that combines music, dance and singing directions. Art of Flamenco - not just a dance. It manifests itself in three forms - Song (Cante), Dance (Baile) and Guitar (Toque).

There are many versions of how flamenco originated . On one of them , this art dates back to the fire cult (flamma ( Latin) - fire).

In another , it was recorded in Spain Roma expelled from India in the XV century . The word «flamenco» and «hit» («Gypsy») in Andalusia are synonyms . Whatever it was, the style is based on traditional flamenco rhythms very ancient eras. And it's not European rhythms. Andalusia, where eight centuries mixed Christian, Arab and Jewish cultural tradition, has been a good ground for the development of the gypsies its musicality.

Paso Doble (Spanish: Paso doble - «double step») - Spanish dance, imitating the bullfight .

The first name of the dance - «one step Spanish» («Spanish One Step»), as steps are made for each account . Paso Doble was one of many

Spanish folk dances associated with various aspects of Spanish life. Partially based on the paso doble bullfighting. Partner shows torero and partner - his cape or muleta (piece of bright red cloth in the hands of the matador), sometimes - the second bullfighter, and very rarely - the bull is usually defeated the final blow. Character of the music corresponds to the procession before the bullfight (el paseíllo), which usually takes place to the accompaniment of paso doble.

Smells.

Childhood, kinder garden, village, Christmas... While reading these words you start to remember some fragments of your life and - with them - some smells. Some of them are pleasant, the others are not, but, any way, they play a great role for you.
How do you think: is animals' sense of smells better than human's? Do sex and age affect the sense of smell? Which aromas are the most pleasant for people?
All these questions will get an answer on our next English-language lesson.

Love Is In The Air

Love Is In The Air

     Spring is all about love. That’s why I want to tell you about the holidays related to this wonderful feeling. Of course talking about love, Valentine's Day is our first thought. However, in some countries it’s not the only holiday for people in love.

Valentine's Day is becoming more and more popular nowadays. Over the centuries of its existence, this holiday was perceived differently by different people. Now it's all the same. Some people find it stupid and ignore it, but others rush to the flower shop, buy teddy bears, invite their valentines to their favorite restaurant or ... make fires! It turns out that not all countries celebrate this date in a simple way. And I want to tell you about some interesting and unusual traditions.

First country that catches attention is Netherlands. It’s not about a special way of celebration, rather this day gives some preference to women. So during this holiday woman in love has the first right to make a marriage proposal to her beloved. According to Dutch, there is no shame in this practice. But in this situation girls win anyways, because if a proposal is rejected, the man must give lady a silk dress.

The next country I want to tell you about is Iceland. People here still honor military traditions. So Valentine's Day is associated here with making fires dedicated to the son of Odin - Wali. But is it related to love? Of course, it is. It is known that passion between lovers can be ignited by a kind of ritual, when the girls hang embers on the guys’ necks, and those in turn hang pebbles on the girls’ necks. Then the couple needs to light a fire in the name of Wali with the help of a spark that appears as a result of the friction of stone by stone.

Japan comes up with its original way to celebrate Valentine's Day. Every year couples from across the country can tell the whole world, or at least Japan, how much they love each other at the event with a very simple and clear title "The Loudest declaration of love." On a special platform lovers cry about their feelings, and the loudest man or woman receives a prize. I should also add that japanese Feb. 14 is like our March 8, but only for men. In addition to traditional razors, wallets and socks, Japanese women give chocolate to their partners. Special cheap chocolates (for those who have a lot of friends) are sold on every corner. The interesting thing is that chocolate is separated in two kinds: one for relatives and friends and another for your beloved. So when you give a certain chocolate to a man, he immediately understands who you are to each other. After a month on March 14 roles change and only women receive presents.

South Korea is also interesting with its traditions. This country loves the number 14. It also has Feb. 14 when men receive presents and March 14 ("The White Day") when women do. But Korean people have one more holiday which is April 14 and it’s called “The Black Day”. On this day "single" men and women, who have not received chocolate or candy in previous months, gather together and go eat noodles in black sauce – that’s why it’s called “The Black Day”. Then comes May 14 which is the day of roses, June 14 is the day for kisses and so on. So the 14 day of every month is a holiday for people in love.

Wales also has an interesting tradition. It is famous for its so-called "love spoons". Before the feast sweethearts carve a spoon from wood, decorate it with hearts, keys and keyholes and give them to each other. This gift literally means: "You have found the way to my heart."

According to popular stereotype, France is the most romantic country. Nevertheless, on Valentine's Day here it is decided to give gifts that are more expensive than cards or chocolate. The traditional present this day is jewelry. And also every year there is a contest for the longest kiss.

In England people give presents not only to people but also to pets - dogs, cats and even horses. However, they are not interested in valentines so they receive sweet biscuits in the shape of hearts.

In Russia we also have St Valentine’s Day, but less and less people celebrate it. Most of young generation ignore this holiday and it makes me upset. Of course not all of us have relationships but why could not we gather together and just have fun this day? I really don’t know, but I hope the situation will change.

The Total Dictation

Do you know about such a very interesting action, which is called The Total Dictation? 

The idea of the voluntary dictation for students was born in The Novosibirsky State University. The first dictation took place in 2004, and after that this event has happened every year. In 2009 organizers invited singer Psoy Korolenko to read a text. About 600 people participated in the action that year. In 2010 a lot of different organizations, for example, libraries, universities and schools joined the Dictation in Novosibirsk – all in all, almost 2500 people. The following years fans from different cities and towns joined the action. Nowadays The Total Dictation is written by thousands of people in Russia, USA, France, UK, etc., even on Arctic Stations and in spaceships.

Texts for the Dictation are written by modern Russian writers, such as Boris Strugatsky, Dmitry Bykov, Zakhar Prilepin, Dina Rubina, Alexey Ivanov. Nobody can see a text before the Dictation begins. Usually popular and well-known singers, actors, scientists, showmen, journalists become a Dictators – people, who read the text to the public.

The first Dictation in Saint-Petersburg was in 2012. The main writing-place is Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. But this year a number of places increased. The philological faculty of Herzen State Pedagogical University wasn't an exception. I was fortunate to become a volunteer of The Total Dictation-2014 and I'd like to tell about this day.

My and other volunteers' main task was to prepare classrooms and to meet people. We prepared classrooms and put paper on the desks. It was about 2 p.m. when people began to come. Up to 3 p.m. our team was escorting the members to the auditoriums, helping them to find free places and so on. At 3 o'clock the Dictators came in and The Dictation began. As for dictators, there were an actress Svetlana Kruchkova, historian Leo Lurie, director Igor Shadhan and others. Fortunately, I had time to write the text. Honestly speaking, it wasn't very difficult. After the Dictation I took the papers away and gave them to the teachers, which were checking our dictations for several days. There were about 400 members.

The results are already known. As for me, I've got “4” - I did punctuational mistakes. I can't say I proud of myself, rather satisfied. To sum up, I can say that this day has remained in my mind forever. Moreover, I hope to participate in The Total Dictation-2015.