We have drawn the line of the first literary contest for the best essay "My Latest Trip”

Unfortunately only the students of our school  have taken part in the contest. 27 essays were sent by the students of the 6^th-10^th grades. We should admit that some of them impressed us with fresh thoughts and original  points of view. We also decided to name the winners in each grade separately. Thus the first place among the 6^th grades are shared by Lisa Symko and Yulia Slashchova; the best author in the 8^th grade without any doubt is Irine Dasuk; the absolute winner in the 9^th  grade is Alina Shumna. We congratulate our winners and wish them further achievements in English.

 Ми підбили підсумки  нашого першого літературного конкурсу на кращий твір «Моя остання подорож»

На жаль, в конкурсі прийняли участь тільки учні нашої школи. Було подано 27 творів учнями 6-10х класів. Нам слід визнати, що деякі з них вразили нас свіжими думками і оригінальними  поглядами. Ми також вирішили назвати переможців в кожної паралелі окремо. Таким чином, перше місце серед 6х класів поділили Ліза Симко і Юлія Слащова. Кращим автором в 8-х класах без сумніву є Ірина Дасюк. Абсолютний переможець серед 9-10-х класів стала Аліна Шумна. Ми вітаємо наших переможців і бажаємо їм подальших успіхів в  вивченні англійської мови.

My Latest Journey or The Most Memorable Trip

"The day was really exhausted, but all the same amazing and exiting” – thought Kate before falling asleep. 

That day’s morning started as usually for Kate. It was Saturday and she didn’t have any special plans. One phone call changed everything. "Hi, Katie!” – the voice of Kate’s best friend Mary was exited and thrilled although the clock’s hand showed only 7 o’clock. "Something is going to happen” – thought Kate. "Quickly get dressed and take everything you may need for a one-day trip. I’ll be at your place in an hour!” " Mary, can you explain me what it means? Where are we going to?” – Kate demanded, but Mary answered impatiently, " No time to explain. It’s a surprise. Hurry up!”

One hour later two friends were sitting in the car, which were speeding along the highway. "Mary! We can’t go to Lviv just on the spot! It’s hundred kilometers from here!” " Of course we can! We are already driving there now! Don’t worry, I’ve planned everything beforehand. I know you’re interested in history, so we will visit some really wonderful places. And after that we’ll do fantastic shopping and enjoy a cup of coffee in a famous Lviv café. You can’t say it sounds bad, can you?” asked Mary with her nice smile. ‘You are simply the best and I mean it!” – answered Katy and gently touched Mary’s hand.

During the day they managed to visit nearly all Lviv’s museums, but the most memorable was the visit to the Historical museum with its rich and unique collections of arms, silver works, ancient coins and medals. the girls admired the buildings of the city with their special style, streets with lively and busy life and friendly, polite and helpful residents. They didn’t forget to visit the famous Lviv Opera and Ballet Theatre. But the most fantastic were of course cozy lviv cafes with unforgettable smell of fresh coffee. Even the streets of the city smelled with this wonderful drink.

After midnight, when Kate was lying in her bed, she simply couldn’t feel her legs.” It was a great idea to go somewhere just for one day. People are wrong thinking that life is boring” – thought Kate, " Life is fantastic and unpredictable, and only our own laziness and lack of curiosity make it dull and monotonous. If only we dare to be different, life won’t make us wait long for ot’s wonders!”

Alina Shumna, 9^th grade, 2011

My Latest Journey or  My Discovery of Europe

Now sitting at my table in the dark room, where the only desk-lamp lighted a small space, and writing these lines I realize all the meaning the words that our whole life is nothing but an unstopping journey. Every moment we travel through time and space. We understand it clearly when we leave our hometowns and do not come back for a spell of time. This feeling of a life like a journey reveals another strong feeling – the feeling of ultimate freedom, which opens the second breath for the mind and body.
My latest journey was a special one. It was my first experience of being abroad and my own discovery of Europe. We went on the trip on our spring holiday/ there were 24 of us. The guide of our group, named Katya, was perhaps one of the most patient and kind-hearted people I had ever met because it was rather a hard mission to look after the children who were rambling around, but her genuine world-wise became a great helper in any trouble.

Our place of destination was Prague – one of the oldest and most beautiful European capitals. We made our first stop in Lviv where we had an excursion around the city and its unique architecture and magnificent wound narrow streets made a deep impression on me. There wes a striking contrast between Lviv and the cities of eastern Ukraine.
We had to spend 5 hours at the customs before entering Poland. Polish highways are so perfect that you felt no troubles travelling by bus. We were admiring the marvelous views, that opened through the bus windows.

When we arrived in Prague we were both exhausted and inspired. We left our suitcases in the hotel and went on a boat trip. The river Wltava, on which Prague stands, has a very fast  current and its name means "stubborn”. From the deck of the boat we could admire with all the sights of the  hoary city.

Next day we had a walking tour around the city and also attended the famous Prague Zoo, which considers to be one of the best zoos in Europe.
On the third day of our trip we left Prague for Dresden in Germany. The architecture of both cities are quite similar, but each of them has its own unrepeatable  image and spirit.
When we were leaving Prague, we threw coins from the famous Karl’s Bridge. People say, that if you have a wish and drop the coin from the bridge it will come true by no means. My only wish is to come back to that magic city which looks like a fairy tale that comes to life. I want to experience the feeling of freedom that overflew me in the narrow streets of the City of Thousands Towers – ancient and at the same time young Prague.

Irina Dasuk, 8^th grade, 2011

                                                                                                                 My Latest Trip

Do you like travelling?  As for me I like travelling very much.

In March I was abroad for the first time. I visited Prague with a group of tourists from our school. Among them there were twelve pupils and three teachers.

 On the first day we had an excursion about the city. Our fascinating route was taken in the most interesting parts of the city: The Old Town and the Jewish Quarter. The Old Town is situated on the hill. Walking through the Old Town we enjoyed some classic examples of Prague’s architectural heritage and in the city centre we also saw some modern buildings. Among them is the Fred and Ginger’s Dancing House . I liked it very much. On Old Town Square, formerly a bustling market place, we took pictures of the Astronomical Clock and heard the chimes of it. I was really impressed by the sights of Prague at night.

 I got to know that the visiting card of Prague is the Charles Bridge, where you can hear a lot of mysterious legends.

Then we went to Dresden. Dresden lies on both banks of the river Elbe. It is a very beautiful city. There are many ancient buildings and monuments in it. The "Procession of Princes" in Dresden is one of the largest porcelain artworks in the world. It is made out of 25,000 Meissner porcelain tiles.

In Dresden we visited one of the world wide famous picture galleries Old Masters Picture Gallery in the Zwinger Palace. We enjoyed such famous canvas as The Chocolate Girl painted by Jean-Étienne Liotard, Sleeping Venus painted by Giorgione, Sistine Madonna painted by Raphael. Then we went to the museum of Porcelain Collection and to the Armory. There we saw blue-and-white porcelain from the Ming Dynasty and Meissen porcelain. In the Armory we saw weapon of ancient times.

Of course I can write more but it’s better to see than to hear. Let’s travel together.

          Yulia Slashchova, the 6^th form, 2011

               Nowadays people like travelling very much and they travel a lot.I like travelling too.

Last summer my parents and I visited Turkey  for the first time. It was unforgettable experience. We booked an all-inclusive trip at the travel agency in Chernihiv, so we didn’t need to worry about anything. We went to Turkey  by plane.The trip was not very interesting but comfortablу and fast.

 At the airport in Istanbul we got on a coach and went to the town of Kemer, where our hotel was situated. On the way there we passed through 3 tunnels and in the 3rd tunnel our guide told us to close our eyes, rise our hands and think of our cherished desires – he said they would come true! Our hotel was situated in a picturesque place near the town of Kemer. here were 2 water rides and 3 swimming pools on the territory of the hotel. The hotel had 5 restaurants: Chinese, Turkish, Mexican, Italian, where you can taste the national cuisine of those countries and a fish  restaurant with delicious seafood. A t about 6 o’clock you can hear the morning pray from the minaret of the nearby mosque. It is repeated in the afternoon and in the evening, when it is peace and quiet and there is no discos there. On the territory of the hotel there was a Turkish market on Fridays,  where they sold different souvenirs and things you could buy to remind you of your travelling. There were magnits, clothes, sweets and Turkish carpets which were really marvelous. We went on some excursions there and I liked two of them very much.

The first was to a place called Pamukkale. Palucate means "Cotton Castle”, because there you could see white slopes of the mountains. They are white due to the fact that warm mineral water, full of different salts, flows down the slopes and gives the white colour to them. There we visited the so called Cleopathra’s Pool, filled with pure mineral water. You can swim there no more than 15 minutes, because of carbon dioxide that is on the surface of the water.

The second excursion was to 3 places at once/ the first was Demra – an ancient city where is a splendid church of St. Nicolai. He was a Christian bishop, who did a lot of good and was killed for his faith. Then we went to Mira – it is also an ancient town that was founded in the 5th century - there you can see the remains of the  Rome amphitheater and a wonderful shop where you can buy different things made of onix. After that we went on a boat trip to the  island of Kekova. In the clear water of the sea you can observe the ruins of ancients buildings which were destroyed by the massive earthquake many centuries ago and sank onto the bottom of the sea near the island.

We spent two unforgettable weeks in Turkey  and I strongly recommend everybody to take a chance and go there some day to enjoy fantastic  rest. 

Lisa Symko the 6^th form, 2011