17. A typical American weekend and your typical days-off

Nobody will deny that our modern life is very stressful. Every day we work hard trying to save time and to earn as much money as possible in order to possess cars, better houses and to have a big bank account. I heard someone once said that today we so busy that even if God wanted to speak to us He would have to leave a message on our answering machines. But still, as we’re human beings we can’t live without some rest to build up one’s strength, at least two days a week. On the whole, all people spend their weekends alike, but yet there’re some differences. Let’s for example compare an American and a Belarussian days-off. Well, as a weekend comes Americans like to let loose and to have a good time. Usually , a typical American weekend starts on Friday night and as a rule they may go to a bar for a happy hour, the time when drinks are half-price. But they don’t visit these all-night parties; instead they prefer to spend the evening at home. Saturday morning is the time for cleaning the house, washing the car, doing the laundry, and then comes the time for Saturday lunch. After that the American people either go on a beach, or play tennis, or just go for a walk. During their evening leisure time they may go to the cinema or theatre, but very often they go to watch a band in a bar, where the atmosphere is very relaxed and it is pleasant just to take in some jazz. American Sunday is the most peaceful day, when they sit in the garden or on the balcony over a cap of coffee and read newspapers. Sometimes they like to make up a picnic with their friends. Besides, the most popular meal for the weekend is the so-called brunch, during which the whole American family goes out to some restaurant that overlooks the ocean and spends there a few hours. In the evening they’re getting ready for a new working week or simply watching television.

Speaking about Belarussian days-off, in my opinion, they’re much busier than American ones, since in our country a lot of people either work or study on Saturday. So, our weekends begin only on Saturday afternoon. Actually, the Belarussians spend their weekend almost in the same way as the Americans do, but for our people Sunday tends to be much busier, as we have plenty of work, as household chores, going to the market in order to stock up for the next week or visiting grandparents in the country. To tell the truth, these activities are so tiresome and exhausting that at the end of the day you are way baked to do anything as to sit in front of TVset switching channels or just to read some plain book before going to bed.

As for me, certainly I’d like t have one more day-off, because with the only Sunday I’m unable to have a good rest and to build up my strength to be ready for the following working week.

18. Jerusha’s first steps at college

Jerusha Abbott was a 17-year-old orphan who had lived in the asylum since her childhood. And the only education she managed to receive was several years at school of the asylum and four years at the village high school. Jerusha was definitely a brilliant girl therefore she did well in certain branches at school. And her work in English could even be called excellent, that is why she was noticed by a rich man who decided to send her to college with the purpose to educate her to become a writer. Everything was new to Jerusha at college. Actually, it was a totally unknown world for her. This new reality was full of unfamiliar things, because at her 17 years old she had never before stepped outside the asylum and couldn’t picture the life behind its gates. She had never even dreamed there was such a place in the world as college. Every day was full of new impressions, and she was excited by every moment of her life.

Jerusha’s room was situated up in a tower. In fact, she was very lucky to get a single room, although freshmen usually didn’t get singles. There were also two other girls on the floor named Sallie McBride and Julia Pendleton. Jerusha got on well with Sallie who was a nice and cheerful girl, and soon made with her good friends. But Julia seemed to be too haughty as she came from one of the first families in New York.

Although Jerusha’s first days at college were very exciting, she also had to overcome some difficulties. The main problem was that despite she had got some education before, it was utterly little. For instance, Jerusha once got into a stupid situation: the teacher asked her who Michelangelo was, and she thought he was an archangel. So, to exclude similar incident Jerusha made an unbreakable rule: never to study at night, and instead of studying started to read books to fill eight blank years behind her. She read such books as “David Copperfield”, “Robinson Crusoe”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and many others. As a rule, one book was not enough for her hungry mind, so, she was reading four books at once. What is more, whenever, Jerusha came across with an unknown word she looked it up in the encyclopedia.

There’s no doubt, it was extremely difficult for Jerusha to catch up with other students, but nevertheless, she didn’t lose heart but worked hard, because she had a great desire to study and was motivated to become a writer. Probably, she understood that it was the only way to achieve her aims and to make one’s way in life.