final topic 2 module

      Life is too boring without culture. Culture had a big meaning for people from the past, but currently people don't like culture at all. That is frustrating, because in 21th century we can learn culture with many ways. Right now I will tell you about them.

      First of all I want to start with John’s Travels. I let him talk

- Hi, I'm John Thompson from Chicago, USA. I'm 19 years old, and I was travelling around the world all last year. I learnt so much about different cultures and I had some crazy experiences, too. I thought i'd share some of my adventures with you. I hope you enjoy them! Travelling by oxcart! I was travelling in India last September.One day, I somehow caught the wrong bus while trying to get from Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I ended up in a small village in the middle of nowhere! "Next bus back to Delhi... tomorrow," the bus driver told me. Just then, a man was passing by with an oxcart. The bus driver stopped him. Before I knew it, I was sitting on top of some sacks on the man's cart, and we were heading back to the city. Most of the way, it was raining, and mosquitoes were buzzing around the ox and biting me. Sanjit only spoke Hindi, but he was smiling and laughing all the way, and he even shared his lunch with me. It was very spicy but delicious. It took us four hours to reach Delhil Despite the rain and mosquitoes, it was a lot of fun. Big waves and little monkeys I had another crazy day while I was visiting the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand in March. One morning, I decided to go on a long-tail boat trip around the islands. Unfortunately the wind was blowing strongly that day and before long, I was feeling very seasick. So, l was very relieved when we stopped at a place called 'Monkey Beach'. Hundreds of monkeys were running towards us as we got off the boat. But then, as I was feeding a piece of pineapple to one monkey, another grabbed my small backpack and quickly ran into the bushes with it! tried to run after it, but it was too fast. The bag had my passport in it! never saw my passport again. had to get a new one from my embassy in Bangkok!

      Next  I will tell about GOOGLE. Google was the brainchild of Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They met in 1995 at Stanford University, USA, while they were studying Computer Science. You could say Google started with an argument as, at first, Sergey and Larry didn't really get on! In fact, they argued and disagreed on just about everything. However, there was one thing they did share: a commitment to making the Internet more user-friendly At that time, Internet search engines were slow and complicated. They listed search results according to the number of times the search term appeared on a page. Larry and Sergey found this frustrating. An idea came to them: why not list search results according to a website's popularity? So, they set about creating a search engine that could calculate how important particular web page was. At first, their research received a fair amount of criticism from experts, but the two friends didn't give up and managed to raise enough money from investors, family and friends to support themselves. While they were developing the search engine, Larry and Sergey realised it needed a catchy name. They were inspired by a mathematical word, 'googol' which means 1 followed by a hundred zeros. They thought it was a really good name, considering the endless amount of information available on the Net, and so 'googol became 'google. In 1998, Larry and Sergey set up their office in a friend's garage and Google went online. Soon, they were answering thousands of search requests per day. People really liked Google's simple, neat design and, of course, its speedy performance! Before long, Sergey and Larry moved their operations to new headquarters they called Googleplex. In 2000, Google introduced ten foreign language versions and officially became the world's most popular search engine. Google now responds to about a bilion search requests per day and its success shows no signs of tading. For most people seeking information, Google is the place to go!

      Next thing is about Lady Gaga. With a string of No.1 hits, an armful of awards and ltalian-American girl from Manhattan, and  chart-topping albums, Lady Gaga is a worldwide sensation. How did it all start though, for the did she achieve such phenomenal fame? Lady Gaga was born in 1986. Her real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. She could play the piano by ear from the age of four and later said her musical inspiration was the classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach Gaga always loved performing and dreamt of fame from an early age. At 17, she became one of the youngest students at the Tisch School of Performing Arts in New York. After that, she followed her dream the hard way, moving out of her parents' home to a cheap flat,while trying to earn a living as a singer songwriter. It wasn't easy. Gaga spent years performing in clubs without success. Then, her luck Britney Spears and The Pussycat Dolls and music executives quickly spotted her talent for writing pop started to change She began writing songs for successful artists like hits. Meanwhile, Gaga was developing her own image and performance style, wearing outrageous costumes wigs and make-up promote her music. This was the turning point. She songs available as free downloads. Lady Gaga also various things such as her latest fashion statement or Lady Gaga set up her own website, as well as MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook profiles to grabbed the attention of the world. She even made he used these social media sites to chat with fans about lyrics of a new song, In fact, Lady Gaga's Twitter page now has 7.5 million followers! Lady Gaga shows no sign of slowing down. She writes songs, she sings and she dances, surprising audiences with her unusual clothes. Her talent and hard work have made her a reigning icon of today's pop culture.

      In the middle of my message to you is  about Chinese opera. If you want to watch a music performance that combines song, dance, and striking design, just forget about the latest pop video. Take a look at a truly original style musical performance: Chinese opera. Last month I was on a trip in Shanghai. I was staying with my Chinese friend Mai-Li. She insisted that we go to the Chinese opera and I have to admit the experience was amazing from beginning to end Opera has a long history in China. In ancient times actors performed the operas on the streets on temporary stages with only hanging lanterns for lighting. It's funny to think that such grand art started out like that We arrived at the theatre just before the lights went down As the curtain rose, the actors came on stage in their beautiful costumes the fiery reds and ribbons of gold and silver were like a kaleidoscope of colour! The costumes go all the way back to the street show days, when the actors used to wear bright colours to stand out in the dark. The singing was quite strange- very sharp and high-pitched. could carry over the crowds who gathered to watch. folk tale. A white snake changes into a beautiful girl, and Just like the costumes, the singing style was really ancient. The street performers used to sing that way so that their voices The opera we saw was 'Lady White Snake'; a classic Chinese then falls in love with a human, But the actors didn't only tell the story through song: the dancing and acrobatics were fantastic, too. The actors used not only their faces but also their whole bodies to act out the story and show their emotions. These actors train very hard at opera schools for years from about the age of 7 or 8. There weren't a lot of stage props or scenery because the actors use a lot of symbols to help tell the story. Ar actor galloping with a whip, for example, means they are riding a horse. Doing somersaults from table or a pile of chairs means they are running down a mountain The actors' make-up was incredible. Each colour has a special meaning and reveals something about their character; red means loyalty and bravery, black shows a warrior or a wild character, blue means cruelty and gold and silver means mystery. At the finale, it was breathtaking to see them all on stage together in their bright costumes and make- up. I didn't think that opera was for me, but I can't believe how much I enjoyed it. You must all see Chinese opera one day.

      After that I want to share some information with you about The Haunted City of York you like the idea of exploring historic places around the world, the city of York northern England should definitely be on your list of places visit. The Romans founded this city in 71 AD and it's full of fascinating history and culture. Its a lot of fun to go on a city tour of York and walk along the ancient city walls visit York Minster, one of the largest medieval cathedrals in Europe and wander down the pretty cobbled streets. York is also famous for something else. It is one of the most haunted cities in the world, with about 140 ghosts! In fact, York's many night-time ghost walks are very popular with tourists as they are an entertaining and spooky way to learn about the city's history One York ghost x however stands out above all the rest. It's the story of the Treasurer's House, one of York's many historic buildings. One day in February 1953, a plumber, Harry Martindale, had been in the cellar of the Treasurer's House since morning. He had heard lots of stories about the place being haunted, Just before midday, he was working when he heard a strange noise like a trumpet. He looked back and saw the helmet of a Roman soldier coming through the wal! Harry couldn't believe his eyes. Then, a whole soldier on a horse came through the wall and left through the wall on the other side! Twenty more Roman soldiers followed him. They were marching unhappily in pairs and they were carrying shields and spears. What Harry hadn't noticed was that the soldiers weren't walking on the floor of the cellar, because he couldn't see their legs When he realised that, Harry ran out of the cellar, terrified. He found out later that some Roman soldiers had gone missing in York many centuries before Maybe the soldiers he saw were the missing soldiers and they wer walking on the old Roman road below the cellar. 

      Then I will tell about Social networkig sites. Do you use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendster or Linkedin? If so, then you are part of a social network. Social networking sites allow us to see our social connections. We can see our friends and their friends through pictures and links in a user-friendly interface. When you create a profile on a social networking site, you open up a huge range of possible social connections. You can look up old friends, make new friends and share music, photos and videos with them. You can also join groups based on your Setting up a social networking account is simple. You just create and post a personal profile. For this you need a login name, password and an email account. Then you add some personal information such as name, age, sex, location, interests, etc. You can also add a photo of yourself. You can personalise your profile and share as much information about yourself as you want. You can also control who sees your profile. For example, you can make sure that you only interests or hobbies, favourite TV shows or music. allow the friends that you have added to your network to see it. The next step is to search the network for your contacts, browse for new ones and add them to your network. You can invite offline friends to join by email or search for friends who are already signed up by name, school, or workplace. Then you can search your friends' connections for anyone else you'd like to add to your network. Different social networking sites allow people to interact in different ways. There are straightforward sites that allow you to expand your personal community such as Facebook. Then there are ones that involve media sharing, such as YouTube, where members upload and look at other people's pictures and videos. There are also ones that specialise in sharing music, such as Last.fm, and finally, ones that allow bloggers to form online communities, such as Livejournal. create very tight-knit community The latest trend in social networking is to create your own independent social network. Companies do this to promote their brand and individuals can do it to.     

      Finally I will tell about Kungur ice cave.
Kungur Ice Cave is near the town of Kungur Mountains in Russia. It is one Bf the biggest fascinating caves in the world and is the only Russia that has been adapted for tourist excursions. People say that Kungur Ice Cave is like a labyrinth inside. It consists of a network of passages and a number of grottos of various sizes. Some of these rottos are fity to a hundred metres in diameter and up twenty metres in height. In all, the cave contains about 60 lakes, over 20 grottos, and around 6000 10 metres of passages. Currently, tourists have access to about 1.5 km these passages. The Kungur Cave has become a very popular attraction over the years thanks to its impressive ice formations, and now receives over 90,000 visitors a 15 year. An excursion through Kungur Cave is a truly unique experience. Visitors are amazed and delighted its beauty and charm once they enter. As they continue into its depths they get a feeling of dizzines because the high level of oxygen in the air and the thought of 20 getting lost in its labyrinths is frightening for some people The main grottos have their own names. The first one tourists get to see is the Brilliant. It is full of breathtaking crystal formations of different shapes. Lights shine on them and make sparkle with different colours. The Meteor Grotto is also 25 quite impressive and even scary for some visitors, as it is always complete darkness. The Titanic is famous for its big underground lake and is one of the most interesting grottos. The Long Grotto, as its name suggests, is the longest grotton Kungur Ice Cave, measuring around 200 metres. It has a number 30 of small lakes with crystal clear water and an entrance to the reserved part of the cave where scientists carry out research. When leaving the cave visitors often get a feeling of returning from a long voyage to the centre of the Earth. The best time to visit Kungur Ice Cave is in late spring when the ice stalactites reach their maximum size. The cave is easy to reach from major towns and numerous travel agencies organise excursions Remember to wear warm clothes and comfortable footwear during the trip.

      Culture is diamond of our lifetime. That is important to learn it. There are a lot of ways of learning and studying culture and it is up to you to choose from. That is your own business.