Farewell and... welcome to Belarus!
Post categories: Student blog
| 17:09 UK time, Monday, 30 April 2012
Well, yes, friends, you realize what I`m about to say: it has been a truly fantastic month for me here at BBC Learning English Blog, and I`m thankful to all of you who were reading and/or were posting comments! That was a really inspiring and fruitful thing! Personal thanks for Neil, who was squeezing his way through my "article-less" posts! :) Hope I have managed at least to entertain you or even to provide some food for thought on some controversial issues of the modern world.
Still, that`s not "the end". Before I resign as a student-blogger of the month, let me invite you to my country. Yes, to Belarus. Don`t listen to what people sometimes say about us on TV - we`re not "North Korea N2", we are just a humble nation somewhere in the geographical centre of the Europe, and despite all the flaws and rude words of our politicians, just bear in mind that we are friendly, optimistic and hospitable.
We also have a great country with a wonderful nature - lots of forests, perfectly blue lakes, rapid streams... Not sure if I could leave links here, but just google something like "Welcome to Belarus" or "Tourism in Belarus".
We don`t have mountains, we don`t have deserts (and no sea, sorry), but for those who eager to visit a countryside, a farm, or to take a walk across endless fields or forests - not sure whether you could find any place better :)
We boast cosy, clean and nice cities. Living is mostly cheap for foreigners - you can have a great lunch for a mere $2-4, or travel by the tube for just $0,2. We have really beautiful girls, number of great places to visit and a bunch of ways to spend a nice holiday. You may come by car, train or plane. Still, in most cases you`ll need a visa :(
Belarusians are very tolerant people: muslims and Christians, people with white and dark skin color, speaking different languages live happily in Belarus and conflicts occur extremely rarely.
I love my country and I would also love to share my passion with anyone of you who is reading this. Feel free to bother me on any topic, and if you decide to visit our country - just drop me a line. I`d be glad to share my advice or even guide you through the Belarus if schedule permits.
And now, finally,
«The end».
Thank you all!
Comment number 1.
At 10:36 1st May 2012, Rajeeb wrote:Dear Nick,
I have been a regular visitor in the BBC LE blog(s) for couple of months now. One thing I dislike in this site is the 'farewell' that happens here quite too often.
I enjoyed all of your posts; often you write on thought-provoking subjects but presented in a pleasant manner with insight analysis. It amused me.
Thank you for your kind invitation, Belarus has now entered in my countries-to-visit-before-I-die list :) Hopefully, I'll make it there someday and when I do, I'll definitely remember you.
Wish you happiness always.
Best Regards,
Rajeeb
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Comment number 2.
At 18:45 2nd May 2012, Soler wrote:Hello Dear Nick
The time spent with your posts was not wasted. They was interesting and very actual in this quickly rolling world.The fact that we discuss such themes already mean so much. May be we should think more careful about everything what we do today and why we do it. Greetings to Belarus from Georgia.
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Comment number 3.
At 01:49 3rd May 2012, doniseti wrote:Dear Nick,
The subject post was very interesting .
The challenge of visit different places, nature and interact with other culture sound very nice but the low temperature there seemed a bit extreme
Best wishes
Doniseti
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Comment number 4.
At 09:29 3rd May 2012, krisztina wrote:Hi Nick
I would like to say a big Thank you for your essays which were posted. I found them very interesting and inspiring. On each occasion a lot of thoughts came to my mind and of course I was most familiar with the topic about the health care systems.
I liked your interactive way of blogging. As a good host you accepted our opinions very kindly and encouraged us to keep on Learning English.
I hope you are going to add your comments further on.
I wish the best for you.
Krisztina from Hungary
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Comment number 5.
At 10:53 5th May 2012, Sai-fung wrote:Dear Nick,
Thank you for being with us on April. I am so happy to have you sharing your thought with us. And thank you for bringing up those topics that simulated my thought a lot indeed. I left some comments and that helping me to improve my writing skill. Hope to see you leaving some comments on May too. I would like to say those topics you picked that are very controversial and worth discussing. Anyways, Thank you so so much!!
Blessings,
Sai-fung from Hong Kong
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Comment number 6.
At 15:22 7th May 2012, Elisabeth wrote:Nick, what a charming invitation to your country!
Truly charming and - as far as I can tell - extremely well-written on top of that! After reading this, my attitude towards your country has definitely changed.
May I be honest? I DID have this prejudice about Belarus being a rather austere, uninviting place not interested in tourists anyway.
However, you have convinced me that I should really try and get to know Belarus and its inhabitants before forming any judgements: What else could one wish for but friendly, optimistic, hospitable and tolerant people? I wish I could say the same about my fellow countrymen and -women, but I'm not so sure.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your brilliant blog posts! I expect to see you as some high-ranking political representative of your country one day!
Best wishes,
Elisabeth from Austria
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Comment number 7.
At 14:24 5th Jun 2012, FreeBelarus wrote:Dear Nick
While I agree that the Belarusian people are generally charming and the countryside lovely, you fail to mention in your blog, that tourists have been imprisoned at the airport for supposedly having false documents and for carrying prescribed drugs for medical conditions such as an Americian Jew, Emanuel Zeltser who is a lawyer. He was kept in appalling conditions for a number of months and he was refused access to the drugs he needed to live despite the American Embassy doing all they could to get the medication to him. You also don't mention that free press, theatre and speech is not allowed in Belarus. The most recent law being that a person can be arrested for clapping in public. The 17 years of Dictatorship have reduced most Belarusian's into compliant people as they fear for their safety. The rigged 2010 elections saw the EU put in place sanctions against the people in authority. The proud and very brave men who stood against the president in the elections have been imprisoned, denied access to lawyers and have been viciously tortured. Just for standing in opposition, in the hope of a fair election. Nice lakes and cheap dinners do not make Belarus a good place to visit and I would urge all those who think it does to look up the true story of what is happening there and not to visit and allow tourist money to be used by this Dictator to keep his people under his thumb and continue to torture innocent people. Look up and see the work being done by actors such as Jude Law, Kevin Spacey, Tom Stoppard, Joanna Lumbly and more recently George Clooney, who actively support "Free Theatre". If you truly love your country Nick, stand up and be counted!! FREE BELARUS NOW!!
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