the life in a day

when you’re kind to people. When you help without asking for anything in return. When you treat people you barely know as though they mean the world to you. Noone lives this life like its easy and noone will forget an act of kindness, especially if it is sincere.

It pays off big time.

how much of a rollercoaster my life is. For every bad day, there is a good one. For each reason to be happy, there is one to be sad. When it got to the point when I was ready to scream, it suddenly turned into one of the happiest times of my life.

Last weekend sucked. Today brought stories that are too good to be true. What’s next, life? Bring it on…. bring it on :)

I found this amazing article, written by a person who got fed up with those younger than him discussing how amazing Soviet Union was. And so he described it for us. In Russian… But here’s a sneak peek.

More than anything else, people appreciated imported goods. It was assumed that they are of good quality. Baltic manufacturers had a definite advantage with their use of latin alphabet: their goods were often considered to be imported. Plastic bags, especially the imported ones, were not being thrown away, but rather washed. They weren’t only used as containers, but had high aesthetic value.

…

Going abroad to a Soviet man was simply not allowed. He could barely ever get to the “countries of people’s democracy,” let alone the “countries of decaying capitalism.” For trips like that, people were selected very carefully. Many believed, that the foreign abundance and richness was specially “prepared” for their planned visit. Traveling abroad always took place in groups, each one having at least one KGB agent.

…

Officially, there were no professional sports in USSR. But it is kind of clear that the Soviet “amateurs,” were, in reality, professionals, since it allowed them to win plenty medals at the Olympics. The commentators always loved to underline the fact that it was all “amateur,” especially when, let’s say, our amateur players would win over Canada’s team in hockey. Canadians would only be referred as “Canadian professional players.” Sports also depended on the interests of the general secretaries. They say that Brezhnev loved hockey, and so it was flourishing. Apparently, someone must have loved gymnastics, as well.

Source: http://www.interesniy.kiev.ua/old/population/obychai/53776

I haven’t been able to sleep for the past week or so. It might have started because of my desire to hang out at night with those who I don’t see during the day, but it stayed, once classes started. I want to blame homework, but it isn’t that: I finish all of it and then spend hours in bed, thinking… I am just too excited to sleep. Too excited about the next day, week, year. I have been using the time to research opportunities and find friends I haven’t heard from in years, to see where they are. I am getting ready to graduate and move on.

It is a very strange feeling.

(But I need to get up in 4 hours and go to class… Sleep, Tanya. Please do.)