summer holiday
My Summer
Vocabulary
| hardly | handout | participate |
| depart | all along | consisted of |
| resort | stand (2) | destination |
| share | chaperon | accommodation |
| hostel | souvenir | surroundings |
| filled | duplicate | passenger |
| local | explore | announce |
| tour | accent | it turned out |
| topic | discuss | hardly wait |
| stroll | island | ferryboat |
| admire | various | aubergine |
| tavern | mince | minced meat |
| roast | crowd | grape leaves |
| mime | skewer | head back |
Dimo describes his summer holiday
Anticipation
I could hardly wait! A two-week class vacation at the SEASIDE! — that is, until after we completed our studies in English. And Math. And Literature … history … physics. In order to participate, we had to earn good grades. That shouldn’t be a problem — I’ve been an excellent all along! Well most of the time.
Coach Ride
On a Saturday morning in early August, I along with fourteen other students and several adult chaperons from our high school in Donetsk, Ukraine, boarded a passenger train and departed.
After a few days, we reached our final destination, a resort town near Kavalla in Greece.
The Resort
Our accommodation consisted of a small building. It was a large hostel. I shared a room with four of my friends.
The students now set about exploring the surroundings: beaches, hotels, shops, souvenir stands, restaurants. It seemed to have been duplicated from places that I’ve visited in Crimea and Turkey.
We were joined by crowds of holidaymakers from Germany, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, as well as locals.
Dinner Before Dessert
The next morning our math teacher announced that we would be touring the town. But first — English LESSONS.
Classes were from 8:00 till noon. This would be our program for weekday mornings.
Miming
At first we thought our two language instructors were from Britain owing to their accents. It turned out that one was Greek while the other came from Finland.
The Greek English teacher, Mrs. Ann, taught us grammar, while the Finn, Mr. Markus, told us stories and gave us reading handouts. We also discussed various topics such as food, travel, music, sports, school, clothes, hobbies and movies.
But what we enjoyed most was pakazuha, or miming games.
The Island
The highlight of our vacation came when everyone took a day-trip to the nearby island of Thasos. We sailed there on a ferryboat. At the capital, Limenas Thasou, we strolled about and admired churches and historical buildings.
For lunch we stopped by a tavern. There I ordered an aubergine and chicken dish. Others had grape leaves filled with rice and minced meat, or and lamb roasted on a skewer with onions and tomatoes.
Later in afternoon we went for a swim in the beach.
Cool Weather
When our two weeks was over our group headed back home.
Shortly thereafter, the weather cooled down, making the start of autumn and another school year. Well at least my miming ability had improved!
Questions
1. Dimo felt very excited during the school year. True or false? Why or why not?
2. Anyone could just attend the trip. Yes or no?
3. Did they fly to their destination?
4. Where did they stay? What sort of accommodation did they have?
5. The visitors were mostly from Holland and Britain. True or false?
6. Was this strictly rest and relaxation for the high schoolers? What was their favourite classroom activity?
7. Describe the best part of their vacation.
A. What was the best vacation you have been on?
B. Have you ever had a school or class holiday? Has your school organized excursions and trips? Have you been on them?
D. What do they mean by “dinner before dessert”? Did your mother tell you that? How would this apply to school and work?
E. Where do people from your town or country go on holiday or vacation?
F. Who comes to your country or city as tourists?
