The Russian word for website is сайт as in «Мы с Зоей познакомились на сайте знакомств, и через шесть месяцев мы поженимся!» "Zoya and I met on a dating site, and in six months we are getting married!" There are several ways you can tell someone to go to your new web site:

A slightly more formal way, say in an advertisement, uses the verb посещать/посетить: «Посетите нашу домашнюю страницу» “Visit our home page.” Of course, sometimes you want to warn people away from a site, so you might say «Не открывайте этот сайт, иначе компьютер заразится шпионскими программами» “Don't go to that site or the computer will get infected with spyware.”

The Russian word for Black Sea is Чёрное море. In Russia, I was lucky to live very close to the Black Sea and I enjoyed going swimming with my grandparents. Because the Black Sea is isolated, it is very warm during the summer and many people enjoy swimming in it because of the comfortable water temperature. The beach is very crowded during the summer days and it is easy for parents to loose track of their children if they don’t pay close attention. I often heard my mother call out to me «Оля! Не уходи далеко» “Olya! Don’t go too far.”

My mom and my grandmother often swam far away from the shore. They swam so far that the beach was hardly visible when they turned around to go back to shore. As they swam in the open sea, many large jellyfish медузы surrounded them but surprisingly, my mom and grandmother were not afraid of them. Back on shore, I always found friends to play with and make sand castles песочные замки. Girls and boys played all around me and I came to them and said «Можно я буду строить песочный замок с вами?» “Can I build a sand castle with you?” and they gladly included me in their activities. At the end of the day, I was very tired from all the exciting activity and my family took me home. With my eyes half way shut, my mom said «Ты очень устала и теперь тебе надо отдохнуть» “You are very tired and now you need to rest”. Indeed, I always slept well after playing on the beach of the beautiful Black Sea.

The Russian word for circus is цирк. In particular, I remember attending a circus in Moscow which consisted of Russian musicians, clowns, animal performers, and dancers. I especially enjoyed watching the different animals that were trained to do certain tricks. The Russian circus is based on centuries-old Russian traditions and fables which makes it very popular among the Russian population.

I went to the Russian circus only two times but I loved every minute of it. Before the show, my parents asked me, «Ты хочешь сахарной ваты?» “Do you want cotton candy?” and with great excitement I said yes! да! I always bought strawberry flavored cotton candy which was my favorite. During the show, many amazing acts were performed by both the acrobats and animals. All through the show, my parents pointed out exciting moments such as «Смотри Оля! Медведь сам катается на велосипеде» “Look Olya! The bear is riding the bicycle all by himself”. I wondered how it was possible to train a bear to ride a bicycle all alone. With an excited look on her face, my mom pointed out again «Как удивительно прыгают акробаты!» “How wonderfully the acrobats are jumping!”. It was an amazing experience for me and I plan on attending the Russian circus again in the future.

The Russian phrase for dentist is зубной врач. As a child, I loved to eat candy конфеты and failed to properly brush my teeth afterwards. As a result I found myself visiting the dentist more often then I should have. Every time I had a toothache, I said «Мама, у меня болит зуб!» “Mama, my tooth hurts!” and my mom answered by saying «Тогда нам надо к зубному врачу» “Then we need to go to the dentist”. I hated going to the dentist because I was terribly afraid of having to sit in a chair for such a long time while the dentist poked my gums with needles and drilled holes in my teeth.

One time, my mother took me to the dentist and I screamed and cried so loud that everyone in the office stared, and I found myself at the center of attention. When my mom finally put me into the chair, I stopped crying and a great wave of fear came over me. The dentist came to me and said «Сейчас я сделаю укол и боль пройдёт» “Now I will give you a shot and the pain will pass”. I felt like giving the dentist a shot myself to see how she would feel in my situation. With tears in my eyes I said «Я боюсь уколов!» “I'm scared of shots!” but she did not seem to care much about my concern. When the dentist finally finished fixing my cavity, she said «Вот и всё! Ты свободна, иди» “That’s it! You are free, go.” Relieved, I ran out the door with my mom and went home where I began my candy eating cycle all over again within a few days.

Вареники is a traditional Ukrainian dish which is also very popular in Russia. They are dumplings that can be stuffed with potatoes and mushrooms картошка и грибы, cabbage капуста, cabbage and mushrooms капуста и грибы, fish рыба, meat мясо, liver печёнка, cherries черешня, or strawberries клубника. The stuffing possibilities are endless which makes this dish unique because you can individualize each вареник perfectly for yourself.

Occasionally my mother makes вареники. Her favorite stuffing ingredients are potatoes and mushrooms, cabbage and mushrooms, and cherries. When we have company, she often makes this dish for the guests and at the end of the day, she happily announces «Гости съели все вареники!» “The guests ate all the dumplings”. My mom has altered the recipe slightly by deep frying each dumpling to create a crispy shell a crunchy taste. These dumplings are usually served with sour cream сметана, fried onion жареный лук, or melted butter расплавленое сливочное масло. My mouth is already starting to water as I describe this tasty dish!