Written by student: Davidov D. Teacher : Kolobova L. M. SECONDARY SCHOOL 90 SHALYA 2009

Name Denis ( from Dionysus or Dionysos), is the god of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and a major figure of Greek mythology, and one of the twelve Olympians. The geographical origins of his cult were unknown to the classical Greeks, but almost all myths depicted him as having "foreign" origins: typical of the god of the epiphany, "the god that comes". He was also known as Bacchus. He is the patron of agriculture and the theatre. He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing people from madness, ecstasy, or wine. Scholars have discussed Dionysus' relationship to the "cult of the souls" and his ability to preside over communication between the alive and the dead.

My last name, Davidov, was derived from the ancient king of Israel, David and originated in Russia, where people received their last names during the first population census in In ancient times people did not have surnames, but were simply named: son of.... For example, if your fathers name was David, you would be son of David. Later on they changed this to Davidov, -ov meaning of or son of. Therefore my last name literally means son of David. This name from the Hebrew personal name David beloved, was given in honor of the Biblical king of this name, the greatest of the early kings of Israel. His prominence and the vivid narrative of his life is contained in the First Book of Samuel, led to adoption of the name in various parts of Europe. Its popularity in Russia due to the fact that this was the ecclesiastical name adopted by St. Gleb (died 1015), one of two sons of Prince Vladimir of Kiev.

Russian language has always been one of the widely spoken languages not only in Russia but in the whole world. According to the recent researches, with more than 500 million Russian-language speakers, it is the world third most commonly spoken language after Chinese (more than 1 billion speakers) and English (750 million). It is one of the official or working languages in many international organizations (UNO, UNESCO, IAEA ).

New Year's Day I like New Year's Day, it is my favourite holiday. The 1st of January is a winter holiday and now it is the first day of the New Year. Our family prepares for this holiday beforehand. My stepfather brings home a beautiful New Year's tree at the end of December. Our family has a tradition to buy it. I like to decorate the New Year's tree with toys, little coloured lights, sweets and a beautiful star on the top. My mother and grandmother prepare our holiday supper and lay the table. All the members of our family clean the flat before this nice holiday and then each of us try to dress well. We like to see the New Year in at home with our relatives. They come to see us at 11 o'clock in the evening. At 12 o'clock we are sitting at the table and we are glad to see the New Year in. We say, "Best wishes for the New Year!" I hope that next year will be better than the last one. The New Year's Day is always connected with our new hopes and dreams. It is a pleasant moment to get presents on the New Year's Eve. I usually get many nice useful things from my parents and relatives. My parents put their presents under the New Year's tree. We don't go to bed till morning, we watch TV, dance, eat tasty things and make jokes. I enjoy this holiday very much.

3 tablespoons of flour 3/4 pound of white cabbage, sliced 3 chopped tomatoes 5 medium potatos, boiled and chopped 4 tablespoons of cooked kidney beans 1/4 pound of cooked ham 2 tablespoons of bacon fat 3 cloves of garlic 1 sprig of chopped parsley 1 sprig of dill, chopped 1 cup of sour cream Borscht Recipe Instructions: Prepare a broth using the beef, half the broth veg., 1 onion, crushed peppercorns, bay leaves and two quarts of water, add salt to season. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours and then strain, saving both the broth and the meat. Braise the beetroot in butter or fat skimmed from the broth, seasoning with salt and a splash of vinegar. Add some of the broth and simmer until cooked. Chop the remaining broth veg and saute them in butter with the remaining onions. Slice and simmer the cabbage in some of the broth for about 1/2 an hour. Then add the beetroot, sauted veg and chopped (boiled) potatos, kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and diced ham. Simmer until cooked thoroughly. Mix the flour with some of the broth in a seperate bowl then add slowly to the borscht, mixing in throroughly. Crush the garlic and mis with the bacon fat and chopped parsley and let steep in the soup for at least 15 minutes. Chop the beef in to small pieces and add to the soup. Season with salt and vinegar and sprinkle with dill. Place a tablespoon of sour cream on each helping when serverd. Borscht Recipe Ingredients: 1 pound of beef brisket (or chicken if you prefer) 1/2 pound of broth veg. (carrots, leek and parsley) 2 medium onions, chopped salt & pepper 5-10 white peppercorns 2 bay leaves 2 medium beetroots, peeled and sliced 4 tablespoons of butter vinegar