5. Say whether the following statements are true or false. In case they are false give the right answer.

1. A sense of humour is very important in friendship.

2. Vivien went to Russia to visit her friend Natasha.

3. Vivien’s friend Maria went to Brazil.

4. Anita is Indian.

5. Monica is Anita’s friend.

6. Anita used to cook very strange things.

7. Vivien considers Anita to be her best friend.

8. Vivien went to Albania with Anita for the first time.

9. Now Anita lives in France.

6. Speak about Vivien’s friends. Friendship by Thomas

Friends, those that you choose to spend your time with and that you love, are one of the most important things in life. Friendship is something that cannot be bought or sold. It's just something that happens naturally be­tween people that have something in common, who feel similar to each other in a certain way, or who just like being close to each other, being together. Friends can, of course, be of any age, of either sex, and of any nationality. It's even possible, although difficult, to make friends with people with whom you don't have a common language. There are many more or less important factors in friendship, each of which make a difference to the quality and na­ture of the friendship, the depth of the friendship, how long it will last, and how important it is to those in it.

One of them of course is keeping up communication: how often you can see the friend, whether you are prepared to give your time and to put yourself out in order to be with the friend or change your own plans and the things that are important to you to help your friend when he's in trouble. It's possible, of course, to have friends that you don't meet so often. Sometimes when you can't meet very often, for instance, if the friend lives in another country, the only way to keep contact may be by tel­ephoning occasionally or writing to each other.

For many, friendships become weaker when there is a large distance between the two people, but I don't find this. As I've spent a lot of my time travelling over the last few years, I'm really used to not seeing my friends for a long pe­riod of time, even though I still feel a deep connection with some of them through the time that we spent together and the experiences that we have in common and there are many of my friends who I don't know when I will see them, but I'm sure that I will see them as we have similar ways of life, and there are similar places that we visit.

Every summer I attend a large gather­ing, a large international gathering of friends, called a "Rainbow gathering", which takes place in a different coun­try every year. I'm sure to see many of my friends there each year as many of us feel it is important to meet each year. When I think of the good times that we've spent together, I still have feelings of love and warmth towards my friends. I'm so happy when I do see them.

Just recently, four of my friends, who are on their way to India overland, came to stay for a few days, and it was like a breath of fresh air to see them. It was like light coming in through the darkness. It reminded me of so many parts of myself. It was really such a gift that they came to see me. We had two or three days to­gether, a really fun-filled and exciting time. They'd never been to Budapest before, so I could show them my fa­vourite places here. We went for a thermal bath together and a swim and we did a little bit of walking in the hills close to the city, and the last night before they left, three of us stayed up until 4 or 5 in the morning, just talking about old times, about our plans, and about how we feel about what we're doing now. It was really, really wonderful. Also, Maria got on very well with them as well. It's so nice for me when different friends of mine become friends themselves. This is a very good feeling. It's like some kind of family starts to form.

Many people feel that in order to keep a friendship strong it's impor­tant to be there, to live in close vicin­ity to each other and to be able to meet regularly. If there are people who you see very often and you feel that you can share yourself with, very deep friendships can develop. Of course I think that the ultimate in this is if you are somebody's partner, when you can really learn to love and know all the parts of each other.

It's possible for best friends to be relatives. Sisters and brothers can of­ten be really very good friends. Any­body can be friends, but relatives, of course, you can't choose. Often real friends, who you feel very close to, are long-standing friends who you know from childhood. For some rea­son, childhood impressions of friend­ship are very strong and these often last into adulthood, and there seems to be a different connection between old friends and new friends.

There's something about old friends, maybe that over a long time trust builds up. Even if the person does something wrong or selfish or has a bad mood, you're able to be under­standing and patient with them and to forgive them because you know that person, you have a deep trust or love of that person which took a long time to build up. You can feel that anything the person does couldn't affect the friendship in the slightest.

Forgiveness and tolerance are also important for long-standing friend­ships. Of course, we're all human and we all make mistakes, and it's very important to realise this about other people as well as about ourselves.

Maria's still in touch with many friends from her early childhood, and even if they're abroad, they really try to keep in contact by writing and telephoning each other. It's not always the case that if you get old, you have to get lonely, because if you are able to keep good friends and to keep in contact with good friends, to keep caring about each other and keep trying to do things together, it's possible to have friends for many years. For example, Maria's grandparents have friends that they've known for many many years, from be­fore the war began even. So friendships can really pass into old age, in a very active way.

I have a couple of friends that I've known since the primary school and whenever I'm back in England, I visit them. Occasionally, I write a letter to them. Funnily enough, these are the people that I felt similar to when I was at school. I felt that something in us was the same. Now, even though we've gone in completely different directions in our lives, because of these strong shared experiences and many good times growing up together, I still feel very close to them.

From my experience, friends are of­ten people you feel something special about, instantly, from the first mo­ment that you meet. All of the very strong friendships which have devel­oped in my life started very quickly. There seems to be an understanding when you meet people you feel very similar to, or who you feel very af­fected by, that you'll become friends and the first conversation with the person can become very deep, very quickly, and can really set a foun­dation for the friendship. I've re­ally experienced this. Friends are often people who you feel are simi­lar to you in some way and just by being near to them, you experience feelings of warmth and well-being.

I really don't know why, but I find it very difficult to make friends with some people, even if we have com­mon interests. Even if I don't know the reason why, I feel some commu­nication blocks with some people, while there are others with whom I feel I can be completely myself with and can completely express myself in any way that I feel. It's important never to betray friendships. If some­body tells you something as a friend, it's important for that friendship never to go away and to tell the se­cret to other people. It's also impor­tant to try to keep your word with your friends, so that if you promise to do something or if you say that you will try to make some time to do things together, you try to keep your word and be true to your commit­ments.

If a friend is ill or if a friend is in trou­ble, it's also important to put yourself out for that person to help to ease their suffering or their predicament.

I think that another factor that's in­credibly important in a friendship is that you perceive the other person to be equal to yourself, not something way above your head, some unattainably wonderful person who you could never be as good as, nor as somebody who is of a lower level in any way than yourself. You must really be able to see that person as equal and similar to you. There is a saying that communication, real communication, can only occur between equals, and I really believe this to be so.

If s not important how old people are as to whether or not they can be friends, al­though people mostly find friends of around their own age group. I have one friend in Glastonbury, in England, who I love very dearly. His name is Stanley, he's over 80 now, and I still feel that I can relate to him as another human be­ing, as an equal as a friend and we can talk about our feelings, our problems, our hopes and ideas, we can share our insights and help to ease each other's confusion about life.

I have another friend who is 11 years old now, although the last time I saw her she was 9, and her name is Anna. She is the daughter of another friend of mine and is another soul who I feel very is close to myself. She would always come to me if she had a problem with something, and talk about it.

I really feel that a fantastic foundation for achieving or creating anything is a strong friendship. You can work together a lot better in making something, in manifesting ideas and dreams, if you work together with others who have the same motivations and between whom there are good strong, positive feelings of goodwill and friendship. I feel that friendship is the answer to many of the world's problems. If only we could all make friends and respect each other's lives, ways of thinking, and ideals, respect the things that are important to each other and ba­sically respect each other's lives, there would be no more war, there'd be no more starvation, and a lot less suffering.

There's no limit to the number of friends that you can have. Very friendly people can be friends with anyone that they meet. It only takes a warm heart and a degree of trust. Everybody can be friends. I don't be­lieve there's anybody on this planet, if I had enough love in me, that I couldn't be friends with.

Sometimes it only takes a small ges­ture to show feelings of goodwill and friendship, and these small gestures can go a long way. For example, at Christmas time, we decided, just to follow the Christmas spirit, to give small gifts to the neighbours who live on our floor, next to our flat, and since then they have greeted us with warm eyes and smiling faces when­ever we encounter them. By simply expressing gratitude to somebody who serves you in a shop or people that you work with, by showing small acts of kindness, you can make the world a better place. I believe in the saying "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.", but often it is more easily said than done. Even though I generally find it quite easy to make friends and I have friends in many places, I can't stop myself missing people that I really care about and feel that I have a deep connection with.

Being a musician helps to make friends. I find that between musi­cians there's often a common under­standing from the start and, even if you disagree about many things, music is such a fascinating, interest­ing and diverse subject to have as a common interest. There's always something you can talk about and do together - playing music.