Meeting people

Our planet is great. Billions of people inhabit it. Every country has its own history and culture. So we all are different. That’s why we sometimes don’t understand each other well when we first meet.

So we should keep in mind that in different countries people greet each other in different ways. And there are some rules of greeting that can help you to engage in a small talk with the person you meet.

It is necessary to start the conversation with words: “Hello”, “How are you”; shake hands, bow or sometimes kiss the cheek, everything depends on the country you are in. You always must think what to say not to offend or confuse anyone. For that avoid speaking about money, prices, personal health, bad news, religion, politics and private life. Be careful about jokes as jokes in different countries are understood in different ways. Acceptable topics for conversation are: weather, sports, good news, travel, positive comments about host country, movies, entertainment, food etc.

You should remember that it is very important to give people a pleasant impression that makes it easier to deal with them and could be the basic of a future meeting or more serious relationship. So always try to smile to people, call them by name, be friendly and helpful, speak in a polite voice. And never forget that we don’t have a second chance for the first impression.

№4

Types of accommodation

You can get information about places to stay and accommodation from guidebooks.

In Saint – Petersburg the most popular places are hotel, motels, hostels and bed and breakfast (B&B). Hotel is a place where a traveller may find food and shelter. The best hotels have comfortable bedrooms, good facilities and accommodation. It should be as near to the center of the town as possible. The hotel may include a business center.

Hotels are much the same in all countries. They are places to go if you are looking for comfort and extra services, though of course they’re the most expensive kind of accommodation. They often have more facilities for food than other places to stay, offering main meal and also snacks and room service.

There are several types of hotels.

1. Luxury hotel provides facilities a wealthy guest may need. Usually it contains a business center.

2. Resort hotel is situated in a place where a tourist likes to stay, often near the sea, lake or in the mountains. Guests usually book it advance.

3. Commercial hotel is often located in the town center and provides accommodation for businessmen.

4. Congress hotel, apart from accommodation and meals, provides everything necessary for large meetings and conferences.

5. Airport hotel provides accommodation for people who go to or come from other countries and usually stay for one night.

6. Country house hotel provides comfortable but informal accommodation for people who want to relax in a quiet place.

7. Guest house hotel is intended to accommodate holiday visitors or long-stay guests. They are usually smaller and cheaper than hotels and are often pleasant and friendly. Apart from the bedrooms, there will be a dining room for the meals and living room that guest can use.

8. Motels (also called motor hotels and motor inns) are hotels especially for drivers. Often they’re near motorways or main roads, and there’s always lots of parking space. Some have rooms like hotel entrance, a bathroom and place to cook or make tea or coffee (self-catering).

9. A popular place to stay is «B&B» is a small hotel that provides home-like accommodation at a low price and morning meal for visitors. The letters B&B stand for «bed and breakfast».

10. Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed usually in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available. Hostels are generally cheaper for both the operator and the occupants.

11 Inns are pubs with accommodation and meals, though these may be more like pub food than restaurant meals. Many inns interesting old buildings which have been used for centuries by travelers, and they’re often cheaper than hotels.

№5

Eating out

Saint- Petersburg has a lot of places to eat out. In our city there is a diversity of restaurants, fast-food restaurant, cafés, bars, pubs, coffee shops, serving wide variety of food and beverages at different prices. These establishments offer different types of cuisine like Russian, Italian, European, French, Chinese, Georgian, Japanese, Korean and so on.

People choose venues according to their aims. If you are hungry or want to have a snack you can go to fast-food restaurant or cafés. In order to have more substantial meal you’d better go to a restaurant. To have a drink you can choose a café, a bar or a pub.

It’s well known that all these venues provide not only catering service but entertainment as well. That’s why people prefer visiting them not only to have the meal but to spend some free time with friends, communicating, listening to the music and dancing. For that most places hire musicians to play and sing live music, and organize shows to amuse customers. Some restaurants offer special children’s menu and a department for kids with a babysitter to entertain and take care of them while their parents have good time. It’s very convenient for families who prefer active social life to staying at home.

At present when nearly everyone is so busy and in a hurry, we don’t have much free time left or don’t want to spend it on food preparing it’s a common thing to celebrate different occasions and have corporate parties in restaurants and cafés. More over, it’s necessary to reserve and arrange everything in advance because the establishments are in a great demand.

Saint-Petersburg is a big city, and it attracts a lot of people coming with different purposes, without having a chance to cook the meal themselves. In this case eating out is very convenient for them. Nowadays nearly all caterers provide business breakfasts and lunches. Usually it’s a table d’hote system (fixed-price menu) which is a great advantage for both customers and establishments.

To conclude it should be noted that eating out is not just a matter of having a meal. It plays a social role helping not to loose connection with people in a rat race. Caterers, in its turn, get profit and contribute in providing working places for unemployed people.

№ 6