Going through the customs

Customs regulations are on the whole similar in any country of the world. When you get off the plane you go through passport control, where an immigration officer asks you to show your passport. He asks you about the purpose of your visit to the country and the length of your stay there. If your passport is in order you go through the customs. It’s not difficult to get through the customs but you’ll have to fill in an entry form. The customs officer inspects your bags and asks if you have things liable to duty, any presents, things for your personal use or money about you. As a rule personal things may be brought in duty free. Two special sings are sometimes used to show passengers which way to go through the customs hall: “Nothing to declare” and “Goods to declare”. In some countries they have the system of red and green doors. After you are through with all customs formalities the inspector will put a stamp on each piece of your bag and wish you to have a good stay in the country.

Staying at a hotel

As I’m the manager of our company I often go on business trips in London. When the plane lands at Heathrow airport I go through passport control and check my luggage at the Customs house. A representative of our Trade Delegation meets me at the airport and takes me to the Embassy Hotel. It’s a comfortable Hotel in the center of London near the Hyde Park. Prices for the rooms are reasonable and the hotel is usually full, so the rooms are reserved in advance. The receptionist checks the reservation is reserved from this day. The receptionist gives me the key to my room. He calls the porter and asks him to take me up to my room in the lift. He also warns me that the hotel charges include breakfast and maid-service. The receptionists wishes me to enjoy my stay at the hotel.

Our university

We are students of the Byelorussian State Economic University. It is the biggest educational establishment in Belarus. There are 13 departments at the University-Economic Departments of Accounting, Management, Finance, Accounting and Statistics, Banking Relations, Commerce. There is also a Preparatory Faculty and a Post-graduate Department. We study at the Economic Department of Economic-Information science. The conditions for study are good. Numerous tutorial rooms, lecture halls, modem laboratories, a computer center, a big library and a canteen are at our disposal. The academic year is divided into two terms: the winter term and the summer term. It is a four- or five-year course. Terminal examinations and preliminary exams are held in January and June. State examinations are held at the end of the course of studies. Our university provides us with high standards of theoretical and practical knowledge. We learn different subjects: finance, banking, statistics, accounting, mathematics, foreign languages, philosophy, etc.

Education in Belarus

A national higher school system plays an important role in the development of our country. The Belarusian State University, the Polytechnical Academy, the University of National higher school system of Belarus. The basic principle of the organization of national education in Belarus is an equal opportunity for all its citizens. Specialized secondary and higher education is available for everyone according to his abilities. One of the necessary qualifications for higher school is complete secondary education. People can get a higher education trough the full-time, evening and correspondent courses. The academic year is divided into terms, each ending in examinations. The students attend lectures and practical classes and have every opportunity it to develop their talents. In order to obtain practical experience all the students of higher schools have practical training at different enterprises, schools and offices. Every year thousands of graduates receive diplomas of higher education and start working in different branches of science, economy and industry.