My best friend

My best friend is my class mate. His name is Karel (it is Charles in English). He is of an average height, has longish straight hair which is sort of red. His face is oval and his eyes are light-blue. He has some freckles on his nose and he wears an earring in his left ear and has glasses. He is very slim. He usually wears jeans or his black trousers and a T – shirt or a sweater.

He is quite frank, helpful, generous, clever and sometimes even wise, although to some people he may seem selfish, lazy, moody and careless. Sometimes he is shy, sad and depressed but he is never cruel. I am afraid he is not too brave although sometimes takes risks. He is never tired of listening to me. He seems to tell me almost everything about himself.

It is fun to be with him. We have nearly the same hobbies and sometimes the same opinions. We often go to the cinema but we do not like action films or films without Czech subtitles. Sometimes we just walk around town or go to the pub. We both like travelling, reading, swimming, talking about politics, computers and attractive girls. We often spend our leisure time together, especially when we are discussing some extremely demanding computer game. In the summer we usually travel around Bohemia, climb up some mountains and chase nice girls. When one of us reads some interesting novel, short story or poem, he usually recommends them to the other. Once or twice a week we go to a local swimming – pool to have a swim. In the winter we sometimes go to our ice-rink but we are not very good at skating.

I can rely on him and he often gives me sound advice. I cannot imagine my school life without him. We help each other with difficult homeworks or exams and we try to overcome everyday school monotony and problems with humour and fun. Recently we tried to contribute to our school magazine with some interesting and witty comments on our History teacher. Our friendship is based on honesty and respect for each other‘s feelings. He can show real understanding for my feelings but at the same time is open enough to be critical. At the same time he is however kind on my mistakes. He tells me the truth and never lies. He is always ready to encourage me or to help me if necessary. I hope our friendship will be long lasting and won’t end after our graduation. We would like to study at the same college (Technical Faculty) and maybe we will spend the next four or five years of our lives at a common room in a students’ residence. At least I hope so.

From Reading Material for the Graduation Exam