Hobbies

1. Introduction

Hobby is a way how to spend a free time and how to relax and to do something that you enjoy. It is also an activity, which keeps you busy and fills up your free time. It gives you a pleasure from what you do and it’s always up to you what you choose and you don’t have to pay for it if you don’t want to.

To have a hobby is a very important thing because it gives people a space for an outlet from daily routines and problems. People have a need to realize themselves in a different ways than it’s their steady job. For young children and teenagers it is the way to develop their skills and talent and of course keep them away from bad things as for example drugs, alcohol or bad company.

2. Sorting hobbies

We can sort hobbies from many different points of view but the very basic sorting is to divide hobbies into girls´ and boys´ ones and men´s and women´s hobbies.

One half of young girls take delight in dancing. They are able to spend hours on training trying various figures and steps and they are proud when people talk about them. The other half is obsessed by singing. They have a clear vision of their future career. All of them are influenced by young teenagers from television screen, dressed in fancy dresses, having a weird hair style and dancing as this would be the last minute of their life.

Another hobby, which drives girls crazy, is keeping a pet. Nowadays it’s very fashionable to have a dog, a cat or a white rabbit. To keep a pet is very useful especially if the child is the only child. The pet keeps a company and it gives its owner and opportunity to find and get to know new friends. Other things which boys find very boring are reading the books and needlework. These two things are time consuming but as for needlework this is very useful activity especially when a girl is clever and she makes a lot of nice things. Many girls have a weakness for sports as a volleyball, basketball or athletics. But all girls are dedicated chatterboxes. You can all imagine how long they are able to talk about everything you wouldn’t even dream about. But people consider women´s chatting and talking as the one of the most powerful weapons against men.

As for boys´ hobbies they divide their free time among the football, ice hockey, computer games, internet and bodybuilding. These activities depend on the seasons. You can notice many ice-hockey players on the yard when there’s an ice-hockey championship on TV and mostly in winter.

During the summer all boys want to become the famous football players. Boys are addicted to various computer games. Of course they like fighting and they can spend hours talking about the cars, their muscles and fights. Boys are proud when they can show off themselves in front of the girls. Even our hobbies change as years go by. Women give up their wished for career of a pop singer or a top model. They become more settled and their interest starts to rotate around their family, fashion, job and health. Many of them adore visiting beauty saloons or keeping fit in the gyms. The others are passionate recipe collectors or they are enthusiastic about baking and cooking. Very practical women´s hobbies are gardening and needlework. It’s easy to forget all the problems in the garden when you breathe a fresh air and listen to the birds` voices. On the other hand in winter when you can’t go and work in the garden and evenings are longer than the days it’s easy to occupy your hands with needlework as for example crocheting, cross-stitching, knitting or sewing. But these hobbies are more popular in the small cities and villages where there’s a space and conditions for such an interest. Another very fashionable women´s hobby is to take a diet. Women can spend a huge amount of money on a various drinks and cocktails, pills or teas just for their good feeling and satisfaction. But everybody takes up a hobby just for satisfaction. Men´s hobbies are very narrow-minded. They do things just to pretend that they are busy and they don’t have time to help in the household. Not all men are like that but when you ask them about their hobbies most of them aren’t able to answer. Many men are eternal children so they are crazy about watching football and ice hockey but not playing it any more. Some of them have very specifical interests like fishing or hunting. These hobbies are very expensive and the results can’t be clearly seen every time they get home. Most of the time the fishermen and hunters bring only stories about their adventures during the fishing or hunting but not fish or a bag. But nature does miracles with people so at least they come home relaxed and cheerful.

A lot of men have a weakness for their friends in the pubs and some like mending cars, playing cards, woodwork or making a plum brandy. Man have a lot of different hobbies some are useful and some are waste of time. It all depends on a certain person and his trades of character.

It’s always very nice when family takes up a common hobby and all members do things together.

Among family hobbies belong mushrooming, skiing, hiking, travelling or camping and having the barbecues. Families mostly take up these hobbies when children get interested in it or parents want to fill their free time and have a fun together.

We all consider some hobbies as beneficial ones. These hobbies help us in different ways and are closely linked with our health. These hobbies keep us fit and healthy and hold us away from bad habits. I think that there’s nothing wrong with skiing, swimming, cycling, gardening or mushrooming. These activities bring us relax and satisfaction and good condition, too.

3. The hobbies you consider ...

I find most of the hobbies very useful. Many technical wonders have been found accidentally as the side effects of a certain activity. But for everyday people I consider gardening, needlework or saving money, mushrooming as useful hobbies. People can make a profit from these activities and most of the time it’s healthy as well.

People pick up hobby because they want to relax and do something for their health. I can say that all kind of sports, listening to music are good for health. Some hobbies like hunting, travelling, golf, paragliding or collecting antiques are extremely expensive because when we pick up such a hobby we need special equipment which is not cheap at all. For example when you want to be hunter you need a scattergun, small-bore rifle, ammunition, special clothes, boots, special permission to shoot the animal and a lot of money for the other things.

One big group of hobbies is collecting one. People can collect everything from small things like model cars or boats, stamps, beer mats through bigger things like chiming clocks, teddy bears and porcelain up to proper cars, guns and army equipment. People who have started collecting are mainly obsessed with this activity. They have their special swap meetings they often visit jumble sales or they just ask their friends to look for these things in the shops. This hobby doesn’t have to be expensive when you know where to look for the nice pieces for your collection. But sometimes people are able to give a lot of money just to have what they want. Many people like watching television or sitting in the pubs or gambling or playing computer games. I find these activities as the waste of time hobbies because you don’t do anything for your health and you don’t create things or meet people. You only waste your time because you don’t know what to do or you are addicted to your PC and games.

I think that we should help these people to find something what they would like doing and prevent them from doing their previous activities.

4. What do you think of the idea: “My work is my hobby.”

A lot of specialists say that it’s good when our work is our hobby because it entails us friends, satisfaction and education in one. But it’s not always like this. There are many people who are not able to draw a line between work and pleasure. I don’t know anybody who is like that but you can see many girls on TV who wanted to become models just because that was something different and amusing and now they find it hard and it’s not fun any more. Some people are lucky with their jobs because they do what they wanted to do before. These people are mainly artists such as actors, painters or singers. At the beginning their job is fun for them but later at a certain stage of their career they might become depressed or they can start taking drugs or become the alcoholics.

We can find workaholics even among the ordinary occupations. For example PC operators or electrical engineers. They repair or service computers but when they get home they do the same thing at home or for their friends and it can become tiring. So I think that we should always be careful with our job and privacy.

5. Is having a hobby a waste of time? A purpose or a necessity.

Having a hobby is a purpose and necessity as well but never wastes of time. Our mothers tried to push us into the various activities when we were young. That was a purpose because they wanted us to find something that would fill our time and we didn’t find boring. When we didn’t like it we could drop it at any time until we weren’t satisfied. These activities had a few advantages. Our parents didn’t have to keep an eye on us because we were with our teacher and us educating ourselves. We found many good friends, too. When we grew older and bigger we’ve started to look for an outlet from everyday stress. Our hobby becomes a necessity. Every person has to do at least two different things because otherwise she/he can become crazy or mad. No one can do one thing all his/her life. As for money it’s never wasting when you do something you really like and enjoy and it doesn’t bother other people. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of money but you should please yourself from time to time. So I think that having a hobby is a very important thing and no one can live without it. 6. My hobby in the past, later and now

To be honest I can’t remember my hobbies when I was a child. But when I came to my teen age I was going for the sports. I took up athletic, basketball and volleyball and I did enjoy it. Later I took up delight in ballroom dancing. I was keen on exercising.

But after I finished my studies I dropped everything because I didn’t have good conditions for doing all these things. But at that time I started cross-stitching and sewing. Since I have started stitching I’m tempted by everything that has something to do with this activity. I’ve stitched a several pictures like horses, dogs than a few table cloths, towels but this hobby is very time consuming so I can’t do it all the time because this is not my only hobby. Among my hobbies belongs a collecting of cows. It has started with one teddy cow that I got as a present after I finished secondary school. I liked it so much that my friends and sister have started buying me the other ones. Now I have quite nice collection. I have a huge big cow from San Marino, small one from Switzerland, one that makes sounds and of course my oldest one. Than I have a few statues and the little cow from England which you can squeeze and pooh comes out. And I have a lot of kitchen equipment shaped or printed with cows. I like this hobby very much but my mum is driven crazy from all my cows so she doesn’t like when someone gives me my favourite animal. I used to have a wished for hobby but my dreams came through and dream became a reality. It is folk dancing. I’ve been obsessed with dancing since I was a girl. But when we moved to Slovakia in 1988 and I saw a folk festival Východná for the first time I said to my parents I will be dancing at that stage one day in front of all these people. In the course of years I had many other activities and I didn’t have a chance to take up my wished for hobby. But one day only few days after I returned back from England I met my good friend and she told me about their folk ensemble in Východná and that there’s still space for another dancer. This was the moment when my dream came through and since I’ve joined that fantastic group of people I take part to folk festival in Východná I do sing and dance and I meet many interesting people all over the Europe who have the same interest. This activity brings me a real joy and happiness.

But I think that music brings joy and happiness all people. It doesn’t matter if that’s classical music, pop, hip-hop, heavy metal, folk or techno music because all people are different and they express their personality in different ways. But the main thing is that people feel relaxed and happy. Someone can hit the percussion for hours and it makes him feel good and someone can listen to a chamber orchestra and he can feel the same relaxation as the one who plays the drums.

Personally I prefer a folk and country music but I don’t mind any music that doesn’t make me feel depressed. Nowadays you can listen to the music anywhere in the church, music halls, shops, streets or restaurants. I like listening to the music at home at work and around the fireplace. I’ve got a CD player at home and cassette player at work. So I can make myself comfortable all day. I like listening to a guitar around the fireplace. I play the guitar as well but only for my pleasure.

Among my favourite music festivals belongs folk festival in Východná, Detva, Zuberec and Svidník and a country festival called Dobro fest in Trnava that I watch on TV.

Music takes part in our lives as a water or food. It expresses our mood and feelings. It can heel our sorrows. I think that music is very important thing for our being.

7. Popular hobbies in the past and nowadays

Nowadays it’s quite popular to learn foreign languages especially English, smoking, keeping a pet, keep fit in the gyms or gardening, playing the PC games or chatting on Internet.

In the past people did more gardening, they were meeting and talking to people and had more time for each other.

But no matter what we will still have hobbies and we will still look for a relaxation, joy and happiness.