2000

At any party there is one band whose CDs are a must. We are talking, of course, about Jamiroquai, the British group fronted by the guy with a funny hat and an impossible voice, Jay Kay.

The summer holidays are here again and it' s time to see the world. What better place to start than New York City?

Not so long ago, to young people in our part of the world, the very thought of visiting America seemed like an impossible dream. There was the huge cost and the problem of getting a passport. Since then much has changed. With the zloty now convertible, the relative price of a flight ticket has come down. And airlines often offer special rates for students.

Lavender is a sweet-smelling herb with pink flowers often grown in English gardens. But there is only one place in Britain where it is still harvested on a commercial scale. This is the Norfolk Lavender Farm, a place of endless fields covered with pink flowers, where visitors can learn about the fascinating history of this unusual plant.

I thought it would be fun to take a humorous look at everyday life issues in the United States and ask the question made famous by many 4-year-olds: Why? Why? Why? So why ask why? Why not?! Even if the answers are obvious to us, even if the questions themselves are wrong (some of us love the taste of cough syrup, for example: see below) kids will always ask why. The following is my Top 20:

1. Why does a gallon of bottled water cost more than a gallon of gas?

If this old saying is true, then I' m a bowl of muesli because that' s what I had for breakfast. Obviously I' m not, but there' s a lot of truth in the proverb, though perhaps it should be modified to read" You are what and how you eat" . Food and eating habits are two of the most defining traits of a people and culture and, though Britain has a rather bad reputation in this area, meals have always been a very important part of our society.

Travel writer Olgierd Budrewicz took a trip to Pennsylvania for a walk down memory lane with his old friend Ed Piszek, founder of the Copernicus Foundation and the World of English.

On a quiet street in north London there's a zebra crossing that attracts almost as many tourists as Buckingham Palace.

When most people hear the words Kung Fu, they think of energetic kicking and punching. However, Kung Fu actually means something like" accomplishment" or" successful effort" . In China, a master painter or calligrapher may be said to have" good kung fu" .

I am learning English at school and I enjoy it very much. But I have one problem, so perhaps you can help me. Do I say: "I live in Zakopane" or "I am living in Zakopane"? Having two present tenses in English is difficult for me. - Stephan P., Zakopane

Dear Stephan,
Yes, I understand your problem. But the problem is not with English, it is with the English teachers and the grammar books.

Anybody who has visited Britain in the past year or so cannot have failed to hear about the argument surrounding bloodsports. These are 'sports' which involve hunting and killing wild animals. They are still legal in Britain, but many people want them to be banned, especially bloodsports which involve hunting with packs of dogs, or 'hounds' as hunting dogs are called"