maja's blog

An American moved to Slovenia

2007-06-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.carniola.org/

In year 2001, Michael Manske moved from New York City to Slovenia because of his wife, who is a Slovene. He claims that Slovenia is a wonderful country to live in and I agree with him ;).

He began to write his blog The Glory of Carniola on January 26, 2004. His aim is to provide a modest picture of life in Slovenia after the year 2000.
Manske’s blog is divided into 15 different categories, there is everything from music, sports to things you probably won’t see in the U.S.
On February 1, 2005, his blog won the European Weblog Award for “Best Weblog Focused On A Single Country Or Region” and also “Best Weblog.”

It is a pleasure to read his blog. Michael Manske has a great sense of humor, one example: “Slovenia has two million people, each of whom speaks their own dialect of Slovene.” – this is so true :)

Now I go to bed but next time more about his great blog! Good night everybody!

A cool weekend in Maribor

2007-06-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend was just great… there was so much going on in Maribor that there was no time and space for being bored.

On Friday evening there was a big concert by various Slovenian artists called “Tezenska noč”. The concert was organized by one of the most popular broadcast stations in Slovenia. OK… the music wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea … but the concert was for free and all alcoholic drinks were available for only 2 Euros. So you can imagine that the place was “quite” crowded.

Another cool thing for all people who didn’t have to fight with an extreme hangover on Saturday morning was the beginning of the Sport Weekend 2007.
Every year at the beginning of June there is a Sport Weekend in Maribor. This reminds me somehow on The Healthy Saturdays Initiative I talked about in my obesity presentation, but unfortunately the sport weekend is only once a year. Anyway, it’s a very cool thing and residents of Maribor just love it.

Sport weekend can keep you busy the whole Saturday and Sunday and is the best opportunity to try out various kinds of sport, like horse riding; boat driving or just playing all these standard sports like soccer, tennis, basketball, volleyball and so on. One has also the chance to go on a panoramic flight. Everything is for free or available for a reduced price.

So everybody willing to try out some new sport or just willing to enjoy Maribor’s beautiful countryside… see you next year on Sport Weekend 2008!;)

Obesity

2007-06-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

That's very nice to hear and to read that you found the topic of my presentation interesting and somehow inspiring to blog about it or to make a further research on obesity. I think obesity is a topic we could discus for hours and I don’t think we would get to the bottom of the problem.

Obesity is a serious problem of our modern society. I believe that all of us know at least one obese person. Knowing such a person and her reasons of obesity made me think about this problem, especially about the idea of taxing obese people.

My aunt is not just a bit overweight but she is really obese. Before she got obese she was kind of +/- 5 kilos person. She had to be careful about the amount of calories she’d eaten.
Ten years ago she had some personal problems, like divorce, being jobless… in her desperation she started to eat. She ate huge amounts of chocolate, ice cream, chips … all these unhealthy stuff. Although all family was trying to convince her that eating is not a solution to any problem, she continued to eat.

Ten years later her life is almost perfect. She has a loving partner, a great job but she is still obese. After overcoming her personal crisis she has tried out all kinds of diets, but nothing has really helped.

One of the reasons why no diet has worked is that she actually doesn’t want to lose her weight. Her philosophy is that everybody has to die and if she has to die because of obesity that is absolutely OK for her. She jokes that she won’t die hungry. Furthermore, she is aware of the fact that obesity is linked to some serious diseases but she doesn’t care about that. She is completely satisfied with herself, her partner got to know her as an obese person and loves her the way she is. 40 years she had to be careful about every single calorie, but now as a 56-year-old woman she doesn’t want to torture her self with counting calories.

I really ask myself why such a person should be paying more tax. For all the food she eats she pays just like anybody else. If the warning words of a doctor don’t prevent her from eating, I don’t get how a higher tax will do. Did smokers stop smoking because of higher cigarette prices? I don’t think so. I think taxing obese people would be unfair and discriminating.
I think the public authorities should focus more on preventing childhood obesity than taxing obese adults.

My presentation is available at yahoo groups and here are some interesting web-pages:

Here on Earth: Tackling AIDS

2007-05-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

… a very interesting radio show …

Jean Feraca talks to a UW alumnus Ernest Darkoh whom Time magazine named one of eighteen Global Health Heroes. Dr. Darkoh is the chairman and founding partner of BroadReach. His latest operation is the Prevention and Treatment Program for HIV/AIDS in Botswana.

The situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely devastating; more than 50 million people died because of AIDS, about 40% of adults in Botswana are HIV positive and life expectancy has plummeted from over 65 to 40. Moreover, 20 years of epidemic and a lack of knowledge about HIV have developed a social stigma about this disease. People are actually afraid about their HIV status, so they prefer not to know it.

One of the reasons why the epidemic of HIV/AIDS has spread so dramatically is the moral issue of this disease. People thought that it is a disease of homosexuals. But realizing that also heterosexual people can get infected with the HIV virus has not changed their behavior. People tried to distance themselves from HIV. Therefore nothing was done to prevent the epidemic.

Another very profound problem of Sub-Saharan Africa is the brain drain. Educated people do not want to live and work in rural Africa. So people living in rural areas have to fend for themselves. But Darkoh’s program offers a beacon of hope to people in Botswana.

With support of the president of Botswana Dr. Darkoh achieved a great breakthrough. He transformed the psychology of people living in this particular area of Sub-Saharan Africa by establishing hope. Having treatment available motivates people to test their HIV status. People in Botswana experience new openness in dealing with HIV/AIDS. Talking about it on radio, in churches, etc. and sharing their own experiences with AIDS has become a part of their everyday lives. They started to realize that there is no need to deny this disease, especially if so many people are affected by it.

In search of a practical solution to the epidemic Dr. Darkoh connected various skills sectors to create one powerful punch against AIDS. He even took tips from Wal-Mart, like creating “express” lines for HIV-patients that are in better health condition than other people with this disease. Furthermore, Dr. Darkoh claims that health care has to be accessible even though there are no specialized health workers in a particular area. Expertise has to be transferred with help of modern technology, so a non-specialized health provider can be supervised by an expert from a remote place.

Dr. Darkoh has made an outstanding contribution in preventing AIDS. Not only did he achieve that people in Botswana changed their approach to the HIV virus but he also accomplished that 10% of people living in this country get their medical treatment for free. Although each country has unique and specific problems, elements of his model program can be replicated elsewhere in the world.

Touching the void – The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival

2007-05-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

Most of my blog entries describe my personal life and my own experiences but this entry is devoted to one of my favorite books.

The book Touching the void - The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival written by Joe Simpson is divided into thirteen chapters and each chapter is more impressive and more gripping than the last.

I am not a keen reader but this book was a real page-turner. Although I can not understand the attitudes or the motivation of people for doing such things as climbing; I find this actually really absurd: risking your life just to feel the adrenalin or just to prove yourself that you are able to do something outstanding or unusual, I find this book somehow inspiring. The story is true-to-life; actually it is an autobiography, and it is really amazing what a human body and mind is able to survive.

Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, had just reached the top of a 21000 – foot peak in the Andes when a disaster struck. Joe plunged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg and then the real drama began… Simon wanted to help his friend but he was not strong enough. Moreover, Simon had to cut the rope before he would have been pulled into his own death. Simon was sure that Joe was dead therefore he returned to the base camp. But miraculously Joe survived and crawled over cliffs to the base camp.

My favorite parts of the book are the descriptions of their thoughts and emotions. They were having a real fight with their fears, the freezing cold and their hunger. The author is perfectly honest with us; he talks without a feeling of being ashamed of his worries and his nights in tears. I was deeply touched by Joe’s and Simon’s story. I could really feel with them; their desperation – on one side is Joe who is near his death and on the other side is Simon who is going to lose his partner and friend.

To conclude, this is a story of Joe Simpson’s miraculous survival. In my opinion, this book is really encouraging and stimulating because it shows that with a strong will we are able to survive.

I can only recommend this book; it is a great read.

Where is the love?

2007-05-07T01:54:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks a lot of my friends broke up with their boyfriends and I ask myself why... what’s wrong?

Of course I know only their side of their stories and don’t think that I’m some extreme women’s libber and I definitely love boys … but … I blame them!!! It’s their fault that there is no love.
Because our group consists only of girls and Mr. Newman, but he can tolerate a bit of critique about men ;) I can talk freely about boys and their bad, bad behavior… :)

I’ve made a little collection of “the best” ways how to break up with your girlfriend that I’ve heard in the recent weeks. These aren’t my own experiences, but experiences of my friends (happy singles, like me, don’t have such problems :))

To quit with your girlfriend via a cell phone (probably with a short message) is really the endmost thing that you can do. Don’t be a sissy… be a man, look into her eyes and say what you want to say. You are not the only boy in this world… she will survive and get over you … don’t worry: everybody is replaceable.

To say to your girlfriend after a year of relationship that she is boring and that you
feel much better when she is not with you.
OK … honesty is good … but too much of honesty … and what about being more tactful …
And don’t you think, you guys, that you are probably not always that entertaining as we wish you would be or that girls have sometimes better time without their boyfriends. And the reason why we fall asleep while watching television is you and not the bad TV program.

To say to your girlfriend that you don’t like to call her, because you only phone
people that mean a lot to you.
Hello?! Your girlfriend doesn’t mean a lot to you??? … OK… such man should stay single … for ever. And every girl should be happy that such an idiot has broken up with her… this has to be celebrated.

This is also good: to say to your girlfriend that you are afraid that you will miss
out on something if you stay in relationship with her.
How stupid is that? Do these guys really think that girls want to spend 24 hours per day together with them? No, I don’t think they want. Girls also have their own hobbies and their studies or want sometimes to go out with other girls or friends, without their boyfriend… So what are these boys supposed to miss out? Absolutely nothing … oh … maybe an opportunity to have some “hanky-panky” with some other girl … and this is the only thing …
So girls we don’t need such boyfriends!

I’ve saved the best for last:
To say to your girlfriend that she is the most wonderful person … BUT! … you cannot be loyal to her because she can’t be with you every weekend (because she has to or wants to spend weekends with her parents) … and a Saturday is a day when a man needs a woman…
What bullshit is this? I don’t think that this needs any comment.

I don’t claim that women are perfect and of course also women cheat on their boyfriends and break up their relationships but most of them (not all of them, but most of them) do that more tactfully and with more elegance and style. So guys if you have to do it, just do it … but don’t do it like that. There are also more “human-ways” how to break up with somebody.

I don’t think that any boy would ever read that … anyway, these things just need to be said, so that’s it.

My new best friends

2007-05-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

People often say that dogs are their best friends and that you cannot buy your friends with money ... but I did it :)

I bought my new friends for only 43 Kun. Kuna is the currency of Croatia; 1 Euro is approximately 7, 35 Kun. And for 43 Kun I bought these lovely three dogs.

I just fall in love with these three puppies! Aren’t they sweet?!

Maja in Austria - 4

2007-05-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Although Slovenia and Austria are neighbors and have a lot of cultural things in common, there are some significant differences I’ve come across during the last 4 years.

1- Attire

In the last few years Slovenians are trying to become more casual. In a lot of banks and firms they have introduced casual Friday, which means that all employees are allowed to wear jeans or other casual clothes. In Austria it’s basically the same.

But I notice a difference in the way students dress. They don’t distinguish in their everyday clothes, but they differ in how they are dressed for an oral exam, for example a “Matura” – oral exam.

While having an oral exam students at Medical University have to wear white coats. So actually nobody sees what do you wear under the coat, but all the Austrian students wear formal clothes, like men wear a jacket and a tie and women dress in a skirt or black trousers with high heels. Definitely nobody wears jeans.

I have also spoken to some Austrians who all have told me that they have to wear formal attire for their Matura exam.

In Slovenia it is much different … actually nobody cares what do you wear …whether you wear jeans or a suit is completely up to you.

Maybe our Translation department is more easygoing than the others, because we have a wide range of people from different cultural backgrounds, so everything is much more casual and there are no rules how to dress.

2- “Knocking on the tables”

In Slovenian schools nobody knocks on the table as a sign of respect or as a reward for good work … never…

When I first saw and heard that I attended a lecture with approximately 600 other students. I was really shocked … I didn’t know what does this knocking mean … and probably you can imagine what a weird and awfully loud situation this was … 600 people knocking on tables...

In Slovenia the only thing that students do, but only in the first grades of primary school, is to stand up when the teacher enters the classroom at the beginning of the lecture. The high-schoolteachers are happy if the students sit quietly in the class, without any special rituals.

3- "The next round goes on me”

Let us take this example: a group of 5 Slovenian friends (boys and girls) drinking in a pub … the location doesn’t matter … but what is typical Slovenian: nobody pays only for their own drink, but one person pays for all drinks, the second round goes then on another person and so on… everybody pays for one round.

Ok, not everybody sticks to this “rule”, because there are also some misers in Slovenia. But most people do that.

Actually, no waiter in Slovenia will ask you “Getrennt oder zusammen?” because it is just normal that only one person pays the whole bill.

In Austria it’s much different, it’s absolutely normal that everybody pays only for their own drink.

That's enough for today … after talking about drinking I think I deserve a nice refreshing cocktail …

Bye! ;)

Maja in Austria - 3

2007-05-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

... A new story ....

When I came to Graz I had some doubts concerning the language … I did know I have a good command of German … but what about all these weird Austrian expressions …

In the next paragraphs I am going to share with you some of my “favorite” moments with Austrian language …

1- “Weckerl”

Yeah … I’m quite ashamed but I have to admit that 4 years ago I had absolutely no idea what is a “Weckerl”.

At the very beginning of my studies, in hospital a patient wanted me to bring her a "Weckerl".

What? A “Weckerl”? What is this? It’s this a “Wecker” - an alarm clock but just pronounced the Austrian way; with an L at the end, like “Glasl” or what is this? I didn’t know what to bring her, so I just went to the small store at the LKH and asked the saleslady if I can get a “Weckerl”. There was no problem; she brought me a bun – just a normal “Brötchen”.

… so I learned a new word … :)

2 – “Kraxeln”

A year ago, on a sunny, pleasurably warm day, I was with one of my Austrian friends in “Stadtpark” and he asked me: “Maja gemma “kraxeln”?”

“What? What I’m supposed to do? “Kraxeln”? – what to hell is “kraxeln”?”

And he just said: "Wait a minute," and was gone… I didn’t know what he was doing … I just waited and after a few minutes my cell phone rang … it was him …

“Turn around Maja and look upwards!”

… and there he was … sitting on a branch of a big oak tree …

“Now you know what is “Kraxeln”.”

… yes, I do … and I won’t forget it …

2- “Ohrkätzchen”

Again in "Stadtpark" … my friend and I were sitting on a bench and chatting … and all of sudden he said: “Look at this sweet “Ohrkätzchen”!

“At whom should I look? A “Kätzchen”? Who brings a cat into a park?” … he started to laugh: “Not a cat, a squirrel!”

Ok … another new word: “Ohrkätzchen” is an “Eichhörnchen” … like most of German speaking people would say … but no… here it’s different … and this is Austria, not Germany … Maja don't forget it ;)

These are just some of my favorite Austrian words … next time more of my Austrian experiences and observations ;) …

Under the Croatian Sun

2007-05-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

So after a quite long blogging pause, it’s about time to make some new blog entries …

As you have already noticed I am not in Graz this week, but don’t worry about me … I am just fine … I am under the Croatian sun …

I don’t know if this is our tradition, but like most Slovenians our family goes every year for May holidays to the seaside.

This year my parents have chosen Krk as a place of our little vacation. And I can’t complain about their decision. Krk is a beautiful Croatian island with breathtaking countryside, bunch of small shops with clothes, jewelry and souvenirs. Krk has crystal clear blue sea and delicious “burek”.

My dear fellows have a nice sunny week!!!

… but don’t forget: I’ll be back! ;) …

USA: „Ein Land Biblischer Idioten“

2007-04-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve found an interesting article with the title; USA: „Ein Land Biblischer Idioten“ at die Presse.

Stephen Prothero claims that people of The United States of America have absolutely no idea about the Bible. Although 9 out of 10 Americans declare their selves as religious, plus 2 out of 3 US-citizens are convinced that the Bible provides all useful information about life in general - the Bible is their guide, only a few people really know what is written in it.

Stephen Porthero is the author of the book: “Religious literacy. What every American needs to know – and doesn’t, which is a bestseller. With his book he reveals the truth about the Americans' poor knowledge of religion. For instance, 60% of US-citizens do not know even five of the Ten Commandments and the vast majority of Americans think that Jesus was born in Jerusalem.

There can be several reasons for such lack of knowledge, but one is definitely, according to Prothero, the ban of religious education in public schools.
Porthero believes that religious ignorance, especially nowadays, can be dangerous. For example, if you do not know the difference between the Sunnites and the Shiites you will never understand what is going on in Iraq.
Therefore he makes demands on implementation of religious education in US-public schools (“teach, not preach”).

Cheers!

2007-04-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today I've found the answer why are the Austrians in the top in consumption of alcohol, especially beer.

It was 1 p.m. and I was with two friends in “Stadtpark”, we were sitting on a bench, enjoying the sunny wetter and observing people …and I’ve come to a quite interesting conclusion …

Although it wasn’t that hot today, a lot of young people, mostly students, were lying in the meadow and sunbathing or reading a book. But there are also some weird subcultures in the park.
Like people who are all dressed in black with long black greasy hair, maybe with some strange tattoos or piercing. These are the “darkers”.
Then there are people who are like some hippies or something like that. It seems that they still didn’t realize that flower power generation is out for about 30 years. These are so called the alternative subculture.
Of course, there are punks, but if I am honest I don’t see much difference between the style of a “darker” or a “punk”.
And there are also small groups of boys, mostly without T-shirts who are playing footbag (hacky sack).

So, to come to the point, there is always a wide range of people in the park, who distinguish quite heavily but still they have something in common… they all tend to drink beer, probably warm beer. The sun and the warm beer is a perfect combination for killing your brain cells – actually this is absolutely poisonous! … don’t think that I’m a anti-alcoholic and I am also aware of the fact that one Guinness a day keeps the doctor away… but still I think alcohol is only for special occasions… of course there are a lot of these special occasions: … but there is definitely no special occasion on a ordinary Monday at 1 p.m. to drink beer in such an amount like these people do…

Exploring American Culture

2007-04-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Thank God that Easter is finally over … I can’t hear the word “Osterjause” anymore … I absolutely hate this word “Jause” … I don’t know why, it just sounds so weird to me … the Austrians should have some better sounding word for meal … it’s about food and food is something good, something pleasurable … therefore it deserves a better name!…

Anyway, before I go off at a tangent I should concentrate on the topic I wanted to blog about and that’s Exploring American Culture.

Firstly, I’ve looked at the facts that Mr. Newman has listed on page 7 of Exploring American Culture sheets. I must admit none of the 9 facts really surprised or shocked me. These are the United States of America … can something be shocking about? I think in a country at over 3.7 million square miles and with over 300 million people is nothing shocking.
If I’m honest, it would be even more surprising if the United States weren't in the world top in plastic surgery or marriages, divorces, plane take-offs, in number of personal computers and so on.
In such a extremely big country of endless possibilities, with highly develop modern technology, with such a variety of people are the absurdist things just normal.

Then I’ve also looked at the Nation Master Statistics. I just focused on food statistics. My dear Austrians you really surprised me. You are the absolute winners in comparison with United States, you beat them in almost every aspect! Austrians seems to be a thirsty nation… consumption of beer: 3. place – congratulations! The Austrians drink almost everything, except the soft drinks…they are not their case … but I can understand that: soft drinks are something for softies and not for Austrians ;)

The only thing where the Americans are absolutely unconquerable is, of course, the number of the McDonalds restaurants… what else :).

I have also made a little chart, so that you can get an overview on which place Austria and the United States are in the world in consumption of various drinks:

	Austria	United States
Wine	4	18
Tea	12	16
Soft drinks	13	1
Fruit juice	4	2
Coffee	8	12
Bottled water	6	7
Beer	3	8
Alcohol	10	20

Under the Tuscan Sun

2007-04-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Yeah … it seems to be my lucky day … I just got an email from Amazon that they have already sent me the book I have order nearly a month ago … I almost gave up hope that I’ll get the book in this semester, but apparently I’ll get it in few days … lucky me :)

It seems that red powerranger doesn’t have to resort to violence to get this book :):):)

Happy Easter, Everybody!

2007-04-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

... Easter is always such a pretty time ... :)

A perfect day for being creative...

2007-04-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect day for relaxing and doing nothing, but doing nothing can easily become boring so I decided to be a bit creative …

First of all I’ve made some scientific findings:

· A slice of bread always falls on the buttered side

· A book can sometimes work better than a sleeping pill

· Never wear new clothes while you are painting

Then I’ve spent a couple of hours painting a picture … and here you are… the fruit of my labor ;) …

… and I’ve also managed to make some of my felt-pins:

… and this definitely has to be mentioned: I’ve also read couple of pages of our favorite book JWI…

But now it’s time for me to take a looooooooong nap … my bed already cries for me … so good night Maja and my dear fellows!

Maja in Austria

2007-04-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

… my little story …

I came to Austria 4 years ago to study dental medicine. At the beginning of the winter semester 2003 we were about 600 or 700 students who wanted to study medicine or dental medicine. So we were divided into 3 smaller groups of approximately 200 or 300 students. First group started the semester with physics and chemistry, second with cytology and genetics and the third group was send to hospital.

Because I am a very lucky person I got the jackpot. I was in group 3, so I had to do “Station Praktikum”. My ward was endocrinology. The very first moment I saw that I have to work in hospital I just thought: “Holly sh**… it’s my second week in Graz and I already have to have contact with patients!”

My biggest fear was the language. We all know that Austrian is not always German … “my patients will be old, from various regions, maybe without teeth … so is there any chance that I will understand these people”… but then I decided not to panic … “I will handle this … I am a powerranger :) - I have to handle this”…

… the D-day …

It was a cold October morning and I took the bus to LKH Graz at 6 a.m. Although it was an ordinary sleepy Tuesday I was full of excitement and also full of doubts…

I came there too early for more than half an hour … I thought: “I cannot be so early, I don’t want to be the first student there” … my mind was going crazy … I was playing with the thought that this would actually be a perfect moment for a cigarette … but then I remembered that I don’t smoke… So I decided to wait patiently another 25 minutes and then go slowly up the stairs into the third floor.

… 7 a.m. …

I arrived to may ward … and yes, I was the first student there. A friendly nurse greeted me and said that we should wait till other students come. These other students were making me even more nervous … “it’s our first day… why aren’t they here on time” … and by the way … since when I am so accurate…

… finally we were all there …

After some formalities "the party" began. A quite young, black haired nurse explained us our job: “All you have to do is talk to patients, nothing else.” … yuppie … And then she sent me to room X … OK … why not …

… the room X …

I strolled into the room and there she was … my patient … a 95 year old woman … I just thought: “wow – 95 !– respect!”
Actually with my patient all my wishes came true:

She was old … actually she wasn’t just old, she was extremely old
She was from the countryside, therefore she has spoken a lovely dialect
And what’s more a half of her teeth were missing

… our conversation …

After I’d introduced myself we started to “talk” … I was totally shocked, it was even worse than I’ve expected … she was talking some weird stuff … and I understood only every third word of what she was saying… I was sweating and my mind was working at full speeds… the only thing I understood was that an evil nurse has stolen her brand new shoes… so I had to promise her I will get them back.

… my mission: the brand new shoes …

I went directly in to the room where nurses usually chat or drink coffee. I was standing in the middle of the room looking at nurses and making a complete fool of myself by asking: “Does anybody know where are the shoes from the lady in room X?”

One nurse answered my question by saying: “Go back in the room and look under her blanket.”
“Shoes under a blanket? … isn’t that weird?” …

… the look under the blanket …

There was my surprise: this old woman was without her left leg and without her right foot. I looked in the corner of her room and there was a wheelchair.

I felt somehow embarrassed and stupid …

But after a week I got use to her and to some other patients … although I didn’t understand every single word, we all had a nice time together… I just tried to do my best … and fact is that old people just tend to speak some weird, very weird things;)

Flags

2007-03-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today I received a very interesting pps file via email about the National flag of Slovenia. Most Slovenians complain about colors and the design of our flag. The problem is that our flag is not recognizable enough, because it is very similar to Slovakian, Russian and Serbian flag.

But look at these flags!

(Ivory Coast Republic

and Ireland

)

(Chad and Romania)

(Montenegro, Holland & Luxemburg)

Don’t they all look almost the same?

But there are my abslolute favorites:

(Maroco, Indonesia & Poland)

Is there any difference between the flag of Monaco and the flag of

Indonesia

? … I don’t think so … OK, maybe the red of Indonesia is a bit brighter, but that’s it …

So, I think we don’t have to worry about our flag … there are even worse exemplars than ours :)

Maja in Austria

2007-03-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

As I already mentioned I was born and raised in Slovenia, so actually I am an expat in Graz. Therefore I decided to share with you some of my experiences as an “Ausländer” here in Austria.

First of all, I made a little chart of what I think Austrians are:

They are…	Because (of)…
Friendly (in comparison with Slovenians they are extremely friendly)	every where I go, are just friendly people, in stores, in my neighborhood, at university, …
not very generous	You will hardly hear: “nächte Runde geht auf mich”
sometimes too sugarcoated	the “bussi-bussi” thing
sometimes quite annoying with masses of paperwork	There is soooooo much paperwork for every little thing, like for example the tiny sticker: Bitte keine Werbung
traditional	Family tradition and such things as holidays are very important
family orientated	They like to come together to celebrate birthdays with the whole family
very helpful
talkative

I love Austrians … and the Austrians love me (especially the guys ;) … Maja and Austria – a perfect match ;) …. But also a big kiss to Slovenia ;)!

More of my experiences next time ;)

God bless Monte!

2007-03-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

… mmm … my favorite pudding is definitely Monte form Zott …
I have already eaten two of them … and I think I could handle a third one …
... this taste is unbelievable – I just love it… hazelnut and milk… yummie :)

just to let you know: I have just started to eat the third one :):):)
ahhhhh … it's a great day today ... and everyday …;)

Go! Go! Powerrangers!

2007-03-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

For everybody who did not notice yet: Birgit B. and I, Maja Z. – we are powerrangers!

She is the pink one and I am the red one ;) so you better be careful… ;)
But don’t be afraid of powerrangers – they are the good ones! They are fighting against the evil of the world!

But there are still a green and a blue one left over, so if anyone is interested in becoming a powerranger… just contact us ;) especially if you share the same experience as we do; you cannot realize: why did you watch powerrangers as a child?

Together we will try to uncover this mystery ;)

Go! Go! Powerrangers ;)

GUYs – correct spelling!

2007-03-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

I read a comment on one of my previous entries about the guys who wear pink and trans-parent clothes. Yes, it is weird but these are actually guys and not gays. These are so called metrosexual men; they are usually straight but their behavior is similar to the way gay men are typically thought to behave. So these are men who spend a lot of time and money on their clothes and appearance – just like women :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrosexual

Flat share: Brandhofgasse 7

2007-03-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we had a big birthday party … 6 people celebrated their birthday … so you can imagine that this wasn’t a nice tee party … but it was … hmmm, how should I put it … it was a bit louder, maybe wilder, …

... but I won’t tell too much about it … let the photo speak for itself … :) ... the next "morning" (at 13:50) ....

Dictionaries

2007-03-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a short test on 3 dictionaries. I am going to compare them in order to find out which one is the most useful.

Dictionaries:

1- www.ninjawords.com

2- http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

3- http://www.ldoceonline.com/

I have chosen 5 words from the glossary of the book “Jaywalking with the Irish”:
1- affiliation
2- hanky-panky
3- poignant
4- skirmish
5- versatile

I looked up all 5 words in all 3 dictionaries … and here are the results:

Definitely the fastest dictionary (fast like a ninja) is the ninjawords.com. You are able to put all the words in at once, but the definitions of the words are in comparison to Longman and Cambridge a bit shorter. This dictionary gives only the most important information to understand the word. But the good thing about this dictionary is that also the words of the definition are linked to their explanation.

The quality of the LDOCE and the Cambridge dictionary is very similar. They both provide a very detailed and exact explanation of words.

The advantage of the Cambridge is that it always gives you at least one example sentence, so that you exactly know how to use the word in the right context.

The pro of the LDOCE is that it also gives you additional information about a word, like for example with which preposition it collocates. And it also tells you the register of the word, whether it is formal or informal, British or American English.

All in all, all 3 dictionaries give similar results, so they are all good and very useful.
But I think it is helpful to use them in combination.

Back in Graz

2007-03-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

It’s Monday … we have a day off … actually I have every Monday off, but that isn’t important ;) …

Today was a quite shocking day … 1. shock: SNOW!!! Who to hell needs snow??? Last week we had temperatures about 20 degrees and now we have snow … what is wrong with this world?

Another shock of the day: my flatmates return … they intended to come back on Tuesday … so what are they doing here so early??? … if they don’t start to clean up their dirty dishes I am going to become very unpleasant …

Otherwise it was just an ordinary Monday …