What makes a person happy? As a little child I was happy when I was sitting on my father’s lap sipping on the froth of his beer. A bit older I relished most caressing my little cat, strolling through the forests and meadows with the neighbours’ kids or playing theatre in front of our whole municipality. Then, our performances were actually events for the entire community because most of our neighbours didn’t possess a TV set.
Between ten and twenty I was fond of spending my leisure time with my friends. I fell in love for the first time and was quite sure to have met the man for my life. But fate decided otherwise and we were separated after a couple of years.
I met my later husband when I was twenty one. Or should I better say I realized him? He was a close friend of my cousin and he showed up ever now and then. Of course, I fell in love with him up to my eyes, maybe because he was a tax expert and I majored in business administration. After we got married our honeymoon lasted several years and I gave birth to our son Markus. I entered the business world when my son was four. The following years I was busy bringing up my child, being an acceptable mother and wife and doing my best at work.
When Markus was about twenty a slightly unpleasant period of my life began. I was faced with decease and death. Thank heavens there were people around me who gave me a hand when I was likely to lose the ground under feet. Although it was a difficult time, I gained two precious experiences.
Firstly, if you believe in yourself you can overcome every difficulty.
Secondly, look at the small things; they always brighten up your life.
Now, in the morning, when I leave my home for work, the sun is shining, my glance fall on dozens of flourishing pot plants on the stonewall in front of me and the day-children of my neighbour give me a warm welcome then I can say without the slightest doubt “I am a happy person”.
Mittwoch, 30. Mai 2007
Montag, 28. Mai 2007
My trip to Croatia - Return to home
Saturday, 21st April 2007
The party after the closing performance lasted till early Saturday morning. Due to dozens of bleary – eyed people the final meeting was cancelled. We all met to an extended breakfast and after a couple of pick-me-ups (coffee) I was prepared for my lonely trip to Graz.
Still at Graz, I had discovered that the earliest possible ride back on the train would take me 16 hours. My English exam was just around the corner therefore I decided to take a plane at all costs. (To be honest I paid for the ticket more than for the entire stay) It was very hard to leave my group because despite of our age gap we had spent a pleasant time together.
During the taxi drive I could exercise my newly gained knowledge. At the airport I succeeded in asking whether or not my suitcase was directly transferred to Graz. In the duty free shop I did my shopping by using only Croatian.
My plane flew from Split to Vienna. In Vienna I had to hurry to catch my connecting flight to Graz. I really feared that my luggage could get lost - with all my elaborated English documents.
My first impression as I spotted my aeroplane to Graz was that it had seen better days. “Boneshaker” came into my sense, as I entered the machine. Against my worst presumptions, we arrived at Graz safe and sound. I was so happy when I felt ground under my feet again and held my suitcase in my arms that I smiled at the customs officers. Owing to this suspicious behaviour I was checked first time in my life
In retrospect, I can say now that this week in Croatia was a valuable experience I don’t want to miss. My Croatian professor has already announced that a similar event is going to take place next year again. How great would it be, if we could improve our English knowledge in a comparable way!
The party after the closing performance lasted till early Saturday morning. Due to dozens of bleary – eyed people the final meeting was cancelled. We all met to an extended breakfast and after a couple of pick-me-ups (coffee) I was prepared for my lonely trip to Graz.
Still at Graz, I had discovered that the earliest possible ride back on the train would take me 16 hours. My English exam was just around the corner therefore I decided to take a plane at all costs. (To be honest I paid for the ticket more than for the entire stay) It was very hard to leave my group because despite of our age gap we had spent a pleasant time together.
During the taxi drive I could exercise my newly gained knowledge. At the airport I succeeded in asking whether or not my suitcase was directly transferred to Graz. In the duty free shop I did my shopping by using only Croatian.
My plane flew from Split to Vienna. In Vienna I had to hurry to catch my connecting flight to Graz. I really feared that my luggage could get lost - with all my elaborated English documents.
My first impression as I spotted my aeroplane to Graz was that it had seen better days. “Boneshaker” came into my sense, as I entered the machine. Against my worst presumptions, we arrived at Graz safe and sound. I was so happy when I felt ground under my feet again and held my suitcase in my arms that I smiled at the customs officers. Owing to this suspicious behaviour I was checked first time in my life
In retrospect, I can say now that this week in Croatia was a valuable experience I don’t want to miss. My Croatian professor has already announced that a similar event is going to take place next year again. How great would it be, if we could improve our English knowledge in a comparable way!
My trip to Croatia - Day 7
Friday, 20th April 2007On Friday evening our great closing performance took place. All participants were running to and fro excitedly. My group had to execute the most difficult task. We had to present our own poems publicly. After we had selected our best “works” we were practising the entire day reading them out aloud. In the end we felt unable to pronounce the simplest sounds.
Then there were rumours that we should have to scale bar stools with a micropho
ne in one hand and our poems in the other. But to reassure us, Helena and Ivan (our instructors) carried a sofa from the lounge to the refectory where the performance was said to occur.Sabine, Anita and I came first. We were all suffering a bit from stage-fright but with the first words our scare disappeared and judging by the received applause we did a more than satisfactory job.And what was even better we could relish the evening without further disturbance.
My trip to Croatia - Day 6
Thursday, 19th April 2007
On Thursday afternoon and evening only cultural in-house events were scheduled.
The first lecture dealt with the development of Split. During the other one the three parted structure of the Croatian language was pinpointed. Both speakers took our minor language knowledge into consideration, though I was able to understand approximately 60 per cent.
The DVD player was broken down, therefore the subsequently announced film wasn’t shown and we had an evening off.
On Thursday afternoon and evening only cultural in-house events were scheduled.
The first lecture dealt with the development of Split. During the other one the three parted structure of the Croatian language was pinpointed. Both speakers took our minor language knowledge into consideration, though I was able to understand approximately 60 per cent.
The DVD player was broken down, therefore the subsequently announced film wasn’t shown and we had an evening off.
My trip to Croatia - Day 5
Wednesday, 18th April 2007
After class on Wednesday, we went on a trip to Salona near Split. Our guide, a professor of history from the University of Split, gave us a short insight into the historian development. Together with him we climbed over stone walls in order to reach the most interesting pieces.
Salona served as a stronghold and a harbour of the Illyrian Delmati which quite early came under Hellenic influence. It was as a colony under Julius Ceasar, who was the then governor of Illyricum, and became soon the centre of the province of Illyricum and afterwards of the province of Dalmatia. It developed into a cosmopolitan centre of the Adriatic. The high point of its expansion was during the time of Diocletian. Between the IVth and Vlth centuries Salona became an important centre of Christianity. It was destroyed the by Avars and Slavs around the year 641.
The ancient ruins were excavated and are publicly accessible now. Most of the movable monuments from Salona are kept in the Archaeological Museum, in Split which was founded in 1821.(description follows that one available under http://w3.mrki.info/split/solin.html )
More detailed information is published under
http://www.mdc.hr/split-arheoloski/eng/FS-dislocirani.html
Meanwhile our international meeting has encountered interest and a journalist of a local paper devoted an article to us. (only available in Croatian)
htt
p://www.dugirat.com/content/view/4253/
After class on Wednesday, we went on a trip to Salona near Split. Our guide, a professor of history from the University of Split, gave us a short insight into the historian development. Together with him we climbed over stone walls in order to reach the most interesting pieces.
Salona served as a stronghold and a harbour of the Illyrian Delmati which quite early came under Hellenic influence. It was as a colony under Julius Ceasar, who was the then governor of Illyricum, and became soon the centre of the province of Illyricum and afterwards of the province of Dalmatia. It developed into a cosmopolitan centre of the Adriatic. The high point of its expansion was during the time of Diocletian. Between the IVth and Vlth centuries Salona became an important centre of Christianity. It was destroyed the by Avars and Slavs around the year 641.
The ancient ruins were excavated and are publicly accessible now. Most of the movable monuments from Salona are kept in the Archaeological Museum, in Split which was founded in 1821.(description follows that one available under http://w3.mrki.info/split/solin.html )
More detailed information is published under
http://www.mdc.hr/split-arheoloski/eng/FS-dislocirani.html
Meanwhile our international meeting has encountered interest and a journalist of a local paper devoted an article to us. (only available in Croatian)
htt
p://www.dugirat.com/content/view/4253/Sonntag, 20. Mai 2007
My trip to Croatia - Day 4
Tuesday, 17 th April 2007
On Tuesday our excursion to Dubrovnik was scheduled. We had to get up at 6 o’clock a.m. and were
supposed to be on the bus at 6 30 a. m. As in Dalmatia time has another meaning, we started our trip only at 7 a.m. . Instead of the announced four hours ride, we were sitting on the bus for six hours.
On Tuesday our excursion to Dubrovnik was scheduled. We had to get up at 6 o’clock a.m. and were
supposed to be on the bus at 6 30 a. m. As in Dalmatia time has another meaning, we started our trip only at 7 a.m. . Instead of the announced four hours ride, we were sitting on the bus for six hours. Though our stay in Dubrovnik was shorter than expected. In order to gain time our guide hurried through the picturesque Old Town and by walking in the Stradun (main street) and adjacent streets, we passed by
all the well-known sites such as Church of St. Blasius (patron saint of the city), the Orlando statue, Sponza Palace (not destroyed by the earthquake in 1667) and Onofrio's Fountain. Unfortunately there was no time to visit the great wall surrounding the old city centre.
During a guided tour through the Franciscan monastery I lost my group and heard for the first time in my life that relics may include parts of the body of the deceased saints. Were their bodies sectioned immediately after death?
During a guided tour through the Franciscan monastery I lost my group and heard for the first time in my life that relics may include parts of the body of the deceased saints. Were their bodies sectioned immediately after death?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic
Then I strolled alone through the town searching my group. I wasn’t afraid because I had been to Dubrovnik several times before and I knew the town as well as my group. I was sure that I would find them relaxing in a café. My presumption was correct and we spent a nice afternoon in this intoxicating and unspoilt town.
Then I strolled alone through the town searching my group. I wasn’t afraid because I had been to Dubrovnik several times before and I knew the town as well as my group. I was sure that I would find them relaxing in a café. My presumption was correct and we spent a nice afternoon in this intoxicating and unspoilt town.
Mittwoch, 16. Mai 2007
Blogs of Expatriates
Searching on the internet I keyed in the word "Expariates" and found the following links
Newspaper for Brits living abroad
The Telegraph online newspaper has an expatriate section specifically for British expats. Read the latest UK news.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/index.jhtml
Expariate in Ireland
A Canadian in ...
http://jedidjab.com/blog/
Adventures of an American spouse
http://americanabroad.blogspot.com/
A Jamaican-American in Cork, Ireland
http://jamaicanincork.blogspot.com/
Expariate in England
American academic in England
http://towhomitmay.blogspot.com/
Bilingual blog (English and French), mainly about translation
http://www.nakedtranslations.com/
An American about to move to England to be with her fiance
http://andreaythomas.blogspot.com/
From San Francisco to Bristol
http://jennredd.typepad.com/
An American student turned teacher in London
http://www.wellingtongrey.net/
Expatriate in Scottland
An American post-graduate student living in Edinburgh, Scotland
http://cyocum.blogspot.com/
Kahtie's journey from New York, the centre of the universe, to Glasgow, ned capital of the world.
http://longayelander.blogspot.com/
Newspaper for Brits living abroad
The Telegraph online newspaper has an expatriate section specifically for British expats. Read the latest UK news.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/index.jhtml
Expariate in Ireland
A Canadian in ...
http://jedidjab.com/blog/
Adventures of an American spouse
http://americanabroad.blogspot.com/
A Jamaican-American in Cork, Ireland
http://jamaicanincork.blogspot.com/
Expariate in England
American academic in England
http://towhomitmay.blogspot.com/
Bilingual blog (English and French), mainly about translation
http://www.nakedtranslations.com/
An American about to move to England to be with her fiance
http://andreaythomas.blogspot.com/
From San Francisco to Bristol
http://jennredd.typepad.com/
An American student turned teacher in London
http://www.wellingtongrey.net/
Expatriate in Scottland
An American post-graduate student living in Edinburgh, Scotland
http://cyocum.blogspot.com/
Kahtie's journey from New York, the centre of the universe, to Glasgow, ned capital of the world.
http://longayelander.blogspot.com/
Sonntag, 6. Mai 2007
My trip to Croatia - Day 2
Sunday, 15 th April 2007
After a good wink of sleep I woke up on Sunday morning. As I did not yet have any work to do for the Croatian class, I continued working out my English words from “Jaywalking with the Irish”. My group met 10 o’clock a.m. for the first time. It was really pretty difficult to make myself understood.
Our lecturer Olija gave us a brief introduction in writing short stories. A story is different from a contract. You need not stick to the facts. Most essential is that you captivate your reader. In the early afternoon we were introduced by Helena in the fundamentals of modern poetry.
I, myself did not catch more than 30 % of my workshop leaders’ speech. Sabine1, Anita and even Renate, a young Slovenian woman, assisted me a lot by giving oral guidelines what I had to do. Thanks to their help and the intensive use of my tiny dictionary I managed both classes.
On this day I wrote my very first short story about my childhood and my first poem about my greatest fear.
(Picture: Renate, Sabine 2, Sabine1, Anita - my group)
In the afternoon we went by bus to Split again. This time we enjoyed a guided tour and learnt many interesting and instructive details about the nice inner city. In the evening we had dinner in a traditional restaurant and we got to know Andreas, a student from Graz, who studies there this year. http://www.unist.hr/isg/University.pdf
For more information about Split go to http://w3.mrki.info/split/split.html
After a good wink of sleep I woke up on Sunday morning. As I did not yet have any work to do for the Croatian class, I continued working out my English words from “Jaywalking with the Irish”. My group met 10 o’clock a.m. for the first time. It was really pretty difficult to make myself understood.
Our lecturer Olija gave us a brief introduction in writing short stories. A story is different from a contract. You need not stick to the facts. Most essential is that you captivate your reader. In the early afternoon we were introduced by Helena in the fundamentals of modern poetry.
I, myself did not catch more than 30 % of my workshop leaders’ speech. Sabine1, Anita and even Renate, a young Slovenian woman, assisted me a lot by giving oral guidelines what I had to do. Thanks to their help and the intensive use of my tiny dictionary I managed both classes.On this day I wrote my very first short story about my childhood and my first poem about my greatest fear.
(Picture: Renate, Sabine 2, Sabine1, Anita - my group)
In the afternoon we went by bus to Split again. This time we enjoyed a guided tour and learnt many interesting and instructive details about the nice inner city. In the evening we had dinner in a traditional restaurant and we got to know Andreas, a student from Graz, who studies there this year. http://www.unist.hr/isg/University.pdf
For more information about Split go to http://w3.mrki.info/split/split.html
Dienstag, 1. Mai 2007
My trip to Croatia -Day 1
Saturday, 14 th April 2007
During the night I woke up several times because I heard strange-sounding voices from outside and the train didn’t move. At dusk someone knocked heavily at our door. As a special service the conductor woke us up and returned our tickets. Despite my most secret fears, we reached Split safe and sound.
Sparsely washed and bleary eyed I looked for my co-students. I was elated to see them. We went to a café right away, because we all needed urgently a cup of hot, black and sugary liquid. It was an unpleasant surprise that nearly the whole town was a building site. Gone was our dream of sitting in a café and watching the wavy ocean in front of us.
(Picture: Nadine and Ewald)
We soon overcame this disappointment and used the morning to get to know each other. Our small group consisted of Sanja, Nadine, Anita, Sabine 1, Sabine 2 und Ewald. After several cups of coffee we felt strong enough to enquire about a bus to Trogir. After we attained satisfying information, we decided to deposit our luggage and to stroll through the town.
We discovered that the old town centre of Split was very small. Actually, the Dioclecian Palace represented the entire city centre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split
Ambling along we spotted by chance an exhibition of books. With relish we thumbed through the various kinds of literature. In the end I became the proud owner of the book: “German without trouble” (Njemački bez muke). That may sound a bit strange but I know for sure that in this book the Croatian part contains no mistakes.
At noon we picked our luggage up and searched for the right means of transport to Trogir. The tickets were very cheap. But much to our surprise we had to pay for our bags and suitcases additionally. The bus driver shocked us with the message that we were supposed to walk about three kilometres from the bus stop to our hotel. The conductor was a nice guy and was enchanted by Sanja, so he coaxed the bus driver to stop immediately in front of our hotel. It’s a real pleasure to travel with young pretty girls. (Picture: Sanja, Nadine, Ewald and Sabine 1)
Manda and Željka (my Croatian teacher) arrived only at five o’ clock p.m. and with three further first year students from Graz the Austrian group was complete. In the evening the workshops for the next week were formed. A large variety of courses was at hand. We could choose among the following topics:
Singing traditional (Klapa)
Singing modern
Dancing traditional
Drama workshop
Preparing and presenting speeches
Writing newspaper articles
Writing short stories
Writing poems
I enrolled for " Writing short stories" because I didn’t only want to spend a sunny week at the sea but also to extend my vocabulary and to get some writing practice. From the approximately seventy participants altogether four chose the classes “Writing short stories” and “Writing poems”.
To put it in a nutshell, the two classes were joined. We were expected to write short stories in the morning and to compose poetry in the afternoon. Already on the train Sead had told me that the course leaders Helena Burić and Olja Savičević-Ivančević were famous writers in their mother country. Much to my dismay I realised that both couldn’t speak a word of German.
Since I was in Croatia I didn’t want to communicate in English, so I didn’t even try it. Once again the fear arose how I could handle this situation.
Well, on the one hand, I possessed a tiny Croatian pocket dictionary, the newly acquired book “German without trouble” and a one and a half year of study experience. On the other hand I started dealing with Croatian really on point zero and now I was suddenly facing two well-known authors. Would my knowledge be sufficient enough to meet their expectations?
(Is to be continued)
During the night I woke up several times because I heard strange-sounding voices from outside and the train didn’t move. At dusk someone knocked heavily at our door. As a special service the conductor woke us up and returned our tickets. Despite my most secret fears, we reached Split safe and sound.
Sparsely washed and bleary eyed I looked for my co-students. I was elated to see them. We went to a café right away, because we all needed urgently a cup of hot, black and sugary liquid. It was an unpleasant surprise that nearly the whole town was a building site. Gone was our dream of sitting in a café and watching the wavy ocean in front of us.(Picture: Nadine and Ewald)
We soon overcame this disappointment and used the morning to get to know each other. Our small group consisted of Sanja, Nadine, Anita, Sabine 1, Sabine 2 und Ewald. After several cups of coffee we felt strong enough to enquire about a bus to Trogir. After we attained satisfying information, we decided to deposit our luggage and to stroll through the town.
We discovered that the old town centre of Split was very small. Actually, the Dioclecian Palace represented the entire city centre.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split
Ambling along we spotted by chance an exhibition of books. With relish we thumbed through the various kinds of literature. In the end I became the proud owner of the book: “German without trouble” (Njemački bez muke). That may sound a bit strange but I know for sure that in this book the Croatian part contains no mistakes.
At noon we picked our luggage up and searched for the right means of transport to Trogir. The tickets were very cheap. But much to our surprise we had to pay for our bags and suitcases additionally. The bus driver shocked us with the message that we were supposed to walk about three kilometres from the bus stop to our hotel. The conductor was a nice guy and was enchanted by Sanja, so he coaxed the bus driver to stop immediately in front of our hotel. It’s a real pleasure to travel with young pretty girls. (Picture: Sanja, Nadine, Ewald and Sabine 1)Manda and Željka (my Croatian teacher) arrived only at five o’ clock p.m. and with three further first year students from Graz the Austrian group was complete. In the evening the workshops for the next week were formed. A large variety of courses was at hand. We could choose among the following topics:
Singing traditional (Klapa)
Singing modern
Dancing traditional
Drama workshop
Preparing and presenting speeches
Writing newspaper articles
Writing short stories
Writing poems
I enrolled for " Writing short stories" because I didn’t only want to spend a sunny week at the sea but also to extend my vocabulary and to get some writing practice. From the approximately seventy participants altogether four chose the classes “Writing short stories” and “Writing poems”.
To put it in a nutshell, the two classes were joined. We were expected to write short stories in the morning and to compose poetry in the afternoon. Already on the train Sead had told me that the course leaders Helena Burić and Olja Savičević-Ivančević were famous writers in their mother country. Much to my dismay I realised that both couldn’t speak a word of German.
Since I was in Croatia I didn’t want to communicate in English, so I didn’t even try it. Once again the fear arose how I could handle this situation.
Well, on the one hand, I possessed a tiny Croatian pocket dictionary, the newly acquired book “German without trouble” and a one and a half year of study experience. On the other hand I started dealing with Croatian really on point zero and now I was suddenly facing two well-known authors. Would my knowledge be sufficient enough to meet their expectations?
(Is to be continued)
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