Spending the holidays with your parents

        It is a natural thing that the teenagers would like to be free and independent from their parents, so because of this they find holidays with parents embarrassing and awkward. But do they really think about the advantages and disadvantages of travelling with their parents or they just follow their natural instincts and personal desires? I tried to figure out the pros and cons of this topic.
        On the one hand, travelling alone or with friends can be a very tempting idea for the teenagers, due to some unpleasant points of spending the holiday with parents. Firstly, there are things you cannot do in front of your parents, for example drinking alcohol and having big parties. However, these are very important to the youth in this period. The two generations simply do not have the same interests. The parents would mainly like to relax, maybe go sightseeing and visit a few museums, but in contrary to them teenagers just want to have fun. Plus, the parents often do not let their children spend a lot of money during a holiday. The teenagers should ask them for permission, if they intend to buy something. 
        On the other hand, spending the holidays with your parents is a very nice and respectable thing to do. Due to today's modern world children and their parents spend very little time together, as a result the gap between them is constantly widening. Spending a week or two together in the summer can improve their relationship a lot. In addition to that, if you have a sibling, the trip is never boring, because you have a brother or a sister you can have some fun with. Moreover, travelling and visiting new places is always great. If you skip a holiday with your family, you also miss out who knows how many cool experiences, such as meeting new people, getting to know other cultures or seeing beautiful landscapes. At last but not least, these family trips later cannot be brought back, so you have to seize the opportunity now.
         Taking everything into account, I admit that spending the holiday with your friends can be awesome, but in my opinion you'll have time to make trips with them later, for example when you go to university. Although there are some disadvantages of travelling with your parents, I think these holidays are very important, nearly essential for a good relationship between the two generations. Furthermore, they insure many unforgettable and funny memories for everyone.

Diary entry (Dorian Gray)

Dear Diary!
Until now I thought that my life has been happy and I was satisfied with it. But I was completely wrong. Harry made me realize that. I've lived an extremely boring and empty life. I was an innocent boy who knew nothing about the world. But now that's going to change because I feel very powerful. I've got the two most important values: youth and beauty. And thanks to the lovely Basil and my wish, I own them forever. I will always stay young and beautiful and my portrait will grow old.I feel free, because I've got nothing to worry about. I can do anything I want. And I will. There are plenty of things I'd like to try out. Now I can start enjoying my life. Of course, Harry will help me with this. He's already shown me many secret places. I didn't even know that they existed. We have so much fun together. I don't even dare to write down what we are doing at nights... I'm sure you don't want to know that. I bet most of them are illegal, but I'm absolutely not ashamed of the things I do. I'm just enjoying my life! I guess everyone should do that.


The pictures are from the movie Dorian Gray. You can watch it online here.

It's a mystery...

I spent a few days in Italy this April, so I had the chance to visit Pisa. As I was lying on the grass next to the most famous building of the city, I was wondering about the question: 
Will the Leaning Tower of Pisa ever fall?

The Tower of Pisa (Torre di Pisa) is the freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 3.9 metres from where it would be if the structure were perfectly vertical.

The tower of Pisa has been leaning so long - nearly 840 years - that it's natural to assume it will defy gravity forever. According to engineers the famous structure will remain stable for at least another 200 years. By then, another intervention may be required, but the technology available to make improvements could be far more advanced and preserve the tower for another 800 years.

I'm glad to hear that, because in my opinion we have to save a beautiful building like that. It was amazing to be there. I think I'm very lucky.

To solve the mystery I used wikipedia and science.howstuffworks.com.

My alter ego

If I had an alter ego, I would try out being a boy. I've always wondered about that. I would be the lead singer of a cool rock band and I would also play the guitar. My band's name would be something interesting. Maybe Bleeding Rose or Dead Star? No, these are horrible...  I can't think of a good name, so if you have an idea, please write a comment.:) Our style would be similar to the band Three Days Grace or Papa Roach. We would give huge concerts where I would stage dive a lot (of course without being dropped). I would live a wild and dangerous life. I would be free and unstoppable. I would do whatever I want and whenever I want.

Spring

Spring is my favourite season of the year. I have two main reasons why I love it this much.
Firstly, because of the nature. I like winter as well, but usually I become sick of it when spring is near. This year it particularly happened to me like that. I just couldn't get used to thought that it was still snowing. In March. We had kind of a white Easter... It was 'a bit' too much for me.... (It was unbearable.)
 
For me spring means that I can get rid of my coat and my boots (I hate them.) and I can wear anything I want. I think spring is the season of warmth, sunshine, birds, flowers, rainbows and other nice things. I live near a forest, so I can really enjoy the resurgence of the nature. 

The other reason is emotional. It's because of the events which are in spring. There are many holidays in this season, for example: Easter, 1st of May and my birthday. I'm really looking forward to these. Mostly, for my birthday, which is on the 27th of April. I can't believe that I'm already getting 18 years old! In my opinion spring is the season when I start waiting and making plans for the summer. I'm going out with my friends more and more and I'm thinking about the school less and less.:)

Success is...

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.” (Bob Dylan) 
What is success? According to The Free Dictionary it is the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.

I think success can mean different things to people. When the average man hears the word 'success', usually he thinks of lots of money, a good job, a nice car, a big house and a loving family. That's everybody is trying to achieve in order to be happy. In order to be successful.

But I think there are other things as well. To me, success means many things. Of course, good marks, winning a competition or a debate are a kind of success. However, in my opinion we shouldn't appreciate only the 'biggest' accomplishments. There are also smaller, but not less valued achievements. Little things can also make our lives happier. Like making someone smile or even laugh. Or helping someone. Doesn't it feel good? I think making someone happy is one of the best things we can do. Sometimes it's better to give than to receive. 

The other thing I'd like to write about is doing what you want to do. I agree with the quote above. Everyone has his own hobbies, things he loves to do. It can be either reading, gardening, doing a sport, collecting something or travelling. In my opinion, we have to find time for these things. I know, today it's very hard to do that, we must work, go to school, we have commitments. But I think the most successful people are whose job is their hobby as well. I know they're rare, but I'd really like to be one of them. Wish me luck with that! At the end a good advice:

Discursive essay

The only way to cut crime in our country is to make punishment more severe
            Crime is one of the most important issues in Serbia. In the last few years the crime rate has been going up. The most common felonies are burglary, rape, drug dealing and murder. Lots of people think that the only way we can solve this problem is making punishment more severe.
            On the one hand, punishment here is truly too permissive. For example, there were some cases when a criminal was not incarcerated just because the prisons were totally full. Many people feel that in order to be rightful, this cannot be allowed. In addition to this, in our country it is tolerated to steal up to 15 000 dinars without being arrested or anyhow punished. The idea of restoring the death penalty also has some supporters. According to their opinion, if the sentences were harder, less people would commit crimes.
            On the other hand, there are some arguments against more severe punishment. People point out that the main reason for theft is poverty and the poor steal due to the high level of unemployment. They suggest that the government should use public work as a punishment in those cases when people commit minor crimes because they are starving. Others oppose the capital punishment as they reckon that this kind of penalty is inhumane and against dignity. Furthermore, they think that it is not better than any other kind of murder.
            All things considered, our country surely needs some changes, but I would not bring back the death penalty. In my opinion the government ought to build more prisons, doom people to public work, do something about the huge unemployment rate and should not allow petty thefts.

Funny Valentine messages

Today is Valentine's Day, the day of love. People usually spend it with their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands or wives. They give each other presents, Valentine's Day cards, flowers or chocolate and some of them write love poems. I found a few interesting cards which I wanted to share with you. You can find some more here.

For me Valentine's Day is almost like any other day. But it isn't, because of my sister's birthday. I wish a happy birthday to her! 

Summarising an article

Drop the antibiotics, we need a new battle plan against bacteria - says an article on the website of The Guardian. The period of the cold came again. We have to prepare for the symptoms: the sore throat, the coughing, the snottiness... We have successfully guarded against this disease with antibiotics for 80 years, but now they are slowly becoming inefficient. This is happening because of the evolution: bacteria are developing resistance against them. We use antibiotics too often, even in cases when we don't really need them. It can be compared with a war, where we show our range of weapons to the enemy and waste them in the beginning of the battle, so we stay without armoury before the most dangerous situation. In many countries the general practitioners prescribe unreasonable amount of these kind of medicines. One of the reasons for this is the pressure from the sick people even if antibiotics don't help too much against the sniffles. But they are also given to the domestic animals to keep them alive. Antibiotics were invented in 1987, but since then there were almost no changes or improvements on them. Despite the advanced state of today's medicine and pharmaceutics, we don't have the proper cure for this illness. That's why we need to find a solution if we don't want these little beings to threaten our lives.

My Ideal NYE Celebration

Although most of the teenagers describe their ideal New Year's Eve as a huge party with lots of drinks and loud music, this doesn't fit my personality. I've always wanted to spend the last day of the year with my closest friends at my house. I imagine it very similar to a sleepover: a girly night chatting, watching movies, listening to music, having fun, and so on.
This time my New Year's Eve celebration was almost like that. There was only one mistake in it. There were only two of us, Brigi and me. But being with all of my best friends is nearly impossible, because they also have their own fellowships whom they usually celebrate with. And the other thing is that they are truly my closest friends, but some of them don't even know each other. So, I was satisfied with this option. She spent five days at my place. It made me happy that we could tell each other our problems and thoughts since we hadn't talk for a while. We can rarely meet, because she lives in Čoka. Anyway, we had a great time together. It was almost perfect. She even gave me some of her paintings and drawings to decorate my room's walls. I'm in love with them, she's so talented!

Personal Highlights of 2012

Well, it's already 2013. (It feels so strange when I have to write down the date. I'm not used to it, yet.) It's time to look back on the last year. But actually, I don't really remember what happened. Not because I was the entire year drunk, nor because I have amnesia. There were just so many events that my head is full of them and I can't tell which happened which year. I'm spending my third year at the grammar school and this period just flew away. Time runs very fast, I'm already getting an adult person in April! But when I ask myself the question what my best experience was the previous year, I answer immediately: TAIZÉ!

Probably you're wondering now what I am talking (or writing) about. If you are, you'll get the answer soon, but if you're not, I'm glad to hear that because that means you were there or you have heard about it.

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of rather more than a hundred brothers, from Protestant and Catholic traditions, who originate from about thirty countries across the world. It was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schutz. The community has become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. - says Wikipedia. But when I think of my answer "TAIZÉ" I mean a 2-week-long trip across Europe. It was organised by the church last summer and it lasted from 26 July until 8 August. So, how does a pilgrimage become a trip across Europe? Ours was like this: we had been travelling for three days to Taizé by bus, then we stayed there for a week, and then came again the 3-day-long journey back to Subotica. This may sound a bit complicated and maybe you think that three days spent in a bus is boring and a terrible experience, but it wasn't like that! The best thing was that on our way in both directions we made stops at beautiful cities like Vienna, Paris or Rome. Yes, we were sitting pretty much in the bus at nights, but in the daytime we were visiting these amazing places. Now I'll try to sum up the whole trip briefly, but I don't promise it will be truly short.

In the beginning of our journey the bus was quite quiet (wow, I like how it sounds!), because we didn't really know each other and everyone had his own fellowship whom he spoke with. Our first stopping-place was Vienna. We got off the bus at Schönbrunn Palace. Even if I had been there before, I really enjoyed being there. We could choose between visiting the palace and the zoo. I chose the zoo as I had seen the palace the last time I was there. There were lots of nice animals, such as penguins, lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras, panda bears, various reptiles, insects and I could go on forever. Beside this, near the palace there were delightful gardens with sculptures, fountains, ponds and a Gloriette.

Our second destination was Paris. It was truly breathtaking. We visited all of the most important sights: the Louvre, the Notre Dame, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe and my favourite: the Eiffel Tower. I just can't explain how beautiful everything was.

Then came Lyon. We climbed a hill to see the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, but it was worth it, because from there we could see the whole city. Even if I don't remember the other sight's names the architecture of Lyon was brilliant. I was shocked. In a good way.

Finally, we reached Taizé. The week we spent there seemed to be very short because our days were roughly the same. We had three prayers, two small group discussions and five meals daily. In addition, I undertook the washing-up twice a day. Yes, it's work, but I'm not lying when I tell that in my opinion it was the biggest fun to do at Taizé. We did the washing-up in groups of 4-6 people. In the beginning it was a peaceful event, but after a day or two the water fights began. We got dripping wet every single day. But it was really entertaining. During the "work" I got to know many teenagers from many countries, for example from the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Australia and so on. In the evenings we went to a place called Oyak, where the people were playing the guitar (or any other instruments) and singing.  People there were very friendly and sociable. I almost cried when we had to move on.

On the way home we stopped at Monte Carlo. Well, that's what I call luxury! Everything was so modern and expensive. There were dozens of sport cars and yachts. I was hoping that I would meet one of the famous people who live there, for example Novak Djokovic, but unfortunately I had no luck with that. We took a swim in the Mediterranean Sea and visited the Hotel de Paris, the Circuit de Monaco (where the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix takes place), the Prince's Palace of Monaco and of course the Monte Carlo Casino. 

The last city we visited was Rome. I saw the most famous places like the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Castel Sant'Angelo, the Roman Forum, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the Piazza del Popolo, the Trevi Fountain and the Altare della Patria. I was enchanted by the ancient Roman buildings and felt happy when I managed to understand a title written in Latin.

When we arrived home I felt happy and sad at the same time. But this experience was truly the best thing of my life. I hope that I'll get the opportunity to visit Taizé again.
[Rita, one of my classmates also wrote about her experiences. You can read it here.
The other nice thing which happened last year was a great weekend in Budapest. About that event you can read in Natalia's blog, here.]
PS: I hope you like the pictures.:)

World Event Highlights 2012

In 2012 there were lots of memorable moments in the whole world. I'll write about a few events I found interesting.
UEFA Euro 2012 
The 14th European Football Championship was hosted by Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012. In the final Spain defeated Italy 4-0, the goalscorers were Silva, Alba, Torres and Mata. With this Spain became the first team to win two consecutive European Championships.

  

2012 Summer Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympics took took place in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The event was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. From 204 countries, around 10,800 athletes attended the Games, who competed in 26 sports. This year there were 32 world records. At the top of the medal table there were the United States with 46 gold medals, China was the second and Great Britain the third.

 

2012 phenomenon

According to the Maya calendar's ancient prophecy the world should have ended on 21 December 2012. But fortunately, it hasn't.

 
 
Jump from the stratosphere

On 14 October Austrian skydiver, the 43-year-old Felix Baumgartner ("Fearless Felix") performed a jump from 39 km above the Earth. He landed in eastern New Mexico. His top speed was 1342 km/h, so he broke the sound barrier. Baumgartner was in free fall for 4 minutes and 19 seconds. With this jump he broke three world records.

Hey!

Hello. Ummm... This is my first blog, so I don't really know how I'm supposed to begin it. Are there any written or unwritten rules for this? Or do you just start it somehow? 

Well, I guess I'll just write some informations about me at first. My name is Bea, I'm seventeen years old and I live in Subotica, Serbia. That's not really much, but I think it's enough for the beginning.:) And there's also a thing you should know about this blog. This is a student blog and I'm writing it because our English teachers made it obligatory for all of us to improve our English. So if you find mistakes in my posts, don't laugh at me, please. Even if I don't see you.:) But feel free to correct me and write comments.