Ahoj Kočko, Čau Kotě - American and Mexican at my home :)

When I finally arrived home (already a week ago) I also brought Charles and Rafael with me :) After a day of relaxing at home as we all were devastated we went to Prague to see all the beautiful places. Next day was visit of town called Kutná Hora with its traditional food. Actually I must say that we were eating most of the time and for my surprise both of them like any Czech food. (Svíčková, Ovocné knedlíky, syrečky, guláš...big thanks to my mum here :) )
    On Tuesday was Prague again with the rest such as the Prague Castle, visiting exhibition of Mucha and sleeping over. In the night we had loads of fun - met great people from Brasil and Switzerland in one bar called Propaganda where is usually very easy to find loads of tourists. Rafael left on Wednesday so we just enjoyed the rest with Charles who left on Thursday. But photos will tell you more:
(For more details and information CZECH Rafalel's blog - http://www.winterbreak2012.blogspot.cz/)

 The Prague Castle

 Kutná hora

 Praha

All of us 

Mission Impossible

Swimming in the sea and sunbathing near the snow in December - Simply beautiful!

Now? ---> HOME #1

St. Nicholas and snow!

    It all started with another dinner with my "adottami" family which was simply beautiful and the first real feeling of Christmas. The next day on the 6th was the day of St. Nicholas which is in this part of Italy considered to be the most important day of Christmas. My day started with opening of the new supermarket Coop here in Duino and I had the chance to sing there with choir. Not that it would be something terribly interesting but I think that this supermarket will make our lives much easier.
    In the afternoon there was sining and dancing in the Piazza for all people in Duino and I must say that it was very magic atmosphere. Loads of kids, food and hot drinks :)
    Finally, the next day - snow!
For me it wasn't such a great experience but to see all the people who had never seen snow before in their lives was simply beautiful. Even now one day later you can still see people outsides having snow-ball fights.
    Because it's Christmas time we have loads of things happening now. Yesterday was Open Mic, where anyone who want to show any kind of performance is welcome to do so. And today I can look forward to night orienteering and birthday Mickey's!!

Pictorial Part 2

 Christmas market

 Trieste dinner

A very special birthday message to the UWC movement from our students in Duino

Roommate's Birthday :)

Israel- Palestine conflict observed by Czech eyes

    I think that this is very hard topic to talk about and I will definitely not talk about my personal opinion but rather about my own observations (and I think that there is difference between those two).
    It is very important topic to discuss but I can't say too much. If I would, I would get lost in it. You can't really say that there is much going on in news - yes, maybe now, when there is specific issue to talk about, but no one is really representing the truth. The reason for that is probably that you can't be neutral because there are two different biest ways to look at it - Israeli and Palestinian - two different stories, two different histories. The question is not who is right because I think that there is some truth in both of them. I was always asking the questions like: so, how it happened? who started? who did this? why? why can't they agree? why is it SO hard to agree? - but there is no answer for it, because this issue is so complex that we can't just say it started few years ago, but 100 years ago and therefore there is not just one answer.
    We had a discussion about this where both sides were represented by two students. We also watched movies from both sides. It was the most interesting discussion because to see actual people from two countries which are in conflict talking together about it is something very unique. But also depressing.
 Not talking about the reasons and the numbers there are few things I would like to highlight as I think it's important to know. I'm really not putting myself on any side because not only I don't have information to do so but I don't have the right to do so.
    But this is what world doesn't know and I think we should care about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieb7JLibXO0 (The movie we watched. Maybe not all of it is true because it is from the Palestinian point of view, but some of the things are unfortunately not possible to deny)

    The wall:

I'm not putting too much information because there is so much which should be said, that if you're interested you should read about it from many other sources to get the feeling on your own.

The feeling of Žemlovka on your tongue while thinking of home

    It might sound stupid, but I really miss home and especially Czech food. Since I'm here for about 3 months now there is so much stuff I was used to and I haven't done, seen or eaten for ages. Only good things which makes me still alive are - this weekend having Žemlovka with my Czech and Slovaks friends and home in not more than 2 weeks!
    When you go abroad you're so excited about new experience that there is not even time for you to realize about the things you loved back home. It can be such small things like - your mum was doing your laundry, watching your national TV, talking in your own language, traditions or just simply FOOD. I'm not saying that Italian or Mensa food is bad (actually Italian food is my favorite one) but if you are used to eating something for at least 10 years every week you might want to taste it again :) And talking about Czech food, YES, it's impossible to buy the right ingredients here :(

Mensa

Have to share with you the amazing
view while eating lunch :)

!Languages!

     I think this very interesting topic to talk about and I would like to start with my first language - Czech. Here, I study Czech as a self-taught student which is actually quite funny thing to do. First half of year we study and discuss two english books in class however write all essays in Czech (considering you don't use this language almost anymore it's more translating English to Czech) and for the rest you need to prepare by yourself for the exam which is again after two years not using Czech as everyday language. Because no one can actually check if you're writing the right things you can't be sure till the very last day. Even the oral exam is controlled by people who can't understand it. Takže můžu mluvit a psát o jednorožcích a oni se na mě budou usmívat :)

     English - that's my second language and the one I use to write this blog. Reason for that is because I'm keeping options open for anyone of my friends to feel free to read it. Also my written english is pretty bad and I simply feel that I need to practice, so I'm very sorry for all my mistakes here, but trust me that I'm trying my best. That still doesn't mean I'm actually concentrating on my grammar the most :P Not at all ;) Also I'm being serious but I think my english got very international since I came to UWC.

     The next language is Spanish, it used to be quite all right and I could communicate in basic life situations. Actually I love this language, ehm however now I can't even count to ten anymore as I'm mixing it with my Italian. At least I'm trying to talk with Latini as much as possible! !Pero la verdad es que mi Espanol es una broma! :)

     Aaaand Italian! Yep, I couldn't say anything at the beginning and now I can understand (I think that's mostly because of my Spanish) some basics sentences and I can buy gelato!

Social Service

Well at first I started with different social service - visiting disabled people in Trieste. It was very interesting experience as you can lear new ways of communication. At first it was very hard because not only I couldn't speak much Italian but also it was very hard to understand them. We usually tried to teach them basics english words or just draw some funny pictures. Now I have Art with Kids, here in school and I must say I really enjoy it! Not only I'm not ashamed or scared to talk with them in my terrible Italian but also I think they love it as well. Especially my favorite hyperactive kid - Marco, who is very hard to handle and always first to finish! :)

Magic

I just had the most incredible evening :)

My friend Santa is teaching english to one couple in her social service and they invited her to their house...luckily I could go with her! :) We had a magic dinner with their three kids (3years old girl, 5 and 7years old boys) and I was just melting the whole time. Not only we taught English to them but we were forced to speak in Italian which just felt so good because we achieved to have almost normal conversation for two hours. We had a typical italian meal - Bruschetti, Spagetti and Torta Amaro!
We also played few games with the kids and they drew us a picture of us....it almost made me cry as it was so nice to feel like at home! :)

EE SHOW

I'm so happy it's finally over!!

    First I need to explain what EE is - Extended Essay - piece of work which all second years need to do for IB. It's very long piece of writing on specific subject and it requires loads of energy, therefore each second year has secret friend from first years who gives him letters, cakes or anything to make him more happy. This last for about two months and it's really nice way how get to know someone better.
Right after EE deadline, first years need to make a show with different acts where they gonna finally reveal who is their EE friend. (the theme was black&white however to find your EE friend you had to wear something Spectacular!)
    I decided to take a big part in organizing this show therefore I had loads of work to do. We start rehearsals about a month ago and we prepared loads of interesting acts - music, theatre and of course dances. I personally was in charge of Gangnam style :) Of course we had loads of complications before the show and everyone was really stressed but on the actual show everything went perfectly right and all second years and teachers loved it. I can't even expressed how happy it made me to see all the people enjoying them selfs so much. We all did amazing job because all 15 acts were just simply awesome. Hopefully I will have a video soon which I could post here :)

Be Italian

Jammin

Gangnam Style

Traditional Striptease

1st Long Weekend - Ljubljana

Yeaah!

     Can't say it was a long weekend as we got back on saturday morning but still it was an amazing experience! 

    On wednesday me and other twenty-five people from my school left to Ljubljana to explore the capital city of Slovenia. I was with nine of them and we stayed in a cute, cosy little apartment not far from the centre (everything is close to the centre). 

   We bought loads of food and because we had kitchen we could make our own dishes (You can't cook in school so it was my first time in two months)! and we were actually eating the whole time .) 

   On thursday was really bad weather which kind of spoilt our day and everyone was just tired. However the next day it was the other way round so we took bicycles and drove all over the town. I have never done it before and I must say it was a really good way how to explore the city. In the evening we went to this really stylish restaurant near main piazza called "Čupiterija -Hijo De Puta" and not only that the ambiente was really cool but also all the people. It was my first time to try frog's legs :) 

   After that we went to have a look at this place called "Metelkova Ulica" which is autonomous area in Ljubljana where you can find all sort of people -artists, musicians... but also art on its own - buildings or galleries. The best way to describe this place is to see some pictures: 

Cycling :)

 Lolita coffee

Metelkova

Padova

     Just twenty minutes away from Venice is Padova. Really nice, old, small and beautiful town. I spent my time there with my parents and sister this weekend which I must say was great as I haven't seen them since they brought me to school at the beginning of the year. We got there on friday so there was no time to do anything but we had to take a tram to get to our hotel (but it's only one line so it wasn't that difficult).
     On saturday we went all around the town to explore all parts and I think that one day was exactly enough. Not only that we saw many basilics (and there is quite few of them and all are extremely huge) but we also visited the Scrovengi Chapel which houses a remarkable cycle of frescoes completed in 1305 by Giotto. The part which I couldn't miss was shopping. Not only as there were normal shops which I haven't seen for ages but also many cosy vintage shops all around the town with very cute products - old clothes, jewelry or shoes.

The biggest square in Italy in Padua

    The only minus I literally felt on this trip was the weather as it was extremely freezing and even my parents were surprised that it's even worst than in England (not even counting that it was raining the whole time)! However when I got back to school I found out that the weather is even worst due- Bora!!!
                                    BUT IT'S SNOWING BACK AT HOME!! :) so jealous !

Open Day + Sustainability Afternoon

     Having Open Day this weekend was in the end actually exciting!
There was loads of stuff happening around - tours, workshops, experiments and our amazing show!
Not that many people came but what made me feel happy that even people going around were stopping by just to have a look. It was very nice atmosphere as we had a great weather after quite a long period
of time!

    On monday we had "Sustainability Afternoon"with a short presentation where I found out that there is actually no translation for this word in my own language. However to make it clear what it means - it's not only about the environment as most of the people think but also about economy and a social life. I was part of organization of a workshop which was based on British TV serie Dragon's Den. All our groups had to represent their business how to improve sustainability in our school, for example having a club where the most you dance, more energy you get :)

BORA

If there is a shock then it's the weather!
My second years would probably say that this is nothing but for me it's enough. I have one year experience in England but I didn't expect that my experience in Italy is going be much more rainy. And not only that - BORA - very strong wind is coming more often every day! And there must be a reason why even in Wikipedia the bora in Trieste is mentioned :O

Sea, adrenaline and sickness!

Barcolana Regatta - Trieste

Isn't this really beautiful?

    Yesterday, there was 44th Barcolana in Trieste - Big sailing event!

It was really nice to see all the boats and loads of people going around. Also good food in stands which was smelling everywhere, however after a while it started to rain and honestly I can't say that heavy rain like that is always something to enjoy. (Although I love storms) 

But this festival is just case of people who can actually sail, but me? 

It's my Core activity but I really need to persuade myself to go there. Let me tell you my experience from the last time to understand why. 

     It's freezing and I have even difficulties to get up from my warm bed in the morning...but outside? When there is like 99.9% chance I'm gonna capsize? No, thank you! 

     But sometimes we just need to force ourself.  It might look like a really easy thing to do, but if there is strong wind - almost BORA, it's really hard. You need to bare in mind so many things and your speed is increasing every second while the wind is changing direction even faster. If you capsize you need to use all your strength to put the boat back. If it turns 180° the other direction you might even expect to dive for your sail. Your adrenaline increases so fast in your blood that I must say I'm happy if I'm still alive in the end... but also that I've done it! :) 

Becoming dependent on..

COFFEE, SUGAR and CINNAMON

Duino

 The Castle

My residence - Fore
The best one, with the most people and next to the sea :) 

La Piazza