Russian films

It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.

I'm not a big fan of films. Actuallly, I usually consider them as time-wasting and boring. Don't get me wrong, I like films and I do watch them, I just think they are all quite similar nowdays and rarely can they leave us breathless.

However, I wanted to write about few Russian films I have recently watched. Since I have started to learn Russian this semester, I thought that watching some films in this language would be helpful for my studies, but in the end I started to actually like them.

The first Russian film I watched was Piter FM . Its plot is pretty lyrical and interesting. The main characters are young people, Masha and Maxim. Masha is working as a speaker for Piter FM radio and is daily talking to the citizens of Saint Petersburg, including Maxim. Maxim is an ambitious architect, who received an offer to work in Germany and is deciding whether he should leave his country or not. They don't have anything in common until Masha loses her telephone in the crowd and Maxim finds it. From that moment on, they are constantly talking to each other. Even though they have arranged many times to meet, they never seem to notice each other. In their lives, crucial things are happening. Masha left her fiance, she has problems at work, Maxim's girlfriend is with another guy, he has to move out from his appartment... and the only one who is willing to listen is the voice on the other side of the line. During one of their usual conversations, Masha's telephone accidently falls into the river. Maxim is upset, but decides to call his favourite radio station and leave a message for a girl called Masha, who lost her telephone. Masha recongises his voice and the film finishes. In the end we can only guess what will happen. I really liked this film, because it is not a typical commercial film and it talks about faith. Maybe it's not so realistic, but I would certainly recommend it!

Another Russian film that I liked even more is Ne skazhu or I won't tell. I'm not going to write about its plot, because it's far too complicated, but I'll tell you a little bit about it. There are only two characters in this film, Anna and Ivan. The film starts on the morning when the couple broke up. On that morning, they are meeting in their apartment to have a breakfast and talk about their relationship and one particular night. There are many flashbacks, which makes this film quite complicated and hard to understand. In the end, I was totally breatless and shocked. Therefore, I suggest everyone who likes mysteries and secrets to watch this unconventional film!

Banja Luka

I want to introduce you to my hometown, Banja Luka. Most of you have probably never heard of this beautiful town in north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since I came to Graz, I've only went there once and then realised how much I’d actually missed it.

Banja Luka is is the largest and capital city of Republika Srpska * and second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina after Sarajevo. It lies on the Vrbas River and is surrounded by many hills. The weather is usually quite weird. For example, last week in Banja Luka was 25 degrees, which is certainly not typical weather for November. Anyway, there is either too much rain or it is too hot or too cold. The city is also famous for Fortress Kastel, ćevapi, rafting, the Orthodox Church of Jesus the Saviour, Banj Hill and many other sights.

* one of two political entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other entity is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Fortress Kastel was built by the Romans and then fortified again by the Ottomans. It is the oldest cultural monument in Banja Luka. The fortress lies on the banks of the Vrbas River, which makes it even more astonishing. It often hosts outdoor concerts, but it is usually very peaceful place.

Ćevapiii! Well, for those who don't know, there are few sorts of ćevapi. The most popular ones are Banjalučki ćevapi from Banja Luka and Sarajevski ćevapi from Sarajevo area.The main difference is in their appearance, but also in meat content. Banjalučki ćevapi are served in connected tuples of four, whereas Sarajevski ćevapi are served of 5-10 pieces. The dish is usually eaten with chopped onions, but also other vegetables and served in  flatbread called lepinje. Below are the pictures of both sorts.

                                                                             
Raaafting! Vrbas river is a mighty fast mountain river with a numerous wild parts, which makes it perfect for adventure water sport such as rafting. The water is veeeeeery cold, but in summer the temperature is ideal for refreshment.The Vrbas River was home to the 2005 European Whitewater Rafting Championships and World Championship 2009. However, I must admitted I have never went to rafting. It's really a shame, as this is certainly a Must Do in Banja Luka and I actually live there, but I'm definitely planning to try it next summer. Rafting is possible during the whole year, but I'm quite afraid of the cold water.

Gospodska street

The Fortress in winter

This clock is actually not working. Therefore, it is called "The wrong clock". It shows the exact time when there was a devastating earthquake in Banja Luka in 1969.

The song above is called "Good Evening, Banja Luka". I really love this song. You are probably not going to understand it, but there are some nice pictures in the video.

My Indian roommate

Currently, I am living in a double-bedded room in a dormitory called the Kolpinghaus. During my first week here, I was alone in my room wondering who will be my new roommate. I  was pretty excited and nervous to meet her, but luckily, I was positively surprised. I will now tell you about my dear friend Shruti.

Shruti is 28 years old and comes from India. Even though she is 9 years older than me, we get along really well. She is a warm-hearted, open-minded and quite interesting person. Namely, she has been a pilot for almost eight years. Shruti made her driving license in Canada, but came to Austria after her wedding. Her husband is also an Indian, but he grew up in Vienna. At the moment, she is working on her master in aviation. She also made me interested in airplanes and other huge machines, which were certainly not one of my interests. We even regularly watch together a serie called Air Crash Investigation.

I also wanted to write you about some interesting Indian customs Shruti thought me.

The first question I get when I tell people that I have an Indian roomate is: “ Does she has a red dot on her forehead?” Well no, she doesn’t. Anyway, she told me something interesting about it. The red dot is called Bindi and is actually worn by married women. The red colour itself represents energy and passion and brings good luck. Indian women like wearing red dresses or red nail lacquer in order to be positive and happy.

A traditional Indian wedding lasts an average of  three days. Shruti’s wedding also lasted for three days and  

she actually had three weddings. Italian, Indian and Austrian, but that’s a whole different story. Anyway, Indian wedding is pretty expensive for bride’s family. The both sides of family should receive presents and all guests have to be provided with food, drink and usually a place to sleep for few days. Guests are often wearing clothes in vibrant coloures and eye-catching jewelry. Both, the groom and the bride are wearing gorgeous clothes. Brides are additionally decorated with henna patterns all over their palms, hands, forearms, legs and feet. Everyone is supposed to dance traditional dances, especially members of bride’s family.

It is forbidden to kiss in public. On Valentines day, you can often see police looking on happy couples or even famillies.

I bet you’ve seen a symbol like this on the picture below before. As it looks pretty cool, I’ve always wondered what it was. Well, it is called Hamsa or as Indians call it Humsa Hand. It represents a sign of protection in many societies and is one of Indian’s most sacred symbols. Hamsa is believed to provide defense against the evil eye, but also represents the five elements of nature and the five energy centers of our body (chakra). It is often used in jewelry and decorations.

Foooooood! Indian food is really delicious. At least, what I’ve tried until now. Dishes are almost always combined with spicy sauces, which makes them quite tasty. Chicken, patatoes, onions and sauces such as turmeric, chilli or garam masala are often main ingredients in Indian kitchen.

Well, those were the most interesting ones. I hope I will get to now even more of them soon. :)

My favourite monolingual print dictionary

Having looked at a number of monolingual print dictionaries in class this week, I have decided to buy the Cambridge Advanced Learner´s Dictionary. Even though it was very hard to decide which one of them I liked the most, the Cambridge Advanced Learner´s Dictionary became my favourite. It has many colorful pictures, which makes studying easier and more fun. In the middle of the book is a short grammar section, which would certainly be very helpful in my education. The last chapter offers some extra information about writing and communication skills and also, a pronunciation table. The part that I especially liked was the CD-Rom, which includes the whole paper dictionary in a handy, searchable format. I have always been a fan of modern technology and a dictionary like this would be quite useful for fulfilling my needs. Since this dictionary is perfect for me, I have decided to buy it in order to improve my English.

    

Last week we got our second piece of homerwork back. The task was to write a paragraph about our favourite monolingual print dictionary. I chose to write about the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Luckily, my paragraph was not as bad as my previous essay. However, I made a really horrible mistake. I wrote my own topic sentence, instead of using the given one. I must pay more attention on our tasks!