The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

While I was in living in Switzerland, our English teacher gave us a young-adult novel called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to read. This book is written by Sherman Alexie, who managed to give astonishing, objective and “absolutely true“ picture of lives of indigeous people of Northern America. Moreover, the writer himself is one of the most notable members of Spokane community. One of the main problems this book is dealing with is racism. Before I read this book, the first thing that came to my mind after hearing the word racism was African American, but there is a lot more to that. On the contrary, there is an entire other race in the United States of America who experiences all sorts of racism and injustice and it is Native American or American Indian. Furthermore, this novel is banned in various number of schools in the US, as a consequence of dealing with many controversial subjects.

The lovable narrator of The Absolutely True Diary is a fourteen-year-old Indian kid named Arnold Spirit, or as his tribe knows him, Junior. He is not only a usual teenage Indian, he was also born with a number of medical problems, such as a stutter and a lisp. However, even though he is bullied routinely, he is quite smart, funny and sensitive. The central conflict of the book comes when Junior decides to leave his reservation and attend the white school 22 miles away from his reservation. While being seen as a traitor by his fellow Indians, Arnold is caught between two worlds: his home on the reservation and the white high school he currently attends. As such, Junior feels like he does not fit anywhere and is forced to forge a new identity for himself.

Stereotypes about Native Americans

In Rita Pyrillis’ essay “Sorry for not being a stereotype”, she claims: “How many of you would know an American Indian if you saw one? My guess is not many.“ Rita's point of view, as a a free-lance journalist and a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, is that Indians are not different from other people, psychologically and especially physically. As Rita says, stereotypes do not have feelings. They only represent a fixed idea or image that many people have about a specific type of person or sometimes a thing, but which is often not true in reality. Because of them people become full of judgement, without knowing anything about the paricular person.

“Indians are still battling a red-faced, big-nosed Chief Wahoo and other stereotypes. No wonder people are confused about who Indians really are. When we're not hawking sticks of butter, or beer or chewing tobacco, we're scalping settlers. When we're not passed out drunk, we're living large off casinos. When we're not gyrating in Pocahoochie outfits at the Grammy Awards, we're leaping through the air at football games, represented by a white man in red face.“

From my point of view, there is no ideal way of dealing with prejudices and stereotypes. However, each person should be able to make their own opinions and therefore, ehave in a certain manner. As Sherman Alexie in this novel says:“Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community.“ 

                               
Kill the Indian, save the child

The expression "Kill the Indian, save the child" or "Kill the Indian, save the man" has occured in late 1800's. It represented a series of Indian bording schools all across the USA, in which Indian children from age four were educated in white men's way. The children were given English names and family visits had been avoided. Brain washing techniques were used to make children forget their culture and religion. The goal of this was to “civilise“ Indians. Richard Henry Pratt, the founder of one of the Indian's bording schools said: "The Indians need the chances of participation you have had and they will just as easily become useful citizens."

This phrase is also used in this book, by the teacher in Junior's school:

"When I first started teaching here, that's what we did to the rowdy ones, you know? We beat them. That's how we were taught to teach you. We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child."

"You killed Indians?"

"No, no, it's just a saying. I didn't literally kill Indians. We were supposed to make you give up being Indian. Your songs and stories and language and dancing. Everything. We weren't trying to kill Indian people. We were trying to kill Indian culture."

This process was brutal and rutheless. Taking the Indian-ness out of the child was supposed to save the children, but it only stole their happiness.Despite the fact that the Indians are the first inhabbitants of Northern America, they have been treated like foreigners but other citizens. Another evidence which proves their non-acceptance by white people is the fact that Canada granted citizentship to Indians only in 1960.

The essential thing is for people to realise that we are all the same. Cultural and physical differencies are only small details and we should not be bothered with that. The importance is in the inner characteristics and our behaviour. Like Junior says: “I used to think the world was broken down by tribes,” I said. “By black and white. By Indian and white. But I know that isn’t true. The world is only broken into two tribes: The people who are assholes and the people who are not”. It is on us to decide in which tribe we want to be.

PC2 writing task correction

In PC2 I compared the influence of the Vikings and the Plantation settlers in Ireland, while concentrating on the significant differences. I am pretty satisfied with a high percentage I achieved on my test. I mostly madde some mistakes in using the wrong register, so I am going to focus on that for PC3.

While there is an obvious connection between these two items, there are also a number of significant differences. The Vikings and the Plantation settlers were both invaders who settled on Irish land. However, their goals and ways of achieving them were entirely different. The Vikings came to Ireland in the eighth century from Norway. They plundered towns and destroyed monasteries and therefore were seen as rapists and killers by Irish people. Even though they were brutal and violent, the Vikings eventually started to accept Irish customs and build fixed settlements. For instance, they converted to the Christianity, built Dublin and became intrested in politics and trade. On the other hand, the Plantation settlers had completely different aims. Since Ulster stayed Catholic, it seemed unreliable to English king James I. Therefore, he decided to settle English lords on the lands of exiled Gaelic chiefs so as to bring English language and protestantism to Ireland. In contrast to the Vikings, the Plantation settlers were significantly more nonviolent and passive, but their intentions were just as malicious as the Vikings'. As a result of building an English settlement, Irish language started to decline and English became the lagnuage of power and education. In short, the settlers had different strategies and came from thoroughly disparate backgrounds, but both had great influence on Irish culture and their identity.

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The land of chocolate, cheese and Heidi

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.
                                                                          Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Traveling anywhere in the world, even to a small town in your own country, is always a unique experience. We can never come back from a trip without becoming more independent, smarter or without building a new friendship. It is sometimes hard to leave our hometown because of some reasonable fears each of us have. Every travel is a new experience, and therefore, we are also starting to change and to realize various things about life. Even though that change is usually positive, it helps us see the world through different eyes. Given this, the reason why we are occasionally afraid is that we are not sure what are we going to see. Nonetheless, we should not be anxious about it. Traveling is our window to the world and each of us should at least take a peek.




The land I wanted to write about is, as you may already guessed, Switzerland. This beautiful country was my home for almost four months. I lived with host parents and two little host brothers in a small city called Uster, near Zurich. Not only did my new family helped me learn Swiss customs and even more complicated Swiss version of German, they also managed to show me the most astonishing places in Switzerland with a help of a little card called GA. For those who do not know what this card is, GA is a transportation card with which you can travel for free with bus, tram, train or a boat in the entire Switzerland. It is normally pretty expensive, so I wanted to use this opportunity and visit as much of Switzerland as I could. I usually traveled with my host family and friends, but sometimes also by myself. This is the travel map of places I visited in Switzerland:

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zS13oSmBoTpg.kF3jOU0FIXnc

And these are some of my favourite experiences:

ZURICH

Zurich is the largest city in the Switzerland and one of the most expensive cities in the world. It took me only about fifteen minutes with the train to come to this amazing city, so I was there nearly each day. Being in Zurich felt like being home. I was fascinated by the Limmat river and its bridges, churches, beautiful green parks and long Bahnhofstrasse which leads to the shimmering Zurich Lake. It was never boring to walk around the city. Even though Zurich is not so big comparing to other famous cities in Europe, there was always something new to see. Zurich's Must Do's are definitely to visit Lindenhof park with its outstanding view of the city, to get wonderfully lost in winding Old Town alleys while looking at medieval towers, picturesque bay windows, small stores and restaurants and recognizable Great Church, eat delicious Luxemburgerli from the Confiserie Sprüngli or Lindt chocolate and take a boat cruise on Lake Zurich. 

y medieval residential towers, past houses surrounded by legends, picturesque bay windows, ruins of Roman baths and much more.
Read more at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/travel/best/9734/0/things-to-see-and-do-in-z-rich.html#iVmPJ7sLve4LEKh2.9

he well preserved Old Town can look back on a history spanning 2,000 years. Stroll through narrow and winding Old Town alleys, over cobblestone streets and by medieval residential towers, past houses surrounded by legends, picturesque bay windows, ruins of Roman baths and much more.
Read more at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/travel/best/9734/0/things-to-see-and-do-in-z-rich.html#iVmPJ7sLve4LEKh2.99

On Top of the World

While living in Switzerland I visited some of the its highest mountaintops. The feeling was absolutely amazing. Seeing snow in Septembar was a completely new experience for me. Although I did not ski or rode a snowboard, hiking in Switzerland left me breathless. I was never a big fan of hitch-hiking, but after seeing magnificent landscapes I could not complain. It really does look like in pictures! Almost incredible.

Since my host family is really adventurous and do all kinds of sports, I have even tried climbing. I am not really much of a sports person. At that time, I danced and, now and then, jogged, so I was in a pretty good condition. However, they were all in better physical condition than me. Anyway, I was not really sure if I wanted to climb with them, but I decided to try. The main reason why I was so hesitant was that we were about to climb the mountain which was surrounding a lake. You are probably guessing why was I so indecisive! I was afraid I would fall down into the lake. Luckily, I did not and I actually had fun. On the picture below is one of my host brothers and me. Behind us is the lake I was writing about. It has a really strange colour. Anyway, we were the clumsy ones, so we did not went climbing with the rest of the family anymore. My host dad always stayed with us because he was in general afraid of mountain climbing.

A Face to Call Home

Big part of everyone's exchange experience is meeting people from all over the world. Your classmates, exchange students, like you, and members of your host family become important part of your life. It does not matter how far away from each other you live, if you have memories together, there is always going to be a place for those friendships inside your heart.

I could write about Switzerland and its stunning landscapes for ages, but I think you have heard enough. This country is truly something special. With its multilingual society, majestic mountains, spacious lakes, delightful chocolate and cheese, unmistakable punctuality, sharp knives and breathtaking environment, Switzerland is a country you must love. Just remember the story of Heidi and you will certainly decide to come!

Adventures in United States

I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list.

I have always wanted to travel the world and visit the most amazing and astounding places on Earth. Visiting other continents seemed especially appealing because they look so distant and unreachable on World Atlases.This is one of the main reasons I chose to visit the United States for the Easter break. I am keen to travel to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York. The trip will cost around €2000 depending on the amount of money spent on food, souvenirs, clothes or gifts.

DAY 1

It is planned to arrive on Los Angeles International Airport early in the morning. First thing to do after settling into my hotel room and unpacking is a visit to Venice Beach. After relaxing in the sun (hopefully) and having a lunch at a local cafe, I will spend the evening enjoying a long walk around the city. As I will probably be complitely exhausted, I will go to bed early.

DAY 2

During my second day in Los Angeles, I will visit the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, Beverly Hills and Universal Studios. Shortly, all places related to the film industry. In the evening, I will eat a typical American dinner at one of the resturant by the shore.


DAY 3

This entire day I am planning to spend in Disneyland. You are never too old for this kind of fun! Hanging out with Micky, Minnie,Winnie the Pooh and other Disney animated characters was always on my wish list.

DAY 4

The arrival at San Francisco International Airport is planned for the fourth day. I will go on a big bus tour around the city and visit Alcatraz, one of the world's infamous prisons. In the evening, I am planning to take a walk, and certainly, to take an extraorinary view of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.



DAY 5

Visiting Angel Island is planned for the fifth day of this amazing journey. I will go on two hour segway guided tour and spend some time in Angel Island Cantina. While enjoying delicious food and a gorgeus view of Ayla Cove and the Tiburon coast, I will listen to relaxing music from local bands on cantina's deck. Later in the evening, a flight 
to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is scheduled.

DAY 7

Early in the morning I will go to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage. This unusual attraction is a place where white tigers, lions, leopards and dolphins spend their days enjoying the Vegas sun. If you are fan of these beautiful furry creatures or perhaps graceful dolphins, like me, then this resort is a perfect place to visit in Las Vegas. After sightseeing and exploring the city, I am planning to have the CSI Experience. It sounds pretty funny, but it is actually possible. The Experiences run every ten minutes and last around 90 minutes.Since I have always loved watching this television series, I am really looking forward to see this attraction.

DAY 8
The whole day eight is scheduled for visiting the Great Canyon.


DAY 9

I am heading to New York City! The plain will land on John F. Kennedy International Airport. Needless to say, everyone wants to see the Statue of Liberty. Given this, the first thing to do here is to travel with the Staten Island Ferry across the harbor. Enjoying the remarkable skyline of New York City will certainly be a memorable experience. I have always loved libraries and therefore a  definite must-do after this long day is visiting the New York Public Library.



DAY 10

On the last day of this unforgetable trip, I will visit the famous Central Park, City Hall and Ellis Island. Late in the evening I am flying back home to the reality!

Божић

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
                                                                                                                                         Bob Hope

Божић is Serbian name for Christmas. I know Christmas time in Austria is already over, but the Christmas I normally celebrate is just tomorrow. Therefore, I have decided to write about some customs and traditions related to the Orthodox Christmas.

Firstly, Orthodox Christmas comes two weeks later than of Roman Catholics. It is celebrated on 7th January while we celebrate New Year on January 13th. This is because the Serbs follow the Julian calendar and Roman Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar. However, this does not mean that we do not celebrate New Year on 31st of December. In fact, we celebrate both New Years, the international one and the Serbian or Orthodox New Year. As such, January is really fun in my hometown. Like the most people, Serbs eventually officially accepted the Gregorian calendar, but all holidays, especially cultural or religious, are celebrated according to the Julian calendar.

Like for the most holidays in Serbian culture, Christmas is celebrated for three consecutive days. On the Christmas Eve, the family is preparing for the oncoming celebration. On this day, the food is made according to the rules of fasting, which means that milk and animal products are not eaten. Traditionally, early in the morning the head of each family and several male relatives, selects the tree from which a log will be cut for their household. An oak log or branch brought into the house is called the badnjak and is placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve. The badnjak can be also bought at marketplaces or distributed in churches, which is more appropriate for families living in the city. It is kept in the home until next Christmas Eve, while the one from the previous Christmas is mostly placed on the open fire built in the church yard, but also on the other suitable locations.

On the Christmas Day, the celebration is announced at dawn by church bells and guns. People are greeting each other by saying "Christ is Born", which should be responded to with "Truly He is Born". A bunch of food is normally prepared for Christmas lunch. Česnica, meat, sarma, rakija and of course, cakes are indispensable parts of Serbian Christmas. Česnica is the most important part of the Christmas meal. It is a round loaf of bread with a coin put into it. Family members hold the česnica between themselves, rotating it counterclockwise while saying a prayer. The česnica is then carefully broken among the relatives, so that each of them gets his or her own share of the bread. The person whose share contains the coin, will supposedly be especially lucky in the following year.


The upper surface of the loaf is routinely inscribed with various symbols, but mostly with the Serbian Cross. The Serbian Cross is a national symbol and consists of four Cyrillic letters S ( С ). They are the abbreviation for the motto: Оnly Unity Saves the Serbs ( Само слога Србина спасава ).

These are the most essential customs of Orthodox Christmas. By far and large, like in almost every culture, holidays are all about being united with your closest ones, your family members and friends. I really miss mine today!

REG

When I first saw this abbreviation in one of my pieces of homework, I wasn't sure what it really meant. Later, it became clear that register is not so irrelevant part of linguistics as I may have thought.

A register is one of many varieties of language determined by such factors as social occasion, purpose and audience. Generally, it is used to indicate degrees of formality in language use.What type of register should we use depends mainly on whether we want to use written or spoken language. Informal style is usually part of spoken language, whereas formal style is more likely to be seen in letters, newspaper articles or essays. We can also use informal register, when we are writing something personal to a friend or a family member.

If we use wrong type of register, many people will misunderstand us, especially the native speakers. Even though our knowledge of particular language is on a high level, without using the right register, we may seem quite silly. And of course, nobody wants that.

The purpose of register is to adjust to a particular social setting. It would be ridicuolous to write Hey you to our boss or our teacher, but to a friend it is completely appropriate. This might seem quite logical, but other things have to be learned.

In my previous tasks, I wrote a lot of  or some phrasal verbs, which were not quite suitable for writing a paragraph. Despite the fact that I wasn't aware of this problem until recently, I have decided to read different types of literature in order to improve my usage of the correct register.

Register does not exist to confuse us or to make our life harder. It is there to help us to behave in the right way in certain occasions and to make us better speakers.

Paragraph on Irish culture

                                        The Story of Ireland

The most fascinating aspect of Irish culture that I learned about by watching the Story of Ireland was the violence the Irish people had to suffer during the 17th century. Throughout this period of Irish culture various forms of punishment were used on Irish people who were eager to rebel. For instance, at the end of 17th century, the English imposed harsh Penal Laws against the Irish Catholics. These new laws made it hard for them to buy land, engage in trade, receive education and even impossible to vote or get a government job. Apart from this, in rebellions, sieges and wars, the Irish people were victims of the most brutal crimes. They were flogged, hanged, forced out of their homes and their properties were often burnt. The military leader Oliver Cromwell even used to beat people in order to save his bullets. For a sensitive person like me, these facts were extremely schocking and made me think about the human strenght.

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After we got our third piece of homework back, I was pretty satisfied with what I've done. Surprisingly, it was a great deal better than my previous tasks. I had some unneeded mistakes concerning wrong collocations and register, so as to avoid this, I will focus on that in my further learning. But on top of this, I am improving, so I need to keep up the hard work! 

John Mayer

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.

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Music has always been a big part of my life. I have never played an instrument (tried guitar, but wasn't enough persistent) or sang very well, but I listen to music every day, whenever I can. Leaving home without my headphones is almost impossible and absolutely weird. I listen to all kinds of music: rock, hip-hop, techno, pop, jazz and so on. However, I mostly prefer listening to slowrock. It relaxes me and the lyrics are usually meaningful and not so shallow like in large number of songs nowdays.

This kind of music is what a guitarist called John Mayer plays. He is one of my favourite singers. He's an American guitarist and songwriter. John sings pop, acoustic, blues and country rock. His virtuosic guitar and writing skills brought him great success and fame. Until now, he has published six albums. His last album is realised in 2013 and is called Paradise Valley. Mayer has won seven Grammy awards from nineteen nominations. The guitarist is also popular for dating the prettiest Hollywood divas, such as Jessica Simpson, Taylor Swift and Jennifer Aniston. Currently, he is in a realationship with Katy Perry with whom he recorded a song "Who You Love". Moreover, John Mayer has an amazing knack for constantly being able to suprise us with new insane guitar faces. His ridiculous facial expressions is what makes this guitarist even more original and extraordinary. Personally, I find his guitar faces extremelly funny and charming.

 

Mayer's songs' lyrics are never dull or plain. Each song represents a whole new story and is entirely authentic. His creative words leaves me breathless. For that reason I can never say precisely which one of his songs I like the most.

  John's quotes are highly inspiring and the one below is my favourite.

Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8 color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64 color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64 color box, though I've got a few missing. It's okay though, because I've got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8 color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation. So when I meet someone who's an 8 color type...I'm like, hey girl, Magenta! and she's like, oh, you mean purple! and she goes off on her purple thing, and I'm like, no I want Magenta!