Just dance!

I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.

The famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche did not say this without a reason. He understood the secret of dancing, its goal to move, to touch and to inspire.

Dancing is considered as a type of art that involves movement of body usually to music. People have danced throughout the centuries in nearly every culture in order to express their emotional state, tell a story, perform a religion or just to have fun. As such, dancing represents one of the oldest human arts. It is also often used as a form of nonverbal communication.

Nowdays, there are a variety of different dances. Breakdancing, ballet, tango, hip-hop, step dance and many others are born each day and danced in disparate societies. However, they all have one thing in common. They bring people together and make them feel more satisfied and relaxed. Not only do the proffesional dancers feel this way, but also common people after a fun night out. What is more, dancing to a certain types of music and sounds can bring about a sense of relaxation within the body, spirit and mind. Therefore, dancing is an ideal ending of an exhausting and stressful day.

Needless to say, dancing is a type of pshysical exercise. Given this, our health benefits in myriad ways, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level. On top of that, dancing is pefect for those who are eager to lose their weight and keep their bodies fit.

The most recent research has showed that frequent dancing can even make us smarter. Stimulating one’s mind by dancing can ward off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia. Frequent dancing was also proven to be more effective against dementia than reading or any other physical, but also mental activity. In addition to this, major study showed that dancing increases cognitive acuity at all ages.

Despite the fact that this research does not state what type of dancing can make us more clever, dancing should definitely become part of our everyday lives. It is not improtant if you are a good dancer or not, you should just get up and dance! Trust me, it’s hell of lot of fun.



Personally, until I came to Graz I used to dance ballet. Firstly, I danced classical, but later modern ballet. I was always fascinated by the elegant and tender movements of delicate ballerinas. For me, dancing represents something exciting and beautiful. It demands a lot of effort, but also brings wonderful experiences and lasting friendships. But enough about dancing…

Talk about dance? Dance is not something to talk about. Dance is to dance. - Peter St. James

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.