April 25, 2008
Rainy days, the alarm clock ringing in the morning, bumping into somebody you just did not feel like meeting.. Some annoyances are universal. So are many of the things we all like: music, food, one or several places to call home. Today, I am asking people in Slovenia about what they like and what annoys them, hoping to get some culture specific answers.
Posted by Bruno
It`s time for another article about language: the Slovenian language this time as I am still in Ljubljana. Slovenian is part of the South-Slavic group of languages, which further includes Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Bulgarian. Contrary to Serbian and Bulgarian, Slovenian is written in Latin letters. Slovenian distantly shares some words with Slovakian, but many of those are `faux amis`: the words may be the same but there meaning can be entirely different.
Posted by Bruno
April 23, 2008
Dreams and reality are two separate things, and directing one towards the other is yet another discipline. Then, there`s the difference between childhood dreams, grown-up dreams and illusions. Today, I am asking some people in the centre of Ljubljana: what did you want to become when you were a child, what have you become and what do you hope to become in the future?
Posted by Bruno
Dreams and reality are two separate things, and directing one towards the other is yet another discipline. Then, there`s the difference between childhood dreams, grown-up dreams and illusions. Today, I am asking some people in the centre of Ljubljana: what did you want to become when you were a child, what have you become and what do you hope to become in the future?
Posted by Bruno
April 22, 2008
Slovenia is located right next to Italy, but there are definitely some stereotypes that the Slovenians do not share with the Italians. Italians are said to be romantic and seductive. Very little of that applies to the Slovenes, who seem to have some difficulties in expressing their appreciation of the person they fancy.
Posted by Bruno
Getting from Hungary to Slovenia requires careful targeting. Slovenia and Hungary only share a 100-km border, and the cross-border links are minimal to almost non-existent. Only two decent roads cross the border, added to a rail link between Budapest and Slovenia`s capital Ljubljana that is only serviced once a day. My mission for today is to take that one train and to find out how much Slovenians and Hungarian know about each other.
Posted by Bruno
April 21, 2008
Slovenians seem to be quite hard-working and busy during the week, so it would make sense to think that they will take it easy in their spare time. And so they do, but probably only when it rains. All other weather conditions are a perfect excuse to hit the road and engage in some kind of outdoor activity.
Posted by Bruno
In communist times, the link between effort and wealth was a rather faint one. Until 20 years ago, any Slovenian would be almost equally rich as his neighbour. No matter what profession either of them had and no matter how much effort either of them put into their jobs. Times have changed. Converting effort into money is now one of the driving forces under the Slovenian society. Slovenes are hard-working, ambitious and talented, but can they cope with the pressure of always having to exceed expectations?
Posted by Bruno
In communist times, the link between effort and wealth was a rather faint one. Until 20 years ago, any Slovenian would be almost equally rich as his neighbour. No matter what profession either of them had and no matter how much effort either of them put into their jobs. Times have changed. Converting effort into money is now one of the driving forces under the Slovenian society. Slovenes are hard-working, ambitious and talented, but can they cope with the pressure of always having to exceed expectations?
Posted by Bruno
April 19, 2008
Up until 1991, Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia which, for almost a century, showed itself to the world as a show case for multi-state federalism. United under dictator Tito, Slovenes shared an artificially created country with Croats, Serbians, Bosnians, Kosovars, Macedonians, Vojvodinians and Montenegrans. Little of that is left. Slovenia is now a country of its own. It`s its population still qualifies as Yugoslav, by the simple fact that Yugoslav literally translated as Southern Slave, which is the ethnic family to which Slovenes belong. But how Yugoslav do they still feel after almost 20 years of independence?
Posted by Bruno
