Valolodja sweetie !
there is a thin line between weakness and strength..sometimes our weakness is a great advantage..
Hhhmmmm… in fact you might be right after all. Strangely, sometimes it’s exactly those things we don’t like about ourselves and which we consider weaknesses (whether physical imperfections or flaws in our character) that make us interesting and lovable in the eyes of others. I have no idea at all why it’s like that but who is able to read and understand Mother Nature’s mind?
ha ha ha..lawyer? no no my dear FOFO...I don't suck blood like most lawyers do...
Now I am laughing……. Yes unfortunately, that’s the image we often have of lawyers: turning and twisting words and meanings, bending the law to a degree where it’s not recognizable anymore and all of that for personal profit. If I wasn’t laughing I would be crying… It’s a shame that some of them quite obviously suffer from a lack of a professional code of ethics…
if we are patient we will learn from our mistakes.. and we learn as long as we live...
Oh darling you’re so right but patience to learn from our mistakes presupposes the ability and maturity to understand and admit our mistakes and the will to make a change which can be a long, painful process in one’s life.
I might be wrong but sometimes I think that things in people’s lives, on a personal as well as on a global political level, would be completely different if there was true motivation and belief in this principle of “learning from mistakes”. Then again of course this is a very simplifying, naпve idea because life and this world are far too complex and unpredictable and innocent, childlike approaches like this would never work here.
this world is still held by those old ideas that mostly came from church..
Yes Valodja sweetie, many positive values as well as negative attitudes are rooted in the various ideologies of the Christian churches, at least in the western world. I don’t know any other institution representing and actually existing in such odd extremes and paradoxes.
On the one hand, Christian philosophy, based on the principles taught by Jesus Christ and his mother Mary, gave the western societies all those essential values, ideals and rules of humanity which modern, free, democratic societies are so proud of: love, peace, respect, tolerance, the concept of the dignity, freedom and equality of people, the gift of life, mercy and compassion etc.
In times of slavery and dictatorship individual priests, bishops etc. spoke up loudly in the name of the people for freedom and peace. For example in Greece during the very long Ottoman occupation a number of Orthodox clerics taught children the Greek language and culture in secret schools and some of them resisting the occupants politically were killed and dragged through the streets.
In the period of the “Third Reich” in Germany, the protestant priest Dietrich Bonhoefer was executed by the Nazis for his work in the resistance. Remember all those Catholic priests who took sides with the people against the military junta in Latin America and paid with their lives for this (moreover they were badly let down by the Vatican…).
Without Pope John Paul II Poland and later the other east European countries wouldn’t have been freed from the communist regimes and the courage and determination of the Protestant congregations in east Germany was invaluable for the fall of the dictatorship there.
On the other hand the Christian churches have a very long tradition of intolerance, misogyny, arrogance, abuse of power and corruption, suppression, hypocrisy etc. Hardly any other institution made itself guilty of so much human misery around the globe throughout history. Just some examples:
the persecution of women, Jews and other “minorities” in the Middle Ages, the crimes of the Inquisition, the subjugation and extinction of native people and cultures in America, Asia, Africa during the centuries of colonisation, the collaboration with or support of authoritarian regimes (in Latin America, in Tsarist Russia and in the Soviet Union, to a certain extent in Greece during the military dictatorship in the 1960ies / 1970ies).
I mean in history there were probably millions of women who were better choise for important positions in societies but NNOoo...
Well, not only in history but in our so-called modern times, too because unfortunately our societies inherited a problematic aspect of conservative, Christian ideology which of course is patriarchy. Any misogynous stereotype and prejudice is derived from the patriarchal view of the world and no matter how modern and progressive we may think ourselves, sexist patterns still do survive in the way we perceive, judge and treat each other.
I don’t believe that patriarchy as a whole is wrong and outdated and I neither believe that matriarchy is the answer to all the problems in the world. Personally, I would be happy and satisfied if the general social conditions in Europe were changed in a way giving women equal status and opportunities in the job market, including access to leading positions, thus allowing them to participate and contribute to society the way men are able to do.
In fact, it would be very useful in every way if there was more understanding, empathy and respect for the problems and needs of both sexes because in the end we’re all human beings and we need each other.
I guess that it was very bad time to be foreigner in such transition of the society...
You may find it funny, but from my own experience and point of view, things in that time of political, economic and social transition were much harder for the Germans, especially the east Germans, than for the foreigners living in west Germany.
The west Germans were suddenly confronted with a situation they hadn’t expected and were not prepared for because the economy of east Germany was in a disastrous state and the major part of the financial burden for rebuilding the eastern economy had to be carried by the west Germans.
The east Germans had to realize very soon that democracy, freedom and capitalism wouldn’t change their lives in the way they had naively imagined and many were terribly frustrated and disillusioned by the rapidly rising unemployment and the fact that wealth didn’t fall miraculously like rain from the sky.
The lives of the foreigners (including me and my family) living in west Germany basically didn’t change at all. The generation of the parents (the so-called “Gastarbeiter” from the southern European countries) had been living and working there for 25-40 years and my generation was fully integrated in the German society, going through the German education system. The behaviour of friends, teachers, class mates, neighbours and familiar people in the towns we lived towards us didn’t change at all.
BUT the thing that worried, scared and concerned many foreigners and the majority of Germans in the first years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, was a seemingly growing, overt, aggressive, primitive form of racism especially in east Germany where neo-Nazi ideology fell on fertile ground as the problems, fears, hopelessness and disappointments of the people were greatest there. In those years a number of foreigners in east and west were attacked and killed by racists and the pictures of burning houses where foreigners lived travelled via TV news coverage around the world. It was a sad and depressing time and many foreigners and Jewish communities felt rather unsafe and threatened.
Thank God, 15 years after the German unification the extent of racism is back on its “normal” level if it possible to consider any level of racism as “normal”… What I mean is that it is on a level very comparable to that in other European countries and quite obviously our democracies are strong and stable enough to keep it under control and fight it.
you refused to change yourself because of the others an that made you a person, personally I am happy because of it because today I have someone more than interesting to talk with
Oh thank you honey
… that’s a very kind and sweet thing to say
and indeed I’d like to return the compliment. I enjoy talking with you very much, too and the pleasure is on my side !
I wish to travel so much..to see all of the ancient monuments..I only saw ephesus..
Ooooooh you really did ? I envy you !!! It must have been an extraordinary experience… I went to see ancient Delphi (you know the famous oracle of Greek Antiquity) some years ago and the incredible, magical atmosphere and beauty of that place is just unique. I believe the ancient Greeks knew exactly why this place was so perfect for establishing an oracle of that importance there… Valodja, if you’re given the opportunity to visit Delphi don’t hesitate ! You’ll be fascinated !!!
Traveling… yes it’s an exciting thing to do. In a private mail I said to sweetelena that I’m dreaming of going to all Arab countries. When I was little I was completely thrilled by Oriental fairy tales (you know 1000 and 1 Night…..) and clothing and in the course of the years I learned to love Arab cultures (especially Muslim art and architecture). And then all this delicious food, the sound and rhythm of music, the interesting people…
computer science brings much more of that idiotic paper..
ha ha ha ha…
I’ll give you a German proverb on this:
“GELD IST NICHT ALLES, ABER OHNE GELD IST ALLES NICHTS.”
Money is not everything but without money everything is nothing.
my grandparents and their parents are interesting for this story...you must understand that Serbia is a market of genes,lot of cultures mixed..my grandfather's mother was romanian..my grandmother's mother was montenegrian..her brother was one the greatest serbian composers..these were my roots from my mother's side..my father was born in a very small mountain village (beautiful nature,houses of mud,cows, sheeps etc..)..and those people there are not 100% sure who their ancestors are,they don't care much..so there is great mistery about that..but there are strong indications that some greeks settled there and I am trying to find out are they my ancestors..old people say they are but their word is not enough for me..
I guess you already know you’re a lucky person because of this colourful, rich family history. By the way, except Serbian and English, do you speak perhaps a little Romanian, too? Valodja and another question. The name “Montenegro” (it means ‘black mountain’ doesn’t it?) sounds so Italian to me. Do you know how the territory we call Montenegro today got its name?
So you’re on a kind of treasure hunt sweetie… When you say “indications that some Greeks settled there” do you refer to Antiquity or to a much later period e.g. the 18th / 19th century AD ?
Where do you think you might find reliable information ? Probably in some historical documents at a university library… or at private and state archives (museums ?) where written sources are kept… sometimes the etymology of a family’s last name can give you a hint, so the last name of your great-grandparents might offer a clue for your search….
I AM ROMANTIC YOU KNOW, READY TO MAKE ANY KIND OF FOOLISHNESS FOR LOVE. (DANYA)
A WOMAN KNOWS THE FACE OF THE MAN SHE LOVES AS A SAILOR KNOWS THE OPEN SEA (HONORE DE BALZAC)
THE ARTIST VOCATION IS TO SEND LIGHT INTO THE HUMAN HEART (GEORGE SAND)
because I had enough time and I just wanted to explain some things in detail. I think, next time I'll try to make it a bit shorter because I guess from a certain point on it gets kind of exhausting for the person reading it... (ha ha) 8) .
my dear compatriot maybe you have just rushed a little to make funny remarks on your own people living in south of the country – territory called Montenegro 
SEND ME A MAIL TO LET ME KNOW YOU’RE ON YOUR WAY AND I’LL BE THERE FOR SURE !!!!
like drugs...I always seeked for those who had something to say but
I'LL BE IN ATHENS FOR THE WEEKEND. ACTUALLY WHAT A SHAME YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE THERE, TOO 
about your wish to study Greek and I also feel pleased that this decision has to do a little bit with me 
of learning a foreign language but grammatical rules and principles are the essence of every language and you’re completely lost without it. Greek grammar may not be the simplest one compared with English or French etc. but with a bit of patience, good will and some effort you will be able to deal with it. You learn the grammar along with the language and you take it step by step so that you learn to apply the rules while you speak and write. To tell you the truth, I remember only very little of the Greek grammar I learned at the Greek afternoon lessons in Germany but I do remember clearly that I never had problems with it and I learned grammatical rules quickly. Like maths grammar is a set of logical rules and ideas (with these notorious exceptions) and once you understand how everything is linked with each other and how it works your brain soon will do all the operations automatically. So don’t worry about grammar. You’re a wonderfully intelligent person 
. Why leaving maths for Greek? 
Can’t you do both? The reason why I’m asking is because your job perspectives with Greek are relatively limited: translating, teaching, research on academic level etc. Maths / IT might offer you better career options and of course the payment (forgive me 
) in the field of maths / IT is rather good. Then again if you’re sick and tired of maths and if you really hate it it might be wise to leave it but promise me 