14th February, 2009
Dear diary,
Ah, today is the long awaited celebration of love: Valentine’s Day. Everywhere men are walking with a dozen of red roses in their hands (here and there, there are few white or pink), heart-shaped chocolate boxes, and cute teddy bears. On the other hand, women are rushing into stores trying to figure out what their other half would like as a present – a perfume or maybe even a card? And as night falls, the restaurants will be filled with hand-holding, smile-wearing couples.
Such a cliché. It seems like it’s more about the presents than it is about the real reason for this holiday – love. In this world, bombarded with products we seem to take the emotions out of every celebration and make it completely commercial. I mean, c’mon! Has anyone heard of a handmade card? Something creative? Something unique and true? Even a piece of paper could turn into a love note, when someone would dedicate a few moments of his/her time to put down a few words of affection, of care. It should be a celebration of you and that special person in your life to whom you say I love you.
Oh well, I got to go get ready now, I am off to my boyfriend’s house. He has been cooking all day for me, preparing a dinner for the both of us. And no, it’s not a typical, romantic, Italian cuisine, quite the opposite; he is making hamburgers and fries, because he knows I like them. And yes, I did get him a present, but trust me its nothing that you can buy from a store.
22nd February, 2009
Dear diary,
The ultimate battle of the movies, the biggest movie event of the year, the Annual Academic Awards are here! Well, it is 3am, and I am interested in who is going to bring Oscar home; however, the movie stars are still walking down the red carpet (for an hour now) and it’s getting kind of boring.
Oh here we go, they begin! Wohoo!! WALL-E won Best Animated Picture (it was my favorite). Hmm, seems like the Academy is trying to shy away from the commercial, Hollywood movies and look for the more artistic, low-budget ones; the ones that hold the true essence of movies. I think I like this change. The world really seems to open its horizons: Obama, an African-American – President of the United States, Slumdog Millionaire, a British movie set in India – Best Picture. Also, some other movies are a breath of fresh air; for example, Milk, Frost/Nixon. Movies with essence and exquisite acting. Movies that move and stun. Yes indeed, 2009 is a year of change.
Showing posts with label Ana Angelovska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ana Angelovska. Show all posts
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Human Alien
The planet Earth is just one piece of sand on the beach we call the Universe. Hence, it is really hard to think that we are the only inhabitants of this immense structure. This explains the many searches for life on our neighboring planets, the alien image in pop cultures and all of the dubious alien-abductions and UFO’s. That is why until we don’t encounter those green, round-headed creatures, we try to find, or rather create aliens among ourselves.
Sadly, it is human nature to feel superior to others – to alienate. Therefore, just by being a foreigner, having a different religion, different color of skin, or simply by belonging to a different clique, a person can be alienated. However, in my article I would like to concentrate on the people of different sexual orientation: homosexuals and society’s outcasts: prisoners.
Lately, a person’s sexual orientation has become an important part of the person’s identity; namely, society puts too much stress on it. People get tagged – they become straight or gay, a distinction that is simply too vague. Yet, the alien among these two is the homosexual. Why? Simply because they are ‘different’ (whatever that might signify) and because they do not follow nature’s canon. And instead of accepting that difference, society chooses to alienate them. An example of this is the death penalty for homosexuals that existed during the French Revolution and the horrible treatment that they received in the concentration camps during World War 2. Why? Just because they were homosexuals.
On the other hand, the prisoners are psychologically and physically alienated – they are put into prisons and segregated from society. This is an example on how society punishes people for their wrongdoings – puts them between four concrete walls, in a world guided by routine. Also, the only communications that they have with the outside world are letters and the few visits that they have the right to. And after their ‘stay’ in the prison they are expected to reintegrate into society; however, that is not an easy task for they have been turned into E.T. and they will act like the alien. At least for the first few months.
Thus, in order to satisfy the people’s hunger to be someone different, someone alien, society has created aliens among us. Everyone has felt like an alien at least at one point in their lives, you know that feeling when you are in a room full of people, and yet you feel completely alone? Not a very comfortable feeling, eh?
Sadly, it is human nature to feel superior to others – to alienate. Therefore, just by being a foreigner, having a different religion, different color of skin, or simply by belonging to a different clique, a person can be alienated. However, in my article I would like to concentrate on the people of different sexual orientation: homosexuals and society’s outcasts: prisoners.
Lately, a person’s sexual orientation has become an important part of the person’s identity; namely, society puts too much stress on it. People get tagged – they become straight or gay, a distinction that is simply too vague. Yet, the alien among these two is the homosexual. Why? Simply because they are ‘different’ (whatever that might signify) and because they do not follow nature’s canon. And instead of accepting that difference, society chooses to alienate them. An example of this is the death penalty for homosexuals that existed during the French Revolution and the horrible treatment that they received in the concentration camps during World War 2. Why? Just because they were homosexuals.
On the other hand, the prisoners are psychologically and physically alienated – they are put into prisons and segregated from society. This is an example on how society punishes people for their wrongdoings – puts them between four concrete walls, in a world guided by routine. Also, the only communications that they have with the outside world are letters and the few visits that they have the right to. And after their ‘stay’ in the prison they are expected to reintegrate into society; however, that is not an easy task for they have been turned into E.T. and they will act like the alien. At least for the first few months.
Thus, in order to satisfy the people’s hunger to be someone different, someone alien, society has created aliens among us. Everyone has felt like an alien at least at one point in their lives, you know that feeling when you are in a room full of people, and yet you feel completely alone? Not a very comfortable feeling, eh?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The 21st Century Love Letter
Many have gone through it: having to say bye to a loved one and having a whole ocean, and thousands of miles between you. There are many examples of this, the men going away to serve the army, going away to university, a good job opportunity… There are many reasons that can separate a couple.
It used to be that the only connection, the only link between these two individuals was the letter. The hand written, tear covered, romantic letter. However, for this letter to reach the one it is addressed to, took a lot of time, days, weeks and sometimes even months. Today, the couples that have a long distance relationship have an advantage thanks to technology. All I can say is God bless MSN, Skype, Facebook, emails, and web cameras –the love letters of the 21st century. All of these allow for faster and everyday communications, no matter the time difference. Namely, you can look at your loved one through the web cam, chat through Facebook, MSN or any other IM of your choice. They are available at any time, wherever they are, 24/7. This gives the illusion that they are here with you, makes it feel like nothing has changed. Seems like the perfect way of communication, doesn’t it? And yet, there seems to be something missing, the personal touch, the romance, it’s not there. The good old letter, even though it takes time to reach you, it bears so much more value, so much more love. Personally, I know of a man who even in the 21st century found a way to make it special – he sent a love letter. A hand written, tear covered, romantic love letter. It was not send through the mail; it had a particular path – it was sent through a friend who gave it to the girl. And when she got it, only the smile on her face and the shine in her eyes explained how much that piece of paper meant to her. Later, the girl got creative too. She wrote a letter, scanned it, and sent it through an email. Even though it was sent through an email, the guy could see her handwriting, all the mistakes and smudges, all of the emotions put into it. So, yea there are new ways of communication; they are faster and more reliable, but the power of the letter – it should never underestimated.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Hi! I would like to apply!
SAT, Letters of Recommendation, SAT 2, CommonApp, TOEFL, Supplements, Application Essays, College Counseling, Deadlines, Forms, Documents, Transcripts, ETS, College Board…
Sounds familiar? Am I boring you already? Well if you are a senior you have heard these words too many times. I know I have. So, now let me take you into the, what should I name it, the “interesting” world of college applications.
It all begins the summer before your senior year. After spending a few weeks by the seaside and you have had enough of going out, you sit on your computer, go to CommonApp and start browsing colleges that you would like to get into. After a while you manage to narrow your list to 10-20 colleges and you are ready to have a meeting with your college counselor – the person that is going to help you survive this quest and the person that is going to clarify all of those forms and things you need to fill in that just sound like gibberish. Now you further familiarize yourself to the CommonApp – your ‘best friend’ for the following 5 months. Here you have to fill out personal information, all of the activities you have participated in (summer school, community service, seminars…), upload your personal essay, write supplements for all of your selected colleges, and find teachers and counselors to write you a Letter of Recommendation. But wait! That is not all. While you are doing all of this, you need to sign up for your SAT Reasoning Test, a few SAT 2 Tests and of course the TOEFL. And then comes the hard part: you need to actually take these tests and try to do your best.
And then after you have filled out everything, done every test possible, and paid the fees for these applications YOU ARE DONE!!!! Now, the only thing you can do is just way and see the outcome. However, after this seemingly gruesome experience you will see that it was worth it, and you will be sitting somewhere at college campus enjoying the fruits of your labor.
Sounds familiar? Am I boring you already? Well if you are a senior you have heard these words too many times. I know I have. So, now let me take you into the, what should I name it, the “interesting” world of college applications.
It all begins the summer before your senior year. After spending a few weeks by the seaside and you have had enough of going out, you sit on your computer, go to CommonApp and start browsing colleges that you would like to get into. After a while you manage to narrow your list to 10-20 colleges and you are ready to have a meeting with your college counselor – the person that is going to help you survive this quest and the person that is going to clarify all of those forms and things you need to fill in that just sound like gibberish. Now you further familiarize yourself to the CommonApp – your ‘best friend’ for the following 5 months. Here you have to fill out personal information, all of the activities you have participated in (summer school, community service, seminars…), upload your personal essay, write supplements for all of your selected colleges, and find teachers and counselors to write you a Letter of Recommendation. But wait! That is not all. While you are doing all of this, you need to sign up for your SAT Reasoning Test, a few SAT 2 Tests and of course the TOEFL. And then comes the hard part: you need to actually take these tests and try to do your best.
And then after you have filled out everything, done every test possible, and paid the fees for these applications YOU ARE DONE!!!! Now, the only thing you can do is just way and see the outcome. However, after this seemingly gruesome experience you will see that it was worth it, and you will be sitting somewhere at college campus enjoying the fruits of your labor.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Senior Trip 09
Senior year of high school.
It all comes down to it, doesn’t it? Applying to colleges, doing as many community service hours as you can, asking for recommendations, studying for those scary APs and IB testing sessions, waiting for countless free periods for your next subject ( because you only have three). However, there is another side to senior year. The caps and gown photos, being exhibited on street Macedonia, planning for prom and the succeeding week of partying, no longer caring for grades that much, spending most of your day at Forza drinking coffee, oh and yes, the long expected SENIOR TRIP. To be honest, every student since the moment he or she enters NOVA can’t wait for Senior Trip to come. All the crazy, fun stories from the previous years make you want to skip the first three years of high school and be a Senior.
But is Senior Trip all it’s said to be? According to the Senior class of ’09: YES IT IS!!!
This year’s route was Italy, Spain and France, and the stops were Florence, Rome, Lloret de Mar, Barcelona, Cannes, Nice, Verona and last but not least Venice.
The Senior Trip began as always – with an uncomfortable and long, very long bus ride. In fact, there were many of those bus rides in between. Yet, this year, the bus ride was ameliorated by the legendary tour guide Dejan, and his specific English (big fun, something or something else, stuffs and must to go). Other things that made up this trip are the heart-shaped sunglasses everyone bought, the Hard Rock Cafés in Rome, Barcelona and Venice and the t-shirts a lot of people got from there, the cruise from Rome to Barcelona and singing songs on the deck, the Barcelona – Bayern Munich game, fun rides at Porta Aventura, the shopping fever, eating at Burger King or McDonald’s (with the occasional lunch at a restaurant with good food), the shopping frenzy, the flamenco dance, the clubs. The clubs and the partying. The clubs and of course a lot of drinking! Not to forget to mention the teachers that survived this Senior Trip: our own Tiho, Tanja and Nina. They made sure that everyone woke up and didn’t miss the bus and that there was no more drinking on the bus or stinky feet.
Oh, yes. I forgot. During the Senior Class, the students also visited museums, monuments, the Vatican and saw numerous sculptures and paintings.
Sadly, after two amazing and unforgettable weeks, the Senior Trip ended and our seniors returned to Skopje, Prashka bb. Still, there are countless of photos and many, many memories that will make sure that this Senior Trip never ends.
It all comes down to it, doesn’t it? Applying to colleges, doing as many community service hours as you can, asking for recommendations, studying for those scary APs and IB testing sessions, waiting for countless free periods for your next subject ( because you only have three). However, there is another side to senior year. The caps and gown photos, being exhibited on street Macedonia, planning for prom and the succeeding week of partying, no longer caring for grades that much, spending most of your day at Forza drinking coffee, oh and yes, the long expected SENIOR TRIP. To be honest, every student since the moment he or she enters NOVA can’t wait for Senior Trip to come. All the crazy, fun stories from the previous years make you want to skip the first three years of high school and be a Senior.
But is Senior Trip all it’s said to be? According to the Senior class of ’09: YES IT IS!!!
This year’s route was Italy, Spain and France, and the stops were Florence, Rome, Lloret de Mar, Barcelona, Cannes, Nice, Verona and last but not least Venice.
The Senior Trip began as always – with an uncomfortable and long, very long bus ride. In fact, there were many of those bus rides in between. Yet, this year, the bus ride was ameliorated by the legendary tour guide Dejan, and his specific English (big fun, something or something else, stuffs and must to go). Other things that made up this trip are the heart-shaped sunglasses everyone bought, the Hard Rock Cafés in Rome, Barcelona and Venice and the t-shirts a lot of people got from there, the cruise from Rome to Barcelona and singing songs on the deck, the Barcelona – Bayern Munich game, fun rides at Porta Aventura, the shopping fever, eating at Burger King or McDonald’s (with the occasional lunch at a restaurant with good food), the shopping frenzy, the flamenco dance, the clubs. The clubs and the partying. The clubs and of course a lot of drinking! Not to forget to mention the teachers that survived this Senior Trip: our own Tiho, Tanja and Nina. They made sure that everyone woke up and didn’t miss the bus and that there was no more drinking on the bus or stinky feet.
Oh, yes. I forgot. During the Senior Class, the students also visited museums, monuments, the Vatican and saw numerous sculptures and paintings.
Sadly, after two amazing and unforgettable weeks, the Senior Trip ended and our seniors returned to Skopje, Prashka bb. Still, there are countless of photos and many, many memories that will make sure that this Senior Trip never ends.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Our Common Values
To commemorate five years of the tragic accident of President Boris Trajkovski, the International Boris Trajkovski Foundation organized the forth-annual International Leadership Forum. The International Leadership Forum was held during the span of five days – from Wednesday, 25th of February, to Saturday, 28th of February. This year’s Forum, as well as the preceding ones, consisted of two parts: The International Leadership Forum (25th—26th February) and The International Youth Leadership Forum (27th—28th February). This year, however, unlike the previous ones, was more special. It was special because it marked half a decade from the death of the President. Because of that, the Forum was five days long, for five conveys a symbolical meaning, one day for each year.
The International Leadership Forum consisted of two major events – the premiere of the documentary “The President”, and The Fellowship Prayer Dinner. During the premiere of the documentary, which was held at the Macedonian Theater and Ballet, there were many distinguished guests, many politicians, many diplomats, many scholars, and the President’s friends. Furthermore, before the showing of the documentary the audience was entertained by the beautiful sound of the specially assembled chorus and by the extensive speech presented by a member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor Gjorgi Stardelov. The Fellowship Prayer Dinner served as a tool to bring back the memory of the life and deeds of President Trajkovski and to celebrate them. This was done among 200 guests, mainly President Trajkovski’s acquaintances.
While The International Leadership Forum was a time of remembering and commemorating, The International Youth Leadership Forum was a time of debating and shaping the leaders of tomorrow. This year’s topic was “Our common values”. During the two sessions, all the participants heard inspiring speeches and debated on two distinctive topics. During the first session held at the University of St. Cyril and Methodius, the (sub) topic was Leadership in challenging times—Financial Crisis. The participants were honored to hear three speakers from the field of economy: Professor Abdulmenat Bexheti, Mr. Gligor Bishev, and Professor Mihail Petkovski. On the second session held in NOVA International Schools, the (sub) topic was Leadership in challenging times—Establishing long lasting peace. Another three speakers, established leaders such as Ambassador Philip Reeker, Ambassador Simone Philippini, and Mr. Ivica Bocevski welcomed us at NOVA.
The task of the participants or the young leaders of tomorrow was to contemplate on and discuss the presented issues in their assigned groups (A, B and C) and then come up with a possible solution. Later the conclusion was to be presented in front of the rest of the groups. Clearly, the purpose of the discussion was not for the participant to come up with a final solution for world’s problems, but to start up a spark, an idea that has the possibility to progress and grow, and one day might be THE solution.
The International Leadership Forum consisted of two major events – the premiere of the documentary “The President”, and The Fellowship Prayer Dinner. During the premiere of the documentary, which was held at the Macedonian Theater and Ballet, there were many distinguished guests, many politicians, many diplomats, many scholars, and the President’s friends. Furthermore, before the showing of the documentary the audience was entertained by the beautiful sound of the specially assembled chorus and by the extensive speech presented by a member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor Gjorgi Stardelov. The Fellowship Prayer Dinner served as a tool to bring back the memory of the life and deeds of President Trajkovski and to celebrate them. This was done among 200 guests, mainly President Trajkovski’s acquaintances.
While The International Leadership Forum was a time of remembering and commemorating, The International Youth Leadership Forum was a time of debating and shaping the leaders of tomorrow. This year’s topic was “Our common values”. During the two sessions, all the participants heard inspiring speeches and debated on two distinctive topics. During the first session held at the University of St. Cyril and Methodius, the (sub) topic was Leadership in challenging times—Financial Crisis. The participants were honored to hear three speakers from the field of economy: Professor Abdulmenat Bexheti, Mr. Gligor Bishev, and Professor Mihail Petkovski. On the second session held in NOVA International Schools, the (sub) topic was Leadership in challenging times—Establishing long lasting peace. Another three speakers, established leaders such as Ambassador Philip Reeker, Ambassador Simone Philippini, and Mr. Ivica Bocevski welcomed us at NOVA.
The task of the participants or the young leaders of tomorrow was to contemplate on and discuss the presented issues in their assigned groups (A, B and C) and then come up with a possible solution. Later the conclusion was to be presented in front of the rest of the groups. Clearly, the purpose of the discussion was not for the participant to come up with a final solution for world’s problems, but to start up a spark, an idea that has the possibility to progress and grow, and one day might be THE solution.
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