Categories
in slovenia

christmas market in ljubljana

hello! happy new year!
it’s been quiet here, but like always on the first day of the year, there’s new energy to do the things we’ve kept postponing… like blogging :)

we’ve spent christmas in portugal with our families, like we always do. travelling here in mid-december involved a late plane and a missed connecting flight in london, with a consequent pricey flight purchase for the next day and the inevitable overnight stay in an airport. but hey, after years of changing planes in london and never visiting the city, i finally stepped out of an airport and took the subway – to another airport, but still! i can say i’ve used london’s metro! :)
all in all, we were rather lucky, considering all the stories we’ve been reading!

before we left for portugal, we made sure to enjoy the christmas market in ljubljana. the light decorations take a less christian theme there, focusing on stars and planets instead. there are stalls selling things like winter gloves, sweets, honey or christmas decorations and others with lots of food… and of course, gluhwein and hot chocolate. yum!
the whole concept of a christmas market is something i really like: it gives people enough incentive to brave the snow and come out on the streets in these cold december nights. here’s what it looked like this year:





next post: christmas night in portugal!

Categories
on the big screen

two movies

we’ve seen ‘the cave of the yellow dog‘ after joana’s recommendation, and loved every minute of it. mongolia is beautiful, and if we ever end up there someday in the distant future, i think we’ll be able to trace that decision back to this movie.

and we want to see somewhere, sofia coppola’s newest film. i really like the trailer, and this song… i can’t get it out of my head!

Categories
in slovenia

one year in slovenia!


a few days ago we celebrated another year of this cultural immersion adventure, the fourth so far (1 in netherlands, 2 in china and now 1 in slovenia) and i don’t think we’ll stop our mission around the world any time soon… although slovenia has managed to charm us thoroughly! in fact, i can picture us settling down here, on a big house (all houses are gigantic around here) by the mountains, spending our days hiking, eating sausages and mushrooms and breathing in the fresh air with a mug of planinski tea or bela kava on our hands.

i’m almost wary of singing slovenia’s praises for fear that the country will be invaded by tourists, spoiling its magic. i’m not the only one thinking so – we’re like a league of secret slovenian admirers, speaking of the country as if it’s mythical (a bit like bielefeld conspiracy, I’ve heard…). seriously, when was the last time you heard of slovenia in the news? never? i rest my case. :P

right now, the first snows have fallen, and we’re eager to start enjoying the winter before packing the tent again and moving somewhere… north. after shanghai we craved quietness, pure air, nature. after slovenia, we’re craving a bustling city, events, cafés with internet. we’ll see. :)

Categories
links and ideas

public service by dan savage

“the clitoris… i know so much about it! it’s like a country i’ve never been to, but i’ve read every travel guide.
angor wat… angor twat i should call it!”

dan savage answers sex related questions live on events and on a column called savage love. it’s pure public service of setting records straight about sexuality in a frank, no-nonsense voice.

recently, he started it gets better, a project where he + his husband and hundreds of other people (including tim gunn, perez hilton or chris colfer) send lgbt teenagers a clear message:

Many LGBT youth can’t picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can’t imagine a future for themselves. So let’s show them what our lives are like, let’s show them what the future may hold in store for them.

i think this is a remarkable project. high school really is a tough time (and not only for lgbt teenagers), but it gets better for all of us, often just the moment high school ends. hang in there, it does get better.

Categories
just life links and ideas

101 things in 1001 days – second edition

it’s been over 1001 days since i made version one of my 101 things list… which didn’t go all that well. i did about 40% of the tasks, and reached some conclusions.
1001 days seemed like a lifetime 3 years ago, and so i sprinkled the list with wishful thinking and lots of travelling adventures… which ended up not happening (e.g. roadtrip coast-to-coast in the US). it turns out, our big travels are not conditioned by items in a list, but rather by whims and opportunities. it’s not that we travelled less, we just ended up choosing different places to go to – and that’s ok.
another thing i’ve learned is that things… change. i’ve lost interest on a lot of items (e.g. be better at iceskating) while others turned out not to be so compatible to our current circumstances (e.g. starting a compost pile). other things turned out better than i expected (e.g. instead of going 100% freelance, i work remotely).

all in all though, i liked the idea of having this big list with a set deadline – it didn’t shape my future, but it did focus me on certain goals. the second list took me a lot more time to draft, as i’ve struggled to remain more practical and make sure all the items are all “doable”. i really want to do better this time.

so, 101 fresh things for the next 1001 days:

  • Do the HSK intermediate
  • Make a pinhole & take some photos with it
  • Take calligraphy/handwriting lessons
  • Draw a font
  • Read 50 new books (half of which in portuguese)
  • Write 750 words for a month
  • Spend a week offline
  • Reach my goal weight
  • Be ok in snowboarding
  • Write 20 letters
  • Write/draw a small guide to Ljubljana/Slovenia
  • Research about Slovenia/Balkans history
  • Identify 10 different trees
  • Taste 30 different fruits
  • Taste 20 different cheeses
  • Try a autocaravan holiday
  • Visit a volcano
  • Fly on a glider
  • Learn how to scuba dive
  • Visit a mail sorting facility
  • Draw and get a tattoo
  • Visit a theme park
  • Volunteer
  • Do a photobook of our time in Slovenia
  • Try 25 different teas
  • Do a medical checkup
  • Go to the dentist
  • Draw a comic strip
  • Write 20 lists
  • Find 150 geocaches
  • Apply to the green card lottery november 2010
  • Visit 20 Unesco sites: historic areas of istanbul, october 2010
  • Fly a kite
  • Visit 15 different museums
  • Do 5 videos
  • Go to 20 concerts
  • Watch a sport event live
  • Climb 10 Slovenian mountains: tromeja, ratitovec
  • Hot air balloon ride
  • Go rafting/canoeing
  • Roadtrip in the EU: slovenia-austria-germany-netherlands, september 2010
  • Be halfway through our house goal fund
  • Move again
  • Do 20 surprises: bday parcel
  • Find out what I want to do related with stationery
  • Sponsor an artist on Kickstart
  • Make ice cream from scratch
  • Buy some Christmas lights to decorate
  • Do a secret art project in the city
  • Go see an opera
  • Go see a ballet
  • Sell something on etsy and use the money to buy something there
  • Go an entire month without eating out
  • Go an entire month without using a car (not even friend’s cars)
  • View all of Star Wars movies october 2010
  • Donate five dollars to wikipedia for each goal failed
  • Track the progress of every item on the blog
  • Fill my recipes notebook with recipes
  • Get a Fuji Instax and start documenting our life
  • Feel a baby kick inside a friend’s belly
  • Try to eat local for a week
  • Start laser hair removal
  • Take a cooking class
  • Use all the yarn I have
  • Design and print a postcard
  • Write something for a newspaper
  • Review 25 pieces of stationery
  • Lose the jumping habit
  • Try 20 different sodas
  • Go karting
  • Blog at least 3 times a week for 3 months
  • Put 200 meals on Foodspotting
  • Go see the sea organ in Zadar
  • Make 5 surprise breakfasts
  • Drastically reduce the amount of coffee I drink
  • Ride a ferris wheel
  • Carve a rubber stamp
  • Try sledding
  • Create an herb garden
  • Redesign meiadeleite.com
  • Host 10 people through Couchsurfing
  • Write a letter to someone once a week for 10 weeks
  • Learn to cook 10 new soups: mushroom soup
  • Design a tshirt
  • Fill a notebook with notes from books/articles
  • Straighten up the SS details + get EU health card
  • Get the surgery done
  • Do NaNowriMo (for the blog) once
  • Learn how to do sushi
  • Fix hanzillion and plan half a year of posts
  • Cook pad thai
  • Organize a tea swap
  • Track our calories for a month
  • Pick a holiday and go overboard on the celebrations
  • Make a cute bento box
  • Shoot only in black and white for a month
  • Ride a scooter
  • Buy a Dr. Seuss book
  • Try 10 different types of film
  • Buy something on a flea market
  • Try currywurst in Berlin

some of the things i’ve already completed while the list was still a draft, like watching the whole set of star wars movie (pfeeew!), but i’ve only started the official countdown a few days ago, so the new deadline is set for jul 30, 2013. wish me luck! :)

ps – if you’re thinking of doing one, head over to dayzeroproject.com for inspiration from other people’s lists!