Present

I forgot that we have changed time today so I woke up according to the "old" time thus won one hour for writing =) So coool =)

Handball again..

Yesterday´s handball match was cancelled so I am  watchin one in TV instead. Croatia - Sweden. And it is really good. Dynamic, fast, team perforamance. Really good!


Comment in my blog

Since I do not know how people follow the comments in my blog I decided to publish one comment which I got from Foxpox and react directly in the blog:

Foxpox wrote:

Hi there
It looks in your coutry it's a holiday today, national holiday of Czechoslovakia, congratulations.

Kristina, you've wrote b4 that in your blog ppl only write things in which they are fully agree with you and never dispute/discuss/debate/etc with you. But if for you to delete a comment it's a normal practice, why to complain?

OK, about this your entry.
"Like the colour of eyes does not matter". For some people it's important. I don't like those "water-blue" half-transparent coloured eyes. And it's not only important for me. For example a great song of german euro-dance project E-rotic "Tears in Your Blue Eyes". If it's not important, then the song was "Tears in Your Eyes - The Colour of Eyes Does Not Matter" ... hm ... there is smth in this name.

Very useful discussion. If we were not divided into men and women ... You REALLY had such discussion? OMG lunatic asylum. What will be your next discussion? Smth like "What would be with world economics if anyone found the easy way of transformation iron into gold and published it in Internet?"

"Gender" fav word of those old mad feminists, UR only 24, 4U it's too early to use it.

That your hint about 'pro' photograph's advice to buy smth for your camera to xmas. Curious. Probly lens or tripod. I'm dummy in photography, really, here's quite interesting book "The Digital Photography Book: The Step-By-Step Secrets for How to Make Your Photos Look Like the Pros'!" by Scott Kelby (I hope no need to tell who is he? If you know what is Photoshop, you know this name). Extremely easy to read with good humour. Info _http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Scott-Kelby/dp/032147404X

download: http://www.kj7.host.sk/kelby.chm
Good quality, 8 mb.

Logo of 'Active' curious ...

Will write smth good. I like the way you write in your blog, sometimes I read it and your optimism makes me wonder. If I had 5% of your optimism... Good to see that there are so optimistic people like you.

Feel free to delete this comment


Kristina wrote:

Hello Foxpox =)
I really do not remember that I deleted your comment. I once wrote that I would delete it if it was resistic etc. I delete only spam which comes everyday maybe I by coincidence deleted also a real comment. If I did so I apologize. It was not meant like that. And of course i was not going to delete your last comment. I am happy when people come with other opinions that I have (the same opinions are welcome of course).

About the discussion topic. Hihi.. you reacted exactly like my some of my slovak groups =) Why such a useless discussion. I can tell you. The point of discussion was totally else. I wanted to see what gender stereotypes people bring when they are not asked directly: What are gender stereotypes like in your society. So now the secret is revealed =) And thanks to that question I could find many stereotypes and power division conviction. People simply told me everything without being aware of that. I believe that I would get different answers if I would ask directly. Do we have an gender equal society nowadays?

But I also have to defend the question itself. I can imagine such a society where gender in general doesnt matter when approaching people. Where people do not think that a secretary should be a woman or a man should repair cars. And of course a woman can be a secratary and a man can be good at car repairing but it should be an individual feature. Not gender based. And I mentioned just a tiny part of the topic... Not mentioning colours, toys for children, house work, conflcits solving, feelings expressing etc.

You wrote that the eye colour matters. I am not saying that the colour of eye does not exist but I haven´t seen a job announcement: We search for blue eyed managers.

And of course there are personal preferences people have. Some like blue eyes, some brown etc. Me personaly I do not care about the eye colour. But I do care about the specific pair of eyes. I have seen wonderful blue eyes and I have seen blue eyes full of anger and bitterness.

That´s what I wanted to say by gender as well.

About the camera. I would like to buy "fish eye" lense and extra battery holder. But I will check that book =)

Thank you for ALL the words you wrote. Feel free to write more!

2/3 of the thesis done..

This week was full of writing and talking. When I was not writing at work I was writing at home (the thesis). And talking...OK..for me it was more about listening. I have done the last 3 focus groups for my thesis. Each group gave me a lot. And I believe each group gained a lot by discussin it. I have seen many "aha" moments. I could imagine having a discussion tour round different countires. Now I can even reveal the main question of the discussions: How would society look like if we were not divided into men and women (Meaning that there would still exist men and women and all the possible modifications but it would not matter at all. Like the colour of eyes does not matter)

Slovak groups are analyzed. I am right now writing it down. Swedish groups are waiting for analysis. I will come with all the conlusions when I am done.

So far you can think what would be different if gender would not matter. And of course I would like to know what comes to your mind regarding the question.

17 : 12

Yes that´s the result of the yesterday´s match and I just smile when I remember it. It was wonderful to play. It is wonderful to run, to catch the ball, to jump and shoot or to pass the boll in the last moment when nobody expects it. It is wonderful to find new and new ways how to get through defence. It is wonderul to score several times in row into the same corner just because the goal keeper doesnt expect it there anymore.
It is wonderful to understand what the opponents want to do and trick them into a situation we can benefit from, take the ball and just ruuuuuun to score =)
And it is also good to get some balls in our goal. It always helps to make things different in future. It´s wonderful to overcome an anger when things go wrong and realize that it is just a game and that there is a lot to learn from. It´s wonderful to feel closer to co-players after some nice action or cooperation. It´s wonderful to be part of a team. It´s wonderful to hear supporters or to see smile on their face when things go well.
I really love handball!!!!

Focus groups - done soon!

Right now I am VERY happy!!!!!! I have found people for my swedish focus groups. Finally!!!!!! So yupiiiii soon this part of the thesis is also done =)

Thank you Anna! Thank you Sandra! Thank you Fredrik (again)! Och tack Anna!!! You helped me a looooot!

PS. Sandra! I will write a blog about you soon =)

Time is money..What?

I got a parcel so I went to post to pick it up. The post is part of a supermarket. (Yes in Sweden you don´t go to a post office but just to an appointed place in supermarkets where u r supposed to get  and send ur post) So my "place to pick a post" is in the a supermarket right oposite to the house I live in. So I went. I was waiting for 20 minutes but I didnt got anything. The parcel got lost somewhere so they asked me to come later because I came in a rush hour and the queue behind me was already looooong. Since I live so close (15 seconds from the house) I didn´t object and just came back later. 

Tthe Supermarket was almost empty that time. I came to the post place and waited again for 20 minutes. I realized that I could look at the situation from two points of view.
1. Aaaahh..I have been waiting 2 times 20 minutes. Aaaa..such a waste of time.
2. Hmm..I´ve been stading here 2 times 20 minutes and thinking. Pretty nice. There are many things coming on mind when one has nothing specific to do. I noticed many new things in the supermarket. New discounts. Or probably they were not new but I havent noticed them before. Read all the commercials and offers.

After 20 minutes I asked a guy who was searching for the parcel to come out from the store because another guy who was deaf was waiting there and needed some help. I was sure it would take just some seconds and then the searching could go on afterwards.
The deaf guy wanted a stamp and then he wanted an advice. There is a competition organized by swedish post. They issued stamps with pictures of different children programmes. They made one big post card with samples of all the stamps and people are supposed to match the pictures with the name of the children programmes. This deaf guy did not know them so he asked the guy working at the post =) Of course he went searching for my parcel instead.
But the guy did not give up. He noticed that I have been just hanging around for 20 minutes so he asked me. I tried to explain him that I was not swedish so I did not know those programmes but then I recalled some things Anna (my coach) told me about and Fredrik told me many things and then I could match some of them. When I looked better at the pics it was possible to figure out some names so the next 20 minutes we (the deaf guy and me)  were solving this "riddle" and I was explaining him why did I match certain pics with certain programmes. It was cool.

The parcel was not found so I went home after we have matched 2/3 of the programmes. Maybe even more.  The rest were just names which were impossoible to match based on pure logic So I went home without the parcel (I should come next day again) and with the smile on my face cause the whole situation was real fun.
 
Today I went again. I was waiting another 20 minutes. No riddles. The only tricky thing was to resist all the chocolates and godis (candies) which were close to the accounter I was waiting at. But otherwise it was OK. I got the parcel and went home...


Long time no see..

I like my brother a looot. And in some days I´ll meet him after more than a year of not seeing each other. I am counting days...=)

My brother is very smart. Sometimes selfish and sometimes most generous person in the world. He has been very much in love already 3 years. That´s so nice. He is funny. He is my older brother. He never wanted to play " A shop" with me, but I always played some advanced hide and seek with him, being a secret agent, climbing trees, pretending that bikes are spacehips. He asks about my opinion and he tells me about his problems. He can´t ask for help because he thinks he is disturbing so he is just mumbling (or how to spell it). When I am angry at him, he comes and makes me laugh. He could read since he was 3 years old. He remembers all the facts. He can draw very nice but he never does it. He loves phantasy games. He learnt hebrew just for himself. He has tried so many different kinds of jobs that I stopped counting. Aha..he is 29 now (which reminds me that I am 24..hihi). He reads very fast. (compared to me). He has been in Northern Ireland for one year, most of the time totally alone (without friends), working in nights and sleeping during the days. Now he is coming home and I wonder what he is like. One year of loneliness can influence a person a lot. He had lots of time for thinking and reading. In telephone he sounds the same. Like my older brother. I like him!  I am counting days...  

About smiling

...when my reaction on Mr. Kyprianou was published I was asked to sent a picture of me which would be published together with the reaction. I do not have many pictures of myself (my mom always complains about that) but I found one I considered appropriate and sent it. Hmm..it was not appropriate. I was smiling there ( My mum would like it). Which did not correspondent the text. So Maik took a picture of me being serious and that one was perfect. I was also happy with the result and I understood the request. 

BUT..in general..it made me think
 
Why should we look serious on official pictures? Why should we pretend smth? I believe that politicians smile, policmen smile, officers smile... And it is very nice to meet a smiling let´s say authority. Why do we have to look serious on official documents? Why are we making the world of bureaucracy so cold? Why shouldnt I smile at the passport picture? When they are checkin I can smile as well. And they can smile back. I really do not see a problem with smile.

And about my reaction and my photo. I was very happy that I could write the reaction. And I was very happy when I was writing it. So the smiling picture was very appropriate =)..but of course I understand how it was meant.

Here we go again..

Yupiiii...my blogg is back =)

Mobile phone camera


Have been playing with my mobile...took a picture I like

Inverse


Alcohol can make it to the second place..wheee

EU comissioner for health and consumer protection Markos Kyprianou says that alcohol in small, moderate amount is good for heart.

Hmm..let me think a bit...Alcohol is on the third position in risk factors causing disease burden in developed countries. On the first position is tobacco and on the second is blood pressure.

Now I have a solution how can alcohol make it to the second position in the ranking. If those who suffer from blood pressure problems would drink more alcohol, their heart would get better and the problem would be solved. At the same time more people would suffer from alcohol related problems and ta daaaaa...alcohol is serious threat for tobaccos first position.

Every year in European Union (only 25 countries) die more than 100 000 people because of alcohol. Other 9 000 000 children to alcohol abusers suffer everyday. Alcohol costs European Union 125 billions Euro every year. Sustain using leads to addiction. Not mentonind all the accidents.
Moreover it is prooved that it is not alcohol itself  which has a beneficiary impact on heart but other components of let´s say vine. So yeah - let´s eat more grape instead.
Alcohol causes more damage than profit (which is minimal)...and this should be mentioned each time when it comes to positive sides of drinking alcohol.


Totally empty.. - not anymore

Fredrik came, did a magic and he found all the emails. They have by some unexplainable way moved in the computer from one place to another. But he´s cought them =) Thank you Fredrik!

Totally empty...

All my emails from egtyf account are gone. All the sent items. All inbox. So if I am not answering your email, please do not take it personally. And feel free to sent me your last email again.

I wonder how I am going to solve everything. There were some important messages in my Inbox.

Hmm..that´s life also.

Morning...

sun













Dreams..

I had a bad dream... but on the other hand from saturday to sunday I had a really great one =)

Handball - I wanna play fair games

We played handball yesterday. We won which is nice. We were leading the whole match with 5 -6 goals and in the end we won only with one. A bit exciting maybe. I was not worried for a second about other result than victory.

The first half was a nice game - according to me. But the other half was actually not that much fun. Opponents including their coach (!) were mean, trying to offend us and hitting us. (OK ok..the coach did not) 
I wonder why they play handball. Do they really have fun if their only way  to score is by distracting and attacking the opponent  by means beyond the rules?

This is not what sport is about. I want to play handball to have fun! So please let´s play fair.

My life with volunteers - swedish lesson

This blog is mostly understandable for swedish speakers but feel free to read:

Our volunteers are getting better and better at swedish. When learning a new language, many funny situations occure.
So here comes a short language lesson and some language modifications (in italics):

English -          Swedish         BUT     Maja´s modification - English translation
I am fine -       Jag mår bra.   BUT     Jag går bra - I go/walk good

English -            Swedish         BUT     Maik´s modification - English translation
Sleep well -     Sussa sött       BUT     Sussa kött - Sleep meat



Alone in darkness

I like darkness. I like being alone. I like being outside alone in darkness. Everything feels so mysterious. Silence lets my thoughts speak. Light from behind windows feels warmer, candle lights bring joy and I am calm...

...

Closed today.


Catching a moment

Catching a moment

And the time is tickin away...

My life with volunteers

Sooo much fun with these people. Some highlights of the weekend:

We entered a food place and at the place where there is usually lots of vegetable was only an empty "container" with some ice on edges. When a personal came to accounter and expected an order from us, Maja full of concern said: "Hej, is everything OK? Then I would like to have tuna baguette"

Another story connected to food is from this evening. We were eating at an Indian restaurant. The food was really really good and the waiter was extremely nice. When he came after we have finished, he asked: "Was it good?" And I answered: " Yes it was very good. We will pay. It was sooo good that we will even pay"


No sex no future

Such a strange feeling when I do not know the gender of a baby and wanna ask about the name or whatever. How old is she/he? What´s her/his name? It´s embarassing when I do not guess right. Me myself I would not care if someone would ask wrong but I do not know how other people feel about it. One solution is to pretend that I am asking the baby directly "hello babe what´s ur name" and hope that a person who is with the baby will answer..yes..that can be a solution. But in general..why does it matter so much?
I think I will move to Estonia. They do not have gender and future tempus in the grammar. As Tiina says: No sex no future =)
I think it is great. And it changes the way of thinking. Yeah Estonians I hope you will survive =)

First handball match of the season..

We have played the first match of the season. I haven´t trained handball for several months. Of course I did some sports now and then but  I have had handball ball in my hands twice since the end of may. So to be back was really really great although I got easily tired which didnt use to happen before. Oh yeah..seems I have to start with the serious trainings again cause it is more fun to play when one doesnt need to spent energy on "catching" oxygen.
The result was 21:11 for us and I scored around 7 times. I am not sure about that number. What is nice about playing in this team is that I do not count how many points I did, I do not check the score all the time, I just play. And nice passes make me extra happy. Tomorrow I go to training again =) Hurraaaaaa!!!!!

Lord of war

Good good movie.. As Maik said: "Maybe not a movie for a saturday evening, popcorn and happy talk afterwards" but the movie is very good. Nicolas Cage says in the beginning that there are so many armfires produced in the world that every 12th person could have one. The question is: "how to arm the 11 left" Yes..the movie had my attention from the beginning.

The main idea of the movie was another question: Who is the bad one - the one who produces and exports guns or the one who pulls a trigger..

Knowing that people use guns if they have them gives responsibility to the producers..there is no doubt. But my bigger concern is about all those who are able to look at a human being and fire. 
The main reason of wars, in my opinion, is possesion. We want to posses so much that we do not care life. That´s sad. Mostly because of the fact that there is enough of everything for everybody and because of the fact that we actually do not need that much as we think we do. 

The EGTYF (currant ACTIVE)  congress in 2004 decided to have in our policy programme denial of any toy guns. Weird even for some delegates. Yes I agree that it sounds radical but the question is: Why? Why should children play with guns? Why should they picture in their fantasy that they are killing and hurting?
This congress decision makes me being proud of ACTIVE.   

Doing nothing day

Today I have been shopping with Tiina and Maja. For four hours. Something I would never predict 2 weeks ago. It was nice but apparently exhausting for me cause at 17.30 I fell asleep and was sleeping and sleeping untill Maja rang and woke me up at 21.30. I think I would be able to sleep till the morning. Seems this day was rather "doing completely nothing" day but OK..sometimes I maybe need such also. But tomorrow....tomorrow I play handball hurraaaaaa (something I wouldnt predict 2 weeks ago as well). 

Now gonna watch a movie. Lord of war. Have no clue if it is good or bad. Will see.. 


Äskningdags

Idag är det deadline för äskningar för 2007. Så alla/många sitter och skriver eller åtminstone pratar om det och hjälper till. Och det känns bra! Och det känns bra att vara del av det. Då känner man att man tillhör =) Jag är sååå glad att jag är med i UNF!!!

Cooking and getting ready for Idol

Yesterday I got a visit. Tiina and Maja just invaded my kitchen because I have something in my apartement they do not posses...Owen.
After last friday´s teambuilding activities (making cookies) with ACTIVE board

Team building

have Maja and Tiina decided to try again. Some of them used special techniques to get chocolate flakes out of a big chocolate bar (for those who haven´t noticed - Maja has a hammer in her hands) so it seemed that we had cookie building instead of teambuilding. On the other hand we are a good team already so building something else was OK. After Maja smashed the chocolate.. 
Cooking

cookies went to the owen and afterwards we all watched Idol from the previous week on internet (we missed the direct sending because we were building a team together with our board). Since today is the second round of Idol 2006 we had to catch up. We checked carefully the previous performances, made notes, graphs, estimations and now we are ready for the evening (although we already know who will be the winner anyway).

Preparing for Idol

Listening to myself..

The focus group i did is of course recorded on a tape and it is real fun to hear myself talking swedish...I sound very finish according to me..

Thesis - the swedish part

I did my first swedish focus group yesterday. I loved it. When I went there I was just tired and wanted it to be over but as soon as we started I just wanted to stop time. It was so so interesting. My predictions were right. Gender discours in Sweden is totally different and it was just a pleasure to listen to those guys talking, discussing and thinking about the reasons and impacts of gender division. I like my thesis!

I will for sure publish some outcomes of it but not yet... 

And I love leading discussion =) When I grow up I wanna be a "discussion leader" hihi..

Good bye hug!

Kind of empty again...the last ACTIVE board member represented by Madlena left after days of work and sleepless nights and it is silent in my appartement and in the office. I will clean my room and get back to the normal life which I love cause it is anyway very extraordinary and very ACTIVE every day..BUT if u have a way around Örebro..do not forget to visit...

Right now I´m missing...

U can reach me again..

My mobile is working again =) Right now I just have to get used to the new ringing signals to be able to hear that someone calls and has sent sms. After four days of being unreachable I simply do not pay very much attention to it..so I apologize for all the missed phone calls and late answers. I will get better at it.

Hmm..the only sad thing is that I lost all the sms which were sent to me during those four days and never had possibility to read them.

Chocodesert

Kadri kept her promise =)

Choco

Mnamiiii!!! Thank u very much Kadri =)

ACTIVE board

I like them a lot.