Laos

I have heard about this before. It was few years back, that my dad gave me to read one article in newspapers. It was about Laos and the author claimed this country to be the most bombed country in the world! I was really stunned, as I did no recall hearing anything like that before. I knew about Vietnam or Korean wars, but when was Laos involved with USA I did not know.

It goes way past my comprehension that someone is capable of doing such horrible things.

SAVANNAKHET, Laos — With their parents working in the rice paddies and nothing much to do in the village, 7-year-old Dam Somphone and his two friends decided to go into the forest to look for a bomb.

It didn't take long to find one. Savannakhet is the most heavily bombed province in one of the most heavily bombed countries in the history of warfare. About 150 yards into the jungle, the boys spotted an unexploded bomblet from a U.S. cluster bomb dropped here during the Vietnam War.

Dam was happy. He wanted to see something go boom. He picked up the bomblet, which was the size of a tennis ball, and carried it back to the village. His friends ran away, but Dam was fearless. He hurled the BLU-63 bomblet against a board. When nothing happened, he picked it up and threw it again. This time, the bomblet detonated, sending dozens of metal fragments flying in all directions. They slashed into Dam's face, his shoulder, his knee and his abdomen, slicing his liver and small intestine.

"Nobody thought he would live," says his father, Pho Somphone, 33.
Dam survived after more than a month in a hospital across the border in Thailand. Now 9, Dam has recovered physically. But he has trouble sleeping. His confidence is gone. He spends a lot of time sitting silently in the gloom of his family's hut in Lampoi village. More

the midnight show..

Having pretty much free night, there was another show that I have watched later that night. I never thought watching a theather show through a screen could be so much fun! :o)
The characters presented were really sweet. It is amazing what ideas can people come up with.

back to czechoslovak matters...

Tonight i watched one tv programme where some Slovak dancer was invited as a guest. The whole conversation was held in Czech and Slovak languages and I was really pleased for that. As it is very important to keep Czechs exposed to Slovak language, not to end up not understanding each other.

We have I think an official law saying that foreign languages should be translated when on TV, which applies to Slovak launguage too! And that sounds simply ridiculous knowing we were one country a little while ago and never needed such things. On the other hand, my mum said as we watched the programme tonight, that sometimes she does not understand the Slovak guy as he talks too fast. That shocked me!

I am exposed to Slovak language a lot as half of our aiesec members at my Uni are from Slovakia. But after this commet from my mum, I became to believe that the younger Czech generation will simply not understand Slovakian language any longer and that sounds really freaky! I hope that Czech TV will ensure to have more Slovakians there, so that we do not end up using translators when speaking with each other!

Who moved my cheese?

A book Who moved my cheese? helps you to adapt to changes and make decisions. I recommend it to read to anyone. It is tiny and makes sense ;o).

1, Having cheese makes you happy.
2, The more important the cheese is to you, the more you want to hold on to it.
3, If you do not change you become extinct, laugh at yourself to overcome the fear
4, What would you do if you weren't afraid?
5, Smell the cheese often so you know whenit is getting old.
6, Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese.
7, When you move beyond your fear, you feel free.
8, Imagining myself enjoying new cheese even before i find it, leads me to it.
9, The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.
10, It is safer to search in the maze than remain in a cheeseless situation.
11, Old beliefs do not lead you do new cheese.
12, When you see that you can find and enjoy new cheese you change course.
13, Noticing small changes early helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come.

Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Cholera sickens 20,000 Angolans as epidemic spreads

LUANDA, April 27 (Reuters) - Angola's cholera epidemic has become a national emergency with more than 20,000 infections and 941 deaths since the outbreak began in February, France-based Medicins sans Frontieres said on Thursday.

MSF said the disease had spread from the capital Luanda to the coastal city of Benguela and interior provinces such as Malange, with the total number of cases expected to double. More

Life is no straight and easy corridor along
which we travel free and unhampered,
but a maze of passages,
through which we must seek our way,
lost and confused, now and again
checked in a blind alley.

But always, if we have faith,
a door will open for us,
not perhaps one that we ourselves
would ever have thought of,
but one that will ultimately
prove good for us."

A.J. Cronin

Another reason to be sooo happy!!

Olya is to get married and I cant wait to go and see her on her wedding day!
She is such a beautiful person and I am so extremely pleased she is my true friend!
Moreover, they are such amazing couple with Andrey!
Olya, you just make me so happy to see you this way...

We met with Olya in May 2004 during the European - World Youth Peace Summit. It was in Sarayevo. I never had such a great time during some conference as I had with these guys during WYPS.

i removed the democracy one... cause it just pisses me off and i cant look at it... for those who have not read it... summary: there are many idiots living in my country...

well, did it....

so i have signed up... positive is i was on time and did not miss the deadline for application - that was a possibility i was worried about... now i am worried about being signed up, heheh...

Spring time...

On my way to school I met a friend. He caught me by the hand as I have not noticed him and asks... so how are you doing? do you have a guy?
I have not seen him for a year or so and thus such beginning of conversation bit surprised me... Hehe... yet before I managed to answer he continues... Bavili jsme se se Sašou a myslíme si, že jsi panna, jinak bys nebyla taková odmítavá... Hahaha, wtf!!!??? (excuse my czech language).

Another 10min he tries to get information about me, I learn about his sexual life, hehe, incredible and then we part ... spring time maybe?! :o)

Not to have this sound too weird. He had a quite original way of inviting me out when we first met some 4 years ago. We sit in a class, he stares at me (who knows me, knows I hate when someone stares at me), then he draws a steaming cup on a paper and shows it to me with expectation in his eyes. I politely declined... :o)) but we have a weirdly funny friendship since then.

I got a letter yesterday!

It is so great to hearing from you, Al. Plus if you get to find Gary again, you are more than welcome to have him here and they can make each other company with Ocasek! :o))

Al, you should create yourself a blog as well. As I could follow more easily how you move around. But I agree that Christchurch is simply the best city to live.

I just counted the time recently, can you imagine it is 9 years already??!!

steps to a new haircut

Once in a while i get pissed with my hair and then i decide to make changes :o). I take scissors and I start to cut... when I am done, my mum comes by, gets horrified, takes scissors and starts to straighten the hair... Hehe, this time she did not manage to do miracles as usual :o)).

The weekend from strange point of view...

*The ride to the place was splendid. A car full of aiesec people, going to a seminar that had nothing to do with aiesec.
*The weather worked out great. Three days of sun - walking, playing and working outside. Having the sun in ones face was so amazing.
*The weekend was really totally different from all the previous ones, so it was quite relaxing in some aspect.
*Lots of conversations, lots of presentations, lots of gossiping, lots of bitching, lots of laughter, lost of fun, lots of sleepiness, lots of boredom, lots of activity.
*I got some rest, but came home totally exhausted.

...

true, i have Alma's picture now... and i can make the last icon... I still cant believe I did not have her photo anywhere!!!

Ach jo, girls are gone. Will really miss you, it was excellent to catch up and see you again. So keep up the promise so that we get to see each other sooner than in 2 years. I will DO as well. :o))

Have a nice rest of the trip and take care of yourselves!!

derit

just finished studying for today ... my head (not brain :o( ) seems two times as big, and things which have not been entirely connected to study i managed to totally push out of my mind. Thus, Jani, how can you even summon strength to think about something like that??!!

Icelanders in Prague!!

I did not think that it shall be SOOO great to see those girls again. Alma and Hulda, both former MCPs of @ Iceland and their mum arrived to Prague. I usually smile a lot but today, I smiled 3x extra more. I never realized how much I missed them. And seeing them again was as if we parted only yesterday.


I will meet all of them tomorrow again and then on Wednesday -- they will most likely join me for global village that @ Prague organizes at our University again. I was wondering what to bring for my stand... and now it seems I will bring real Icelanders to show around!! :o))

ok, off to save lost Icelanders... :o) ... hope tracking them with my GPS will work... (shame they are probably untracable... even worse, i dont have GPS)... but I will find them :o))

Weird recollections are coming back... hehe

We were in Ilisu, travelled there few hours. And there was of course no public toilet. Ilisu belongs pretty much among the lost villages of Azerbaijan. We were getting desperate (still spoilt by society and bush is simply not the place for us... hmm... this was quite silly comment of mine remembering all the "toilets" I have visited... I wont ever forget my first trip to public toilets when I opened the door and damn, there is no toilet here!! till i noticed the hole :o)). But back to my story, this one lady lets us to her place and as I wait for my friend, I have a company of this little boy, who is sitting there for ages already... heheh, goodness, I know it is bad but I just could not resist! (I know I would mind having someone photograph me in such situation!)

To make my day...

Everytime I want to feel really happy and jumpy I listen to this mix of African music. It definitely lifts my mood every single time. And having my bag packed I head to Africa straight away (the visa, air ticket, etc. are the least problem; I hate packing :o)).
As my favourite movie hero said: "The beauty of coming home from a trip is that you are already packed and ready to head somewhere else..." (I guess she also does not like washing :o)).

... what news can be found on Easter Monday...

Chad urges world to stop Darfur turmoil spreading. Chad accuses Sudan of trying to use the conflict in Darfur to destabilise the whole of central Africa. More

Nepal prostests intensify, pressure mounts on king. Nepal's political parties urge itnernational donors to halt aid to the royalist government. More

Sri Lanka's Tigers pull out of peace talks. Tamil Tiger rebels withdraw from talks in Geneva aimed at saving a faltering 2002 ceasefire. More

Iran donates $50 million to Hamas-led government. The money will help ease a funding crisis caused by a U.S. and EU freeze on aid. More

US tells Africa will double "aid-for-trade" money. The proposal would increase donor funding to Africa to compensate for trade liberalisation. More

Danube threatens to burst its banks in the Balkans. The Danube threatens to flood towns across southeastern Europe after it hits its highest level in a century. More

Life as Internally Displaced Person...

A little while ago I have written a story from my trip to Fisuli region in Azerbaijan where I had the opportunity to visit the IDP camps that were created due to the war over Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan in early 90s. The conflict has not been resolved yet which means Azeris still cannot return to their homes.

Finally, I have uploaded some more photos from that trip which you are more than welcomed to view.

Fancy beating up a girl?

Still do not know what you wanna do during the Easter Monday?

Come to Prague!

You can beat the girls with a whip without any consequence...

I was sitting in the library today and the sun was shining through the windows and I felt really great. I even learnt some things from international trade, interesting. One would never guess I am studying this for the past 5, well ok, 6 years :o)).

Ish oul drelaxan dth ebestw ayitisto behave thewa yiwantto beh avea ndthat ist oactsil lyso iwiljust ke epond oin gitca useitisr eal lyfuna ndiho peitm ighta nnoy so meo newh owillt ryto re adthis whi chw illma kemeha ppyev enmo reithi nki amev ilwhe niamti redan dienjo ybei ngthatwa yye ayhap py.

И hаве децидед, И вилл битцh. Анд тhис ис греат оф а меан то битцh витh hардлы аныоне нотисинг. И сhоулд працтице тhис море офтен.

И ам анноыед анд И неед а бреак. И невер реаллы тhоугhт тhе ступид твенти-фоур hоурс цан бе со сhорт. И ам руннинг оут оф тиме анд тhат ис cцары. И гот реаллы фреакед оут ин тhе афтерноон, бут нов И ам фине, ас И тоок а валк hоме анд релахед соме анд нов И феел муцh беттер. Тhе мост импортант ис, И битцhед елсевhере тоо со тогетhер витh тhис пост И феел оптимистиц агаин.

И вас алсо вондеринг абоут оне тhинг. И ам qуите суре И вилл пасс тче ехамс. Ас И ам со унлуцкы рецентлы, тhат ит муст меан, тhат И ам савинг алл мы луцк фор Маы анд Йуне.

update

14. Blow the wrapper off a straw. (Wow, dont know this... Jani, when do we go to McDs??)
Yeay, it really does work!! And it flies fast and far... and fuck, sticks high up on a wall and does not want to come down! Good that we chose a table behind the corner so that noone could really see us, except for few other customers of McD´s. :o))

18. Take a running jump over a big puddle. (Come on, this is not childish, I do that every single day!)
I suggest to check the road for cars before deciding to take a long jump over the puddle; helps to stay focused and not get freaked out in the middle of the jump.;o)

Earth from the Air

Yann Arthus-Bertrand's mission was to create a photographic record of the natural world at the start of a new millennium. The collection of 160 images takes viewers off the ground and into the air to witness a bird's-eye view of the extraordinary patterns and colours created in landscapes all over the world. Some are the result of human activity - farming, industry or habitation. Others are entirely sculpted by nature itself. None of these images could be seen or even imagined if you were standing on the ground.

Together they tell a unique story that provokes many questions. What are we doing to our planet? What kind of world will future generations inherit? How can we preserve the heritage of natural abundance?

I saw this exhibit in Iceland and it was spectacular. The world is really amazing.

AFGHANISTAN: Amu Darya River needs management to prevent erosion - ministry

KALDAR, 6 April (IRIN) - Under a hot spring sun, Alim Mohammad, along with more than 50 other villagers, toils to stack sand bags to create a temporary embankment to stop the Amu Darya River from creating any more damage.

The river, that flows for more than 2,400 km and forms most of Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, has already swept away 40 ha of farm land around the village in the Kaldar district of northern province of Balkh and destroyed Mohammad's house in 2005.

"Summer season flooding swept away all my farming land and now I'm homeless, something has to be done," Mohammad said while taking a breather from the back-breaking work. More

This is sort of ridiculous, huge floodings in Afghanistan and no water in the Aral sea.

Try to be a KID again...

1. Do a cartwheel. (prefer flips to this)
2. Sing into your hairbrush. (toothbrush works as fine)
3. Walk barefoot in wet grass. (Prague streets in the rain is much better, right Jani?)
4. Play a song you like really loud, over and over. (Hehe, hips don't lie is doing that job for me now)
5. Dot all your “i”s with smiley faces. (Difficult when typing mainly)
6. Read the funnies. Throw the rest of the paper away. (Hmm, should I admit I have always been doing this?!)
7. Dunk your cookies. (Surely, there are better ways to play with cookies!? :o)
8. Play a game where you make up the rules as you go along. (Hehe, do not all games work that way? What you think, Alex? :P)
9. Step carefully over sidewalk cracks. (My favourite thing to do each morning when waiting for public transport)
10.Change into some play clothes. (hmm, do not fit them any longer. well, bugger, need to buy new ones then!)
11.Try to get someone to trade you a better sandwich. (My mum does not make me sandwich any longer :o(
12. Eat ice cream for breakfast. (I do not really fancy ice-cream much :o(
13. Kiss a frog, just in case. (Cant believe I have not done this yet!)
14. Blow the wrapper off a straw. (Wow, dont know this... Jani, when do we go to McDs??)
15. Have someone read you a story. (Oups, does this count as childish too??)
16. Find some pretty stones and save them. (Not only stones... :o)
17. Wear your favorite shirt with you favorite pants even if they don t match. (no clothes of mine really match as soon as I take my shoes off and show my colourfull socks :o)
18. Take a running jump over a big puddle. (Come on, this is not childish, I do that every single day!)
19. Get someone to buy you something you really don t need. (Yeay, like the baloon I got from my sisters boyfriend)
20. Hide your vegetables under your napkin. (We hardly eat vegetables, what a cool childhood!)
21. Stay up past your bedtime. (Yep, pretty regularly, if only I could stay past my waketime as well...; oh, oups, I do that too.)
22. Eat dessert first. (Who needs main dish??)
23. Fuss a little, then take a nap. (I fuss all the time, never though fancied nap...)
24. Wear red gym shoes. (Dont have any... :o(
25. Put way too much sugar on your cereal. (No comment)
26. Make cool screeching noises every time you turn a corner. (Oh no, please, do not make me admit I actually do such things!)
27. Giggle a lot for no reason. (I think giggle could be my nickname)
28. Give yourself a gold star for everything you do today. (Gold star? Some american thing? Can I get a lolly-pop instead??)

I wonder what does this say about me... :o)))

The day at my sisters...

Finally I managed to go to my sisters. She is ill, so I was invited for lunch with the single purpose of making the lunch :o)). I do not like cooking but I can and excell in making certain meals, like the traditional Czech fruit dumplings... so this was also the todays menu :o).

Moreover, I loved to just lie on the bed later, watch some stupid movie and do nothing. I have not done this for ages!!!

Sparta - Slavia 4:3 after penalties... :o)))

The two Prague ice-hockey teams are in the final together for the first time in the history!

(hehe, my dad does not like Sparta, threatens me that this was the first and last match Sparta has won in the play-off... Sparta sucked through the whole season, then they got into play-off as the last team and now they play the final and have won the first match out of the series :o)).

My new tiger Ocásek

We will soon have a little zoo here :o).
To see the rest of the little animal family, go to Solnitchka to play with puppy Kotler and to Danka to play with the duck Herold. Or simply stay here to play and feed Ocásek. :o))

Is it possible I will begin to like studying?

Yesterday after my nearly regular morning work and after my English lesson, I had some spare time before meeting my friend in the evening. I went to McDonald's as I was lazy to go to school. I checked I can pay with bank card there (it was impossible some time ago), as I did not have cash, I ordered some meal, I found out I do not have the bank card, I appologized and cancelled the order to find out I can actually pay with Euro bills that I found in my wallet when frantically searching for my bank card. I know it is silly, but the only money I have in my wallet are Azeri Manats, some Euro, 1 US dollar and that's it. (We still pay with Czech crowns here, and I assure you that as soon as we pay with Euro -- sad times for my nation -- there will be no Euros in my wallet either! )

 

Well, after I got my food, I went to sit down upstairs (it is my favourite place to study after school, lots of light, some music, comfortable seats and no waiters to annoy), took my micro book out and I actually started to study. Moreover when going back home at 10pm I took out the micro book to read again in the metro and I actually enjoyed it. I am shocked. Either something weird is happening to me or I am weird .

love vs. micro

I always thought that the time flies by the fastest when you are with the person you love. Recently I found out it is not true (sadly enough)...

Eg. there are five problems from microeconomics that you need to solve... I assure you, that you do not even notice 5 hours have passed. When you find out, you start to swear as you are done with 2 problems and a) and b) from the 3rd problem and still c) through f) are left... together with problems 4 and 5.

since i lost the list of things i have to do, can i see it as a sign i do not need to do it?

Saying good-bye

Few hours left till I have to say good-bye... He was not in my life for that long, but had a significant impact on me... and definitely made me smile each time I looked at him. Now the time arrived when each of us has to go separate ways... I will miss him. I guess he was supposed to be in my life only for this short period of time... Hi next destination is Egypt, so just be safe and beware of birds flue...

a great weekend ahead!

Today is the 5th of April 2006 not to forget it. :o)

Spring to our office...

Past few days I was tempted, today I did it... There is this flower shop on my way to work with really neat little flowers... well, today I bought a pot-plant with red daisies... :o)

I know it will sound strange but some stuff I really like to watch and would really like to try it too...

Yesterday on my way to work I noticed that the ugly old gray wall around the huge cemetary (along which the tram rail goes) is being knocked down. Today I noticed there are two guys working on it... but the way they did it was different to what I imagined. For guys this will probably make sense, for me too (only after I see it and realize it :o). This one worker would hit the wall to losen each brick and then throw it down to his mate to clean it and have it ready for later use.

Two things surprised me - when the brick was throw on the ground it did not break; second as an outcome of the first - of what a great quality the bricks must be, to last for years when being part of a wall and then still be good enough not to break and ready to be re-used... wow

Weather like in Iceland

The past few days even Iceland would have problems to match our weather... the amount of times that the sun changed into gray clouds and gray clouds into black clouds with huge rain followed by sun again was countless... [Icelandic saying: If you do not like the weather wait ten minutes, it will change...]

I just hope it works vice versa, as the day today started with gray clouds and rain... so I am waiting for the sun to prove my words :o)).

A little bit of sunshine and I am all smiles... :o))

teambuilding...

Yeay, it was really cool... ! (Do not feel too flattered, Alex ;o)). Imagine... we go for teambuilding... four guys and me... and in order to make the team more bond, more trusting, more able to work together, we go to play killing games on the PC... YEAY... and I discovered a new talent in me, I kill well!... And it felt so good to shoot the three guys who were my and Alex's enemies! :o)))

The fresh spring smell...

Finally the spring is around... I always recognize it by the fresh spring smell (FSS)... The best part is you never know when the FSS will come, just one day it is there in the air. The same thing happens in the winter -- there is also this specific clear brisk winter smell (CBWS) which comes one day and then it stays till the FSS comes and swaps the CBWS. I love that feeling... The most surprising though is that last week came FSS but it is supposed to snow (S) this week, so that might mean that due to S the CBWS will come back and FSS will disappear to come back sometimes later, hopefully still in April ... I wonder if it is possible to make a curve of FSS and CBWS highlighting also the effect of S. Hmm... I think I need to look at that...

Reasons for floods...

There were quite few floods since 90s that I recall ... I do not remember floods from before... What cause all this? Can you make the greenhouse effects responsible? :P

Reasons for floods:
1) Long winter -- a lot of snow in the past few months (this one is obvious).
2) Cold weather freezes the earth that does not absorb the water any longer.

After the revolution a lot of farmland and forests became private again, including lakes.

3) So many farmlands are not tilled any longer; farmed earth absorbs water much better but most of land owners do no not use their land for agriculture any longer.
4) So many forests were cut out and so another way for the water being slowed and absorbed has dissapeared.
5) Lake and ponds have new owners; what many do not realize, owners do need to look after the lakes and have them regularly emptied in order to clean the bottom of the lake from all the mud. The bigger the layer of the mud the less water can fit and the faster the water spills over the banks. Owners do not have money to clean the ponds (or do not care) and there is no law that prescribes them to do so.
6) The same story goes with rivers. Either government or the institutions should care about the rivers being cleaned. There used to be a ship that regularly cleaned the bottom of the river Labe (Elbe). But these things are just too expensive to maintain them.
7) There are maps that show the possible flood areas around the river and lake banks. These areas are supposed to be free of any buildings as those are areas in "constant danger". After the 2002 flood it was discovered, that so many such lands were sold and build on. Well, this is plain stupid.

These are just few reasons that came to my mind.

Courtesy (Ye Ui)


Integrity (Yom Chi)


Perseverance (In Nae)


Self Control (Guk Ki)


Indomitable Spirit (Baekjool Boolgool)


The Tenets of Taekwon-do. I guess one should never lose the focus...