h s i l t g n e n E Bit Differ A
english a bit different
Gimnazija Želimlje 2005 - 2006
Izdal: Zavod sv. Frančiška Saleškega Založil: Salve d. o. o. Mentorica projekta: mag. Julijana Mary Dolenšek Vode Oprema: Jože Bergant & Studio PP Fotografije iz arhiva Zavoda sv. Frančiška Saleškega Odgovarja: Peter Polc
I
Dear Reader,
t was marvelous to have another English weekend with the students of our school. It all started on Friday the 21st October when 12 of us met at the school coffee machine at 3 pm and had no clue what was going to happen. I started talking to the students and we moved to the school library where we introduced ourselves to each other, because all of the students did not know everyone. There were 10 girls and 1 boy, which made the group just the right size. Our work was formally introduced on an orange piece of paper with the time-table of the two days. Their first task was to find an inspiring picture and try to write a composition while keeping the picture in mind. I must admit that I was quite surprised when I noticed how seriously they had started to work, writing their text and using their dictionaries. Two hours of their time flashed by in an instant and the results are in this booklet in front of you. Then they had an hour break and at 6 pm we had dinner, which was like any other dinner that we have at school BUT one difference – we were communicating in English. After dinner we went to the TV room, where we were watching a film titled the Doctor. It had no subtitles, but the pronunciation was clear and the speech was slow enough to be understood. When it was over, we sat in a circle, took our mugs of Nescafe and tried to discuss different problems that appeared in the film. The week was long and stressful with all the test papers and questionings that had taken place in the weekdays, beside that there was a school dance the previous night and it all resulted in the conclusion that the students were quite tired when we finished at 9.30 pm. The following morning we started with group work right after breakfast. The students received 4 different beginnings to their possible stories, but strangely enough they all chose the same beginning. After working on them from 8.30 till 10.30, they reported their work and the texts were creative, imaginative and fresh. We also wanted to hear their work from the previous evening and the last hour of our weekend was filled with the reading of their compositions. At the end of our 2-day workshop we were able to applaud to each other. On one hand I had the feeling that we had experienced something new and on the other hand I believe that the students were able to learn something in a friendly atmosphere. mag. Julijana Mary Dolenťek Vode, prof. angl.
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part one
Jernej GaĹĄperin
Lost Son 6 - English A Bit Different
I was walking around the table and looking for the right picture for me. There were many stories in my head. I saw something and in my head there appeared an idea. Some of them I didn’t like, but I found a picture about Tobia. He was 55 years old when he was pictured. I put the picture in my right hand and sat down. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. 61 years ago, Tobia was born. He was born in Pakistan in a small village. His parents were farmers and he had always helped them. He was very handsome. He was strong, beautiful
and he was smart. He wasn’t educated, but he could remember many things. He was just like quick-silver. He always found something new. It wasn’t easy in that time. His childhood was very hard, but it made him unbreakable. When he was 21 years old there was a civil war in Pakistan. The soldiers killed his parents and his older sister was so badly wounded that she died a month later. After the war he was alone, but still unbreakable. He found a woman and married her. She was kind and she worked a lot. They both did. Tobia and his wife Sarah were strong religious people. They were Muslims. They loved their God Alah, but they were angry about the Muslim church and the way how it introduced their religion. They had one wish. They wanted to have a baby. Every evening they prayed to Alah. After 10 years when Tobia was 33, Simon was born. He was named after his grandfather. His parents loved this gift from God. Simon was healthy, and strong just like his father, but the time when he lived was much easier than his father’s. He was spoiled in that way that he didn’t want to work. He liked to sit and eat. He worked just when it was necessary. When he was old enough, his father sent him to school and gave him all his money. He wasn’t rich, but he wanted to be proud of his son, so he invested everything he had into Simon’s education. But the son never respected his father. He always saw just his own profit. He came to college and he did not study anymore. He got friends from bigger cities. He became a gang member. He sent a letter to his father and told him that he did not need his money ANYMORE! Tobia and Sarah were shocked by their “gift from God”. They were very sad. If they thought about Simon, Tobia began to cry every time. He was so sad. He broke. The cord wasn’t in his hands anymore. He would do anything to bring his son back to the right path Simon lived in a big house with a swimming pool. He enjoyed life. He did not have a wife. Every evening he had another woman. His job wasn’t hard, but it was illegal and dangerous. Tobia heard what his son was doing and it was the biggest mistake in his life.
Once, for his birthday, Tobia received a letter. He was 55 years old, and he thought that it contained some nice wishes. It was not. It was a letter from the government. They told that Simon, the son of Tobia was going to be put on the electric chair, because of committing the highest level of crime. Tobia didn’t say a word, he didn’t cry, he stood up! His clothes were not changed. He just ran… ran away. He came to the city next to his village. He saw people selling shoes. He sat there. “What’s going on?” asked a man and looked at him. “You know…” he began, “I have a son…” He was talking for almost an hour. He did not look towards his neighbour, he was looking somewhere far away. He had a strong stare. His eyes were so calm and tired of everything. “…I loved him so much and I still do. I don’t know. Maybe I wanted him to be a strong man. I could have shown him that I had loved him. I wasn’t strict enough. Everything I got is my son. Tomorrow I will not have anything.” I saw that man once, but he changed my life a bit. Every time when I want to drive on the left or right and leave the right way behind, I hear my father, “I have a son!” I take the picture in my hands. Tobia is the person who I respect very much! But in that moment I didn’t find the right words to say to him.
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Meta Stražišar
Thinking About Butterflies
There are so many of them, but every one of them is something special and not two of them are the same. I am talking about the butterflies I am just looking at. In the picture there is a group of butterflies; they are close together and they might be resting after a long flight and collecting their power for another journey. And they might not be able to do it without the support of a “friend-butterfly”. Every creature needs a friend, especially humans. Can you imagine what life would be like without friendship? Without somebody you can count on all the time, no matter what? A friend – that’s one of the most beautiful things that can happen to you. Usually that’s somebody who cares for you and supports you and is always by your side. Somebody without whom you could not walk the path of your life. Of all the people who have crossed your life, only a real friend leaves his footprints on your path, too. I could probably write and write about friends and friendship… but those
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butterflies are waiting… If I throw a glance on the picture once more, I can see that they are things and gentle little animals. They are also a symbol of something gentle, weak, free, lucky… of something nice. That is why I have chosen this picture; there are a lot of symbols in it and I like that. Oh, that reminds me… some people are like butterflies; they seem to have no worries, they are just happy to be alive and they are always so relaxed and full of positive energy. They are always moving and “flying” around… I don’t know what to write any more. I have run out of ideas… Did you know you should never hold a butterfly by its wings? Even the most gentle touch can damage it so much that it will not be able to fly anymore. You can imagine how gentle creatures they are! I’m thinking… Is there any butterfly which feels lonely in that huge mass of tiny wings? Hope not! It’s nice to have a butterfly to fly around with.
Urška Dolšak
A Sudden Light One quiet night a baby bear was lying on the grass in the middle of the forest. He was waiting for his mum to show up with some food. Then, a sudden light came up and all he could see was a green thing coming from behind some trees. He was so surprised and scared that for a second he did not know what had just happened. He just stood there staring into the sky. Then he thought, “What was that?” In that moment his mother showed up with some food. She explained to him that that was a sign that mother nature had sent into the sky to warn all the bears that something great was going to happen. In the next few hours there was a quiet night and the morning started to show up. The little bear woke up and there was his mother lying next to him, she was not breathing any more, there was an enormous wound in her back. The little bear was very sad, he did not eat or drink anything, he just cried the whole day. When night-time came, he suddenly saw the green light again and in the end of it, there was his mother waiting for him, he went to her and she kissed him good-bye. In the morning he woke up and he did not cry anymore, he got up, fixed himself breakfast and lived happily ever after.
him and she offered him to be a guest in her group, so he could talk about his experiences. He of course rejected the offer. He proved that people could with the use of magic and some psychological tricks prepare you to believe them. His final idea was that people believe what they want, no matter if it is true or not. If the woman would have said that he was lying, he would have backed off and said that he was just a fraud.
I remember there was a time that everyone was seeing UFOs. There were shows about it. Some were seeing space ships flying from the ground into the sky. I was once watching Darren’s show. Darren went to a couple who believed that they were abducted by aliens and that they had powers where they could see in the future or they could kill people with diseases that could not be medically cured. He got there pretending he was also abducted by aliens ten years ago and that now he could see what was going on in people’s lives, before he had even met them. He guessed some things about the woman’s problems. She believed
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When the young calf is born, the whole family looks after it and sees to it that it comes to no harm. The baby is a unique family member and because of their instinct they know that it is vital for the group that each member survives, no matter how young and small it is.
Tamara DolenĹĄek
Time Marches
The problem of today’s society is that it does not look upon the weak and small. People are treated as numbers. For example, have you ever thought how hard it must be for the families that have lost their family members in a car accident or a terrorist attack. Our problem is that we only see the number of casualties, but we do not look at the matter from a higher perspective. The grandmother elephant walks on. The pit that she thought would contain water had dried up. She has to think hard to think of some other place. Her family really needs water. The calf is still a bit shaky, but it is looking into the world with excitement. Mankind also has big problems with getting enough water. Picture yourself on the Black continent. Look at the picture how a mother gives her last drop of water to her child. But does she know that the baby will survive or does she just pray to God that she will hear it breathing the next day. She is still grieving after her last child and she could not bare to lose another one.
When I saw this picture, I felt the strength and wisdom of these enormous beings. They have their way of survival. They are not the humble creatures of the savannah. Just think of their day. If they come from a more arid part of the land, they have to walk for miles to get to water. They have to find enough food for the day. This lifestyle has toughened them up. Man should look up to these creatures. We should admire them and try to copy some of their habits for instance their loyalty.
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The herd is moving on with a steady pace. They all trust their leader and do not question her. They know that she is trustworthy and that if she saw she could not cope with the problem, she would admit it. That is a thing that many politicians lack. Most of them cannot stand defeat even if they know that they made a mistake and that their people would be better off with a new point of view. They seek benefits for themselves no matter the cause. A hyena is lurking around the group. It has spotted the calf and has just started licking her muzzle. She has a bundle of her own in her den and she knows that she must feed it. She is thinking of gathering up her pack.
Maybe there shall be a moment, when the elephants are not on the watch so strongly and the hyena will get its chance to make the kill. The pack would be quite satisfied with such a young and juicy meal. Sometimes people look after their own relatives just too much. They do not get the feeling that by insulting somebody, they have just insulted someone’s mother, father or child. They themselves would probably be very angry if this were done to their parents, but when they do it, it is alright, because they just do not see the problem. The elephant group turns west. They want to see the sun as long as they can. They just love the planes they were born on and they love the sun that has shone on their backs as long as they can remember. They march into the sunset.
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Aleksandra Vidmar
My Greatest Wish Every time I stand by the road or street and a motorbike drives by, I look at it. I think I’m in love with motorbikes and fast cars. My father drove a fast car. He drove in Rallies. I remember when I was 2 or 3 years old and my father came back from Germany from a race, he brought my sister and me each a big bear. I still have it. In those days I always talked about how I would drive in races, just like my father. When my father brought his race car home, I was in heaven when I sat in it. He stopped driving races when I was 5 years old. Soon we bought another a car. It was a race car, too and when we sold it last year, I was very upset, because I really enjoyed when I was driving with it. I still miss it. I like driving with my father, because he drives nicely and carefully. He drives fast and I like it. But he always drives according to the traffic regulations. When you come into my room, you see a computer and a motorbike on it. It is a Yamaha. My cousin inspires me for motorbikes. He has a bike and every time I’m with him, he drives me with it. He has a big one, so I haven’t driven it yet. I only drove a motorcycle. My cousin tells me a lot about motorbikes. Of course I
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do not remember everything. I remember only the interesting things about them. I had a boyfriend who has a scooter. And he is in love with scooters. He always repairs them and he is almost the whole day in his work-shop. I always had to listen to him talking about scooters. At first I was not interested in them at all, but later on I was the one who started asking about them and talk about them. When we first started our relationship I knew I would be in the third place. The first was his mother, the second his scooter and the third me. I had to get used to it. We really talked about motorbikes a lot. His scooter is so beautiful. It is blue – my favourite colour. But when my parents found out that we were dating, they forbade me to drive with him on his scooter. And I obeyed them. But in the summer holidays this year I was driving with him. I enjoyed it, but later I had a bad conscience. Now you are probably asking yourself if I am not afraid of accidents. Of course I am. Almost every day I hear on the radio information about accidents, because of too fast driving. I know that and I am sorry. When I drive with my father I enjoy it, but at the same time I am afraid. But I know it will be alright. I like to feel adrenalin. My biggest wish is to go bungee jumping. There is a lot of adrenalin flowing there. Maybe one day my wish will come through. And maybe one day I will have a motorbike or maybe one day I will be a competitor in a race. But that is just a MAYBE.
Jerneja Zupančič
The Dolphin’s Glory Once upon a time there was in the sea, in total freedom a kingdom named Sea-heaven. This place was under water so the inhabitants were sea animals. And the leader was this beautiful dolphin princess Serenela. She was so beautiful that every mermaid was jealous of her. Her secret was her diamond necklace. Whenever she did not have the necklace on, her power was not as strong as in the time that she wore it. So the sea girls decided to steal it. Serenela was very just and everyone loved her. They had no cares about their lives, because Serenela was looking after them. They lived peacefully and they did not know any hatred. Serenela took care of everything. But as you know, every story also has a bad side, so let me tell you the bad side of this story. So, as I was saying, the sea girls were not very content with Serenela and they wanted to destroy her. They came out with a plan; they would steal her necklace and send her up to the sea-coast, where she would die. But Serenela had many friends and when the evil ones spoke to each other and were creating the plan to steal, a little fish Fizzy heard what the plan was. She told Serenela and she was very sad.
What was the most disappointing and what made her sad was the thought that she was not as popular as she thought she was. But there was this idea in her head: she wanted to see the world, the real world full of people. So this was the chance to leave this heaven and explore the unknown. Everyone thought that she was crazy, but that was her dream – to be popular every day. So she said good-bye to her closest friends and left. But there was this little evil in her, too and she did not want to give the sea-girls contentment and so she took her necklace and left. She swam to the sea area and looked for fishing boats which were hunting for their catch. She voluntarily swam into their nets and gave in to destiny. Luckily some rugby team was looking for their new mascot and so Serenela became a world known mermaid, who was entertaining people during the games. She got what she was looking for – full attention. She was the power of the team. And a few months later also Sea-heaven had heard what luck their Serenela had found. She found herself. And again the sea-girls were jealous and they wanted to do the same thing. But luck was not on their side and the fishermen who caught them, sold them to a zoo and there they were just like being in prison. They had no life and then they realized that they had made a big mistake. So their punishment came and Serenela had nothing to do with it. But you know I have some time left and I will tell you how the story continues. Serenela became world famous and with her glory also came the negative sides of being a celebrity. Some bad men stole her out of her pool, where she lived and took her to an unknown place. And you know how the story ends? Take a look of the film Ace Ventura – the pet detective – the first part by Jim Carey and you will see, and laugh, too.
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Polona Krmelj
The Roads Every road has its own story, it drives you to interesting places, around it you can see amazing nature, when you are walking on it, you meet great people, new friends; My road drove me to great places. One day I felt that I had to pack my rucksack and hit the road. I had packed my rucksack and went into the world. I did not have any plan, I just went, I did not want to stay in just one place anymore, I wanted to see the world. I took the train and went‌ On my way, I have been to many amazing places, where you can see great, great contrasts, things for which I thought they did not exist any more, I saw places where time had stopped, where people are not burdened with things which are necessary for life, for us. I met talkative people and reserved ones, amazing and boring, friendly and hostile. I made some great friends, one of them was Matt. I met him when I was waiting for the bus. He was a local. It was very strange for him to see a girl with a big rucksack in his town, because the town was not a tourist trap. We started to talk. He
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invited me to his place. For me this was a good way to meet the locals, to see how people live and for that night I did not have to worry where I would sleep, namely at that time, because it was already dark. When we arrived at his place he introduced me to his family. His family was so nice without any questions they took me for their own. The next day Matt showed me his town. I would have liked to stay with them for a few more days, but I had to take the road. Matt’s family was very sad, but Matt decided to go with me, because he found my traveling very interesting. I was very glad, I would have a fellow-traveler. Since then, we explored the world together. But there came a time when I had to finish my journey. We had to separate. He went back to his family and his life and I to mine. He was not the only person I met on my travels. On that journey I got so many experiences. There were happy and tough times, but I will remember these times for ever. You do not have to be afraid, you just have to hit the road and see the world, you will experience so many beautiful things.
Špela Intihar
It’s The World That We Live In In these times of fast living, we do not even stop for a bit to think of our planet and people that live in different places. Maybe that is because our jobs and school are preventing us to think about things like that, but I do not think so. Everybody should stop for a second and think of his life and problems. To think of people that live in poverty and circumstances that are not suitable for them makes us a bit pessimistic and sad, but also more sensitive and generous. It fills us with different feelings. If we think of Africa’s nations that live almost without water and food, without medicine and other necessaries for life, we feel happy to live in a kind of developed world that offers us all the things we need. I really cannot imagine living like these people without water and that is why I often think of them. But only to think is not enough, we must do something against it, because these problems are extending more and more. And the question is how to help? There are not a lot of things that I can make better. I do not have big amounts of money to buy and send them food and I am neither a doctor nor a teacher to help them. But I think of them, I am trying to call other people’s attention to problems like that, and that also counts.
Even if we try to help those people from poorer countries, we cannot be sure that the goods will come into their hands, because we know about more cases where it was quite different. And what remains to those people? They are just like we are, maybe of another colour, gender, race, but they are people. They also have feelings and they also feel pain and happiness as we do. It is your life and we must decide how to experience it. If you want to have your days pleasant, just think how beautiful your life is. Think of all your friends that help you and parents that love you. You have your home, your
own room, television… but you are not grateful. You just want more and more without thinking of your future. The more we have, the more we want and that is true, no matter what everyone says.
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Nastja Ižanc
We Are So Different, Aren’t We? The title could also be: THEY ARE DIFFERENT, AREN’T THEY? But I am a girl. And I am talking about us, about girls. Who cares about boys? Sometimes I think about that. You talk to a guy and he says something which means something else and girls understand him completely differently, again. Anyway, have you heard about the man-man dictionary? For example: MAN SAYS: I like your T-shirt. What’s wrong? I’ll call you, I promise.
MAN MEANS: I like your neck-piece. What did I do wrong again? I will, of course if I have time or if I don’t forget.
Another way, here we are. Mostly we love shopping, chatting, laughing, we can talk about one thing for 2 hours, about guys maybe like: oh, my God, he smiled at me, I’m sure he is in love with me and similar things to that. When I chose my picture, I knew the whole story about it. She is Lisa and she is 18 years old. She comes from California and she is beautiful. Lisa is a model, she has long blond hair, green eyes and an amazing smile. All the girls at school want to be her. But anyway she is not perfect. Her
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Dad is a lawyer and he is not at home a lot. He is a really busy man. Her mother is a doctor and she is at work, too. So Lisa is always home alone. She has got no brothers or sisters. She hates it if she is bored. If it happens to her, she goes shopping or she calls up her friends. Yesterday she met a cute boy. His name is Alex and he is 26. He’s got a car and all the girls are crazy about him. Lisa is, too. But she thinks yesterday was an awful day. He called her. She was very surprised when he asked her if she could go out with him. She was really nervous and happy at the same time. At 2 pm Lisa washed her hair, but she was not satisfied with them. So she did it again. Now, they were okay. Then she trimmed them up. It took 3 hours all together. When she finally chose her clothes, she was ready. The clock showed 7 pm. In another part of the city Alex watched TV till then. Then he put on his jeans and a shirt and he was ready. They met at 7.30. He drove her to a pub. There it was awful. Only guys, old and young with a beer in their hand and with a cigarette in the other. Alex was quiet a lot and Lisa did not know what to talk about. So she was telling him stupid things like how much she had spent for
a new skirt etc. She smiled and she thought: “Look at me, I’m on a date with the most wished for boy in the world!” You see now! Girls really care what people think about them. Everything for honour. Lisa was trying and she didn’t despair. She wanted everybody to know about her date and she called her friends and told them everything after her date. But she said: “It was great, wonderful! He is so sweet! I’m totally in love. He was really nice, he took me to a good restaurant, we drank an expensive bottled wine and we kissed by the moon-light. But what about Alex? He didn’t have worries with this. It was just a (boring) date. Nothing serious, nothing special. If maybe his friends had asked him something about it, he would just have said that the girl did not want any action. With this story I’d like to tell you how different we are. But nobody says that that is bad. On the contrary, I think it is good. More interesting! I would really want to be a boy for one day. All these little secrets they have about what girls should not know and so on… Pretty exciting, isn’t it? And the end: WE LOVE YOU, BOYS! YOU ARE SIMPLY THE BEST!
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Tatjana Begič
A Journey This picture reminds me of something very interesting. Something that you cannot imagine. I think that this illustrates a kind of happiness or freedom of your mind. Everyone that looks at this picture sees a different thing. Someone sees water or a lighthouse, but others see a beautiful blue sky. While I am looking into this sheet of paper, I start thinking about freedom, quiet places, peace… And then I start asking myself why I react in that way. I think I know the answer to my questions. Today life is very stressful. For students it is stressful at school, some of them have problems with their parents. Parents are concerned because of their jobs or because of their children. The whole thing is complicated. In that style of living it is sometimes difficult to make order in our life. Sometimes we need a break to figure out our problems and our mistakes. We need to fill our batteries. That is why people nowadays want to travel around the world. Many of them visit quiet places and lighthouses have become a very popular destination. People can be there alone with nature, they can rest and spend a few days there. In those cases it is really good to get accustomed to your holidays and forget the loud life of big cities. Or in this quiet place, you can think about your worries. And when you come home, you say to yourself that there is nothing in the world that you should be afraid of. But everyone does not want to travel to peaceful places. Especially young people want to go to countries where they can have a lot of fun. They visit restaurants, pubs, bars, casinos, discos… They are too young and they don’t want to be burdened with reality. Again others travel just because they are curious. They walk around with cameras, take pictures and go sightseeing. They want to know
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everything about the country and its history. They meet people from that country, they want to get to know the national food and national customs. I am really happy if visitors respect the characteristics of other countries. But if they make fun of it, they have a big problem with themselves. It is not important how old you are in you want to travel. It is never too soon and never too late. A friend of mine has a mother who is American and a father who is Slovenian. She was born in Slovenia and when she was 3 months old, she and her parents went to America to visit her grandmother. Today there have three children in they family and they travel a lot. Every year they spend two months in a different country. But traveling is not for everyone. Some are afraid of flying or they do not want to travel by ship. Others cannot stand more than one hour in a car or in a bus. For these people I recommend a trip for a day or maybe they can go for a walk. Or they can find a different way to relax. Free time and enjoying in our life is important. Sometimes we just have to escape from this stressful and selfish world. We just have to find out which way of relaxing pleases us the most.
Urška Pečkaj
To Live Strong There are a few places that we always mark as our favourite spots, because they remind us of someone or an event or just because of the spot itself. There, we can free our mind, imagination and our dreams about the things we all love, or we just enjoy the moment. I think that imagination in our life is very important, because we all know that the world without it would still be boring and we would probably still live in the stone age if there weren’t people with a creative mind or imagination. If a person has his/her own ideas, he or she can achieve almost everything with a combination of hard work, persistence and with the support of the people that are close to him/her. I don’t know why, but if someone mentions Lance Armstrong, I think of those qualities and I just cannot believe what a strong and unbelievable person he is! He is just amazing! I admire him, his family and I judge those that say that he didn’t make it on his own, but with the help of stimulants and drug abuse. He could be a role model to all of us, especially a role model in hard work and strong will. He is the kind of person that deserves to be discussed about and respected. The wristbands that he sells have a motto LIVE STRONG. I think that these are the words that can personify this man. Since I was little, I have watched bike tours on TV and I knew the main names of cycling
like Pantani and so on, but I noticed Lance after they said that this man survived a fatal disease – cancer and now that he survived it, he is even a better and more successful cyclist than ever before! I was really shocked and surprised! If I knew that I had cancer, my whole life would probably collapse, but he tried and worked harder. He did it with the help of his family and friends, but mostly by himself – he had dreams and he always believed in himself. It is as if he had found himself again and found the will to live on – not only for himself as for Lance, but for his wife, children and I am grateful for him, too, because he is an unbelievable inspiration for me. To me he is a human that wanted his dreams and hopes to become true. He wrote a book. It is not all about the bike and I think he was (or is) right – it is about life. It is all about our dreams and wishes – if we know the way how to live strong like Lance does and think about our future and expectations we will be able to do anything! What does it mean to live strong? Every man has his own meaning of these two words. For me, it is not to yield under all troubles and pressures of all the people around us, but to hold to your hopes and principles.
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part two
It was finally the weekend we were waiting for. Mum and dad were planning their second honey-moon, and we (children) were planning our first teenager weekend – HOME ALONE ...
An Average American Family
Urška Pečkaj Jernej Gašperin Tatjana Begič Nastja Ižanc
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Once upon a time there was an average American family… Mum’s name was Annie, and dad’s name was Peter. So they decided to go on their second honey-moon. They had three children – 5 year old Jerry, and 8 year old twins Anastacia and Ursula. The parents employed a young nanny for the weekend and she was here to study English; her name was Tatjana and she was from Russia. Annie and Peter left California after giving Tatjana the keys of the house, some instructions and then went to Canada. It was Friday and Tatjana went to pick us up after school, but we had already gone home by bus. She was very shocked and scared. We were so happy and so proud because we went home alone by bus that we spent all our pocket money for a bottle of children’s champagne – we wanted to get drunk like never before. We came home and Tatjana was already there. She tried to be nice and patient with us, but she lost her nerves in a split second, because Jerry had peed on the carpet in the living room and she did not see the stain and stepped into it. She started screaming in Russian and then told us to start writing our homework and some other stupid things. We didn’t listen and Jerry started crying and screaming, “I know you hate me ’cuz I’m a nigger!” By the way, Jerry thought he was a nigger, but he was a very pale boy and he had blonde hair. Then, later on, we had a wonderful time: she let us watch horror movies, eat candies and we washed our dog in the Jacuzzi and then dyed his coat and we also curled it. And you won’t believe this: we did not dry it! It was so funny when he
The Zukrindo Family was jumping around the house and breaking things. Tatjana got mad again and sent us to bed. We happily fell asleep without brushing our teeth. The next morning we woke up at six o’clock, because we wanted to watch Cartoon network. We wanted to drink the champagne, so we took a bottle from the cupboard in the kitchen and drank it. We were screaming, laughing and we woke Tatjana up, too. She prepared bacon, eggs and juice, but we had already eaten something – we made or at least tried to make pancakes and the kitchen was really a mess. We ate raw pancakes and now we weren’t feeling alright. Our heads hurt us, and our stomachs did, too. She saw the empty bottle and she had enough – she called her boyfriend and told him that she was quitting the job. She put us to bed and we fell asleep, because we were in pain. We woke up in the afternoon and she wasn’t there. We felt sorry and we felt bad for her. We were alone, so we were bored very much and we had no one to make fun of, so we became very good. We cleaned up the house as much as we could, did our homework and baked cookies. But surprise – someone came back! Not our parents, but Tatjana and her boyfriend Nick! We were all so happy that she had come back that we started hugging and kissing her, we liked Nick very much, because he was so funny. Jerry called him Dick, but he was OK with it, so there was no problem. In the evening our parents came home and they were very happy that we were all OK and healthy. Yes, this was a really exciting time and you know what? Our parents decided to go on their third honey-moon…
The descriptions of the characters in the family ZUKRINDO: The family lives at 13, Tree Street. The family consists of 4 children and their parents. Parents: - Mum, age 43, named Rita - Dad, age 45, named Dick - phlegmatic - married for 20 years - they have their own restaurant The siblings are 3 boys and one girl. The eldest is Stanley, age 19, the other two boys are twins and they are named Brad and Matt, age 17. Their sister’s name is Hazel and she’s 15 years old. Stanley: - the smartest - he is tall, handsome - he plays basketball - he is romantic Brad and Matt: - smart, lazy, crazy - they switch all the time - they’re funny Hazel: - cute, attractive - stupid - blond, blue eyes, perfect body - Barbie
What happened at the Zukrindo’s? On Friday 13th the car of the Zukrindo couple drove out of the driveway at number 13, Tree Street. They waved their parents good-bye with a big angelic smile on their faces, but on the inside they were eager to start planning their first home alone party. It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon and Stanley called them together about their plans for the weekend. Stanley took his place and started to present some of his ideas to other members. At
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Polona Krmelj Jerneja Zupančič Tamara Dolenšek Špela Intihar
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first Brad and Matt were arguing with Stanley about who’s coming and who’s not, but at the end they had to agree with Stanley who was planning to invite all of his friends and girl admirers. Hazel was determined that all of her friends that had crushes on Stanley would be able to come. She on the other hand was planning on how to seduce one of Stanley’s friends – Will. Everyone got their tasks which were needed for the party to begin. It was 9.30 pm and the people started to come in. Hazel was dreamingly smiling in front of the door and just waiting for Will to come. Finally he came. He was wearing a long black coat, dark blue jeans and he was as charming as ever. His black hair was shinning in the moonlight like the feathers of a raven. Stanley was standing a bit aside and he was quickly rounded by all of his chicks. He tried to be funny and all of the girls giggled. Brad and Matt entertained all of the people by making little explosions in the living room and they were just making fun of Hazel’s blond character when they saw that Hazel was not around anymore. The twins ran out of the house to find her. Horror struck them! They saw Hazel tied up and her mouth was taped up. Will was standing in front of her and chanting some strange words. Hazel was crying and sobbing. The twins ran as quickly as they could back to the house to find Stanley. He was just making out with one of Hazel’s friends and he was really “busy”. They dragged Stanley out and ran with him to the spot where Will was just trying to bite into Hazel’s neck. Stanley jumped forward and jerked him backwards, so that Will fell to the ground. Matt remembered that he had read that you could vanquish a vampire by sticking a cross and garlic in front of it. So he ran inside and grabbed both. The next moment they were standing above Will and shining the cross into his face. Will screamed and blood started dripping out of his nostrils. He turned into dust. Twenty years later: Four girls were just going to a party at number 13, Tree Street. It was Friday 13th and it was 9.30 pm. Suddenly, a dog started barking at the full moon. The girls instantly turned around and in the distance they saw a black, tall silhouette. They had heard stories of a vampire being vanquished, but they thought it was just a fairy tale. They were wrong…
Aleksandra Vidmar Meta Stražišar Urška Dolšak
The Party We said good-bye to our parents and as soon as they had got out of our view my twin sister and I and our brother Tom ran into the house. I sent Annie to the shop to buy some stuff that we needed. Tom helped me prepare the house for the party. The phone was ringing the whole time; every girl wanted to know everything about the party. I just told them to come to the party and see for themselves. In the evening everything was prepared; the house was in a totally new condition. Tom agreed with the party, because he was going out with his girlfriend anyway. The girls started to come. We were expecting 10 girls the most, but 24 of them came. Some brought their boyfriends with them. The boys brought alcohol with them and everything started to go wrong. We tried to put everything in order, but we couldn’t stop the party of 30 people. They were drinking and dancing. Then we decided to have fun with them and it all worked out later. The party was
amazing, crazy, full of excitement. I suddenly saw him. He was standing in the corner of the living room. He was laughing… but not at me. He was laughing at my sister. I just could not understand it; we look the same. Minutes later I saw Annie go out with him. They went to the beach. They were kissing and laughing and hugging… and I just stared at them and for the first time in my life I wanted to be in Annie’s place. Later on Annie came back smiling – but alone. I was looking for that cute boy. I went outside and I found him waiting for my twin to come back. As soon as he saw me, he smiled at me. I was confused. Then my brains finally started to work and I realized that he had mixed us up. He hugged me and kissed me. I was in heaven. I felt butterflies in my stomach. We went for a walk along the beach. Suddenly, my sister came across us. The boy just stood there and stared at us. He didn’t understand anything. I realized that Annie hadn’t told him about me – her twin sister. Annie was shocked. She ran back to the house. She was furious. She threw everyone out of the house. The boy didn’t say a word, but just walked away. In the next days the house was very quiet. My sister did not speak to me. Tom didn’t know what was wrong and when my parents returned, they knew that something was not right between us. They tried in every way to make us communicate. I felt bad and guilty. I should have told him that I was not the right girl. I went to Annie and we talked about it and we became friends again. The next weekend we went to a beach party and he was there. Both of us apologized to him because of the mix-up. He understood. Now it is a month later and Annie and Simon are a couple and they are in love. Simon introduced me to his best friend Matt and I like him a lot. I think he likes me, too…
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Last, But Not Least
I would like to thank our school board and the headmaster Mr Peter Polc for letting us experience a wonderful and creative weekend using the facilities of the high-school and boarding school in Želimlje. The time we spent together was precious and even though every person wants to have a free weekend, it was worth spending it together and learning in a different way. I, myself, felt a relaxing atmosphere and wish to thank the girls and boy for enriching my life with this new experience. Thank you all once again! mag. Julijana
Mary Dolenšek Vode
The Autumn Holidays of 2005
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