The Internet - good or bad?

It is generally known that the Internet has made our lives easier and I agree completely, but has anyone ever thought of all the bad consequences that come along? For example, people no longer spend time together as they used to. Children are exposed to negative impact of the Internet and its users without knowing the severity of danger. Teenagers and many young people who cannot live without playing online games and, in many cases, become addicts.

On the one hand, the Internet is very cheap and easy way of trading things and information. These days it is almost unimaginable to come home and not check your e-mails or news online. Internet has changed the way people live. It is true that many people, mostly older ones, still buy newspapers and magazines, but more and more young people read everything on the Internet. It is possible that newspapers will be replaced by online news, which are, in comparison, free and convenient (just imagine what it's like walking to the first news-stand and it's minus 10 degrees Celsius outside.) Another very important thing that made the Internet an everyday habit is the wide range of services it offers. You can easily buy from your favorite shop without leaving your armchair. You can sell stuff you don't need anymore as well, for example, clothes or toys on the condition that they haven't gone to rack and ruin. It's very efficient and easy way of trade. If you volunteer in a camp or go on a concert in another country and meet great people, you will definitely want to stay in touch with these people; and what easier than communication via Skype? You can not only talk with them, but see each other too. Great way of practicing foreign language. Few decades ago, this was improbable to become part of everyday communication. 

On the other hand, with great power comes great responsibility. Having said that, I mean that every user of Internet should behave properly and decently, without putting down or insulting other people just because they have different way of considering things. Young children, who are easy target to manipulate with because they are naive and inexperienced, should be controlled by their parents and not left alone. They should be taught in schools how to use the Internet and how to behave while using it so that in future number of people doing harm to others is declining. Even though, you can chat with your friends while playing online games, nothing can replace face-to-face communication. Meeting your friends for a coffee and talking with them, laughing or going for a walk cannot be compared with communication via the Internet. It will be great if people would meet more in person than on the Internet, but based on the rapid growth of value that Internet has in today's world, I think it is going the opposite way.

To sum up, with all its helpful and convenient features, the Internet still cannot replace face-to-face communication and it is a threat for inexperienced people, which can cause grave consequences.  

What do you know about the longest international border in the world?

I know we all had geography in our schools, but there are some thing you cannot find in school books. I accidentally came across this topic and wanted to found out a bit more about it. The U.S. is third biggest country in the world and it has one of the longest borders in the world.

Let me tell you about the international border between Canada and the U.S. It is the longest border between two states in the world with 5,525 miles long (about 8891 km). It overlaps with 49^th parallel north, but it is NOT straight as it should have been. Cartographers drew a straight line on the map, but the engineers built it zigzag, unintentionally of course. It was the 19^th century so the only equipment engineers had was a compass and a ball of string. They built 900 monuments along the straight part of the border, and about 8,000 monuments in total. Due to several treaties over the years and in order to solve animosity caused by following the watershed as border between these two states, both countries agreed on simpler solution: 49^th parallel. U.S. gained more territory than Canada in this last treaty that shaped the border.

“Don’t touch me”, said Canada. “I won’t”, said the U.S. So, they moved 20 feet apart.

They did exactly what is stated in this sentence creating a 20 feet (approximately 6 meters) of deforested straight line that follows the entire length of the border (known as “no-touching zone”). There are no trees in this zone, and the new ones that start to grow are immediately cut off.  There are also some unsolved territory issues, especially in the Atlantic Ocean. Canada and the U.S. both claim that these specific islands are part of their territory and can’t really solve this problem, but luckily this doesn't  cause big problems so far.

This straight border caused more problems as it was moving westward. For instance, on the western coast in the Washington state Point Roberts is not connected with the U.S. as there is a border and Canadian territory between them. This area is home to thousands Americans, but has only primary schools. Needless to say, students must cross a border few times a day to get to their high school.

I highly recommend to see this video, it is amazing: 

This is an interesting link I found about fascinating borders in the world: http://www.buzzfeed.com/austinhunt/22-eye-opening-international-borders-from-around-the-world#.cpJV3n7oM

All in all, it is a very long border and there are some problems that will hopefully be solved in the future. I hop you enjoyed this post.

Education in the U.S.

Whenever I met someone who doesn't live in Croatia, one of the first topics I talk about with this person is educating system in his or her country. For example, In Germany they must learn Latin for six years including reading Caesar's books, translating them and writing whereas in Croatia we have Latin for two years and learn grammar, quotes and words that appear in our books. In Scotland, high school is called Academy whereas in Croatia Academy refers to higher level of education where person gets a degree in arts. In France they have up to seven mandatory subjects they can choose on their own whereas in Croatia, in gymnasium, you have up to 16 mandatory subjects. As you can see, education systems vary from country to country. What interests me lately is American education system about which I did a little research and would like to present you.

source: Diagram of education in the U.S.

In the U.S. children can go attend public schools, private schools (privately funded) and can be home schooled. Officially, compulsory education starts at the age of 5, but children can attend pre-kindergarten. At the age of five children start attending elementary school that lasts 6 grades if school follows "6-3-3" plan. This plan means that elementary school has six grades (finished at the age 12), junior high school or middle school lasts from grade 7 to 9 (finished at the age of 15) and high school that lasts from grades 10 to 12. In every state students must take "Standardized tests" every year in which they must show improvement and  reach a minimal education level. Education is compulsory for all students until they are 16 years old and can drop out of school and find a job, but the chances of finding a good job are smaller than for students who finish their high school completely. After graduating from high school students can choose from various colleges that offer undergraduate degrees (associate's degree or bachelor's degree) and universities that offer bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctorates. It is common for high school graduates to take a gap year before they go to college for travel or work. 

What is common in the U.S. is school bus which is typically designed for student transport. School buses are painted yellow because it is color most easily seen in the dark. Buses are specially equipped with safety devices and used for transport from student's homes to schools. More than half of the student population is transported by school buses.

In my opinion, every country's educational system is different in some way or the other, but I think the U.S. has the most unique system of them all. You are free to leave comments on this post.

It's that time of the year!

As the 25^th December slowly but surely gets closer, people are either impatient about it or are just waiting for this whole “Christmas madness” to end. For me it is the only two weeks I have in the entire year to visit family and spend time with relatives, hang out with friends who don’t live so close to me anymore and do things that make me happy that I usually don't have time for. Sure, buying presents that are going to satisfy everyone is "mission impossible" and, based on my prior experience, too expensive. In my opinion, buying presents and spending a fortune is just ruining the Christmas spirit. People are uptight instead of relaxed and tired and exhausted of the endlessly long shopping nightmare they put themselves through year-in, year-out. When they are finally done with it, the only thing people want to do is lie down, sleep or watch TV. No one wants to go out with friends or for a walk with their family. Why should you waste your precious time on buying meaningless presents instead of inviting your family or friends for a nice dinner or going on a trip? It’s not about the presents, it's about the people.

Few days ago, I visited "Advent in Vienna" with my family. I couldn't believe my eyes. It looked almost too good to be true. It was my first time in Vienna as well so I was really over the moon. There is not a single street without Christmas lamps and decorations. Every little square, and there's lots of them, are occupied with little houses that serve delicious food and where you can buy really nice statuettes, toys, cards and lots of other things. “Christkindlmarkt” is the biggest and most truly outstanding Christmas fair compared to what I’ve seen so far. Even without snow it looked magical, especially when as darkness fell as the only things producing light were colourful light bulbs, snowmen and paper lanterns hanging on trees.

source: http://www.stadtbekannt.at/

There is another internationally renowned Christmas fair which takes in the heart of Manhattan. I am talking about the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York. I would like to present you with some facts I am sure you didn't know about it.

1931 was the first year that a tree was placed in front of the Rockefeller Center. It was during the time of Great Depression and workers at the Center decided to save some money together and buy a Christmas tree. Compared to today's Tree, which is up to 30 m high and decorated in millions of light bulbs and ornaments, it was a small tree (only 20 m high) which was adorned with strings of cranberries and garlands of paper that were brought from worker’s homes. After decorating the Tree, they lined up next to it to receive their pay.

source: First Christmas Tree in 1931

As the Tree became a tradition, ornamentation changed over the years. There were glass ornaments, ornaments in shape of dogs and sailboats. During WWII the tree was decorated in patriotic red, white and blue globes and wooden ornaments. The plastic star at the top of the Tree was replaced by a specially designed ‘Swarovski star’in 2009. This star is worth $1.5 million and contains 25,000 crystals and 1 million facets. 

source: Swarovski star

Finding a perfect Tree definitely isn't an easy task. Lots of trees were, in fact, donated to Rockefeller Center and purposely sought out. Transport of these giants is only possible at night due to their size and New York’s heavy traffic The uppermost branches of the Tree are decorated before the Tree is hoisted. The tallest ever tree was displayed in 1999 and it was a 30 m tall Norway spruce. This type of tree has since 1982 been chosen for Christmas decoration in New York. After the holidays, the tree is used for door frames or other things that people can use later.

I wish you all Merry Christmas! :) 

Always on top of the world!

Hello again!
I know I didn't write for a very long time, but I had so many things to take care of that I didn't have time to drink coffee in peace. Hopefully I will make it up to you by today's post.

It about one of the oldest sports in the history of mankind. It evolved from exercises that ancient Greek did in their time. Its gracefulness and movement that denies all rules of physics is breath-taking. It is sport for men and women, with some major differences, but also some similarities. It requires agility, power, flexibility,physical strength, control and balance.  Some of you have guessed i it by now that I'm talking about gymnastics.

Here is a short description of this sport before I move on to one of the leading countries of this sport.
There are four artistic events for women: vault, floor, uneven bars and balance beam. Men have six events: vault, floor, pommel horse, still rings, high bar and parallel bars. Governing body of competitive gymnastic is International Federation of Gymnastics (IFG). In simpler words, they make gymnastic rules.

The U.S. is one of the leading countries when it comes to success in gymnastic. They have excellent equipment, good coaches and school system that allows you to be dedicated to your sport. At the same time you are able to go to school and to train as hard as you can to. In my country that's impossible. A lot of elite gymnasts were home schooled or went to special school for athletes.

Let's have a brief look at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This is the year in which American women gymnast team won silver medal. Competitor and U.S. representative Nastia Liukin won all-around gold, and her teammate Shawn Johnson won silver. In the 2012 Olympic Games, American team  won gold and justified undoubted fact that they truly are the best in the entire world. Once again, all-around gold was won by an American representative Gabby Douglas.
Here are some videos. I hope you will enjoy.

Shawn Johnson in 2008 Olympics on balance beam (golden beam routine):

Nastia Liukin (uneven bars)

Gabby  Douglas (floor)

McKayla Maroney (you may know her for her "not impressed" face during the awarding ceremony)

And her vault, one of the toughest in the world: