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  <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik</id>
  <title>let the day go on and on</title>
  <subtitle>do we have a Plan B?</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>Kriszti</name>
  </author>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/"/>
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  <updated>2009-06-10T17:48:11Z</updated>
  <lj:journal userid="10720919" username="szirmaik" type="personal"/>
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  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:30023</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/30023.html"/>
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    <title>MOVED</title>
    <published>2009-02-01T21:27:28Z</published>
    <updated>2009-02-01T21:27:28Z</updated>
    <content type="html">See you at new address:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://szirmaik.wordpress.com"&gt;http://szirmaik.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:29863</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/29863.html"/>
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    <title>my first ever Hungarian entry</title>
    <published>2008-11-28T17:08:37Z</published>
    <updated>2008-11-28T19:33:21Z</updated>
    <category term="work"/>
    <category term="goals"/>
    <category term="life"/>
    <content type="html">Hát ez is eljött. Utolsó nap a munkahelyen... Nem maradhattam tovább, vizsgák, miegymás. Sötét konyha, távozás előtt egy pár perccel. Már csak a litván feliratos, munkahelyen használt reklámbögréim elmosogatása maradt az egyetlen feladatom. Belátom, nem megy nagyon a búcsúzkodás. De az egyik munkatársam utolsó szavaira, hogy biztosan lesz jövőm, mert olyan törtető vagyok, szerintem még sokáig emlékezni fogok. Amit válaszoltam, őszintén mondtam, nem felvágásból, inkább a kihívás vállalásának reményében... azt mondtam, hogy ha majd egyszer, úgy tíz év múlva, azt hallják valahol, hogy kineveztek a nem tudom minek az élére, akkor emlékezzenek rám. Hogy itt kezdtem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adja Isten, hogy valóban úgy is legyen.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:29450</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/29450.html"/>
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    <title>amid the falling snow</title>
    <published>2008-11-24T17:49:39Z</published>
    <updated>2009-06-10T17:48:11Z</updated>
    <category term="winter"/>
    <category term="snow"/>
    <category term="budapest"/>
    <category term="life"/>
    <content type="html">I love such days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love when I am crossing the mighty Danube when it's snowing. It's like being in the middle of a snow cloud, seeing nothing but the white eternity. And after getting off that bridge, seeing the city all dressed in white... it's something magical and very lyrical to me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And despite (or rather because of) the falling snow I walked on in our neighbourhood while it was almost dark, with music in my ears, and even though my hair, my face and my hands were getting wet of the melted snow, I felt a free, light and somewhat pure feeling in my soul.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, I believe these moments are those that really belong to me.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:29412</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/29412.html"/>
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    <title>It's almost blinding me.</title>
    <published>2008-10-04T10:50:01Z</published>
    <updated>2008-10-04T10:50:01Z</updated>
    <category term="life"/>
    <content type="html">Let the rain come down and wash away my tears&lt;br /&gt;Let it fill my soul and drown my fears&lt;br /&gt;Let it shatter the walls for a new, new sun&lt;br /&gt;A new day has... come.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It seems that finally, something positive is starting to happen here. I'm afraid have been messing things up in the past few weeks... I had to make several hard decisions, and I also had a few conflicts with people important to me. And I was longing for some things that would make my life a little bit more interesting.&lt;br /&gt;But now things are becoming more and more clear. I am having new plans ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And last night has taught me something important as well. "Parish parties" are still great. :D</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:29020</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/29020.html"/>
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    <title>&amp;gt;:(</title>
    <published>2008-09-17T14:52:13Z</published>
    <updated>2008-09-17T14:52:13Z</updated>
    <category term="fuss"/>
    <category term="livejournal"/>
    <content type="html">Why the hell do I see advertisements on my livejournal when I am not logged in?!!! How mean is this from all the Livejournal crew? Come on, this is the first time I face such a problem! And I have a free account, normally I wouldn't have advertisements if I chose this, only if I decided to upgrade to Plus (or so!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Does anyone of you have an idea how to get rid of them...?</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:28864</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/28864.html"/>
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    <title>Tomorrow...</title>
    <published>2008-09-14T10:22:29Z</published>
    <updated>2008-09-14T10:22:29Z</updated>
    <content type="html">I am going to see Jos&amp;eacute; Manuel Barroso. In real life. And I am not kidding.&amp;nbsp;;)</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:28640</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/28640.html"/>
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    <title>to look and to find - that's all... ;)</title>
    <published>2008-09-11T20:52:57Z</published>
    <updated>2008-09-22T17:55:11Z</updated>
    <category term="horoscope"/>
    <content type="html">Sometimes I find hidden treasures from the past; this time it came as a booklet with the title: &lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;Pisces: This is your horoscope for the 365 days of the year 1989&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt; (My dad was Pisces). I looked at the paragraph saying &amp;quot;Sunday, 9 July&amp;quot; - and a sentence caught my eye:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Although nothing important happens today, the days of peaceful monotony like this could be the ones that may be truly happy&amp;quot;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes... Did I read&amp;nbsp;NOTHING IMPORTANT? One has a daughter on that day and it's NOTHING IMPORTANT? I'm deeply offended :DDDDD&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:28290</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/28290.html"/>
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    <title>Confessions and such things</title>
    <published>2008-09-08T21:30:49Z</published>
    <updated>2008-09-08T21:37:45Z</updated>
    <category term="school"/>
    <category term="memories"/>
    <category term="bio"/>
    <category term="life"/>
    <content type="html">It was just a normal conversation with my colleague last week, during a short coffee break at the office kitchen. He is a student like me and he started at the company just one week after I arrived there. We were talking of everyday things... school, plans, work and the world around us, when I - I don't know why - told him:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I: &amp;quot;I suppose I am a lot younger than you, am I not?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;He: &amp;quot;I wouldn't be very sure of that...&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;I: &amp;quot;Well, how old are you?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;He: &amp;quot;I am 25. (or 26? I can't remember correctly what he said, but it isn't that important)&lt;br /&gt;I: &amp;quot;As for me, I am 19&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;He: &amp;quot;Well, yes, then you really are...&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Isn't it funny? I can't tell I am not used to these kind of reactions. Because he was really surprised, as everybody, whom I tell my exact age. Such reactions are something I can't really describe - they are always like a mixture of surprise, curiosity and disbelief. And also a bit of the &amp;quot;oh, you are so young yet&amp;quot; message that made me suffer for so many long years...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;...just because I was two years younger than most of my schoolmates at high school. Right at the time when your age, your looks, your affiliation to fashion (and such things) and your position amongst your classmates are equally important to determine your popularity. And the single fact you were younger, well, it meant that you were also someone childish, uncool, and after all, a very incompetent person. No, I wasn't tortured... but these adjectives mentioned above resulted in such widespread judgements that I was weak, timid and unworthy of even such everyday things as joining my classmates to cinema or a party. Soon I started to strengthen my shield (that I have already built, as in higher primary school I was &amp;quot;officially&amp;quot; excommunicated...) and created my own world, where fantasy, God and some kind of &lt;em&gt;purpose&lt;/em&gt; equally got their roles, and although I still talked to some of my classmates, pranked the teachers and cheated at tests together with them, my thoughts were somewhere else. Somehow I managed to find community and meaning to my life beyond school, but this bitter loneliness, this really accompanied my teenage years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I look back now, sometimes I feel that all those years filled with suffering, feeling of loneliness and alienation are gone and now I can finally be creative, be proactive, be proud of myself. And last but not least, I can be &lt;em&gt;myself.&lt;/em&gt; Since I started college, I have found friends - although not yet a soulmate - at my school, whom&amp;nbsp;I can give my love to and receive love from.&lt;em&gt; I am getting my wings&lt;/em&gt;, sometimes with an incredible speed. Some people say I have no fear and sense of danger and maybe they are right. But sometimes - and I am really not proud of it - I feel myself being the youngest girl in high school class again. This year, just before summer, I met some of my old classmates when we were visiting one of the teachers together. Although with some of them (the loud and popular crew), I still didn't (and couldn't) talk, I felt that a smaller part, who obviously became more mature - just like I did - finally accepted me... Even if I still wouldn't call them friends, this act gave me faith, and maybe one day when I'll return to a class meeting, I can fully be the person I probably am somewhere deep inside and who I want to become... when I really take those wings and start to fly.&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:28005</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/28005.html"/>
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    <title>retrospective</title>
    <published>2008-09-06T17:49:06Z</published>
    <updated>2008-10-22T12:56:23Z</updated>
    <category term="autumn"/>
    <category term="summer"/>
    <category term="memories"/>
    <category term="travel"/>
    <category term="lithuania"/>
    <content type="html">A little bit more than one month has passed since I returned home from Lithuania. Since then, the season changed, and although the weather is still hot, soon I will have to prepare myself for a change as well, like if every autumn was is the beginning of something new. This means that I'll have to turn retrospective these days, looking back to memories I had in the latest period in my life. This obviously includes this journey, the story of what I left unfinished.&lt;br /&gt;I don't deny the fact as I was uncertain to write about my meeting with Igor, because I was afraid of what reactions I get. But now I am certain that I was wrong. Still, I only want to tell that I've never met anyone before when I would feel that I knew this person for ages... And that we don't have to adapt to this crazy world to be accepted by someone as we are. We met in &lt;em&gt;&amp;Scaron;iauliai&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;,&lt;/em&gt; and visited the Hill of Crosses - you can search for pictures of it, read the relevant wikipedia article and after, forget about it - none can really describe the amazing spirituality of this place. And right the same day, I got to the Baltic Sea, saw one of the most dramatic sunsets I have seen in my life, and when the night fell, I saw young people having fun everywhere in that town. I spent a night having a long, refreshing sleep in a tiny, little, romantic apartment in a small house - it reminded me of my childhood days in our old house in Balatonf&amp;ouml;ldv&amp;aacute;r...&lt;br /&gt;I love Palanga.&lt;br /&gt;Next day, my hosts (&lt;em&gt;Audronė&lt;/em&gt; and her family) brought me to the beach again, where I could finally bathe in the sea or just sit in the sand and watch people. I am still speechless of the wonderful hospitality I got from my hosts, they made me feel the magic over and over again. I went to church with them in the morning, had some white cheese, dark bread, la&amp;scaron;iniai (no comment for this one) and many other things like that during the day, and shared stories, feelings, lives.&lt;br /&gt;Unfortunately this was the last day with nice weather during my stay, so the next day (after meeting my next hosts, Aurimas and Renata, seeing another sunset and spending the night in &lt;em&gt;Klaip&lt;em&gt;ėda&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;) I departed to Nida and Curonian Spit in continuous rain. I don't have to mention that I got totally wet, and although the rain stopped until I arrived there, the sky was covered with thick gray clouds during almost the whole day. But thanks to the weather, I could see the amazing beauty of the nature without any annoying tourist groups in sight, and as I was alone, nobody disturbed me when I sat on my raincoat between teo dunes and stared in the endless, thinking and feeling :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Liepāja&lt;/em&gt; in Latvia, on the next day was also beautiful. :) It was a shock for me though that I almost froze (I left my pullover at home), I (almost) got lost, I was almost tricked in one shop (although not deliberately, I think), and I didn't have enough time to visit Karosta and the once-was Soviet military base. But I loved &lt;em&gt;Liepāja&lt;/em&gt; coast and, especially, the lake. I really want to return to Latvia one day to discover other towns and hidden beauties...&lt;br /&gt;And I am afraid I am only repeating myself when I am talking about my train journey from &lt;em&gt;Klaip&lt;em&gt;ėda&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;  to &lt;em&gt;Vilnius&lt;/em&gt;, my feelings towards this boh&amp;egrave;me city, the small, lovely streets and the living, new cityscape with high-rises, the view of the &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Neris&lt;/span&gt; and the hills around Vilnius. Somehow I loved the feeling of the city, it has something that I miss from Budapest, maybe it would be some witty craziness and playfulness, I don't know... I spent a lovely time with &lt;em&gt;Edita,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; Laurynas&lt;/em&gt; (the Wise... ;)), another friend of Edita whose name I can't remember :(, &lt;em&gt;Lina&lt;/em&gt; (I was with her when saw night Vilnius from above, with &lt;em&gt;&amp;Scaron;vyturys&lt;/em&gt; and&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Badacsonyi Merlot&lt;/em&gt;... where are you, Lina, I really waited for you to come to Hungary this August... :(), &lt;em&gt;Miglė&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Jovita. &lt;/em&gt;I saw some of the dramatically beautiful lakes of &lt;em&gt;Auk&amp;scaron;taitija National Park&lt;/em&gt; and before I finally had to leave Vilnius, I could wander around the old town, saying farewell to this country that brought me so many wonderful memories and experiences. I can recall the feeling when I was about to go to the train station in the evening, it was almost dark and raining, the lamps of cars painting such a strange ensemble of lights on the pavement. And I cried. (Yes, this is a thing that I don't want to hide, but anyway, I cry really very often, so... ;))&lt;br /&gt;But I felt home already when I arrived back to Poland.&amp;nbsp;If Poland was a person, I am sure I would love it as a parent, or a very dear family member... And wherever I go, I can only feel that Poles and&amp;nbsp;Hungarians are &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; friends... Amazing. ;)&amp;nbsp;I was so lucky to get to know Białystok and Warsaw&amp;nbsp; being with you, Ewa, Wojtech (or Wojciech?), Małgorzata and Scott :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So... that was it. That was it? No. But at least you get the brief story now, and let's hope it isn't unfinished yet. By the way... right now I am trying to convince my best friend, to go somewhere nice for a weekend in&amp;nbsp;September... like Croatia, it's not so far away ;) but she resists :( Ah, how I wish she was at least a little bit like me.&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:27687</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/27687.html"/>
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    <title>sick.</title>
    <published>2008-09-01T05:15:35Z</published>
    <updated>2008-09-01T05:15:35Z</updated>
    <content type="html">Yes. I'm having an awful sore throat. I can't even speak normally without feeling a huge pain in my throat - so the only thing I can do is not to speak AT&amp;nbsp;ALL, or at least very few. Interesting when you are in such a situation, you suddenly start to pay attention of what you are saying because every word is a torture.&lt;br /&gt;What a terrible Sunday it was. I don't want to tell you details, but besides catching this cold, I couldn't even get some rest as I originally wanted to - on the contrary, I got so tired and exhausted from doing things that came all of a sudden, battling with disturbing coincidences...&lt;br /&gt;Plus, we were going back from Balatonf&amp;ouml;ldv&amp;aacute;r. I think I have used to the fact that usually I am the one whom travel stress is relieved on, but this day I was even more sensitive that I am usually, so these events made me feel miserable even more.&lt;br /&gt;Of course I couldn't sleep either. And I have to go to work today. Let's hope I will survive...&amp;nbsp;:/</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:27550</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/27550.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=27550"/>
    <title>Announcement</title>
    <published>2008-08-26T16:49:44Z</published>
    <updated>2008-08-26T16:55:45Z</updated>
    <lj:music>Nightwish - Amaranth - with (almost) full volume :D</lj:music>
    <content type="html">I have completed the first ever work day of my life. And I love to be "working"... :)</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:27146</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/27146.html"/>
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    <title>The story is...</title>
    <published>2008-07-31T22:00:03Z</published>
    <updated>2009-03-01T23:25:11Z</updated>
    <category term="family"/>
    <category term="summer"/>
    <category term="balaton"/>
    <content type="html">...that despite every sober mind (as we say it in Hungarian) I went directly to &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balatonföldvár"&gt;Balatonf&amp;ouml;ldv&amp;aacute;r&lt;/a&gt; with my mother after arriving home from Lithuania.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(just a note: as I said I will probably continue my writings about that country, but not now :))&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, last weekend (well, not really just a weekend as we were there between Friday last week and Wednesday morning this week) was full of adventures and surprises, as a rule after arriving home after one or two weeks spent away from my well-known environment. What can I say, I soon found myself longing for a bit of silence after all :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First of all, adventures started with the mobile phone we found in the parking lot of the OBI in &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si%C3%B3fok"&gt;Si&amp;oacute;fok&lt;/a&gt;, only 20 kms from Balatonf&amp;ouml;ldv&amp;aacute;r, where we have just popped in to buy some flowers to plant in the garden. I really can't help myself noticing things like this, and that mobile phone was just lying quietly in the grass so I just had to come across it. My mum phoned the last name that could be found in the list of incoming calls and some hours later the owner of the mobile phone showed up at our house to get it back. He was so grateful to us... he told us that he lives in Germany and he was at home only for three weeks... and that last year he had also lost his phone while being in Hungary :P He also brought us a small bottle of &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicum"&gt;Unicum&lt;/a&gt;, as an expression of his gratitude. :)))))&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a while, we soon experienced the geranium story. The story is the following - my granny has had a geranium for about two years. Last year the whole plant did not produce a single flower, but my granny protected and pampered it just like a child. It wasn't annoying back then, just plain funny. But this year she somehow invented the idea of multiplying it, so she soon cut off parts of the geranium and planted them as well. Now it looks like two leaves in a big box filled with soil :D A few weeks ago, I planted petunias in the balcony boxes. Two of them died, from the same box, in the northwestern fa&amp;ccedil;ade, so she soon replaced the empty box with her geraniums. But when I arrived there, I told her that I would rather see my two Impatiens-flowers in that window and replaced her geraniums with the box full of Impatiens. She got offended of course and started complaining that her geraniums are now going to die. (Even when I offered to put the geraniums back in he window, since if we really want, there is a place for a third box in the window that originally contained two.) My mum just tried everything, including pointing to the fact that the northwestern fa&amp;ccedil;ade is maybe not the best&amp;nbsp; place ever for a flower as all the storms come from that direction. The next day my granny had an even better idea. She wanted to put her geraniums in her own window, that faces the street, which was full of beautifully blooming petunias. I didn't really like this idea either, and my mum agreed as well, but she also told me to be more patient with my granny. :P I understood it perfectly, but about half an hour later, when I heard yelling and a fierce debate, I showed up smiling and asked &amp;quot;what's the story&amp;quot; My mum only said with a sad face &amp;quot;Geranium&amp;quot;. &amp;quot;Aha&amp;quot; - said I. :))))&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, after I did some work in the garden (cutting the grass, planting flowers, etc) and looking after young Don&amp;aacute;t, we were about to go home on Tuesday morning. But the morning we wanted to go home the &amp;quot;V&amp;aacute;ndorffy-channel&amp;quot; (I call the news-service of my relatives this way since half of my wider family, whom we have in our neighbourhood, are called V&amp;aacute;ndorffy) told us that actually a 2-tonnes bomb from World War II was found in our district (IXth, Ferencv&amp;aacute;ros) and that almost all the district (about 16,000 people) was going to be evacuated. No wonder we decided to stay for one more day, arriving home on Wednesday in the late morning. As I was done with all my work there, I used this spare day to go swimming in the lake, which was great as always but way too crowded :( Anyway, it's nice to be home again - tomorrow my mum will return to Balatonf&amp;ouml;ldv&amp;aacute;r for the weekend, but I told her I would rather stay in Budapest alone for a few days - sometimes it feels good :)</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:26889</id>
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    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=26889"/>
    <title>Wonderful Lithuania</title>
    <published>2008-07-20T20:24:23Z</published>
    <updated>2008-09-06T16:30:48Z</updated>
    <category term="lithuania travel"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I am now to complete one of the biggest&amp;nbsp;adventures in my life so far - I decided to travel alone for the first time, to the country I was dreaming of for a long time. Alone means that I had no one to travel with - crazy I know, but I was so obsessed by my ideas and dreams that I had to make this trip. I chose one of the most interesting ways of travel, which is either the hospitalityclub or couchsurfing website and a big bunch of free travel spirit.&lt;br /&gt;I was going to Warsaw by train and from there by bus to Kaunas. The uncertainty and kind of nervousness that I felt in the train disappeared when I got on the bus to Kaunas/Vilnius. Instead of it I felt a quite fizzy feeling, similar to those that children feel before they enter the big room with the decorated Christmas tree and presents. Although it was a night bus I couldn't sleep on it - I just counted the kilometres, to Bialystok, then to Suwalki,&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;are we already at the border?&amp;quot; and you can imagine the further... At the end when we crossed Polish-Lithuanian border and the sun started to lighten the horizons I saw the Lithuanian signs and texts everywhere and felt the wonder - a joy with no boundaries and also a big bunch of excitedness.&lt;br /&gt;When I arrived to Kaunas everything was new yet already known... my love for Lithuania got its new meaning. These were wondrous moments, even though I was pretty confused at first as my bus didn't take us off at the bus station but the railway station and I had to find my way there as my host was waiting for me at the bus station... early in the morning. But I still had about one hour to do that as the bus was quicker than we expected. While walking, I looked at people's faces and found a new existence. I really arrived to Lithuania.&lt;br /&gt;The amount of hospitality and kindness I got from my first host and her parents just can't be explained by words. I didn't only see Kaunas, had wonderful dark bread and white cheese for breakfast, went to Kaunas sea, supermarket and jazz concert&amp;nbsp;with either Gintė or her whole family, but together with her we also met Viktorija, my friend from Lapės village and parish, who is a truly&amp;nbsp;wonderful girl... It was amazing to cook a meal for them and then just go, go somewhere... But also when I was lying in the grass in Gintė's garden and felt the smell of the ground that was soo different than that of my homeland and heard the millions of lives making sound in the ground. Or pick up some fruits, similar to blueberries, that grew there. So these were my first impressions after arriving to Lithuania and maybe these things helped me to love with this country even more than I did before. I can't continue the story now, although I have so many things to tell you further on. I probably will. But sometimes I can't find the true voice to give you back all the feelings I had there. I still have to do it, I must write it down to make it remain not only for me but those who happen to read my journal as well. I will soon depart back home, with one-day stops in either Bialystok and Warsaw. Then back to Budapest. So see you next time, maybe already from home, to continue my writings and reveal my true impressions.&lt;/p&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:26684</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/26684.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=26684"/>
    <title>not really...</title>
    <published>2008-06-29T08:36:22Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-29T08:38:13Z</updated>
    <content type="html">&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img alt="" src="http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h230/szirmaik/visitorlocation.png" /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:26378</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/26378.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=26378"/>
    <title>...but only for two days!</title>
    <published>2008-06-23T11:19:04Z</published>
    <updated>2008-07-01T20:52:47Z</updated>
    <category term="summer"/>
    <category term="free time"/>
    <category term="balaton"/>
    <content type="html">I chose to have a voluntary two-days solitude near the "Hungarian Sea"... yeah, I am going there alone, and while I am there, I'm going to mow the lawn because we've heard that our garden is like a jungle now. :))))))))))))))</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:26363</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/26363.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=26363"/>
    <title>DONE.</title>
    <published>2008-06-20T23:05:29Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-20T23:07:28Z</updated>
    <category term="exams"/>
    <category term="summer"/>
    <category term="school"/>
    <category term="free time"/>
    <category term="meu"/>
    <category term="tired"/>
    <category term="eu"/>
    <category term="english"/>
    <content type="html">Finally, finally, finally! I am done with my exams. I am extremely tired. EXTREMELY. I have had some tough period in the last few weeks, especially because I was lagging behind with things that should be done - probably because of Model European Union - which was GREAT.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I still owe an (at least a brief) story about this prominent week. Well, let's see... We departed from Budapest (by car) on Sunday, 25 May, at 0.30 am (:o) and arrived to Strasbourg in the late afternoon. We met the organizers and other participants in the restaurant where we had dinner. From next day on we were "working" in the European Parliament (our plenary being the conference room of European Socialists). My role was to represent a Czech conservative member of the European Parliament, and although there were times when I got lost in the huge load of information (i.e. which amendment of us has passed, which hasn't, and generally in what phase the debate is), soon I found the necessary routine ;) We also had breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks in the European Parliament (the pastries were delicious! :)))). The evenings were even better :) I still remember the wonderful talks and crazy moments when we were visiting that nice bar in Kehl, Germany, having parties in La Java (or just hanging out without going any particular place) and discussed the agenda in an informal setting :) Wednesday was the last day we were acting like politicians/journalists/lobbyists - from Thursday we had workshops (like "Quo vadis EU-Russia?"), a meeting with a "real" MEP and some info sessions about AEGEE, JEF, Model European Union 2009 and Youth in Action Programme. I chose the last one and I must tell that I got really inspired to start a programme corresponding with European values and streghtening intercultural ties. I don't have an idea yet but I am sure that I want to be an active citizen in the future and MEU was kind of the first step to do that. :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you AEGEE and all the wonderful people I have met during this week.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;P.S.: I have passed my English exam!!! So in a few weeks I will hold my Advanced level Business English certificate in my hands - it's a wonderful feeling :)</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:26036</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/26036.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=26036"/>
    <title>EU</title>
    <published>2008-05-10T17:17:38Z</published>
    <updated>2008-05-10T17:17:38Z</updated>
    <category term="meu"/>
    <category term="eu"/>
    <category term="budapest"/>
    <content type="html">Childish, but today I decided to visit an event centered around Europe Day (9 May), and of course I stacked up with two plastic bags of entirely useless things: T-shirt with EU stars, mug, EU pen, European Parliament pen, beer opener combined with keychain (!!!), coin purse, mobile phone strip, EU-style umbrella... And as there were tents of some EU member states (and other countries, too, like Turkey... :o), I brought a Slovenia umbrella, 2 Slovenia pins, Slovenia sticker, Belgium pen, Belgium pencil, Malta poster and some tourist brochures - all these things being carried in a Malta and a Portugal plastic bag. The Portuguese guys also made me taste some Portuguese wine, and I must say it's really great :) Well, I admit that the event was more like a propaganda that a mental challenge, but it was still fun to look around :) AND I also saw our European Commissioner, but I didn't stay to listen him for too long, because he rather spoke about Schengen, the euro and many other things that everyone knows about (at least I hope)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The other part of my post centered around the European Union is maybe more interesting :) A few weeks ago I applied for the Model European Union simulation game taking place in the EP, Strasbourg. My application is &lt;u&gt;accepted&lt;/u&gt; so between 25 and 31 May I'll do nothing else than representing a given fraction as the delegate of a given country in the European Parliament (I don't know my role yet - maybe I'll receive it in a few days). But the thing I know is that it will be a VERY challenging event and I better give all the abilities I have into this game :))))) You can learn more about this event &lt;a href="http://www.meu2008.org"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; :)</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:25634</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/25634.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=25634"/>
    <title>English</title>
    <published>2008-04-30T22:40:19Z</published>
    <updated>2008-05-01T23:24:52Z</updated>
    <category term="exams"/>
    <category term="hard time"/>
    <category term="english"/>
    <lj:music>Ákos - Idegen érzés (from Tarzan soundtrack)</lj:music>
    <content type="html">I am having an Advanced level Business English exam on Saturday, 3 May. (listening &amp;amp; writing... oral exam to be expected on 23 May)&lt;br /&gt;I am frightened even of writing this down...&lt;br /&gt;Dang. I trust in myself. I hope my English skills are not THAT bad and I have read generally the whole English coursebook, printed and read about 50 business letters from the net hoping I'll be able to remember those difficult expressions in them AND I have even written quite a few business letters, reports, summaries and only God knows what else... but I am still very afraid... is my language knowledge "professional" enough for passing the exams?...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, after the exam I am going to Balatonföldvár and will be back to Bp on Monday in the early morning.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:25361</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/25361.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=25361"/>
    <title>I am still alive!</title>
    <published>2008-04-15T16:05:54Z</published>
    <updated>2008-04-15T16:06:26Z</updated>
    <category term="exams"/>
    <category term="french"/>
    <category term="erasmus"/>
    <category term="school"/>
    <category term="tests"/>
    <content type="html">...I just haven't had the mood to write anything. But don't think that nothing interesting happened to me. Actually, let's start with the first important announcement that some of you already know:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;font size="5"&gt;I AM GOING TO PARIS&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;in February next year, for the whole semester. It is funny though, when it comes to conversations I am lucky if I can ask for a glass of water in French. But hey, I have almost one year to improve my language skills! And even if I develop a pretty good spoken French I can be sure it will be good for nothing, because I won't understand a word of the speech of the locals. :D&lt;br /&gt;I am going to have tests and exams in a month, I'm also having an advanced Business English exam somewhere in the beginning of May :S *worrying*... Additional tasks include 3 presentations (2 of 3 done last weekend) and one International Marketing thesis due at 29 April. I'm preparing it together with my friend, but we haven't written a word yet... *sigh*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:25152</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/25152.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=25152"/>
    <title>dad has gone home.</title>
    <published>2008-03-19T12:58:57Z</published>
    <updated>2008-03-19T13:06:27Z</updated>
    <content type="html">He passed away today, at about 11 in the morning, after an illness he had for several years. I still cannot believe it... I know he is in heaven now, seeing God and smiling healthy again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodbye dad, I'll never forget you.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:24959</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/24959.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=24959"/>
    <title>plans</title>
    <published>2008-02-29T10:14:08Z</published>
    <updated>2008-03-02T11:09:31Z</updated>
    <category term="school"/>
    <category term="eu"/>
    <category term="plans"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I am at my school right now, it's 11.00 and I only have a class (law) starting at 11.20, so I have 20 minutes to write something smart, get my student ID back (we have to give it to the guy to be allowed to get a key for the lockers, where we have to put our coats and bags in order to enter the computer room... yes, I know ;P) and get to the opposite part of the complex where my class will be held. Actually, no presentation today, only next week because a girl misunderstood the teacher and thought that it's her who has to make a presentation today... and still believing it, she put her driving exam to Friday next week. So we changed our dates, that's it. :D&lt;br /&gt;Please let me tell that on Monday, I made a small "pilgrimage" to a Europe Direct centre (I had no idea these things exist until I saw it on the internet) - looking back I acted a bit like a&amp;nbsp;kid released into a candies shop :D Generally they are like a library with EU-related books, but you can also pick up some&amp;nbsp;brochures, posters and cards about the EU. Besides I took a book with the title "European Common Law and Politics", I asked if they can recommend&amp;nbsp;me any kind of jobs (suitable for students, of course) in this area. They said that there are probably some jobs at EU-related events, and it was funny, when I told&amp;nbsp;the head clerk&amp;nbsp;that I am studying at "Külker" he became very excited, told me he studied here as well and he told "okay, you can send me your CV, I'll look around if there is any job somewhere" :D&lt;br /&gt;I also want to participate in TDK (but please DON'T ask what it is in English because I have no clue :P) most probably about the reform treaty/Treaty of Lisbon... we'll see... at first I should decide what&amp;nbsp;area I like the most.&lt;br /&gt;Ouch, I really have to go. See you :)&lt;/p&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:24621</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/24621.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=24621"/>
    <title>laaaaaaaaazy.</title>
    <published>2008-02-15T21:05:54Z</published>
    <updated>2008-02-15T21:06:11Z</updated>
    <category term="school"/>
    <category term="lazy"/>
    <content type="html">One week passed and I &lt;i&gt;still&lt;/i&gt; haven't done anything from my school work.&lt;font size="1"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;font size="1"&gt;Nem lesz ez így jó, Kriszti...&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/u&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:24358</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/24358.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=24358"/>
    <title>mixation</title>
    <published>2008-02-08T14:22:41Z</published>
    <updated>2008-04-19T17:20:18Z</updated>
    <category term="school"/>
    <category term="tired"/>
    <content type="html">If anyone of you needs lessons of how to make yourself totally "snowed in" (that's how we say "very busy") for two or three weeks, just tell me, I can help. I decided to make a presentation for Business Ethics for 22nd February, and one for International and EU law on 29th. (Wheeee, it's a leap year! :D). The latter has to be kept for an entire hour, but good news that I will make it together with my friend and hopefully we can get someone else to join the party as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am also letting you know my schedule: here it is:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="" src="http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h230/szirmaik/orarendparos.png" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="" src="http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h230/szirmaik/orarendparatlan.png" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There aren't many classes, I admit, but I decided to look for a job this semester so hopefully I can do some work on Mondays (between, let's say, 8 and 12) and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (in the afternoon). I also need to visit extra French classes because now that I started Business French, I really need to improve the language.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I was really antisocial and felt down in the past few days. Now there seems to be some light for me again. But... I think I am sick. My throat hurts and I am shivering all the time of cold. I hope I didn't catch some nasty virus...</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:24216</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/24216.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=24216"/>
    <title>working</title>
    <published>2008-02-01T15:54:40Z</published>
    <updated>2008-02-01T15:57:18Z</updated>
    <category term="working"/>
    <category term="weekend"/>
    <category term="school"/>
    <content type="html">Today I had, have and will have a tiring day. It started with being angry because of Neptun - I took International and EU law a few weeks earlier but they divided the group into two, and I, of course, got into the class of the worse teacher (while all my friends got to the better teacher, of course). The differences are so huge, you can imagine, the woman gives a good grade for almost nothing, but as I heard from others, many of the other people who were by the man FAILED their exams. :( So obviously all the places are full by the woman. Normally we have the opportunity to ask the chair to expand the number of places in a lecture, and this is what I wanted to do all the time yesterday and today. I tried to call the chair but no one answered, despite of the fact that the woman had her open hours today, between 10 and 11 am. Well, as we can modify our schedule until Friday next week, I will definitely go and ask the chair when I am there (school starts next week).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But some good news: I managed to take European History and Culture in English. It was tough because for some reason, I wasn't able to take it in the student information system because of an error. I had to ask the Studies Dept to take it for me. I really, badly wanted to take this class, and now I did it :D Oh and I forgot to mention that the teacher is called Neil Thurston and he is native British :)))&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well... where was I? Oh, yes... :D After I decided not to ruin my day with being nervous all the time, I had a shower, washed my hair and THEN, I went to the shops to buy chocolate for a cake we (my granny and I) baked in the afternoon... I also brought out the remains of the Christmas tree (just in time, right?) all by myself because nobody helped me. It made my hand bleed several times and it still hurts. And I started cleaning up as well. But I am no way done. I have just finished baking and I am tired like hell. And I still need to go to the church and then, meet my friends from the youth group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tomorrow we are making a Carnival party for kids at the parish so we better start organizing... :/</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:szirmaik:23848</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/23848.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://szirmaik.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=23848"/>
    <title>skating</title>
    <published>2008-01-24T21:06:07Z</published>
    <updated>2008-01-28T23:04:15Z</updated>
    <category term="skating"/>
    <category term="championship"/>
    <content type="html">I am watching 2008 European Figure Skating Championship - men's free skating right now (MTV online broadcast, and it isn't for Music Television ;)) But I think I shouldn't, because it seems I mean bad luck for those poor guys :( Almost every guy fell when I was watching, and the guys I didn't watch because I was out to cook a tea did extremely well - is that or isn't that coincidence? :/ I arrived back right at the end of the show of Czech participant Tomáš Verner - he was so hot but of course I didn't watch his entry because I wasn't in the room. He is ranked #1 at the moment. I believe he did it so well because I wasn't watching. :D</content>
  </entry>
</feed>
