Mingling around in the world of blogging

Recently, there have been quite a lot of changes in my routine.. Well, I could cay it has disappeared for a month or so. I changed my university, my location, almost got used to the British accent and started to understand the local Geordies. However, there are still things I feel unfamiliar with. For example, the left-sided traffic is just driving me mad, together with the friendliness of the locals. It's insane, and I guess could not be more extreme after living in Sweden, where people tend to be very reserved and extremely hard to make friends with.
Here, in Newcastle, I am still shocked how cashiers, library workers, baristas etc. call me sweetheart, young lady, love and all these super lovely names that get me smiling before I even think about it. It's just so much more relaxed and laid-back.. So, if you combine it with the cultural differences which are pretty challenging for me as a newcomer, it equals out and makes it so much easier to feel like home.
Moreover, besides all these new experiences, I was given an opportunity to try out blogging on WordPress. Undoubtedly, I took it, so now I have a second blog on my Swedish university's website, which is exclusively about my new university experience in Newcastle. Due to this change, this blog might become less active, but I will still post things here, as I quite often feel the urge to spill the bits of my inner world in this blog, which had become the home of random stuff that I find exciting.
Lastly, I have always wanted to read more on blogging so that I could not only practice more, but improve my writing techniques as well. Also, I just started the course "Writing for the Media: Journalism", which I fell in love with immediately and which I will hopefully benefit from in all aspects of writing, including blogging.

More on the new courses I am taking and my uni-related adventures - in my other blog: http://blogg.mah.se/studyabroad/author/emilijariaukaite

As for now, as they say here in Newcastle,
Cheers!

Christmas came and went

This point, at which one year ends and another starts, is the time for coming back. Not symbolically, but because that is what I personally want all the time. It's like a Christmas gift to myself, a gift that requires an occasion. Being with people I love and miss all the time. This is, however, the time of great sadness, lurking just behind the corner to take over. Time of realizing how temporary and fragile this precious time is. The best time of the year. Well, maybe summer is better, but this is more recent.

So, I went home for Christimas, and spent 3 amazing weeks in my home country. Met all my best friends, strengthened my relationships, spent time with my beloved ones. After four months abroad, I got over from emptiness and loneliness. Brought back to Sweden a lot of memorable moments, warm hugs, and, sadly, a few good-bye kisses.

This post is not going to be an organised one, but when I do not write for a while, I lose the skill, just like in sports or studying. It's been embarrassingly long since the last post, so it just feels good to be back and not pressure myself.

Some news: I am going on an Erasmus exchange in Newcastle, England, for this spring semester. I'm leaving on Monday, so, from then on, it is expected to reflect here, in this blog, maybe even including some impression-based posts or first opinions :)

So, back to my holiday. despite all these bad feelings that are in me now, I feel like this period of time was one of those that people remember when they are old and think how great these times were. But, since I am not planning to stop being crazy when I am with these people,the list of my best memories is still open, and that's something to look for :)

As for this blog's future, I have got plenty of topics to write about and am still open for constructive critic and suggestions. I am also working on getting rid of unreasonable excuses, sso this is just about to show how it goes for me.

Birthday marathon :)

Home-made cookies with my art on them :)

Me and my brother

From freedom to slavery

Recently, my all inner world was constantly pondering women's situation in their family context, considering only women from post-soviet countries, such as Baltic States, Balkan region and the rest of Eastern Europe. This blog post has spent over three weeks in 'draft' section, because I kept hoping I will arrive in some kind of a conclusion. Nevertheless, this question stays open and doesn't leave my mind. Maybe because I can't find the nerve to keep searching for an answer even though I'm interested in the idea of finding it. What puts me down the most is the absolute downfall of the idea of two young people being desperately in love with each other and willing to do anything for each other. It seems like something that can only happen if the society ceases to remain humane.

So what I've been pondering is women taking up the role of a husband-slave, or, worse, a family-slave. As this post-soviet period was not too long ago, this is still to to be seen in the environment of where I am from. I find it impossible for myself to understand why women choose to not change it and not do anything to make it stop. The majority of middle-aged and old men of this generation seem to be very fond of consuming enormous amounts of alcohol, especially vodka. This leads to alcohol addiction. These men not only disrespect their children, but usually as well humiliate their wives,and spend most of their family's money on alcohol. There are also cases when women take up this role, I'm not a sexist, but most often it IS men. What adds to never ending family quarrels, women having to earn money for the whole family and look after the children and the household, and men showing their children the worst family life example possible, is quite often physical violence, humiliation of women in front of their children, or even sexual violence within the family.

It is, of course, terrible and hard to perceive as something that is still happening in our modern society, but what worries me the most is how women accept it as something 'natural' (it's hard to even use this word in a context like this) and do nothing to change it. It might, of course, be so because of never ending hope that one day it will change without doing anything, or fear of big changes, or maybe even taking children away from their father, but if you think about it.. This is a change for good, and it is also a good thing to do regarding children's wealth. When you think about it, women's fear to escape is the only power supply for this kind of men. They have power over someone, they are given money, they have someone to clean for them, and cook for them. They have a servant. But only if women in this situation treat themselves as servants. But the truth is, everyone's free, regardless of their gender, marital status or number of children. It isn't a choice to make, it isn't even a choice of whether to make this change or not. However, the problem is - wait, there is no problem. And then, after choosing to be repressed instead of being free, women think they have the right to get offended by the usage of term 'women logic'.

The only thing I am sure of after thinking over it and writing it down is that I will be relieved if this won't become a tradition. The idea of free and open-minded society is taking over my generation, and it looks like we will have to be the ones to give it a form and make it a tradition, something to pass on to other generations as a model of general wealth. We will have to be the ones to resist the bad example we have been shown, take up the good bits from the exceptions in it and create something new for ourselves to make our lives better. To cheer you up, I think we will do just fine :)

Blogging works!

Blogging.. Now I think that it was pretty smart to finally start doing it. What gave it a push was an open lecture I attended this Thursday. It was about writing for media. So, in the lecture there spoke a man, who studies the same thing as me (he's just about to graduate now), who has already started working as a copy editor, and a woman, who's a professional at marketing and has her own company. They spoke about what an English student should do to create a path to his/her carrier when still studying. So, I went out of the lecture room carrying two main ideas: take the Copy Editing course, and..start a blog. The marketer gave us this idea. She said that if we wanted to associate our future carrier with writing, we should get used to it, practice it. Then she mentioned blogs. What there is to add, she also said that having a blog might give you some extra points when searching for a job. And, of course, it will help you develop your own voice and style.
Although I am still not sure I will be able to keep up regular blogging some time later, I am really enjoying it at the moment. 2 posts a day, and still actively searching for new ideas and topics to write on. By the way, if you ever happen to wonder what I think about some particular things or learn something related to what I do in my free time, you can always ask for it. I am open for this kind of stuff :)

And the blogging begins

No expectations. That's how I begin my first blog ever. Plans: try and write about things that catch my attention in a different way, developing my own voice and style, and finally, finally get a long-time habit of writing regularly.
So, to begin with, a little bit about myself.
A struggling writer, still searching for my genre. Very eager to write, but sometimes too lazy to do it. Full of ideas and thoughts, but lacking the spirit and motivation to write regularly. Therefore, trying to change it and get better. So far, unsuccessfully. This made me consider starting an online blog. So, this is my another attempt to start writing daily, at least weekly.
I am not a native speaker, so there might be some grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes in my writing. I am not going to set a specific topic for my blog posts. I imagine my blog being a reflection of me: everything from fancy and creative to scientific and very serious. In my posts, I will express my opinions, ponder over what I see on my Facebook news feed, get creative sometimes, or even do a research on something that catches my attention. If my blog happens to be successful, I might also consider making tutorials of cooking, handcraft (friendship bracelets, making teddy-bears), making different hairdos or healthy lifestyle.
I am a first-year student in Malmo University, Sweden (but I am not Swedish, just so that you know). and since my studies have to do a lot with writing, this blog will also be my way of practicing it, getting used to it.
So, I really hope that blogging will become a fun part of my life :)