Magical Macedonia

My wife and I spent five wonderful days in Macedonia, primarily exploring the capital, Skopje. We flew from Hamburg Airport to Skopje International Airport on Monday, albeit with a 40-minute delay (as usual, Wizz Air didn't provide a clear explanation), and returned last night, braving one of the worst storms to hit this part of Europe. Fortunately, our journey back to Denmark went smoothly.

Our room at hotel DOA
Our room at Hotel DOA in Skopje

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War for territory

When I was seventeen years old, I was a refugee in a Danish refugee center. It was a very small center with no more than 120 people. We were a few kids of similar age, and we would listen to music in the basement of the center. My brother and I, along with a few others, would spend a lot of hours playing games and listening to mostly heavy metal bands like Pantera, Dream Theater, and Sepultura. I remember we got hold of Sepultura's newest album sometime in 1993. It was called Chaos A.D. It was a pretty heavy album, and probably the heaviest band that we had listened to up to that point. Anyway, there was a particularly one song that I really liked, and it was “Territory”.

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Into The Wild

U svijetu filma postoje filmovi koji zabavljaju, a zatim postoje filmovi koji duboko rezoniraju, ostavljajući neizbrisiv trag na našem biću, da ne kažem duši. "Into the Wild" (2007), režisera Seana Penna, nedvojbeno pripada ovoj drugoj kategoriji. Temeljen na istinitoj priči o Christopheru McCandlessu i kako je završio na Aljasci, ovaj film je potresno istraživanje ljudskog duha u potrazi za slobodom, samospoznajom i dubokom povezanošću s prirodom. U ovom blog postu pišem zašto "Into the Wild" nije samo običan film, već iskustvo koje bi trebalo da nas duhovno obogati. Uzgred budi rečeno, ovaj film gledam barem jednom godišnje, jer sam ga uvrstio u nastavni program za moje učenike, pa se uvijek obradujem kada dođe vrijeme za to.

Napušteni autobus u divljini Alaske
Sreća je tamo gdje je sloboda.

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Prag

Jeg er lige vendt tilbage fra en skoletur til den europæiske juvel - Prag. Det er altid et dejligt gensyn med byen, som for mig er noget af det bedste Europa har at tilbyde besøgende.

Vi har selvfølgelig besøgt det uundgåelige astronomiske ur, som er knyttet til det Gamle Rådhus i Prag. Uret blev bygget i 1410 af Mikuláš of Kadaň, og er i dag det ældste fungerende astronomiske ur i verden. Vi har også besøgt den travle Karls Bro, som blev færdigbygget i begyndelsen af 1400-tallet. Den er 9,5 m bred og 516 m lang.

Udsigt over byen fra Prags borg
Udsigt over byen fra Prags borg

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The Lack of Courage of Never Let Me Go

In the realm of dystopian narratives, the potential for thought-provoking exploration of complex themes is limitless. “Never Let Me Go” (2010), directed by Mark Romanek and based on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, presents an intriguing premise but ultimately falls short of fully realizing its potential. Maybe because it only just scratches the aforementioned realm, without any ambition to explore it further. While the film boasts a talented cast, it seems to lack the courage to delve deeper into its own narrative, resulting in what can only be described as a missed opportunity.

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Tea is Chai

If tea spread to your country by sea you call it tea, if it spread by land you call it chai. This is because the ports of Fujian and Taiwan use the coastal pronunciation "te", whereas Mandarin uses "chá".

So, stop using both names when offering tea to people – there is no 'chai tea'! :)

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This girl gets it

This lady nails what's wrong today in the modern society.

You're not respectful, you don't give them peace. Maybe try being kind and sweet and nice, and don't bring drama into their lives. And don't try to change them. Accept them for who they are and believe in them.

Et strejf af lykke

Kan du være et menneske nok til at søge om tilgivelse? Det er basalt set det centrale spørgsmål i den bosniske film Et strejf af lykke (Najsretniji čovjek na svijetu, 2022). I filmen følger vi Asja, som er en 45-årig kvinde, der bor i Sarajevo og hun befinder sig til et dating-party for at møde nye mennesker. Hendes match er Zoran, en jævnaldrende som umiddelbart ikke er efter kærlighed. Under deres kontrollerede møde finder Asja ud af, at Zoran faktisk søger tilgivelse for noget han gjorde under den serbiske krig mod Bosnien i 1993.

En scene fra filmen
Zoran fortæller Asja, at han, som serbisk soldat, beskød sin by, Sarajevo.

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Genocide: A World History (book)

In the human journey through history, we have marveled at the heights of human achievement and progress, from the arts to science, philosophy to technology. Yet, we must also confront the darker aspects of our shared past, acknowledging the tragic reality of the ultimate human brutality—genocide. Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the term that the UN defined in 1948 as acts committed with “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
a. Killing members of the group;
b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
e. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” 1

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Lov na divlju ovcu

"Lov na divlju ovcu" sam pročitao ovog ljeta na Rodosu, i radi se o djelu koje Haruki Murakami smatra svojim prvencem, a donosi karakteristični pečat njegovog stila i tematike. Roman prati glavnog junaka koji napušta svoj posao i usamljuje se u planinama Japana. Ova priča duboko istražuje koncept usamljeničkog života i čežnje za nečim više, što je tema koja se može povezati sa mnogim aspektima, kao što su npr. filozofija, psihologija i mediji.

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Sushi med venner

I forbindelse med Amras digtsamlingen "Nordbanen" har Amra og jeg været ude at spise med venner. Denne gang stod sushi for tur. Selvom mændene i grupper ikke er naturlige elskere af sushi, især dem med rå fisk i, var der alligevel noget godt for alle.

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The Lessons of History (book)

When I received the book "The Lessons of History", it didn't look very impressive with its mere hundred pages. But I learned a long time ago that I shouldn't judge a book by its page number.

In the vast scope of human history, only a handful of books shine as guiding lights, illuminating the path through time with wisdom. I am not quite sure "The Lessons of History", written by Will and Ariel Durant, is one such work, but with its 102 pages, it does capture the essence of human civilization. It offers a mosaic of insights into our history, inviting readers to contemplate our journey from the past to the present, and perhaps into the future.

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