Merlin Forums

I'm loving the fact this thread is a pub!!!

Ok, quick intro, I'm Sarah, I'm 21 years old and am currently a Uni student, training to be a Primary School teacher (thats for children aged 5-11 for u non-Brits!). At the moment I'm on my final 10 week practice. I'm working in and teaching a large year 1 class (aged 5-6), with some right characters in! After a good 2 weeks it all went a bit wrong today whilst i was being observed So now and right up until the end of March I'll probably be pretty stressed out and only around to post in the evenings or at weekends.

x

Howdy!

My name is Danko, and I am an alcoholic... Wait! Wrong place, wrong time!

But after all this is a pub, isn't it?

I generally do not believe in short self-description, but hey, we only have one life to break our principles now and then...

Anyway, I come from Serbia, I have (as I mentioned in some post) graduated from English Language and Literature, and am currently on doctoral studies in Literature, leaning towards fantasy fiction. In fact, as far as I know, my thesis will revolve around fairy-tales, more specifically "Fairy Tales and their Cinematic Treatment". Therefore, I hope to put 'Merlin' somewhere in it, as well as many other fantasy series, films etc. Overall, I am very interested in Fantasy, and to a somewhat lesser degree into SF. On the other hand, I also like psychological novels, such as "Crime and Punishment". As for films, I like films by Guillermo del Toro and Woody Allen most.

I actually like pub atmosphere better than club atmosphere, and prefer beer over wine. And cocoa over coffee. And if I smoked, I would probably prefer a pipe over a cigarette.

I am 23 years old - well almost two months over that You can call me Danko, if you want to use the first name; however, if you want to use last name, call me Pebbleson, as it is English translation of my surname, and quite handy as well. Or use both. Or just D. Pebbleson. Whatever you like

Cheers!

Yeah, it is pretty extensive topic, but I'll have a year or so to narrow it down.

At the moment that I am writing it is 10:14 pm. Outside it's dark (naturally enough for this time of day ), heavily snowing, an hour ago I've just returned from a long walk. The winter is great, everything is painted in white.

Yeah, I like hot chocolate as well. Unfortunately, I have none at the time, but now I'll make myself a cup of cocoa. You make a cup of hot chocolate, so we can drink together Physical distance is nothing compared to the speed of thought

* Sits at the table drinking cocoa waiting for Esther*

You probably hear this a lot from people from so-called land-locked countries, but you are very lucky to have the sea nearby

I've never been to Basque country, though last year I went on a faculty excursion to Barcelona, and we also had a tour of Costa Brava (if I remember correctly, it should mean 'Rugged Coast' - but I may be very wrong). Is your region north to Catalonia?

ins Danko at the table and sips on her hot chocolate*

Yeah, I've heard about being lucky for having the sea so close. I actually learn to swim before learning to walk, most kids here do since I live in a fishermen's village. Guess it's a tradition that comes down from father to son and that it started as a way to prevent kids from drowning or something.

I've been to Barcelona (actually visiting a friend whom I through this site) and to the Costa Brava too (it means 'rough coast' indeed). My region is north and west to Catalonia. You can see it here The Basque Country is the pink county on the north coast where it says "Pais Vasco" and Catalonia is the purple one three counties to the east where it says "Cataluña"

Oh, I see, and the name of your place can be seen as well!

Here's a little map of Serbia, and you'll see a city named Kragujevac in the middle of the country - that's where I live.

http://www.etriptips.com/wiki/images/1/1c/Serbia-map_(Without_Montenegro).PNG

Yeah, I know of Eurovision - it's getting both richer (in terms of the number of countries) and cheaper (in other terms ).

Yes, there was a certain Yugoslavia, and a lot of 'certains' before and after; and I know of Basque thing, and of Catalonia thing as well; and Scotland; and a certain province in North Italy. But I can't say I have an opinion on the latter four, as I am not so much informed to give even an educated guess. Because if I did, I'm sure somebody (I'm not talking about you, but really anybody who would be reading this, and is from one of these regions) would show me how wrong I am - and with all the right in the world. With these things I choose to be extra extra careful. They are never as simple as "I support" or "I do not support", because so many factors are intermingled, so many influences, so many people on both sides, that nobody can be completely right nor completely wrong. That's why I hate it when all those singers and pop-stars make a concert and support this and that independence. The truth is they heard it on the news a night before the gig, and are just following their uncontrolled desire to be outspoken, to "express themselves". And naturally enough, as the consequence, you get a lot of insulted people all around.

And that's why I, instead of watching news (which I have not been doing for almost two years), turn on my computer and watch 'Merlin', for example. Escapism is underrated.

Oh, Eurovision Song Contest is getting funnier every year! Every time completely different persona wins, last year it was that Belorussian/Norwegian singer, and his was a fine performance, but before that I don't really remember. Even my country won I think two years ago, but I didn't like the song that much, for which I was called hater. It's just that the girl that was representing us went in the same elementary school and high school as me, and though I never knew her personally (thank heavens), I knew a lot about her. Most of it really being hilarious.

But it is really a cheerful event, kitsch and all that, and I've heard a metal-singer call it one of the most retrograde things in European music.

And yes people here also elect the most bizarre song to represent us, last year it was some grotesque group. Luckily enough, the rest of the Europe didn't know the lyrics, or else they would have been exposed to a massive amount of nothing And nothing can be sometimes ten times heavier than stone something This year a composer is going to write three or four songs for different "artists", so we choose. But even that composer is 'composer'. You might have heard of him. His name is Goran Bregovic, and he has done music for several European films. In fact 98% of his composing is taking Serbian folk tunes from some forgotten village that no one has heard of, and then rearranging them into his compositions.

There are so many better composers, singers and performers here, but they never get to go to Eurovision. And it's probably for the best

As for politics, I'm glad we agree. To be honest, I haven't even stated this 'opinion' of mine about all that stuff, and have only scratched the surface of how much I hate politics, and still I feel as if I have touched upon some filth - which it is. Even mentioning it has an effect...

Luckily enough, there is a whole other world outside it to discuss! And cheers to that!

Edit: And yeah, this pub is a great place for all sorts of things!