EU Language Quiz

Just imagine that Europe contributes with 11% (740 million people) to the world's total population.
(data from 2011, http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/world_population.htm)
In Europe 234 living languages exist which is a really huge number.
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/languages.htm
I'm just fascinated by the diversity of languages in Europe and I find it amazing how many languages developed throughout the centuries, sometimes even in geographically small areas.

Dear Frank, thanks for recommending this language quiz, it has just made me even more conscious of how much I'm fascinated by the phenomenon of languages.

How do you sneeze in your mother tongue?

So, after doing (the first half of) the quiz here are my results and the most important things I learned:

Number of questions answered: 30
Number of correct answers: 21 (though some of them only for the second time)
Score: 175
http://ec.europa.eu/languages/quiz/quiz_en.htm

Did you know that...?:

• Mark Twain had troubles with learning German, he had been suffering with trying to master the language for 20 years! He complained that sometimes he would need a telescope in order to find the verb at the end of the sentence. Mark Twain claimed that Friedrich Schiller was able to put the whole history of the Thirty Years' War between two parts of a separable verb.
  (I know exactly what Twain meant... :)
  
  
• The saunas in Finland were not only used for relaxing but also for healing the sick and for giving birth because that was to most hygienic place on a farm. The mothers stayed there for a couple of days with their newborn babies.

• Latvian and Lithuanian are the only Baltic languages and they are among the oldest Indo-European languages. Lithuanian is also called "the dinosaur of languages" because it's so archaic.
  
• The word 'robot' was first used by a Czech playwright in the 20th century.
  (I though it was much older!)
  
• Slovene poetry is pretty romantic! Slovenian has a rare grammatical form referring to exactly two entities, thus making it easier to express love.

What surprised me the most:

• The Wiener Schnitzel actually comes from Milan! It's called cotoletta alla Milanese and the difference is that the Italian version contains the bone. There are different theories how it came to Austria but none of them is sure.

And last but not least, the easiest question (at least for me):

• Hungarian is the only language in Europe which places the family name before the given name. The reason is that the family name is usually a description, such as a personal feature (Kis Anna = Anna Little), original nationality (Német Anna = Anna German) or profession (Kovács Anna = Anna Smith) and these descriptions are always before a noun - or a name, in this case. It was really strange for me here in Austria to get used to the 'general' European way. Apart from Hungary this type of name order is used in some parts of Africa and Asia, for example in China and Japan.

Suggestions to a Summary

Summary of „Europe already has one foot in ,Japanese‘ deflation grave“ (the apostrophe should always be like this: ' or ", but never ,)

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, in The Telegraph of October, 23 ,(the commas are not necessary because these are important information) 2013 analyzes Europe‘s debt crisis. Evans-Pritchard mentions two main problems, namely the risk of deflation and policy errors. The first problem is considered dangerous as debt can become wayward (I think it's only used of a person) and expensive to repay. The only real but unpopular way out is by cutting spendings. (uncountable) This problem face many countries such as France or Greece. (Many countries face this problem...)

The latter problem, videlicet (is it Spanish?) policy errors, means that different countries have different expectations. That makes it problematic to settle on a viable solution such as inflation. The author mentions Germany, which refuses to agree to it, as the Bundesbank worries about the consequences like the rise of estate prices. Therefore Germany threatens to retrogress (or return) to the D-Mark should Europe opt for inflation. However, Germany is soon likely to face deflation too as there has been no inflation since March.

The author proposes a strategy to enforce (the) said solution. Evans-Pritchard claims it would be best if all the Club Med members rallied and stood up to Germany and force its acceptance for this way out. This is how Europe would be able to avoid a major debt crisis like the one Japan had to endure.

[200 words without the title]

Nice logical structure and compact thoughts!

Group work analysis – EU Citizenship

Group work analysis – EU Citizenship

 

Revised version:

Every citizen of an EU member country is automatically an EU citizen. However, being an EU national does not replace national citizenship but can be seen as a supplement to it. There are various ways to obtain EU citizenship, namely acquisition by birth, descent, marriage or naturalisation. The latter necessitates spending at least a certain amount of years in a EU country legally. Being an EU citizen has important advantages. One of them is the right to move and reside freely within the European Union under the protection of the diplomatic and consular authorities of any EU country. Another positive aspect is that EU citizens are enabled to influence European politics either by voting in the European elections or by standing as a candidate.  

Apart from these clearly positive aspects, there are also a few disadvantages of EU citizenship. One of the most significant downsides is overcrowding, which economically stronger states might have to deal with as a result of free migration within the European Union. While authorities of host countries struggle to master this challenge, the local citizens might see immigrants as scapegoats for taking their jobs. As a result, many migrants might have to face  racism and prejudice every day. Being a European citizen has benefits as well as disadvantages but the positive aspects prevail as being part of the EU can grant you rights which are only available by being a member of this union.

[238 words]

EU Individual Paragraph

European Court of Justice

The European Court of Justice is the most significant judiciary body of the European Union. Its primary responsibility is the strict application of the EU laws in all member countries. Furthermore, the task of this Luxembourg-based institution is to settle legal problems not only between the governments but also between the institutions of the European Union. Besides these highly significant bodies, also individuals, companies and organizations can ask for the judicial help of the European Court of Justice. To ensure the fair representation of the entire EU, this body is made up from judges from all member countries. Their tasks are very diverse. First of all, they are responsible for the right comprehension of the EU laws, since some countries might interpret the regulations differently. Secondly, in some cases the EU governments do not intend to apply the laws at all. Finally, certain laws violate the EU treaties or fundamental rights of the people. The European Court of Justice has to interfere in all of these above listed issues, as it embodies the jurisdiction of the whole European Union.

Paragraph brainstorming

- Luxembourg-based institution

- EU laws - same way everywhere

- legal problems: 1) EU governments 2) EU institutions

individuals, companies, organisations <-> EU institutions

- 1 judge/country

- a) interpret EU laws

- b) EU govs not applying

- c) violation of EU treaties

Feedback summary 1 (Topic Sentence, Register):

Firstly, I was given a very positive feedback concerning my topic sentence and concluding sentence. Secondly, in terms of register we thought of changing the word 'besides' to 'apart from', though according to dictionary entries it is not obvious, which one is more formal or appropriate in this case. According to the COCA I decided to leave ´besides´. Last but not least, there was a smart suggestion regarding a too short sentence, which could be nicely linked to the previous sentence.


Revised paragraph 1:

The European Court of Justice is the most significant judiciary body of the European Union. Its primary responsibility is the strict application of the EU laws in all member countries. Furthermore, the task of this Luxembourg-based institution is to settle legal problems not only between the governments but also between the institutions of the European Union. Besides these highly significant bodies, also individuals, companies and organizations can ask for the judicial help of the European Court of Justice. To ensure the fair representation of the entire EU, this body is made up from judges from all member countries, who hold diverse tasks. First of all, they are responsible for the right comprehension of the EU laws, since some countries might interpret the regulations differently. Secondly, in some cases the EU governments do not intend to apply the laws at all. Finally, certain laws violate the EU treaties or fundamental rights of the people. The European Court of Justice has to interfere in all of these above listed issues, as it embodies the jurisdiction of the whole European Union.

What to Write About in an Academic Paper...

...when the topic is the EU

The European Union is a massive topic, which does not make it easy for me to decide, what to write about in 1,500 words. In this blog post I am going to try to crystallize, which topics I would like to be pleased to research and put down in words.

1. Language Policy (between 2005 and 2009)

In my opinion the language policy of the EU would be a brilliant topic to write about. The reason of which is that this is an actual issue, which might influence our life as well in terms of language learning. Moreover, as future translators and interpreters it would be highly recommended to be up-to-date end really well-informed about the planned measures in this field, as it might have an effect on our future jobs. 

2. What are the adoption requirements within the EU?

Despite adoption being a sensitive topic and often a taboo subject, I am convinced that this is an interesting area to research. This broad topic could be narrowed down geographically and in time (such as the Situation of Adoption between Hungary and Austria in the 1990s). As not many people know exactly, how an adoption works in practice and what are the requirements, I would be interested in writing about it. This could be a perfect example of how the EU affects people's life.

3. Financial support for the EU members

One of the biggest advantages of the EU for the economically less developed countries is that they are financially supported by the more developed countries. As I come from Hungary, I can clearly see the results of these loans but what we do not know is what happens, when we have to pay back this help. A thought-provoking title could be something like this: How much money did the EU invest in Hungary in the last 10 years? Such a title could be followed by a writing, which explains, how this support within the EU works.

4. Brussels Declaration on Sign Languages in the EU (2010)

I am convinced that many of my fellow students are interested in writing about the situation of translators or interpreters in the European Union. That is the reason, why I decided to choose a quite small part of this field, which is hopefully not that widespread: the sign languages. I would gladly write about the history of sign languages in the EU, and how they became officially acknowledged (e.g. in conferences).

5. Requirements for becoming a member state (in terms of a specific country)

Croatia has just joined the European Union, but not many people know, what a country has to achieve in order to receive the EU membership. It is a current issue, which could be very well presented. An interesting question would be examining, what the inhabitants of a country think and how much they are aware of the procedure what happens.

Although I came up with a couple of ideas, I think the best way would be to start a real research into all of the chosen topics and only that would tell me, which is the most interesting and suitable one for me personally. It is quite a hard decision to determine, with what I want to spend the next couple of months writing about.

I am looking forward to hearing your feedback!

"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue..."

"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence inside your shoe"

This saying probably dates back to the Victorian era symbolizing the bride's past, present and future. The "something old" part means that the bride has to wear literally something old, usually a jewel for example from the grand-grandmother which symbolizes her relationship to her old family. Generally her wedding dress represents the "something new" which is the symbol of the new life. The borrowed item (usually an accessory) is the best from a married female family member because it brings luck for the bride's marriage as well. The blue color is the symbol of loyalty which was/is considered one of the most important qualities of a bride/wife. And finally, the silver sixpence represents luck and money, it brings wealth to the couple.

You might have known this saying before, but did you know that earlier women didn't really marry in white dresses? Girls wore their best clothes for the wedding and as white dresses weren't practical, most of the girls didn't own one. It was Queen Victoria, the Queen of England who decided to have a white wedding dress for the first time and not a silvery one like other members of the royal family earlier. She was an extraordinary personality without doubt which is proven by this fact as well. Thanks to Queen Victoria, the longest reigning queen of England so far, white wedding dresses appeared all over the world.

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter

My favorite American book so far is The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The name Hawthorne might sound familiar to those who are engaged in early American history as one of his ancestors - John Hathorne - was a judge involved in Salem witch trials. The writer added a "w" to his name because he wanted to hide any kind of connection with the ancestor. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in the beginning of the 19th century and is considered to be one of the greatest figures in American literature, especially in that century. He died in 1864 and was survived by his wife and three children. He had a happy marriage with Sophia Peabody. To show their relationship, here is a quote:

Of his wife, whom he referred to as his "Dove", Hawthorne wrote that she "is, in the strictest sense, my sole companion; and I need no other—there is no vacancy in my mind, any more than in my heart... Thank God that I suffice for her boundless heart!"

In his writings he depicts his and mostly his ancestors' America. Hawthorne gives a true picture of the Puritan's life and how they handled anyone different from them. His most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter is set in the 17th-century Boston. The story is centered about a woman called Hester Prynne who gets pregnant while her husband hasn't arrived to the New World yet. Hawthorne describes wonderfully how the Puritan society treats her and her child called Pearl. They are absolutely excluded form the community. Hester has to wear a big letter "A" on her clothes which stands for adultery. As a result of her not being part of the Puritan settlement anymore, she can observe these narrow-minded people. In spite of being excluded, she still helps the poor and those in need, so people slowly start to realize that - despite her sin giving birth to a child out of wedlock - she is a caring and helpful person. Hester Prynne has to suffer a lot throughout her life, especially when her husband appears. No one knows the identity of Pearls's father but the husband seems to know everything. His evil figure makes the whole novel quite sinister.

Those who haven't read the book might find this description quite dark but it's a very interesting psychological novel demonstrating the human nature both with its wickedness and endurance. The story shows how a woman have to become independent and strong because she insists on keeping her secret - the identity of her child's father. Apart from these, the common spirit of a community is described perfectly as well, the novel shows how easily people can be influenced by one person, either good or wicked.

My English Learning Biography

The English language is spoken by 750 million people as a second or foreign language in the world.

How did I become one of them?

I come from western Hungary (the world-famous Pannonia) and in this part of the country German is the general foreign language in primary schools, which children start to learn around the age of 10. In spite of this, I didn’t start with German but with the English language at the age of 8 since one of our family’s friends is an English teacher and she offered to me that I can attend her extracurricular English lessons. I really enjoyed these first English lessons and despite being the youngest one in this class, I turned out to be quite successful. This gave me motivation to continue with English even after these extracurricular lessons ended. I took private lessons from this teacher thanks to whom I got to really like the language itself and the culture of the English speaking countries.

After finishing primary school, I knew one thing for sure: I love languages and I want to engage in English on every account. That’s the reason why I chose a grammar school 50 km away from home where I could attend an English bilingual class. Without doubt that was my most influential language learning experience. The bilingual class meant that in the first year I had 18 English lessons in a week delivered by 3 excellent teachers, one of whom is a native speaker from London. From the second year the number of simple English lessons decreased but new subjects appeared: World History, Geography and Civilization of the English Speaking World where the language of the lesson was English. These subjects contributed to the development of my vocabulary in various fields, such as sciences, culture, literature, etc.

In grammar school I was a member of an English drama club organized by our native speaker English teacher. This extracurricular activity really improved my speaking skills and made me more self-assured when speaking in a foreign language. Once we participated in an English speaking drama contest in Hungary where we played T.S. Eliot’s piece called Family Reunion.

Drama Contest

Although I’ve been learning English on and off for more than a decade, I still feel I’m very far from perfect. My biggest problem is that I’m a perfectionist and my mistakes disturb me very much. That’s one of the reasons it takes me so long to finish my blog project for this term. I not only need inspiration but confidence as well to write a new post. I hope by the end of my study I could become one of the most enthusiastic and self-confident bloggers of the university.

Presentation Day and the Chosen Topics

A historical event took place on the 19^th and 20^th of June in the life of the students studying English and attending the University of Graz: the Culture Days. The students’ task was to write an 800-word-paper and then to create an 8-minute-presentation from the chosen culture topic. Not just other students studying English were invited to the event where the presentations were held but everyone was welcomed.

As all students having chosen English as a foreign language were supposed to observe more closely 10 presentations, for this I chose the presentations of the second day.

The 7 ‘home’ culture presentations (USA) I went to see:

1. Lucie Bois: Comic books and superheroes
   
2. Harald Pasch: Scientology: A Religion Made in America

One of the first presentations I decided include in my list for the oral exams was the one about Scientology. I have always found it interesting, how religions are being formed, not just in the Middle Ages but even nowadays. I would be interested to get to know more about this religion, its history and what its followers believe in.

3. Tiana Jerkovic: Racial Segregation as Depicted in 2 Movies

Since in the first semester I attended lectures on American History and Literature, I thought I already had certain knowledge about segregation and how it is depicted in literature. To be honest, apart from literature I never really paid attention to this phenomenon appearing anywhere else, so this presentation raised my interest.

4. Alexandra Haunold: How the Columbian Exchange changed the World

What I really liked about this presentation was that this well-known topic wasn’t about the historical events and dates, but the impacts were emphasized which are very important even nowadays. I’m really interested in this part of the history so it was an easy decision to also choose this topic for the KGP.

5. Anna Agabani: Why on earth would anyone live Tornado Alley?!
   
   
6. Sonja Haunschmid: Deaf Art

Although I chose the topics above because I was particularly interested in them and had already known them more or less, this presentation grabbed my attention because I have never heard of it before. I find it a very important part of culture, how deafness is handled.

7. Lejla Kurtic: Delta Blues

To be honest, I’m not especially fond of blues itself but I like music very much and I truly appreciate those people who want to achieve something and despite the difficulties they manage to make their life more enjoyable, for example in this case with the help of music.

And the 3 ‘foreign’ presentations (IRELAND):

1. Sabrina Krassnig: Witchcraft in Ireland
2. Shirin Mahrouzadeh: Homophobic Bullying in Irish Schools
3. Lisa Moder: The History of ISL

I found these two days very interesting and I’m very proud to have seen these hard-working fellow students who spent so much time perfecting their knowledge on their chosen topics in order to introduce them to others.

Fanaticism and the "Free Jahar" Movement

Definition of fan: (probably short for fanatic)

1. an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or a performing art), usually as a spectator
2. an ardent admirer or enthusiast (as of a celebrity or a pursuit)

(according to Merriam-Webster)

An enthusiastic devotee

As we all know, fans can be very diverse, e.g. fans of football or other sports, movies, bands, celebrities, etc. A very interesting fact I realized is, that the object of admiration can not only be famous and successful people, but surprisingly also notorious evildoers.

Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013, killed 3 people and injured nearly 300. The suspects are two brothers of Chechen origin, Tamerlan Tsarnaev (26) who died in a shooting with the police and the younger Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (19) who is under arrest.

In this post I do not want to write about this sad event but the unexpected reaction of some people. What really shocked me is, that there are people who insist on Dzhokhar being innocence and they have even formed Facebook groups to popularize this idea. I quote these fans:

"too pretty to be guilty"

 "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a young man of 19 years of age's life has been stolen and has been made into a public object of hate, created by the inaccurate reports by the media.

We believe in innocent until proven guilty by undeniable evidence, which so far has not been provided."

Almost without exception teen girls are the members of these supporting groups who nearly worship the 19-year-old, curly-haired, sad-faced boy who is supposed to be responsible for 3 people's death. These girls refuse to believe that he is guilty as they have already made their judgement based on his appearance. This is a really sad phenomenon that the young generation seemingly cannot decide objectively but tends to only accept the beautiful-is-good concept.

Psychologists have found out that the case of Dzhokhar's fans is not unprecedented as there are several women who are attracted to men having committed crime. According to psychologists the explanation can be the fact that women want to feel special with a well-known bad boy as a partner. Another reason for the attraction can be that certain women consider it a challenge trying to change these men. In most cases women believe they could be the ones, the notorious man is willing to change for. There are numerous cases where obsessed women make contact with convicts, write letters to them and they meet in the prison. I even heard of a case when a prisoner and a fan fell in love with each other, held a wedding ceremony in the prison, and the woman gave birth to a child. I think, this example could be added to the definitions of fan, as well.

Why do men live shorter lives than woman?

As I was surfing the Internet, I came across an article about different countries and I found same data on life expectancy as well. I started to scrutinize the numbers and I wondered: why do men have a shorter life expectancy almost all over the world? Although the gender gap is closing, women are still in a more "advantageous" situation compared to man.

I decided to do a little research on the topic and I found out that males already have a higher mortality rate in the womb, which means that more baby boys are miscarried than girls. Though the reasons, why men live shorter lives, are not certain, there are many theories.

Social factors

Earlier it was thought, that men have a shorter life expectancy as a result of social factors. At that time mostly men drank alcohol and  they smoked. Though these circumstances might contribute to diseases like lung cancer and liver diseases, this theory is not completely true. As the society changed in modern ages, it became more common that women drink and smoke as well, but generally they still live longer than men.

Biological factors

Testosterone

Many claim that the difference in mortality rate between man and women is due to the sex hormones. According to this theory, the high level of testosterone might be the reason, why men seek danger and tend to risk their lives by e.g. driving dangerously and being involved in violent crimes where they might be killed. An interesting fact is, that the percentage of men being bitten by a snake is much higher as well, as they are more likely to harass these animals out of curiosity or whatever, whereas women tend to look for safer places and get away from dangerous animals. Men are more likely to work in dangerous fields (such as firefighter, police officer or in constructions) than women, resulting in more death cases connected to work or workplace. Mostly men are the ones who join the army, too. To conclude, the lower level of testosterone in women might be the reason, why they usually avoid dangerous situations.

Estrogen
Not only the level of testosterone might be important, but also the most significant female sex hormone, the estrogen might have a role in how long we live. Women, who have a much higher level of estrogen, are protected from cardiovascular diseases by this hormone until the menopause. After the menopause, when the estrogen level drops, the risk of such diseases (e.g. heart attack) increases.

Behavior

Another interesting theory on why men die earlier than women is, a difference in behavior. Firstly, men are much more embarrassed of talking to a doctor about their problems. While women are more open about their health problems, men are more likely to hide them, which might lead to diseases being recognized too late. Secondly, many say that women can cope with stress much more easily as a result of their communication habits. Women are often criticized for talking too much and about everything, but this might be the key to reduce stress! Consequently, men usually cannot handle stress that easily and they are more exposed to depression as well. The percentage of men committing suicide due to serious depression is much higher compared to the number of women.

Marriage

Finally, it is interesting to note, that married men have a longer life expectancy than those who are single, as married people are more likely to have a less risky lifestyle. (Men's car insurance drops as soon as they get married.) What's more, a nurturing wife can contribute to a longer life, too. What is funny about it is, that married women can expect a shorter life compared to single women.

For further information:

If you are interested, here is a link to the official life expectancy page where you can compare the countries of the world, and male and women results:
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-life-expectancy-map

Another interesting site with an application if you want to find out where do you fit into 7 billion:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515

And last but not least, a funny article on how to live (or don't) longer:
http://www.pleated-jeans.com/2011/06/06/10-easy-ways-to-lower-your-lifespan/

Zsolt Erőss, the Snow Leopard

Zsolt Erőss, the Snow Leopard

Although I decided not to devote my blog to Hungary but to conquer English-speaking cultures, I would really like to share something about this great man. Not because he’s from Hungary or because he’s recently died but the reason is my admiration towards him. He had such a strong and motivational character that I would like to introduce him as a role model.

Zsolt Erőss was definitely the most famous Hungarian mountaineer summiting 10 out of the total 14 mountains on Earth above 8000 m (which are also called eight-thousanders). He was also the first Hungarian citizen to climb the Mount Everest in 2002. (These facts are for us Hungarians truly amazing concerning the fact that our highest mountain is only 1014 m…)

He was one of the most dedicated and persistent people I've heard of. As a result of an avalanche accident in 2010 his right leg had to be amputated but despite the amputation he didn't give up his passion. He’s said to have learnt to walk again because he wanted to continue mountaineering. Half a year after his accident he returned to climbing and he conquered many peaks with the help of a prosthetic leg, among them two eight-thousanders.

His last challenge was the Kangchenjunga. Erőss successfully reached the summit of 8586 m on May 20, 2013 but unfortunately he didn't manage the way back. Two days after reaching the peak the 45-year old Erőss and another Hungarian climber (the 26-year-old Péter Kiss) went missing. After the unsuccessful search they have been declared dead in absentia.

Although Erőss has been criticized by many that he shouldn't have insisted on continuing mountaineering after his accident, he is mourned by the whole nation. Many claimed that he should have thought of his family (he had two little children) and given up climbing but he wasn't someone to give up what he wanted. His wife, who is an amateur mountaineer, said that she had accepted her husband’s passion. Of course Erőss was aware how dangerous the mountains can be and he didn't want to die, but he was brave enough to take the risk and to fulfill his dreams. That’s something everybody should respect about him.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

The Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

 Amelia Earhart was the first woman to travel through the Atlantic Ocean (as a passenger) in 1928, the first female pilot to do this journey alone nonstop in 1932 and a pioneer woman in many respects. She cropped her hair short, wore trousers and insisted on her independence.  This persistent woman decided to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe along the Equator in 1937 which was unprecedented by a woman.

Amelia and her navigator, Noonan started their flight from Oakland and went on without problems until they reached New Guinea. The last and most dangerous part of their journey would have been between New Guinea and America over the Pacific Ocean. They planned to stop at Howland Island in the middle of the ocean but because of the poor visibility they couldn't find the island. The weather was windy and they asked for help from a nearby ship to navigate them but for some reason the communication wasn't successful. Amelia in her last radio message said that they were running out of gas and they couldn't hear the ship’s answer.

From this point on no one knows what happened. Different radio stations could hear weak signals supposedly coming from Amelia but these were unintelligible. Air and sea search started soon but they were unsuccessful. Since then no reliable evidence has been found concerning the missing pilot and her navigator.

Due to this uncertainty numerous theories emerged in connection with their disappearance. The first and simplest idea is called ‘crash-and-sink-theory’, according to which they ran out of fuel, crashed into the ocean and died. Although this supposition is said to be the most widely accepted, many researchers believe that Amelia and Noonan managed to reach the mainland. But if they did so, on which island did they land?

Researchers led many expeditions to the nearby islands but either they didn't find anything or they did find something (e.g. a white female skeleton) but before closer examination it mysteriously disappeared.

According to another theory, Amelia and Noonan landed on an island having been occupied by Japan. This story has different endings as well. First variation: they were soon executed because they were thought to be American spies. Second variation: they were kept in prison because it was forbidden for foreigners to go to that island and either they died in captivity of diseases or they were executed.

The most extreme approach says that Amelia had been a spy for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and she landed on the island under Japanese occupation because the president asked her to collect information. According to this theory Roosevelt helped to woman to go back to New Jersey where she started a new life under new identity. This idea seems to be unlikely because of two reasons. Firstly, she was a good friend of the First Lady and the president wouldn't have involved her in spy activity. Secondly, the lady accused of being Amelia Earhart was definitely not the famous aviator. So this conspiracy theory was proven wrong.

The unsolved mystery of one of the world’s most famous women is still very attractive. Expeditions are organized even nowadays which are supported by Amelia’s surviving stepson. Amelia Earhart’s inspirational character and life story has been depicted in many books and films and motivated many women in the 1920s – 1930s. All in all, I think in spite of her unsuccessful last flight she became a leading role model not just for women but for aviators as well.

Darwin Awards

Darwin Awards

“Everyone contributes to the human genome, some with their births, while others with their deaths.”

The Darwin Awards are a humorous (and of course not serious) honor given to those people who represent the last part of the previous quote.

The famous Charles Darwin claimed that originally there has been a natural selection in nature meaning that the weakest link in the chain can’t survive (for example the slowest zebra is going to be eaten by the lions). This natural selection is said to maintain a quality of the species since the weakest ones won’t reproduce anymore.

But what does this look like concerning the human race?

Thanks to the enormous progress medicine and health care made even the weakest people can be saved. But there are two sides to every question. On the one hand, of course it’s a great thing that doctors can help people and more and more diseases can be cured. On the other hand, with this progress the natural selection is overwritten and from a biological point of view the quality of the human genome is getting worse.  However, there are people who, though not on purpose, contribute to the evolution by self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool.

"In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival." (Wendy Northcutt)

Wendy Northcutt established a website in 1993 and she is the author of numerous books collecting all the strange, funny or morbid stories about “people who have made the supreme sacrifice to keep their genes out of our pool”. To win this posthumous honor the “candidates” have to be dead or unable to reproduce and they have to be capable of sound judgment (old enough and in perfect(?) mental condition). Besides, they have to have caused their own death in a silly and unique way, which can be proved. Otherwise, the stories are considered urban legends. This honor became so famous that even a self-titled adventure comedy film was made in 2006.

If you’re interested in the topic and/or some of the stories:

http://www.darwinawards.com/

(they might be morbid, but (usually) not that brutal…)

Food discussion: NATIONAL DISHES

The Hungarian Cuisine

Question 7: Do you think your country's food is the best?
Answer: Hmm... Let me consider it!

As I come from Hungary, I decided to write about the Hungarian cuisine and I would like to present a couple of typical Hungarian dishes to you.

But first of all, I have to explain, what 'eating' means for the average Hungarian people. For us, there is no holiday without an abundant family dinner. For example, my mother starts planning the Christmas menu weeks before Christmas. We always have an endless to-do list, we do the shopping, and then we start preparing food days before the holiday. By the time Christmas Eve arrives, the fridge is filled with the family's favourite dishes, at least 5 types of 'cakes' are baked and we are all tired of the kitchen and cooking, but from that point on we do nothing else, just enjoy the holiday, eat and drink together. The whole family gathers for dinner, and we usually stay together until supper. So we can say, that the family events are somehow all centered around food.

Usually - even on normal days - we spend lots of time in the kitchen preparing our food. An average meal - almost without exception - consists of soup (e.g. goulash soup, clear chicken soup or fish soup), main course and afterwards often something sweet, pastry or cake.

Halászlé (fish soup)

Töltött káposzta (stuffed cabbage)

One of the most important components of the Hungarian cuisine is definitely MEAT. I think, there are hardly any Hungarian dishes that cannot be somehow connected to pork, beef, chicken or fish. The most well-known dish is certainly the world-famous 'gulyás' (goulash) soup or stew made of beef, noodles and vegetables, especially potato, onion and paprika.

Gulyás

Another remarkable element of Hungary's cuisine is the 'vegetable stew' (főzelék) which is somewhere between the soup and the stew. It is a thick vegetable dish which can be made of cabbage, potato, tomato, peas, beans or even spinach. It usually does not appear in restaurants as it is a mainly home-made food and is considered to be an ordinary type of meal.

Főzelék (vegetable stew from peas)

Hungary has plenty of different desserts, for example the Dobos cake, 'bejgli' (cake roll filled with poppy seeds or nuts, mostly eaten at Christmas) or 'kürtőskalács' (chimney cake, baked over open fire, originates from Transylvania).

Kürtőskalács (chimney cake)

Dobos cake

And last but not least, the drinks. Hungary is famous for having a perfect climate and soil for wine production. As a result, the country has numerous excellent types of white and red wine. Another typical symbol of the country is the 'pálinka', a range of fruit brandies (usually plum, pear or peach), which are extremely strong, around 50 (V/V)%.

Wine

Pálinka

Question 7: Do you think your country's food is the best?
Answer: I wholeheartedly think, that Hungary's food is the best!

At least for me, the Hungarian meals outdo every other cuisine.

And finally a video:

Introduction

Hello Dear Reader!

(For some of you my introduction might be familiar, since I wrote it in the beginning of the last semester and posted it on Posterous, but I did not change too much in the last couple of months, so I hope you don't mind that I would like to share the same information about me on Blogger, as well.)

My name is Orsolya. Though here in Austria it seems like a difficult name, it’s really not. ‘Orsolya’ /ˈorʃoja/ is the Hungarian equivalent of ‘Ursula’, which both mean ‘little female bear’.

Fortunately I don’t tend to be as furious or aggressive as a she-bear can be, indeed, I’m really gentle. My friends say that I’m always the one who represents the ‘bright side of life’. I think there is no point in worrying until it’s really necessary. But when you already have to worry, it doesn’t matter, you can’t do anything just hope. Actually you might think that hoping can’t help more than worrying either, but I still believe that positive thinking attracts positive happenings. At least that’s my philosophy of how to avoid worrying and be prepared for the good. And what if I don’t have luck? I always have. Or at least I see things always useful the way they are, it’s really just a question of relativity. (By the way, I really like Einstein.) Things I also like is photography and pictures, books in all languages and the languages themselves, sunshine and a cup of hot tea (of course preferably not at the same time).

I come from Hungary, ‘the world of potentials’.
If you’re interested, take a look at this video:

I live near the Lake Balaton in a village with my loving parents and brother. I came to Austria because I think living and studying in a foreign country is a pretty good opportunity to improve my language skills and to get experience. I have always been fond of getting to know new things and properly acquiring foreign languages is undoubtedly a challenge.

I hope to spend here happy and successful years and I wish everyone the same!