Montag, 27. Oktober 2014

what we have seen! :D

I started to make a movie with all places where we have been.. :) This is the start and next week there will follow Riga and Kaunas. :) 

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Dienstag, 14. Oktober 2014

Geocaching

Have you ever tried Geocaching?
I tried it once in Lithuania together with Bruno (a Erasmus student from Portugal) and it is really enjoyable. I have never heard about it a lot but over here it seems to be more popular. 

But first what is Geocaching? 

Basically, geocaching is a world-wide scavenger hunt using GPS technology. The hobby is great for people of all ages (including little kids) and abilities (even for people with disabilities). There are caches hidden all over the world in cities and forests and everything in between.With geocaching, there are no dues to pay or clubs to join. Simply log onto geocaching.com for access to nearly 2 million cache coordinates all over the world. 

 














What you need:
  • A smartphone or GPS 
  • Internet connection: You will only need the internet connection to download the locations of caches and then to log your finds on the listing sites afterwards. So download the caches before depart
  • water and maybe snacks
  • a pen
  • camera to make photos! you will see it makes a lot of fun and photos are good memorabilias. 
Geocaching in Šiauliai


I have found some really funny geocaches here and it is a really nice way to discover the city. You have a reason to go out into the nature and you will see everything from another point of view. :)

Moreover it was great because we met some young scouts while searching for the same caches. I won't have found it without them. :)

I really like geocaching now but it is only good with good company. So if you want to try it to just ask.. You know where you can find me :P

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Donnerstag, 9. Oktober 2014

Austrian music

The last time people often ask me about Austrian music and I started to ask my friends what comes to their mind.

First of all there is of course the older musicians, like:
These musicians you can find under Austropop.  
"Austropop is a musical movement, which started in Austria in the middle of the 1970s. However, Austropop is not much of a specific style, it is more a trademark of origin, because musicians of various styles, such as rock, Neue Deutsche Welle, New Folk and more recently perhaps Pop, are counted as Austropop artists, while Schlager is not." Wikipedia

More up to date but also Austropop is for example:
Andreas Gabalier

But of course we have better music in Austria and all different genres.
Especially Julian le Play, Klangkarusell and parov stelar I like at the moment. Left boy I have seen live once, Parov stelar band three times I think and as you can see parov stelar will come to Riga soon. So jmaybe I will see them again.
Listen to it and you will see a lot of different kinds of music. :)

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Dienstag, 7. Oktober 2014

Teacher's day :)

On Friday the 3rd of October there was the teachers day in our school. We were really surprised by the way in which they celebrate it because in our home country the teachers day is not really a special day. I talked to some teachers, students and friends from other countries what they now about the International Teachers day, but first about this day itself.

WHAT IS THE TEACHERS DAY!?
On October 5, 1994, the first World Teachers' Day was held. This event has been organized on the same date each year since then. However, local events may be on some other date close to October 5, so that they do not fall during autumn (northern hemisphere) or spring (southern hemisphere) school vacations.

OTHER COUNTRIES!
There are huge differences in which the Teachers day is celebrated. For example in my home country Austria nobody really knows about this day. There is just one day in the year where the students have a day of and the teachers make a trip for example hiking in the mountains and then go to a restaurant.
Moreover there is not this kind of respect to the teachers. Of course it depends on the kind of teacher but the only present for a teacher is often when you graduate. 

In France there is nothing like this teachers day and Anne Sophie said that students and teachers did not have such a good relationship as in Lithuania. "Students are present to learn and teachers to teach. There is no complicity and the students could not think to this kind of day. I think it‘s too bad because these days are efficient to create community in the school." 

In Spain it is quite similar. Liudvikas said that it is celebrated on the 27.November but it is not very popular and just teacher are celebrating it. 

Moreover I have talked to some friends from different countries. Most of them did not know anything about this special day in their home country. Ana from Rumania and Mateo form Italy had no Idea what I am talking about. They never heard about teacher’s day before. Quite funny if you know that Mateo is a teacher in Italy.
Hamish from Australia wrote me that he don’t know anything about it but his sister is a teacher and she told him, that they just celebrate this day in the morning in the teachers room, together with the other teachers. They have a cup of tea together and that’s all. 


Barbara from Hungary wrote me: "Firstly this day was celebrated on 7-8. of June in 1952 and on this occasion, diplomas for outstanding teachers and later several awards were handed out on this day. These diplomas and awards are provided for the best pedagogues of the country.
In schools, students usually give bunches of flowers for their teachers. The parents community arrange this gifting for the main teachers but on the other hand studends gift bunches for their own favourite teachers as well."

Tamuna, the last volunteer in the Radijo klubas from Georgia said that it is like in Lithuania. They celebrate it on the 5th October but in general, the teachers’ day and the students’ day is more the first or the second day in September, after the summer holidays.
The most important day for them is the Georgian language day. They celebrate it the 14th april, since 1990.
 
WHAT STUDENTS THINK!
It looked like that most of the students really enjoy to work, organize and to celebrate this day for their teachers. Radvile said that it was a lot of work but everybody could say their own ideas and take part in the organization. It is a real special day and everybody is happy - it is worth the effort.

WHAT TEACHERS THINK!
On Friday I have talked to some teachers from our school. I asked them what they think about the teacher’s day and of course they like it because it is nearly like a day of for them. They think it is important because it helps to have a good time while working together and to have more respect from each other. Alla Chvostova said that she make presents for her students too. For example on Christmas when they make a celebrating lesson and have a great time together. Through that she try to show the students that she enjoy the work together with them.

Moreover I was surprised when I was talking to Danguolė Kukla and her stories. She told me that teachers often get presents. For example once she got a barbeque grill and then she made a big barbeque for all of them twice. So it was a win-win situation for both of them and it is a great chance to get to know each other in a completely different way.

All teachers I talked to said it is great to hear that is something special for us foreigners, because some teachers always think the students should organize even more. And so they hear that it is really special and not self-evident.  You as a students did a good work and the teachers I think are happy to have such students.
For me it is really great to see something like that too and it really shows that teachers are important for our life and it is important to respect them. I hope that you will continue this tradition.
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Freitag, 3. Oktober 2014

culture center concert



A woman from the library invited us to come to the culture center on Wednesday evening. She said there is a concert and dance performances and maybe we are interested in.
Of course we were – as a volunteer in another country you want to see as much as possible. First we thought it may be a little bit boring but immediately after entering the concert hall we changed our mind.

On Wednesday was the International Day of Older Persons and so the idea of the concert was to bring older persons back to their childhood. Young people sang, danced and told fairy-tale for them. To my surprise very young kids where dancing on the stage like professionals. You could see happy people everywhere. The kids on stage as much as the audience and of course the proud parents had a smile on there face. 



After it I was so beguiled by the concert and the people that I had to congratulate the organizer Diana Martinaitienė and to ask for some information about the different groups.


ŽELMENĖLIAI, AUŠRELĖ, REPETICIJA, ABRŪSĖLIS, ROKOKO and DERMĖ are the different groups which made a performance. :) People from 4 to 30 were involved!! :) amazing :)
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Donnerstag, 2. Oktober 2014

EU demands 80% reduction in use of plastic bags by 2019



Last time when I left the Norfa I was really shocked by the amount of plastic bags behind the bushes. Everywhere you can find places like that and of course not only in Lithuania.

Every European uses an estimated 200 plastic bags a year on average. That’s far too much and really terrifying if you know that 92.5% of are single-use.
We use them about 25 minutes and then it is rubbish. Only 10 % of bags are recycled and a lot of the others you can find in our nature. 

According to the German Environmental Aid a total of 750,000 tonnes of disposable plastic bags were produced in the year 2010 in Europe. That's equivalent to the weight of 625,000 cars. The worst thing about it: plastic usually takes several hundred years until it is completely rotted away, while a bus ticket out of paper for example, needs only a few weeks. Even a tin can need according to the International Maritime Organization, only about one hundred years to fully decompose.

Horrible! We only use it for a few meters from the store to the car or even only for some minutes. How often do you buy an apple in a small bag and eat it immediately after buying?
3 minutes to be used but several hundred years in the nature.
For example many of those plastic bags end up in seas and rivers, killing millions of marine animals.
These petroleum based products can contain toxic additives. In the sea they become life-threatening for animals but also for humans by entering the food chain.
Plastic bags made up around 40% of all the marine litter across UK waters and the North Sea, and in the Bay of Biscay over 90% of waste items found on the seabed were plastic.
A 2004 study of wildlife in the North Sea found 96 per cent of dead sea birds had fragments of plastic in their stomachs.


Chris Davies MEP, environment spokesman for the Liberal Democrats in Europe said: 'Discarded plastic bags are killing millions of marine animals each year. It's become a massive problem across Europe and one we must deal with together.‘

The European parliament has acted and tabled proposals to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags by 80% across the EU by 2019.
This goal should be reached with measures including charges, bans, awareness-raising campaigns and restrictions on the use of hazardous substances and oxo-degradables in plastic bags. For this proposal to become EU law, the Council of Ministers must now approve it. In this regard, 92 % of the respondents to the new survey from Eurobarometer agree that measures should be taken to reduce the use of single-use plastic items, such as shopping bags

Fees are probably the best method. For example, Ireland government pushed a tax of 22 cents per plastic bag. "The taxes were not there to get more tax revenue, but to direct the behavior of citizens. Since the introduction of the bag tax much less plastic bags are produced there," explains Bongardt. The plastic bag consumption per person decreased from 328 bags per year to the current 20 bags.
By comparison, the EU average, according to a study by the European Commission is 198 bags per person.

Another idea to sensitize people is the International bag free day on 3rd July.
This year - The fifth edition of International plastic bag-free day sees groups from all over the world organising activities to raise awareness on the environmental impact of single-use plastic bags and to demand that governments act to stop marine littering.

 
I really hope that next year there are more people and we all think about this important topic. One of my favorite statement I have found is from Ariadna Rodrigo from Friends of the Earth Europe.
She said: “Single-use plastic bags are an example of how we mismanage our resources in Europe. Rather than keeping materials in our economy for as long as possible, we are extracting evermore resources for short-lived products that we do not need. The European Parliament supported actions to eradicate this situation, now the Council needs to act.”

In my opinion it is sad that we need laws and directives for such self-evident things. It would be so easy to change. 
  • Separating the rubbish, 
  • Avoid rubbish by buying in bigger amount, 
  • Use glass bottles or use them more than once, 
  • Take your own bag with you,… 
Everybody can do something without much work!
Next time when I go to supermarket I will take my own bag with me.
What about you?

Watch! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pACWFQEswVg




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Mittwoch, 1. Oktober 2014

Living in Austria and Politics



Vienna the best city to live in!
According to the Mercer 2014 Quality of Living rankings, Vienna is the city with the world’s best quality of living, of all European cities. Zurich and Auckland follow in second and third place, respectively. But why gets Vienna such a good note?
There are many reasons why Vienna fares so well in such objective and subjective evaluations.
First of all because of its culture, architecture and other free time activities. There are numerous activities in the area of theatre, music, art exhibitions, public readings, museums and operas that cater to all tastes. Imperial buildings like Hofburg, Schönbrunn Palace, Belvedere Palace and the splendid buildings of the Ring Boulevard shape the city's image. Like in Vilnius you can see so many beautiful buildings with their unique histories.
Especially for young people or young adults the impressive number of free concerts and nightclubs is a good reason to live there.
A enjoyable city with an excellent public transport network of underground trains, trams and buses. They are of course well organized and will take you almost anywhere in the city in no time at all. Good services, a clean environment and different types of tickets are the reasons why so many people use it. About 53% of Viennese workers travel everyday to their workplace by public transport.
Moreover Public transport is safe at all hours and the touristy parts of the city are very safe to walk at anytime as are the vast majority of streets. The only crime you need to look after are pick pockets.
Safety is a very important topic in whole Austria. The safety of young people is particular part in our politics. 

Politics - Youth protection!
It regulates for example the stay in certain places like nightclubs, car stop, theater and cinema. In addition, the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and gambling for different age groups is regulated.
Every Austrian State is responsible for fixing the detailed graduation and so there are different rules for young people.
In Vienna children under 14 years are allowed to stay outside till 22:00 h, between 14 and 16 years till 01:00 h and when they are 16 years old there is no constraint. Moreover they are allowed to drink every kind of alcohol with 16 years.
In my hometown Vorarlberg the law is stricter but in my opinion it is better. Anyway I can say that I had a wonderful youth.
With the completion of the 18th year the young protection law is not important any more.

Political Education and voting age
2003 reduction of the voting age from 19 to 18 years
2007 reduction of the voting age from 18 to 16 years

With the reduction of voting age young people are facing with new challenges. They feel overwhelmed to form a self-determined political opinion. Some young people want an "objective" and "neutral" support. Therefore there are many projects to arouse their interest for democracy and politics.
With the reduction of the voting age there was also a big change in the subject “political education” and its curriculum. Young people should learn to formulate their own positions on policy issues, to understand other positions and think about solutions for problems in the fields of politics, economy and society.
These competencies include the willingness to compromise, ability to communicate and tolerance or acceptance.
Another main point is the educational principle of "equality of women and men". I think there are not many cities where this topic is so important then in Vienna. There are so many plans to strengthen the equality policy.

Education and gender equality
Education is a key factor for equal participation in the labour market as well as for cultural and social participation.
A new initiative by the Austrian ministry of education called "Women for technics" should encourage women to take up technical jobs. Many women have already tried and have taken foot in a technical-craft job.
Even I have just graduated from a Federal Higher Technical Institute for civil engineering. To the surprise of many people we were more female students then male. However this is only in my department and the majority in technical schools is still male (about 75%). 
 
 
My diploma project

As you can see we were a lot of girls too :)
Three of the ten most common apprenticeships (retail, office administrator / clerk and hairdresser / hairstylist) are chosen primarily by women (woman shares between 73.3% and 94.8%), while the apprenticeships motor vehicle technology, metal technology, engineering and mason / bricklayer are chosen almost by young men.

Youth Unemployment Rate
Youth Unemployment Rate in Austria increased to 9 percent in June of 2014 from 8.90 percent in May of 2014.
Germany                      7.80 %
Austria                        9.00 %
Lithuania                      17.70 %
European Union            21.70 %
Spain                           53.50 %

Austria’s low youth unemployment rates in particular, have garnered significant interest. But what are the main reasons behind Austria’s outstanding international ranking in this area?
Austria is one of the few countries that retained a strong apprenticeship system, together with Germany and Switzerland. As youth unemployment is also low in the latter countries, apprenticeship is seen as a major factor that contributes to the favourable situation.
There are two other factors of the same importance as the apprenticeship system, one is a strong system of vocational education and training (VET) fulltime schools and colleges, and the second is a strong political consensus and priority for fighting youth unemployment, and also using active labour market policy (ALMP)  as an additional instrument for this purpose.

In 2012 dependent employee earned, if part-time and full-time employees are considered together, on average (median) 1,781 € net per month (incl. Prorated vacation and Christmas bonuses). The men’s incomes (2,050 euros) were around one third higher than that of women (1,454 euros). The ten per cent of employed persons with the highest income (median: 4,019 euros) per month earned around nine times as much as the poorest tenth (median: 455 euros).

So if you compare our average income with the Lithuanian income you can see big differences but we also have to keep in mind, that food and accommodation is between 40 and 60% cheaper than in Austria.
But don’t forget that it also depends on the city in which you are staying because even in Austria there are huge differences between the costs.

In conclusion I just want to say that Austrian politics try a lot to give young people a positive future. In the end it depends on every person if you grab your chances and how ambitious you are to reach your goals. Nevertheless Austria and of course Vienna is a wonderful place to live.




Sources
Youth politics
http://www.boja.at/uploads/media/Jugendpolitik_in_oesterreich.pdf
Youth unemployment rate             
                 http://de.tradingeconomics.com/austria/youth-unemployment-rate
Curriculum
https://www.bmbf.gv.at/schulen/unterricht/prinz/erziehung_gleichstellung.html

Living cost comparison
http://www.expatarrivals.com/austria/cost-of-living-in-austria
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Austria&country2=Lithuania

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