You know the feeling when people are telling you you should not do something and then they tell you to do the exact thing you were forbidden to do for the past week?
I am witnessing something similar right now with my supposedly healed left elbow. It does not hurt when I move it and it`s (probably) fine and yet, there`s the pavlov effect. Sort of. So now, instead of using my left arm as my left arm was supposed to be used, I am nursing it and treating it like it`s made from porcelain or something. And just waiting for my bone to go Snap! Gah. Just imagining the sound makes me shiver. Snap! Brrr.
So I guess this is the last status check so far, unless I develop something exotic over night and everything turns upside down, so from now on, The L files are back, resuming the supply chain.
Which does not mean anything since I spent the last few days sitting at home being all sick and stuff. Hate that. There is no functional aspect to being sick. Except, getting well. And since I so successfully sunk my own theory about how being sick sucks, I`ll call it a day.
Apart from your admiration of Bruce Willis and rather annoying abbreviation of the word “little”, I find myself agreeing with everything you say. And now I come to think of it, Bruce wasn’t half bad in Pulp Fiction and the original Die Hard was he? And my Slovene is so bad that who am I to criticise you for a small irritation in a foreign language? So there you are then – complete approval.
Mind you I’m a middle-aged Englishman so my approval may not be welcome.
I’m doing some research on Slovenia and came across your site by accident. I have many curiosities and this seems like a good place to find some answers.
If this is inappropriate then feel free to tell me to piss off. Otherwise leave a mildly encouraging response. Hvala lepa.
PS – You may have a right wing government but its not Blair and it certainly isn’t Bush. Sometimes you just have to count your blessings.
hehe. welcome and please feel free to stay and ask anything you like. And you are right. Ours are nothing like the Blairs 😉 They are special. In oh-so-many ways.
Nice picture of you. I like your blog.
Thanks Domen,
A little background. I’ve been fascinated with Slovenia ever since I came across the name Olimpija Ljubljana in a fixtures listing for the Inter Cities Fairs Cup (now the UEFA Cup) in the mid 1960’s. I would have been around 8 years old at the time. I know it’s a ridiculous reason but I thought it was a beautiful name for a football team and it prompted me to look it up on a map.
Anyway, to cut a long story short I didn’t get to visit until 2004. Childhood, poverty, marriage, kids, more poverty, divorce, re-marriage, more kids then extreme poverty, all conspired to keep me away. Besides which, we Brits didn’t really embrace foreign travel until the 70’s/80s (except for military purposes of course) and the Yugoslavian package tours usually went to Croatia which didn’t have the same appeal.
I kept up my interest in the intervening period, following you through the post Tito trauma, your short war, independence, World Cup qualification and the EU. The only time this knowledge impacted on my life was when I won £35 in a pub quiz by knowing all the countries that border Italy. No-one else got it right, mainly because they’d never heard of Slovenia. Ha!
Then along came Easy Jet and Ryan Air and now you can’t keep me away. I absolutely love the place. Everything about it. The scenery, the air, the roads (I know you’ve had a little trouble recently but you should try ours as a cyclist!), Ljubljana, the public transport system, the language and most of all, the people. I’ve now visited several times and met lots of Slovenians. Almost without exception I’ve found them to be well educated, friendly, helpful, well-mannered, funny, tolerant and forward looking (all of these compared to the UK). Your music and TV is largely rubbish though.
So I’ve been thinking, “Why bother to go back to the UK at all? Why not just live here?” I’ve therefore started to research a little deeper to see if it as desirable a prospect as I think it is. My current perspective is that while nowhere is perfect (or perfectible) you are the nearest I’ve come across so far. Your grass really is greener (and it contains buttercups and daisies and red clover, which you have to look really hard for in England these days).
Of course I first need to find out to what extent I’m deluding myself and assess my chances of a modestly happy life in Slovenia. This is where I’m hoping you can help.
My questions are as follows. (Please answer all, some or none)
1. Are English people really welcome in Slovenia or is it just a crime to be unpleasant to tourists? If I brought lots of money, lots of other tourists (nice ones) and promised not to be a drain on your resources would this improve my prospects?
2. Do you think that independent Slovenia will be allowed to retire from war with its 100% record intact or is there a local perception that there is something dark and unpleasant lurking around the corner?
3. To what extent is American culture encroaching on Slovenian society and do you think there is any prospect of successfully resisting it? (I don’t want to be back to square one in 10 years time)
4. Is your government really that bad and if so how? We had 11 years of Mrs Thatcher and came out the other end relatively unscathed. Some people would say we’ve got her back again now. Our governments come and go, make a lot of noise, start a war or two, make and break a lot of promises and the net effect is usually 1% either side of zero. Is it that you are just not yet used to democracy where the general rule is that if a political party proposes doing something really worthwhile it has no chance of getting elected?
5. How widespread is racism in Slovenia? A few years ago we (Newcastle United) played Croatia Zagreb and our black players were subjected to abuse and monkey noises. Would this happen in Slovenia to the same extent? Has Merlene Ottey been accepted as a Slovene?
6. And finally the key question … Why do all the former republics give each other 12 points in the Eurovision Song Contest?
I’ll shut up and go away now. If you can bring yourself not to answer in riddles (which I suspect you are prone to doing) I’d be very grateful. Remember that you’re English is probably better than mine.
At the risk of introducing sincerity into proceedings I really enjoy your site and would value your opinions. Apologies for buggering up the order of the site by putting this in the space intended for the story of your injury and recovery. Get well soon.
Les