Who am I?

Hello to all of you!

The main thing to know about me is my name, Jelena. Born in Zagreb, Croatia, and partially raised in Austria and Croatia is what resulted in growing up bilingually. This led to me ending up at the ITAT and taking the English and German courses. At the moment I live with my sister in Graz, but I don’t plan on staying here longer than it is necessary. You see, I want to move to Australia after finishing University and settle there. Unlike many of my colleagues, I never had the chance to travel outside of Europe and therefore I cannot wait until I will finally be able to make those kind of experiences and memories. As far as my interests are concerned, I absolutely love to read, but lately I somehow can’t find the extra time to do so because of all the everyday hustle and bustle. Another thing about me (which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone) are my love for makeup and fashion. I haven’t mentioned Tumblr yet, the social platform where I get all of my inspiration from when it comes to makeup and fashion. Yes, I am obsessed with Tumblr, and yes, I approximately spend almost two hours per day on it. But I’m not as crazy as I probably come off right now; I'm actually a very active person. The healthy lifestyle has played a major role in my life for the past year and therefore I started doing fitness almost on a daily basis. To me, the fitness studio is a place where I can blow off my steam, regenerate and boost my energy. Oh, I forgot to tell you what an absolute anti-talent I am when it comes to music. Not only have I never played any instrument (I tried to learn playing the guitar, however it ended unsuccessfully), but I am also tone deaf. Funny, because music is a part of my life which I cannot live without and whenever I feel under the weather, music is the only thing that will cheer me up.

A picture is worth a thousand words :)







At this point, I think I have given you enough information about myself. If you are interested in finding out more about me, you are more than welcome to approach me and we can hang out with a cup of coffee and chit chat! :)

Veee Veee Vaaamm – Let me tell you who I ammm

“Sir," she said, “You are no gentleman!"

“An apt observation," he answered airily. “And, you, Miss, are no lady.”  

Gone with the wind… A heart-stabbing, dramatic, passionate, classic movie. For my taste a little too long. After watching the first few hours of it, I was gone with the melatonin. For my parents on the other hand it was a highly inspirational movie since they named me after Scarlett O’Hara’s actress. Vivien Leigh. Cross the Leigh and you have got my name.

So who am I? Let me take you on a trip through Vivi-Town on March the twelfth.

The first thing I can tell you is that I can be a pain in the butt. Not only am I immensely gifted in the art of annoying people, but am I also very talented in driving myself crazy. Usually when I have one of those days when my thoughts go crazy, wild, yes MAD and start running an Olympia marathon through my head, I turn to one of my two saviors. Books and music.

Books. I love, love, looouuuf reading. The smell of the pages and the world I step into when I start reading… A warm feeling of relaxation starts spreading through my body. YES, that is what I call heaven on earth. Thoughts and worries about school, work, crazy neighbors, all just beam out of my head and right into the I-do-not-even-care-universe. The only worry I am left with is why Gatsby is still putting up with this superficial Daisy-girl?

Music. Dear IPod, please, never leave me. Music teleports me into a bubble of daydreams. It serves as my constant companion while walking outside, or laying in my bed with my eyes closed. It is just magical how it makes me feel more alive, but then also so calm and peaceful at the same time. The Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Bob Marley and so on and so forth. LEGENDDSS!

Some other personal facts

- I was born and raised in Essen, a pretty awesome town in the north-western part of Germany.

- My parents are originally from Croatia and Bosnia and Hercegovina. That is where I spent most of my vacations.

     

     - In 2010 I received a full scholarship from ASSIST and spent a year at a private school in beautiful Albuquerque.

      -  A few months ago I spontaneously decided to move to Graz. Best decision ever! :)

     - I have the best mom in the world.

     - I think it is SUPER annoying when people breathe SUPER loud.

     - Irish Pubs are the best. Cheers!

Who the heck is Mišel?

Hello all J

Some of you might know me as the chatty guy who never shuts up in class or as the creepy one, but I assure you that there is much more to know about me than you think ;)

For starters, my name’s Mišel which is actually a French name, just written in Croatian style. My parents are originally from Croatia, but were born in a remote village near Brčko, a town in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. I, on the other hand, was born in Carinthia. I am grateful that I have been raised bilingually. This sure had positive effects on me and on my appearance. It makes me feel kind of special because people oftentimes tell me “Oh my God, you’re so lucky being raised bilingually. I wanna be fluent in another language as well.” Unfortunately, you won’t, sorry, but perhaps by learning a new language.

The thing is, when being in Austria, I don’t see myself as an Austrian citizen mainly because of my Croatian nationality. However, when I visit my home country, I don’t see myself as a Croatian citizen either. So, I ask myself the same question that probably everyone asks him- or herself, too. Who the heck am I exactly?

I’m just who I am. The guy who remembers to keep smiling even through terrible times, sometimes over-worried about the small things in life, but still enjoying beautiful moments, especially with my friends. Such precious moments can easily alter lives, such as mine.

Apropos changing lives: I think it was 2013 when I moved to Graz and it was certainly one of the best decisions I have ever made. Last year, however, I had the problem that I was sharing an apartment with acquaintances. By ‘problem’ I mean that I had barely time to study mainly because of difficulties with concentration. Now, I’ve got my own apartment, where I can have some peace and quiet, and study without any concern. In this apartment there you can find piles of books that demonstrate my dedication for languages. They are my hobby as well as my career. Frankly, I don’t enjoy reading bland books that don’t contribute to my knowledge, such as a roman, novel or something similar. I’m totally into science and history and, therefore, I am currently reading a scientific book in English about “serious” scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions. In parantheses, I don't know if you have ever heard of AsapScience before, but they have brought out their new book and it's just as awesome as I have imagined. In order to expand my knowledge on history, I’m reading a book in Croatian about the division of Yugoslavia. Lastly, I’m reading a culture-related book in Japanese with short stories about a notorious guy called Hikoichi. These stories are well-known by every kid in Japan.

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go." 
- Dr. Seuss

At this point, I think I’ve mentioned enough about me. If you should require further information, please contact me ASAP. (Just kidding! – or not.)

Bye :D

This Irish Pub in Budapest had the best beer I have ever sampled.