Santa Barbara Moments

Posted on by efsbnews

Michaela Kopecna, Czech Republic

For someone who wasn’t born in Santa Barbara some things can be completely new and strange. Every country has its own customs or traditions. Some of them could be normal, but some of them could seem little bit weird.

I am a girl from a small city in Europe and I have never traveled across the ocean before. So the words like “jet lag” or “culture shock” were, for me, completely new. I never understood the meaning of them because in Europe we all go to sleep at same time. That means that we have different traditions, but close and similar to each other.time

What time is it?

When you land at the airport your first thing you must check is the time, because in Europe it is 12PM. What time is the right one? That’s the question. Here in Santa Barbara it’s 12AM, so should I go to sleep? No! And that is what jet lag is.

How to use the toilets?

It could be strange, but the toilets are also different. And for someone from Europe it’s a shock. Are there really gaps when you close the doors? So everybody can see me through the gaps, right?hands

Are people here my friends now?

This could happened that you are standing at a bus stop and some stranger starts to talk with you. Just in Santa Barbara. The people here are so kind and helpful. They just talk with you and at the end of the conversation you are friends. How easy. That’s why I feel so welcome in this country.

How to say hi?

Hear Spanish in Santa Barbara is really common. All the names of the streets are in Spanish and also in some public buildings you can hear this language. That is because Santa Barbara used to be a Spanish colony. However, for every day use, just learn how to say hi in Spanish. That will be enough. So “hola” and “gracias senora”!freez

I’m freezing!

Sometimes you can feel cold here because of the air-conditioning or cold weather. Don’t underestimate it and take a  warm sweater into your classes. Even if Santa Barbara has the ocean it isn’t warm all the time. Suprisingly.

Goal!

You can say you are citizen when you help tourists get to the beach. You won! Santa Barbara is not so hard to orient oneself. So after a short time you will feel here like you are at home. Culture shock is gone and jet lag is your very old friend.

WELCOME TO SANTA BARBARAsanta-barbara-lifestyle-itineraries

 

Braveness for Imperfection

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Nina Brietzke, Germany

“To be brave enough to show your weakness”- this quote is seen very controversial and is interpreted differently by people. The opinions of “showing your weakness” are often negative, because it is incomplete and something is missing.                                                     I mean, nobody likes a blank between their teeth or a blank in the fence.  Is this adage nothing else as a succession of words? Or should we focus on this proverb more often, especially in our private life? Should we take this as advice in a world full of ideals and prejudices?

Nina 1

“Mom, I can’t study for this test, I’ll show my “braveness for imperfection” tomorrow. This sentence comes in mind first, when people think of the topic of imperfection, but it means so much more than just a lazy excuse. It means to be brave enough to try something new or to be brave enough to be yourself, which isn’t easy the whole time. It can also mean to accept the imperfection and purpose to be different from the others. Now one should already see the wideness of this topic and the most exciting thing is that every person in this world gets confronted with this- even if they don’t want to. After a short survey of some of my friends I found out, that this “blank” is mostly seen  positive.

Nina 2

A “blank” in your personality is such a normal thing and is even necessary, because of the uniqueness. These things only make us interesting- and they’re right. So this “blank” stands for the uniqueness or just for the imperfection. To be different from all the others is interpreted as a positive aspect.

But if you look on this extensively you will know that this isn’t very easy. Especially school kids can be very harsh to other kids. The girl that colored her hair blue and cut it short is the one the others are laughing at and that because she is different. To open your character to others and show your interests requests much braveness. It’s sad that young people in particular are getting influenced by the fear of being different or being imperfect. But they should risk this fear to develop their own personality and not just a copy. To be bNina 3rave enough to show your weakness could also mean to find out your sense of life without knowing about it before and just being open to what the future will offer you. These experiences can be the reason of growing up to an independent person and they also form our character so we become who we are – perfect with our own imperfections. So the “blank” can be so much more than the translation of imperfection or wasted time.

Everyone aims for Perfection  

Whether at work or in your private life: everything around you seems to be perfect. Often women are under so much pressure, because the environment expects them to be dressed to the nines, take care of their children and cook all the time after they cleaned the house. Moreover they have to be in a good mood all the time and when the man comes home from work they are expected to take time for him, because he had “such an exhausting day”. At the same time most of these women forget about themselves. These women should definitely free their selves of some expectations of environment and take care about how they see themselves.

Set Priorities

Showing the courage to be imperfect- in this case it means to set focus on the things, which are really important and also to be brave enough to say “no” to certain things, which are unimportant. First you have to ask yourself, if it’s important for you how much friends you have on Facebook! Or is it more important for you to be seen as a perfect person?! No it’s NOT! It does not make anybody happy or even better.Nina 4

The braveness of imperfection- one’s can look on it from different perspectives. You can either see this positive or you could be biased negative, but all in all every one of us has to show their “perfect imperfections” in certain situations of life. The truth about that is that we can legitimate our own mistakes through the “blank” or just accept them but we can’t claim that the “braveness for imperfection” will be easy all the time.

If you liked this and are interested in the topic click the link below.

Thanks 🙂 https://youtu.be/GXoZLPSw8U8