Welcome back! Jasmin here with more stories from last month. First thing’s first. I’ve released the first version of the game I’ve been working on! And I’m very happy about it! It’s an accomplishment that I needed in my life right now. You can find the game at https://github.com/jasminzukic/Jibimba . I tried to make it simple to start and play but if you have any questions or problems with it, contact me on jasminzukic2@gmail.com. There’s still a lot to be added to the game and right now I’m reading, researching, and implementing it slowly.
It’s still snowy in February and one of the teachers or kids had a great idea to go out and paint on the snow. Why haven’t I thought of it before!?!? Such a simple and elegant idea to use the snow as a white canvas and paint to your hearts content. When the snow melts the paint also disappears with it.
One of the kids had an urge to do video editing and film some cool stuff. It’s not my field of expertise but I’ve helped him and the expert to fulfill that wish. Because in this school there is no forcing kids to learn (except with the governmental curriculum and parents demands to follow it), these moments where the kid wants to absorb as much knowledge as he/she can, are very precious to us. That’s when we shift into fifth gear and give as much as we can from ourselves. A kid can learn something in an afternoon, what would usually take him/her weeks or months if they’re not interested in it.
At the end of the session, the kid showed everyone what he created and I can easily say I enjoyed the video. You can see in the picture the reactions of the crew as they were watching that video for the first time.
About me and my life. I’ve started planning out a yoga class to hold it for the local community. I’ve practiced it for 3 years but I’ve never lead a single class. I’ve heard from my cousin which practiced the yoga for maybe 5-10 times that once the people around him asked of him to hold one class for them. And he did it. And the people liked it very much. Remembering that story helps me relax and be more confident of my skills. The class would start in March and I’ve had several trials in February where I would hold a class for myself or for one person. It was quite challenging to remember which positions comes after another. When I would practice, I would just listen to my coach and follow her guidance. Without even thinking which move comes next and why. Of course I’ve contacted her and asked what’s the sequence and why. She helped me a lot. She’s happy to help someone who wants to spread the love towards yoga and it’s practices. I’ll talk more about it in the March installment.
At home, I’ve bought a big garnek (engl. Pot) and a wok pan. I can finally cook food that can last me more than a day. Up until now I had to cook every day (sometimes even twice a day) because my utensils were pretty small. Just enough for one or two meals. I’m really looking forward to it, to free up some time of the day.
Interestingly, February was quite a weird month. One weekend was warm enough for me to go out and take my first proper bike ride away from the city, and the other weekend I was treated to go snowboarding in the mountains in the south. As for the bike trip, I went to the Odra river that is around 15-20km away from the city. I don’t know what it is about water but being near a big pool of water, I feel peace. After relaxing on the riverbank, I’ve decided to go back home taking a different route. As I was going, I realized that my battery on the phone is at 5% and that I will not be able to use the GPS anymore. So I decided to take one last good look at the map and go on without using the phone anymore. Of course I got lost. Even my wallet dropped out of my pocket. Luckily I’ve heard a weird noise and decided to stop and examine what happened. Soon after that I’ve got out of the forest and on to a road which told me I was on the right path. That path took me to the village called Pomorsko. It is a beautiful village with one wide road leading to the river and a boat that takes the cars across it. You know that type of boat that doesn’t use energy but it uses the river current to move across. I remember only experiencing that kind of boat once in Croatia and I remember it dearly. I would like to go back that village when it gets warmer again.
As a kid, I never went skiing or snowboarding. The most I would do at winters was sledding or skiing on a ghetto budget version of skis. We would make skis out of beer cribs. You know that long piece of plastic that you grab when you carry the crib. That would be our skis. It was a common thing to use in Bosnia and I’ve heard that Macedonians used it too. Now you can imagine how I felt when I was treated to a snowboarding trip in the Polish mountains. I was happy and scared at the same time. We’ve heard that the snow was quite icy which made me even more terrified. I had a choice to take skis instead of a snowboard but the latter was much more appealing to me. After waiting for 1,5h in line to buy the entrance ticket and to wait for the cable car to take us up the mountain, I didn’t want to take the easy path down. I didn’t want to wait again so I’ve told that I want to start from the top of the mountain. As usual for the top, the slope was steeper and it was hard for me to get a hang of it. After some trial and error I’ve decided to stop practicing and go down and learn along the way. Needles to say, I fell countless times (maybe 50). I fell spectacularly around 3-4 times. I couldn’t slow down. I’ve lost control. Luckily I didn’t break anything. Not even my spirit. At the end of the day, I can say that I know how to snowboard. And I know that I need to start at some easier slopes!
