Georgian Painters

Last week, while I was scrolling on Facebook, I came across several times quite a well-known painting of Malevich- Black Square. Personally, I find neither any meaning in this art creation nor any beauty. In some manner I got irritated because of the painting. There exist much more meaningful and beautiful pictures but people have no idea about them.
I will start with the most famous Georgian painter- Niko Pirosmani, a self-taught primitivist artist who invented a new technique of painting. He was born in 1865, at the age of 8 he lost his parents, worked as a servant, watchman, shop-keeper. His only dream was " to rent a room and paint and paint.'' According to a legend,Pirosmani lost his heart to a French actress Margaret and he sent her a million red roses for what he had sold his shop. Pirosmani died in poverty.
Lado Gudiashvili was interested in art from his childhood, he painted the pictures of historical figures and writers from the book. In 1922 Lado had his personal exhibition in Paris.In Georgia he covered the churches with drawings. Gudiashvili had never painted snow because he thought it was too cold for it and never painted sun, considered that one must feel sun itself in the paintings.https://www.google.at/search?q=%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%93%E1%83%9D+%E1%83%92%E1%83%A3%E1%83%93%E1%83%98%E1%83%90%E1%83%A8%E1%83%95%E1%83%98%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98+%E1%83%9C%E1%83%90%E1%83%AE%E1%83%90%E1%83%A2%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%98&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=GQ-zUqSNDeTx4QTZsoCQCA&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=774#imgdii=_
Unlike Lado, Elene Akhvlediani always painted snow. She studied in Paris. Elene developed landscape painting in Georgia. Her drawings are full of emotions, diversity, decorativeness.

http://burusi.wordpress.com/2009/06/21/elene-akhvlediani-7/

The teacher of Elene was Gigo Gabashvili- the first realistic artist in Georgia, the painter who founded Tbilisi Art Academy. https://www.google.at/search?q=%E1%83%92%E1%83%98%E1%83%92%E1%83%9D+%E1%83%92%E1%83%90%E1%83%91%E1%83%90%E1%83%A8%E1%83%95%E1%83%98%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=RhOzUqnBK6mv4ATj2YGgAQ&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=774
 One of the modern artists in Georgia is Gia Bugadze.

I adore the unique paintings of Rusudan Fetviashvili.








Guram Dolenjashvili was born in my hometown Kutaisi, nowadays he is in Moscow. For me it was unbelievable but the artist simply paints with a pencil. http://www.graf.ge/?showtopic=1920

St. Barbara's day in Georgia

On 17th  December  St. Barbara's day is celebrated in Georgia. In my country the martyr is considered to be a patron for children and the sick. One important ritual is associated with this day-it's Mekvleoba-Early in the morning, Mekvle ( the person who is entering at home firstly on this day) visits the family. This person is either a  friend, relative or a member of this family. Mekvle brings food, sweets, and wishes family members happiness. This holiday is also connected with eating fish, Lobiani (Bean bread)

pumpkin.

It's interesting that when Georgians were pagans, they celebrated the holiday, also in December, the day was related to sun worship cult and the name of the sun-goddess was Barbale.

FAQ about Georgia

1. Where is Georgia located?
Georgia is at the boundary of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Its neighbor countries are: Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Georgia is bordered by Black Sea to the west.Georgia's name in Georgian is Sak'art'velo.
2. What is the capital city of Georgia? Tbilisi,the largest city of the country, with 1,5 million inhabitants.It became the capital in the 6th century, previously the capital was Mtskheta(not far away from Tbilisi), it is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Mtskheta became the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tbilisi

 Mtskheta

3.How is the climate in Georgia?

In Western part of Georgia we have mostly subtropical zone and in Eastern part there is continental climate.

4.What language is used in Georgia?

Georgian language is our state language, written in its own unique alphabet. 

Definitely, it is not Russian and it is not like any other language.The first Georgian inscription is in Palestine,dated 430 AD. We have several dialects and other Kartvelian languages(for example,Svan). Other languages used in Georgia: Russian, English( not so widely, but a large number of youngsters know it), also, Azerbaijani people(6.5%) and Armenians(5,7%) live in Georgia and naturally, they speak their languages.

5.Is Georgia a Christian country?

Yes, most of the Georgians are Orthodox Christians. Firstly,Christianity was preached here by St. Andrew, it was in the 4th century when Georgia converted to Christianity by St. Nino who is considered to be a relative of St. George.According to the legend,St Nino came to Georgia with a cross of vine branches tied up by her own hair. Christianity became the state religion in 337 AD. Other religions in Georgia are,for instance, Islam, Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicism.

This is Svetitskhoveli Cathedral,located in Mtskheta. It is known as the burial site of one piece of Christ's Holy Robe(the Chiton of Jesus Christ, said to have been worn during his crucifixion.)

6.What about politics in Georgia?

Georgia is a unitary. semi-presidential democratic republic, the President as the head of state and the Prime Minister as the head of the government.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17301647

7.What about the economy of Georgia?

We had serious economical problems after the fall of Soviet Union and due to the civil war in the 1990s, since 2000 Georgia has made considerable economic gains.The main fields of our economy are:agriculture,metallurgy, hydro-resources. We have a big number of migrant workers.The currency is Lari. (At this moment,1$=1,71 GEL).

8.What can you say about the education in Georgia?

In my country the education has constantly been one of the major issue.Old Greek historians always referred to the educational centres in antique Georgia.Since 2004 the government reformed the educational system.Georgia is participant of Bologna Process.The study at school lasts 12 years,from which 9 years are mandatory.The school system is divided into:elementary(6-12),basic(12-15) and secondary(15-18).The students can get vocational education or if they pass the Unified National Exams,they enroll in higher educational institutions.(Most of the Georgian students do).Three levels of study at these insitutions: BA(mostly 4 years), MA(2years), Phd(3years)

9.what are Georgians' sport interest?

The popular sports in Georgia are: football,rugby,basketball,wrestling,judo.. Formerly, Georgians were playing a game called Lelo which is similar to rugby.Our rugby team is quite successful.

10.what are Georgians' traditional clothes?

The traditional male dress is called Chokha( for other Caucasian peoples, too).There are different types of Chokha. Look at them,how beautiful they are : http://ucnauri.com/173024/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%AE%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9A%E1%83%9D%E1%83%93-%E1%83%A5%E1%83%90%E1%83%A0%E1%83%97%E1%83%A3%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98-%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90%E1%83%9B%E1%83%9D%E1%83%A1%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98/

And now see a wedding of Ian Gillan ,the lead singer of Deep Purple in a Georgian traditional way.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Yn2LjCCVQ

11.Who are some famous Georgians nowadays?

For example,Zaza Pachulia,a basketball player in Atlanta Hawks of the NBA; Katie Melua-British-Georgian singer; Ballet dancers: Nino Ananiashvili; Opera singer Paata Burchuladze, a retired footballer and now Minister of Energy,Kakha Kaladze, has been playing in A.C. Milan for nine years. 

Maybe not all the questions I came to think here,but that's it. :]

Must-See Georgia

Georgia is a charming country; nowadays a big number of tourists are visiting it. Why should you travel to Georgia? Here are the reasons.

•  The earliest hominid, discovered in Europe, was found in Georgia, Dmanisi.
•   Anyone who is aware of Argonauts myth knows that Georgia is a Golden Fleece country. (According to Greek legend, Jason went with a band of 50 heroes in the ship Argo to fetch Golden Fleece, in Colchis-an old kingdom in Western Georgia. Also, the word "medicine" comes from the name of Medea, the witch-doctor daughter of King of Colchis.)
•  Georgia’s unique nature, distinguished by its flora and fauna. https://www.google.at/search?q=Georgian+nature&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qXKcUsO7F-WC4gS1zIDADw&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=774
•  Picturesque sights of the country: the oldest churches and monasteries, architectural monuments, national parks. One of the highest inhabited village in Europe is here – in Ushguli. 

https://www.google.at/search?q=Ushguli&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=-3KcUqHQLMqq4ATQuICAAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=774#q=Churches+In+Georgia&spell=1&tbm=isch&imgdii=_

•   Those who are interested in cuisine and wine, they should definitely try Georgian food and drinks. There is    influence of Asian and European culinary traditions. Georgian feast is called Supra where different kinds of  delicious dishes are served. Among them are: Khachapuri (bread stuffed with cheese), Khinkali (dumpling),  Sacivi (walnut sauce) and so on. You can find the recipes on the following link:  http://www.georgianrecipe.com/ And look at the dishes: https://www.google.at/search?q=Ushguli&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=-3KcUqHQLMqq4ATQuICAAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=774#q=Georgian+food&tbm=isch&imgdii=_
•     Georgia is one of the oldest wine-producing countries and you can taste various wines from different regions.
•   Interested in dance and music? Diverse Georgian dances, for instance, Kartuli expresses grace of a woman and dignity, respect of man. Just watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP4-ca9Zfzc and this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmnsv09nl3Y
•   As for Georgian music, we have ancient musical traditions, folk songs are marvelous to hear. One of them “Chakrulo” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sWsuc223uk was even sent to space by NASA as one of the piecse of Voyager Golden Record. One of the most well-known musical band is The Shin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE0Gu7C1O6w  

•       Folklore lovers can find out here Georgian myths, legends, customs, introduce to festivals, for example, Tbilisoba, an annual October festival, on that day there are open-air concerts of traditional music and dancing at the historical part of the city.
•        One of the most important reasons why you should visit Georgia is people. They are friendly, warm, open, affectionate, willing to help and what’s more, very hospitable.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yx4ZAsoywE. Guests in Georgia are called "gifts of God" so you will be welcome anywhere in my country.
•  I think that you will enjoy too if you listen to the song of  one of Britain's most successful recording artists, Georgian Katie Melua:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHQG6-DojVw 

         I hope this short info about Georgia was interesting. I am going to keep writing about my country. :)

How to reach success

Several weeks ago I watched a movie called ''Rudy''(starring Sean Astin). The film is about a boy whose dream was  playing football at the University of Notre Dame. Almost everybody told Rudy that he was not talented enough, tall enough, clever enough to play football. Rudy refused to give up his goal and became a player-the first of only two persons in Notre Dame history ever to be carried off the field by his teammates This fact-based film is really touching for me. It's a movie about perseverance and grueling hard work, it will make you believe that anything is possible. Like Rudy, everybody wants to fulfill their dreams and become successful. No matter who we are and what’s our social background, all of us want to be fortunate.

I was thinking about traits of successful people and came up to this: they are self-confident, curious, hard-working, responsible, initiative and have a skill of leadership. That’s why they are different from mere followers. Successful people are creative, have new ideas or use old ideas in a new way. These people have enviable self-control and don’t panic.They are enthusiastic and bring to others this sense. Also, they have a good character. I think the two most important keys for success are improving yourself and having a good relationship with other people. One of my favourite writers- Dale Karnegie- in his book “How to Win Friends and Influence the People” advises readers that we should become genuinely interested in others, be  good listeners, make the other person feel important and so on. In addition, if we want to be successful, it’s better to use networking- getting to know people who can help you develop your career prospects, support each other and exchange essential information about jobs.

If you want to improve your life, you have to start it with yourself. When  you always feel sorry for you and for your condition, this will be the waste of your energy instead of doing something useful and this will transform into the worst habit that can really damage your  life. For personal growth it’s necessary to set high standards which will help you to improve. ‘’Success is a ladder you cannot climb with your hands in your pockets.’’ First of all, you should organize your life, then specify your goals and dreams, maintain “think positive” attitude. Next, you should develop skills such as speaking effectively, writing properly, being able to work alone or in a team, being a good communicator and etc. It’s important to work hard that must be accompanied by patience and never give up untill you achieve your goal. Besides, some people believe that success in life comes from taking risks. Others believe that success results from careful planning. To my mind, proper planning with careful action can help us to success in life.Also,you mustn’t be fearful of your future because if you allow your fear to grow bigger, it blocks and ruins everything.

What's more, education is one of the ways to reach success. However, if we take  examples of some richest and successful men, we will find out that they were in fact school drop-outs. For instance, Steve Jobs-a co-founder of APPLE  never graduated from college. Bill Gates,the second wealthiest man on the planet, chairman of one of the most successful corporations- Microsoft, in fact, didn’t graduate from  Harvard. This proves that education may not be necessary as the key to success. Sometimes success is simple,you just do what's right in the right way,at the right time.

Unsuccessful people always blame others for their failures ,all the time they see obstacles in every opportunity and unfortunately, their one of the biggest problem is poor time-management. If you don’t take control of your time. you’ll start wonder where it all went wrong.

Dale Carnegie mentioned: ‘’Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.’’Truly, there exist so many examples that success often consists of failures: Henry Ford’s first auto company went under but he didn’t give up. Thomas  Edison failed 10,000 times before he made the long-lasting electric light bulb. Beatles were rejected by many record labels. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because “lack of imagination and no good ideas.” So you can profit from your nonachievements and errors.

To sum up the above, success come to those who are/are becoming industrious, diligent, undaunted, use the skills which they necessarily need and use the opportunities. “Do not wait: the time will never be ‘’just right’’. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.” (Napoleon Hill-the author of “The Law of Success”)

Language Learner

Hello! I will post my rewritten letter to the lecturer.

Salome Khurtsidze                                                                                        SUK1/group4/Begley
en_GB                                                                                                          November 3,2013

Dear Fiona,
My motivation to choose English is love,enthusiasm and eagerness to it, a desire to get to know literature in English, watching movies and listening to the English songs.We live in the information age, whenever I would like to search for something on the internet or find world news, English is definitely needed. Additionally, everyone knows that English is a global language and knowledge of this language is one of the basic steps getting a well-paid job.Thus I decided to study at the faculty of English language and literature so that I really become proficient.Also, I was in England at summer school and it was a final urge to choose English as my major.
My strengths as a language learner are that I am motivated, diligent, can work in a group or independently and have good time management skills. I am aware of the fact that learning a language is a long process. Therefore, I have to be patient. Aspects that I feel confident are reading, listening, speaking but I definitely would like to improve my writing skills.
My preferred strategies and techniques for learning a language are: to use monolingual dictionaries, search for synonyms, antonyms, idioms ,read texts thoroughly and later check for unknown words, I always do grammar exercises. It was very useful for me when, last year, my American friends helped me to improve my English and in return, I tutored them in Georgian. My favourite learning style is social(interpersonal) so I feel comfortable while studying in a group.To my mind, one of the best ways to master a language is studying daily and practicing a lot because "for the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." (Aristotle)

Regards,

Salome Khurtsidze

[304 words]

More than one month in Austria 2

In this following post I will talk mostly about food. Generally,when one moves to another country, one of the problematic matter is getting used to foreign food.In my case there was no problem. :) At my home town, frankly speaking,I didn't cook too much-imagine,you are coming from the university-exhausted and ravenous,will you have any mood for cooking? Thank Goodness,my mom always prepares for me delicious meals.But in Graz, I had to test myself as a cook. Before arrival, I thought that I would eat some food at cafes but It wouldn't cost so cheap. So, first of all, I got to know all supermarkets near my house and started shopping there with my roommate. My country has a rich food culture:different salads, soups, fish, especially, poultry and meat, bread and famous for wine and Chacha (Georgian vodka/grappa). Fortunately, it wasn't difficult for me getting used to Austrian cuisine. It is abundant because of influence other countries, like Italy,Switzerland, Hungary, Germany and etc. One of my favourite is Hungary's national dish - Goulash.

 I am fanatically in love with schnitzel and also, with knodel, perfect side dish for meat or as a dessert.
Apfelstrudel is fantastic.For me,as a lover of apple,that is ideal, I often eat it with tea. Indeed, Austrian cakes and desserts are adorable. As for other dishes, for example, salad is appealing.I,also,cooked a popular Georgian dish - Ojakhuri-with pork,potatoes,onions.The only thing which worries me,I could not find here cheese exactly like Georgian one, but I don't lose hope!

More than 1 month in Austria

I departed my country,Georgia on 1 September and arrived in Austria  with my friend,Kate.The very first day we spent in Vienna-in the City of Dreams and City of Music.We visited Schoenbrunn Palace-the uppermost tourist attraction in Vienna.

The next day we got to our destination Graz-UNESCO City of Design.I am really thankful to my buddy(mentor) who met me at Graz station and helped me a lot later.The first two weeks at the university were "Orientation Weeks".After it,we had much time to get to know the city where we would live next 5 months.First of all,I had to remember streets very well and a map of Graz was especially helpful for a person ,like me,who is not very good at orienting directions.Well,I don't need a map now.:)

Kate and I, naturally, did some sightseeing:we visited Schlossberg, famous for its Clock Tower, Kunsthaus, Landhaus, Murinsel,Double Spiral Staircase,my favourite place: Stadtpark. Still we have to see other places of interest.

One of the most impressive event was Aufsteirern about a month ago,Styrian folk culture festival where we listened to traditional Austrian music,saw Styrian folk dances,different costumes,tasted local food and beer.I was amazed.

P.S.To be continued.