The importance of education

Education gives us a knowledge of the world around us and changes it into something better. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life. It helps us build opinions and have points of view on things in life. Education makes us capable of interpreting things, among other things. It is not just about lessons in textbooks. It is about the lessons of life.

 

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#10 author Medas Butkus

"Today I would like to talk about my favourite country, United States of America. I like it because of its history and progressiveness in such a short time. 

This country is interesting because people from all different parts of the whole world came like as a one strong community and created a beautiful country. 

Even the most famous and expensive cruise ship, the Titanic sank while sailing to America.

When planning to go to this country, first of all, I would note the places I want to visit there and the days when I can visit different places. 

One of my first places I would visit will be the Statue of Liberty in New York, it has fascinated me for a long time. 

The second place I would consider my favourite in the United States would be the "White House" conceived by George Washington.

It would be interesting to see how the country’s presidents live, how the whole interior looks. 

There are still a lot of places, but I would consider these two places to be the top 2 places that would leave the biggest impression on me.

Since I was planning to go in the summer, I would put on summer clothes and a little warmer if I stayed there till autumn or winter. 

Exclusive items I would put in my suitcase would be an attribute of the Los Angeles Lakers because I really like both the NBA and especially this top US basketball league club. It's just a shame I couldn't watch the match because COVID-19 is spreading.

Anyway, maybe I would go out to meet one or another Lakers basketball player and ask for autographs on the attributes. This is where I would face the problem. 

This would be a ban on keeping a closer distance with the players. 

But you don’t necessarily need to meet with a person to ask for his autograph, you can also pass it on to someone who is interested in it, or at least could provide such a service, and that’s how I would deal with the problem.

When I return home first of all I would tell everyone what I had experienced during this journey and if I had to get out, get the material evidence and show them. 

As many memories as possible should be brought back, as you can’t travel to it every day".

                        Dystopian books

Animal Farm's people are animals. Animals living on a farm rebel against the people who exploit them and take over the farm. Their aim is to create a more equitable community. The smartest among them are the pigs; They soon form a leading team, and they deflect the revolution from its path. Unfortunately, a dictatorship that is more repressive and brutal than humans has been established. George Orwell criticizes a historical fact in this novel. It will be clearly seen that the leading pig in the novel simply symbolizes Stalin. Although the other people are not exactly certain, they are people who might be in a dictatorship environment. The subtitle of the novel is A Fairy Tale. It is not a fairy tale to entertain the little ones; but the novel is written in a fairy tale telling.

The Party's worldview was more easily imposed on people who could not understand it at all. They swallow everything and do no harm, because just as a corn grain passes undigested through a bird's body, nothing is left of what they swallowed. Nineteen Eighty-Four is the author's future nightmare scenario. A totalitarian world order in which individuality is destroyed, the mind is taken under control, and people are transformed into mechanized masses, is fictionalized down to the finest detail with an incredible imagination in the novel. Considering the plays that have been staged on the world stage in the past and today, it is a realistic as well as utopian One Thousand Nine Hundred Eighty-Four. It is a masterpiece that never goes out of date; it is a warning cry not only for tomorrow but also for today.

In an unknown city, a man waiting for the traffic light to turn green suddenly becomes blind. However, he is not in the dark, he is in a white space. After that, the epidemic of blindness spreads to the whole city, even to the whole country. There is nothing left, neither management nor the order; all blind people are quarantined. Chaos, scum, hunger and bullying that cannot be imagined prevail. Life has stopped, people strive to survive at all costs. The novel focuses on seven people, one of whom is a child, quarantined at the mental hospital in the city, and not separated after they get rid of this place. There is also a woman among them, who is the only one in the city that can see and she guides the group. These seven people struggle to survive in this hellish city.

In an unnamed country, when the world is established, an unprecedented event takes place: Death gives up his duty and no one dies. The joy that suddenly spread to the country in waves, soon gave way to disappointment and chaos. The fact that people don’t die doesn’t mean that time has stopped, it is an excruciating old age waiting for them now. Everyone, from the government to the church, from health institutions to families, from companies to the mafia, has to struggle with the consequences of the elimination of death. However, death returns among people with an unexpected identity and unexpected emotions.

 

 

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#9 author Modestas Kundrotas

When I was a little boy, my grandpa told me the stories how he was traveling around the world. His dream was to visit every country and every island. As a fact he has fulfilled his dreams, but except of one place, islands of Maldives. 

He couldn’t go there because he was sick, so when I was child I promised him that I would finish his dream. From that promise this island became my dream destination. 

Firstly, when I was eighteen, I had passed car rights and bought the car. After one week later I took with me a suitcase with clothes, passport and money. Then I left Lithuania my native country. First, I went to Warsaw, Poland. There I’ve spent two days and I admired the city.

Then I bought a plane ticket to the island of Maldives, because they were the cheaper once. The plane was flying out from Berlin, Germany.When I was already in a Germany on my way to the airport, only one hundred kilometres left, suddenly my car broke and I was somewhere in the woods at night. I was so scared. But after an hour I felt better because I saw a car coming to my direction, it was a hope and sign which I had to take. In this car of course, there were unfamiliar people, but they have taken me to Berlin’s airport. 

Later I flew out and got to the country of Maldives in there I stayed for seven days, I visited all their islands. The islands were amazing beauty, the water was very clear, even I saw what was at the bottom. When I flew back to Germany, I had to figure out how to bring my car and back to my country. So, I found a man who would help me out and have told him my car locations, he took me there and had loaded my car onto a trailer and took me to my hometown.

When I got home, I went to Grandpa and told him that I had finished his dream, didn't miss any adventures I had. He was smiling andsaid to me that he was proud of me. I really believed that my journey will end when car had broken down but I hadn’t given up and after some time to me very helped friendly family, they found me and helped me to keep grandfather’s promise I am very grateful to them. It was one of the most important my dream destination which I had successfully completed.

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#8 author Emilė Tamulionytė

 

Remember those days, when you were little and watched animated movies all day? I do not know about you, but I have always wondered how they make them. Then, once my mom told me about cinematic arts and Hollywood. Since then, all my dreams, hopes and future plans are associated with that place.

Let me guess – now you think I want to be an actor? No, but close, I want to make movies. Like I said, movies kind of raised me. I have seen all the classics, like The Godfather, Casablanca, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and etc. I had dreams about visiting Hollywood, about how wonderful it would be if I were a known director. I kept thinking what I would do there, what places I would visit, what I am going to pack… After years of planning and dreaming, I finally went there.

I am studying at USC School of Cinematic Arts. It is in Los Angeles, close to Hollywood. Of course, I needed good grades and video making experience but I got accepted. When I moved there first thing I was going to do is go sightseeing. Some of the places I went to visit was Hollywood Boulevard, Walk of Fame, Hollywood and Vine – the historic hub of music and movie business, Guinness World Records Museum and of course – The Hollywood sign. I remember myself looking at it in real life – It was absolutely breath-taking.

Of course, not every trip goes as smooth as silk. The second day of me being there I got lost. I did not panic, it can happen to anyone and I had my phone with me, so I opened up maps and started to go the way it told me. It was getting dark and even the maps showed I am going to the right direction – it did not feel right or familiar. 

Though the sky was as dark as a dungeon there were lights everywhere, the signs were very bright. You know how they say – Hollywood never sleeps. The second I turned my eyes to my phone, I saw it was dead. Then I allowed myself to panic a bit, but after a few more minutes of walking a saw a phone booth and though it was strange using it I managed to call my roommate and she came to pick me up. The whole situation was kind of scary but look at the bright side – I learned to use a phone booth! Not a great situation but with a new experience.

The only sad part about all of this was that I could not tell my relatives or friends in real life, how wonderful it has been living and studying here. The phone calls compensate not seeking them a little bit. Every time I video call them I always have so much to tell, one thing over another and even over the phone my friends and parents see how happy I am living here.

To summarize this whole story, I just want to tell you to reach your goals, study for them, do everything you can to make them your desired reality. I did and believe me – it all pays off.  Although I lived here for several years, I always feel like this city has something new to show me, it can never get boring.

                                                       

                                     Fashion kills

Have you ever thought that fashion would also cause death? There are many people who die out to be fashionable and to look cooler. Here are five deadly fashion trends in history!

Corset The fact that women turned their bodies into an hourglass by tightening their corsets more than necessary destroyed their internal organs and made it difficult for them to breathe. Internal organs were displaced and one of the ribs was easier to break. Broken ribs could also cause bleeding in internal organs. Joseph Hennella, who performed imitation shows, fell on the stage in 1912 because of the corset he tightened too much and died. The New York Times wrote that the cause of Hennella's death was "an increase in waist size."

Giant headdresses This fashion, popular with women in 17th and 18th century France, wore giant headdresses. This trend got out of control and gigantic, they turned into killing machines ... Although these giant headboards seem harmless in their own right, they were getting very dangerous in a hall full of candle chandeliers. Since the materials from which the headgear are made are very suitable for burning, it is known that there were women who caught fire by striking the headgear by the candle at that time. It is also known in history that a woman named Mrs. von Ilten burned her face, neck and hands as a result of her head burning.

 Using lead as a make-up material since ancient Greece until the 1920s, powders or lotions made directly from lead were applied to the face as make-up. Lead poisoning is something that kills people slowly. Therefore, it took years for lead to accumulate in people's bodies and become fatal. Until then, he was showing symptoms such as headaches, loss of appetite, damage to the brain and nervous system, a metal taste in the mouth that never went away, and paralysis. One of the causes of Queen Elizabeth I's death is thought to be the lead in her makeup.

Crinoline especially for women in the 19th century, were the invisible heroes of women's fashion. At the same time, the gigantic wire hoops that raised the skirt of the dress were also used to make the women's butt appear larger and the waist thinner.

In 1863, 2000-3000 people died in a church fire in Santiago, Chile. Tragically, wire skirts played an important role in the death toll. The fire started when one of the curtains caught fire from an oil lamp. People trying to escape from the church got caught in the obstacle created by the giant skirts of women. Even though people wanted to go out, many women in big skirts were piled up at the door, stuck and making it impossible to get out.

 

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#7 author Paulina Simonaitytė

I am sure that every single person had dreamed about some kind of journey and maybe some people have even fulfilled their wish to travel somewhere. But right now, the whole world is in a really bad situation, We cannot travel right now, we do not have that much freedom anymore. So all that is left for now is to imagine trip to our dream destinations.

Throughout every year I’ve dreamed about different places, but right now there is one specific country I would love to visit the most. It is South Korea. 

The first reason why I want to go there is probably because I am really into Korean music, when I started to like Korean songs I started to learn more stuff about South Korea. When I found out more about South Korean traditions, about the cities in South Korea and about South Korean culture I fell in love with this country.

Me and my best friend decided to go to South Korea, We both always wanted to go there, so we just thought, why not now? We bought plane tickets and booked the hotels.

 

We decided that we will book a few hotels in different cities so that we could see more. We made a plan of the places we want to see and all the objects that we want to go to. After a month, the time has come, we packed our clothes and other important stuff and went to the airport.

Our flight was a connecting flight, we had a stop in Frankfurt, Germany. Once we landed, we saw a different view through the window, it was so beautiful. When we got off the plane, we immediately went to pick up our luggage and we wanted to leave the airport as soon as possible so that we could enjoy our first day here. We walked to our hotel on foot because it was not that far, and we wanted to look around. When we reached the hotel we had a problem. We forgot to take one of our suitcases we, left it in the airport. We put our things in the rooms and rushed to the airport. Luckily, airport workers took our suitcase and they kept it with themselves safely, we got it back. We went back to our hotel and went to sleep. 

It was our second week in South Korea and we saw many things. We went to cities like, Daegu, Busan, Gwangju, Jeonju and also Jeju island! We took so many pictures and videos of everything. We also ate a lot of traditional Korean food and stayed in a traditional Korean house which is called hanok. We also met so many new people who became our friends. 

We came back home 3 months ago but we still cannot stop talking about our journey to South Korea. We promised that we will go there again. We told everything to our families and friends, we even made a presentation with all our pictures and videos. We brought them some presents from South Korea. Everyone was really happy, and we were happy too!

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#6 author Mireta Šalašidi

 

For a long time, I have been wishing to visit Iceland. I have seen pictures of the countries beauty – nature, lovely villages, and cities. I heard that a lot of people who visited Iceland – didn’t regret it. Therefore, I thought that I would love to visit it myself. When I did so, I thought to stay there for few weeks or so, but everything turned out quite different. 

One day, I finally decided to leave Lithuania and travel to Iceland, go out for some adventures there. Luckily, I arrived to the unseen country peacefully, nothing stressful happened and thankfully, I have booked a room in a beautiful hotel, in a small city. Of course, when I arrived to Iceland, I felt quite exhausted, so I decided only to eat, look around the hotel and rest in my room. The next day I woke up, I felt energized so I had my morning routine and made a plan for the day – I had so many places in my mind that I would like to visit!

Firstly, I thought that I could rent a car, and when I did so, I took a map of Iceland and started marking the main attractions: Gullfoss Waterfall, Myrdalsjokull Glacier Park and Asbyrgi Canyon. They all were far more beautiful in real life than in the pictures online. Of course, the next day I thought of more destinations and weeks went by, I had to go back to Lithuania. That day, I decided to stay in Iceland for longer because I had so many places to visit that I just did not feel ready to leave. Of course, my parents were super worried but I told them to relax. I did not regret this decision at all.

I continued travelling, finding breath-taking places but I always had to search for apartments to rent or hotels to stay in. If I were far away from the villages or cities, I used to sleep in the cars but I did not regret it, because at the nights I starred at the stars and the moon. The winters were freezing cold, so a couple of friends helped me out. All of the people were nice and friendly, which made me adore this country even more. In spring, I decided to visit the mountains and I felt overwhelmed. They were so beautiful; in Lithuania, we have no mountains, so this was like a blessing for me. For days, I stayed in a camp and felt inspired to be here, nothing could compare to the magical experience. I even wrote a little poem while I was there:

                                       “Beautiful Iceland, so fair,

You are, by your nature, so rare

The waterfalls so great, forest so old

You are so precious to our world.”

 

  After a whole year, I came to Lithuania and wanted to travel the same way around my own country.

  This journey truly changed me and left a mark inside of me. It made me appreciate my country’s beauty even more and to create wonderful things. My parents also noticed how I changed. I do not regret it in any bit.

 

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#5 author Gabija Lidytė

 Most of us dream of someday visiting every inch of the world to see all kinds of culture, architect, animals, and landscape. But several people set their destinations to see known and beloved places, and I think that lots of people make a mistake. Because in my opinion places that have little to no tourists are the gem in finding a perfect place to travel. That's why I wish to visit the island of Budelli.

Italy, for a long time, has been my most favourite place on earth. I very much enjoy their language and culture. So, I'm not surprised that it would be my dream destination. Although I wish to visit it one day, I always feel that I won't explore Italy if I went there. All the time I would be brought to places that tourists love to explore, where it's crowded. There is a language barrier too and because of that, I won't have a chance to go out to the market or calmer places in the city. I wanted to find a place that would let me experience Italy with fewer people and fewer tourist places.

The island of Budelli is the perfect place for this. It is a beautiful island that was a popular place to visit, but now fewer and fewer people visit it. On the island, there are no buildings, no shops, no cars, no people, nothing. It is empty, just filled with nature and surrounded by blue waters. It is the perfect place to stay for a day or two. If I could live there I probably would, and I would be very happy about it. I wish to visit there someday, to experience the quietness around me and to hear the ocean waves. I think a lot of people need a place like Budelli to help them to relax.

As much as we like to dream about traveling, there's always going to be one important question to answer. How in the world are we going to get there? I thought about it and came up with a plan. There are some cheap flights that you can book, just need to find which month they sell them the cheapest. Airbnb is cheaper than a hotel, plus there are easy to find and rent them online. Those places always have an exact address, so it will be easy for a taxi driver to know where it is. And lastly, there are ship rides to nearby islands that are popular with tourists, so it's easy to get there.

The best advice that I could give is to know what you are looking for on travel holidays. If you like crowded places, do you prefer animals to architecture and so on. Because then you can truly find the

best places for you to visit and have a lovely time there. The best is to learn about your likes before traveling and always think about yourself first then about what is popular".

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#4 author Žygimantas Daujotas

"I have always dreamt of going to New Zealand. It has lots of beautiful landscapes, that I have seen through movies, but always wanted to see myself.

One of my favourite movies that, I have seen is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I know, that all three movies were shot in New Zealand and I would love to see all those places myself. In my belief, there is a fourteen-day tour, which contains visiting places were Lord of the Rings movies were shot, not only the mountains and the fields, but the weapons and armour that were used in the movies.

I would like to go there in winter. Because, while here, in Lithuania, we have snow and it is cold, in New Zealand it is hot and people are swimming in the ocean.

In New Zealand I would visit everything in that fourteen-day trip. It would be fields, mountains, lakes and forests of New Zealand, sites where Lord of the Rings movies were shot and workshop of Lord of the rings. 

For my trip, I will pack my tent, mobile phone, backpack of course, some water bottles, dry food, money, first aid kit and good energy. I think, that is all I will need.

If I had a problem in a different country, I would call my parents and try to discuss about the problem with them, so they could advise me what to do. Of course, it is depending on the situation. If the problem is that I forgot to buy water for the day, I would buy it later or just endure it for a day. When I comeback, I would tell my parents and friends, who are interested in Lord of the rings, as much as I am, what I seen there. I would share my experience with them and encourage them to go on a trip to their dream destination.

In conclusion, I would like to encourage everyone to go on a trip to their dream destination, if they can, because there is nothing better than achieve your dream". 

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#3 author Jonas Dovydavičius

 

"When it comes to what places I would like to visit, I think I would visit almost any place if I had the chance to. I think the location that I would enjoy most would be Montreal City, Canada.

But why Montreal? Well, first of all, I have never visited the west side of the world. I think a great place to start would be Canada, as I think The United States could be a bit overwhelming for a first-time visitor. 

Secondly, I really like the architecture of the city. It has areas with skyscrapers, but also regions with buildings similar to the ones we have in Lithuania, for example, Old Montreal. Also, it has more nature than you’d expect in a modern city. Finally, I really like that there are a lot of skiing resorts around Montreal and Quebec. As we don’t have much of a skiing season in Lithuania, I think going snowboarding there would be fun. 

Okay, planning of the trip. I will definitely visit the Old Montreal region. I will probably travel to Quebec City as well. I wouldn’t rush to travel to the next destination as I would explore the places a lot. I’ll definitely have a map of some sort, but if I were to get lost, I would ask someone for directions. I would most probably travel there during late November and come back in late December. That way I could have time to get used to the city and explore it. I could also go snowboarding, because it would be the start of skiing season, and when I would come back, I could celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Packing wouldn’t be much of a problem for me, as the weather is more or less the same in Lithuania and Montreal during November and December. I would take a lot of sweaters and some warm pants as well. I’ll need a good scarf as well, because catching a cold in the middle of my trip would suck. Talking about catching something, I'll also bring some medicine with me in case I still manage to get something.

Ah, returning home! Hopefully, I return in one piece, no broken bones or bad energy. I would be happy to meet my friends and family again, as a whole month of being away would be quite a long time for me. I would have taken photos of the places I visited, I'll also tell my family and friends about the people I met. But most importantly, I would have made memories. In conclusion, I would love to visit Montreal to enjoy the architecture, nature and culture of Canada. I wouldn’t rush to explore everything in one day, instead I’d do it at my own pace, no pressure. I think it would be quite a memorable and fun visit for me."

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#2 author Kamilė Galminaitė

One of the best ways to explore and learn about our world is to travel. Of course, you can learn a lot about any place through the internet, school or from people who have been there. But this kind of knowledge does not compare to being able to go there yourself, seeing everything through your own eyes, and gaining new experiences. That is why many people have dreams that are related to travelling to other countries or visiting places they have never been to.  I have one of these dreams too.

Throughout my life, I have dreamed of visiting several countries and locations but at the moment I have one country I genuinely hope to get to visit someday which is Japan. If I were able to go there, I would bring along some of my friends who also dream of going there. I would also prepare a list of places I want to visit when I arrive there. Most importantly, I would try my best to learn as much as possible about Japan's culture, language, history.

I know that most people have at least some reasons why they wish to visit a specific destination and so do I.  

Firstly, I am very fascinated by their culture, art, and language. I would love to learn Japanese myself so that I could communicate with local people and find out as much as I can about the country. 

Also, I would definitely bring my camera so that I could capture some of the stunning architecture and art. I believe that a part of the reason why I find their culture so interesting is that it is completely different from mine. Japan is an Asian country that is located far away from my European one so the differences between these are huge. By going there, I would have the chance to learn and experience life from a different perspective. 

Another reason why I would love to go there is kind of silly. I have always loved Asian food, especially Japanese dishes. Of course, I have had them in Asian food restaurants but I am sure the original dishes would taste even better.

To summarise, I think that going to Japan would be one of the most memorable and fun journeys of my life. If I went there, I would not only be able to visit some of the most beautiful and well-known spots but also I would gain a lot of knowledge and experience. That is why my dream destination is this country.

Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#1 author Elzė Šleževičiūtė

I have always been amazed by the greek mythology. I love this idea that there are myths for almost every historical place. However, Athens is the place that attracts me the most.For this trip I would pack clothes for hot weather, of course and plan every little detail about where would I go. 

  
The first place I would visit here is the Temple of Athena Nike. This    ancient building fascinates me due to it‘s myth about Medusa. There are peaces from her story that I relate to very hard. I even got a tattoo of her. 

Secondly, I would definitely visit Acropolis. It is the most popular object to visit in Greece. Of course, I would love to see the nature there. The mountains look very cool and not far away there is the Mediterranean Sea too. 

I love meeting new people. It gives me anxiety but it still blows my mind knowing that there are more than seven billion of them. Just think about it. Every single one of them has a different life path that they chose. So why don‘t meet the greeks?

I heard that they like to party very much and for outgoing person like me it sounds amazing. In addition to that, greek people are very passionate about everything. Also, it is in their blood to cook very tasteful meals.

Although, I can‘t forget the dangers there. Human trafiking in Greece has become the country‘s top crime over the years. In 2018, the organization A21 estimated that there were 89,000 victims of human trafficking in Greece and over half were victims in the sex trade. Thoughts about being the victim of this crime gives me a huge anxiety. 

However, if I always were afraid of the world dangers, I wouldn‘t see the beauty of our planet. So, sometimes we have to come out of our shell, but be careful.    

  So, overall, I think that Greece is a stunning country, but has it‘s own dangers. So don‘t be afraid to see the world, but be safe.