My new life in Canada

Traps for beginners

2011-06-27T04:25:00.001+02:00

I always try to be as realistic as possible, not everyone will like being or living in Canada at first. We honestly thought that by getting our visas and documents we have finished with the paperwork, but there was even more forms and papers waiting to be filled and filed, you are never finished with bureaucracy. First of all you'll need to open a bank account, we went to the President's choice bank ( can be found in most Superstores or Loblaws and such) and opened a no fee account, paid 500 dollars on it and got our debit cards. Now we existed in the eyes of the money and credit scores world. We could rent something, pay our bills and get the Internet access. They will explain to you how to shop for points on your cards, but try at first not to apply for MasterCard or other cards they'll offer you, in most cases new immigrants are refused because they either don't have a job or not a well paid one or for some other reason...every time they refuse to give you any of the plastic cards bad credit points are added to your credit history. This shows to the banks if you are good buyer or not, after a few years when you want to buy a car or a house or something that costs enough for borrowing money from the bank, they will review your credit score and seeing that you have "bad" credits even if it's not your fault, they will offer you less favourable conditions under which you can borrow money from the bank. This is a little game that I despise, you can argue that the bad credits caused by refusals are deleted from your record, but the damage is already done. Bad credits are given to you to describe numerous purchase behaviour, if you were refused for a credit card, if you paid your rent late or similar.

1. Having a car (or not)

Good people are everywhere, I've met a lot of them here. I couldn't even count how many little things they have done to make us feel better, they helped with the moving, gave us some furniture and dishes, most of stuff I bought online on kijiji.ca.We bought only necessities , mattress for us crib and chair for the baby and some kitchen things and table with chairs. The first couple of months really felt like camping .
The only thing we had to buy at all cost was a car, we bought cheap used one for amazing 900 $,chrysler intrepid '98. The cities are huge and sometimes one street is 100 km long and you can't go anywhere without a car, you have to shop diapers and baby stuff and food and have to carry that around with crying baby...the car saved us a lot of trouble and money.Found that on kijiji.ca too. My husband had to go to Toronto for a job interview because he couldn't find one in his field in Kitchener,thanks to the fact that he was able to travel there, he got that job.I can't imagine how hard would it be for him to concentrate on his answers and interview in whole if he had hours of riding the train and public transportation behind him, it would have taken him more than 4 hours to get there by any other way and he would have been dead tired.
The only bad thing about having a car is that insurance houses are merciless towards newcomers and will rip you off if you let them.Try calling as many as you can and brokers too to find the best offer.It took us 3 months to negotiate price of 230$ instead of 400 $ a month (what was the offer they all kept giving us when we moved to Toronto.)

2. Prices

Small pond lots of crocodiles...in one store a t shirt can cost 5$ and the same shirt will cost 25 $ in other store, some stores such as sears and bay are always more expensive than others. I bought a blanket in Wallmart for 10$ and saw it later in zellers for 25$. If you're not a fashion freak you can use fliers and internet to see where to shop and save, there are outlets for clothes and furniture or factory stores that are cheaper, there are discounts and rollbacks all the time, don't shop at real prices wait for clearances and discounts if you can, you'll save at least half of your money. The same goes for food and cosmetics. If you come from a country with metric measures like I do always remember that prices are per LB that is for 450 grams not a kilo, sometimes it just seams cheap but it's not.
If you don't like it or find it somewhere cheaper simply return it to the store in 10 days and they'll get your money back.(unless its food )

Keep all your bills during first 6 or 7 months, if you have to apply for welfare they will want to know where you've spent your money.On the other hand you will want to know how high are your monthly costs for food and housing too, to be able to manage your income and spending.

3. Providers

There are Bell, Rogers, Primus and some other ones.Each of them will "fish" you with their offers...and there are many options, bundles and prices.For international phone calls we used Startek or blue tone ranging from 7 to 11 cents per min, in whole I had no complaint about them, however the other ones are disastrous. The cheapest package will get you barely usable internet speed with interrupting or breaking skype calls, if you use above your limit you will be punished with extra 60 $ on your monthly bill and if you try to escape a bad provider you will pay another punishment of more than 70$. The more expensive bundles are more or less the same except they cost a lot more, our first income was one minimum wage salary and we barely had enough to cover our rent and food, giving more than 100$ a month for phone, net and TV and not even a useful ones seemed to much, after one year in Canada I still don't have a TV, nor do I miss it. For the time I have to spend watching it , couple of hours a day, I don't want to pay 100$ especially not for the channels in offer that don't suit me at all.It's up to you, if you need it, try finding a deal that best suits your needs and remember that you won't be able to get out, even if they raise the price after few months, without being fined.

4. My favorite after the credentials recognition, the Driving license

It seems that two things are totally blurred and ignored after you come here, namely your diploma and your ability to drive here. I have driven for 12 years in Europe, and so did my husband and yet they treated us as if we have never driven a car in our life, we got our letters from the consulate that confirmed we did and scheduled tests to pay and get a canadian license. It costs under 100 $ all in all without classes and translations, and it can be done in one day if you're familiar with Canadian driving, I suggest taking a few classes just to get a hang of the rules.Also, google out G1 tests, there are numerous pages out there.
Go here to learn link
I wish it was that simple with the credentials too.

That is the one thing that makes me angry every time someone talks about it...The only reason I was able to apply for SW visa is the fact that I had a diploma in a field that was then on the NOC list. My diploma and language knowledge got me the points and a chance to immigrate.But after that our diplomas, skills and knowledge was erased the moment we landed. we were complete zeros, no canadian experience no work- no work no canadian experience...no canadian degree, no work and so on.
Luckily for us my husband was an IT with some knowledge of things in his field and it took him couple of months to find a job in junior position. Before that he had to work shifts on assembly line machine in a factory for a minimum wage.I'm still in that no work limbo, trying to get something out of my two diplomas...
There are ,however , many bridging programs that can help you if you are in a certain field of work.They mostly exist for green careers, IT and medical profession. Try finding them on government sites, colleges and settlement org's, they are always shutting down some programs and making new ones so check regularly.

First impressions

2011-06-03T06:43:00.000+02:00

Canada is a beautiful country, everywhere I look I see green, well kept parks, children playgrounds, cute houses that almost look the same but with different flowers in front...The weather is not what I am used to for this time of year, it's colder than it was back there where we came from, we are wearing jackets in the middle of June while others go around in short sleeves and shorts.We are getting used to everything, the weather, the money, the food and our new neighbourhood. And we need some time because everything is sooo different.
At first sight people here drive nice cars and live in expensive houses that are quickly put together from pre made wooden parts and all look alike.Most of the houses and cars are decorated with another country's flag to show where they came from, yet they are all Canadians.
We got lost several times when we went walking because it all looked the same.
Back in Serbia we were at the same poverty level as 90% of people around us, only a few were doing good and having more than others and that was noticeable, here we are the lowest level of society, almost zeros, no money but what little we have brought and it melts away very quickly, no work and no Canadian experience that would allow us to get work, and not to forget the fact that we can throw our credentials in trash.
The only thing we have is good language knowledge and will to succeed in what ever we have to do to save our family and child.
My husband found his first survivor job two weeks after we landed, our host and landlord connected us with some of his friends that helped my husband get that minimum wage 12 hour shift job.
My son just turned one and I stayed at home with him.I used to be a teacher, I have kindergarten teacher diploma from my old country too, I know several languages, he has two diplomas too as a chemistry technician and master of informatics.It took us a lot of money and effort to get this education, both of us were one of the best in our classes and finished in time with high grades, and yet this doesn't seem to matter here, it served us well only to get the famous 67 points, visas and tickets out of there.
The costs of living vary, prices are different in different stores, sometimes it can be several dollars more or less for a product , and when your funds are limited you have to be careful. Nowadays you can see most of the Canadian prices over the Internet, I use fliers that come once a week to plan my shopping and save money and I think that Price Chopper and Wallmart are the most favourable to my pocket, when I can I buy most of my fruits and vegetables in Chinese stores because they have great choice and low prices.
I've met a lot of different people here who gave me some god advice, some even gave me stuff for the apartment and clothes. They told me we should stay away from people who take every chance to talk badly about this place, because they live in misery and that they'll drag us into it, many are homesick and don't realize the fact that the moment you enter that plane your home is not what you remember, things have changed and so have you.
If you wish to adapt and not to become miserable you'll have to do so and fight every single day, don't ever forget why you came here in the first place.
I am not a religious person, I believe that we should do good , be kind to others and leave better world to our children, I don't believe in bearded guys up there who wait to punish you for your mistakes, I believe that every good person carries some sort of God in his hart and lives how his heart tells him to. That is why we never went to church.Church is not were God is, church is full of people and people are tricky, well, there is one good news for a newcomer who is willing to go there, you can get your connections and networking started there, get to know someone who knows someone who could help you with a job and so on...
Once you start working you will feel more secure when it comes to financial survival, but it will be hard until you fit in Canadian work culture. People here work a lot, sometimes they have to work overtime, they barely get to see their families but at least they get paid for that and can provide for themselves.
Canadian government donates to families with children every month certain amount of money for so called child benefit.There are also some other payments you will be entitled to.
if you can't find work and have no money you can apply for welfare and social housing.
There are many settlement organizations one of them is YMCA that will help you with anything you may need in your own language if necessary.
Go to the nearest library and join- it's free, you'll get internet and computer access, help, books, newspapers everything you need.

We finally landed, now what ?

2011-01-25T17:31:00.000+01:00

We were given a form to fill on the plane.It was about things that we were bringing with us, we had nothing but clothes packed in 3 suitcases and one old lap top. We did not plan to bring anything else since we didn't have it, but if you plan to import let say a car or household items you need to write down the description and value of these things, and a serial number if it's a car or something electronic ... We didn't purchase anything at the airport either so we left the form mostly blank.
We landed in the afternoon, it was a gray rainy day on Toronto airport, I remember looking trough the window and thinking after all that horror of a flight :" Oh God, what is this?" it was such a sad and depressing sight.After landing the first thing to do was to pass the immigration and then find the luggage. Our procedure lasted about 15 minutes,we reported how much money we had and they asked to see our bank confirmation, we applied for the PR cards and that was it, it would be sent to us within ca 10 days on the address provided.A nice woman at the counter for the new immigrants gave us the bag with brochures and sealed documents for health insurance and child benefit, she said to fill everything and send it.
We found only two suitcases, the baby's was missing,that meant no spare clothes and diapers for him, the rest stunk of alcohol because someone's spirit probably broke and it leaked over our luggage. I was at the verge of tears at the custom counter, he just looked at us and said "welcome to Canada..."
At the time we had a friend waiting for us to take us to his home in Kitchener.
When we first applied for visas we didn't have the faintest idea about life in Canada, I canvased the internet but could find anything to help me with understanding how things function here, the only thing I new was that it was probably better than where we were...My husband and I had a crazy idea to go to Fort McMurray work very hard for several years, save money and then move to a more hospitable place and have kids, well that changed over time because the years of waiting were passing and we wanted to have a kid before our thirties. We thought about Alberta for a while, we never wanted to live in Toronto because we don't like crowded big cities, in February 2010 when we finally got our visas we still had no idea where we were going and we were taking the 9 months old baby with us.
Luckily we contacted a family from our hometown, my husband's ex teacher at the university, that immigrated to Canada some 10 years ago and they agreed to help us and rent us their apartment in Kitchener.
They practically saved us, if it wasn't for them we would be lost in some awful and expensive motel in Toronto and we would probably hated being here from day one. Instead, we went to their home and were treated as guests, I loved Kitchener it reminded me of Europe because of the people there, they were all so nice and kind, always saying hello and laughing at us in the street, many of them helped us so much. I miss that feeling very much, in Toronto people mind their own busyness and don't even look at you, no one says hello and I stand in the elevator as a convict silently waiting to get out with a bunch of strangers. Big cities remind me of ant's nest, I don't like them.
....................................................................................................................................................................
Went to the bank and opened account with President choice, we put some money to make so-called credit history and got debit cards.
The next day we went to apply for SIN, we were waiting at the Service Canada Centre and about 20 minutes. and got that done as well. Be sure to carry your passport everywhere you go.
Next was applying for health insurance, that we screwed up, we were waiting half an hour just to be told the necessary documents are pr card, passport, contract for an apartment or a cable, a report from the bank accounts and to document the names of both spouses, we didn't have all of them yet.We had to fix that latter.

Flat
Before we came I contacted several agencies for rental apartments, only two responded to my mail, mostly all of them want you to have Canadian documents, the PR card, bank account with income, two rents, first and last, and the contract for one year. In principle, it is almost impossible to rent an apartment for the first month, maybe if you find someone to be a cosigner ... we were so lucky that we found the apartment before we arrived.
I can not write about hotels and motels, I know that they are not cheap but we didn't have to go to one so I was thrilled.As far as I know from google searches reservation is required at least 2 weeks before arrival and room rates are ranging from 50 to 100 CAD per night, hotel ,motel whatever.

Living in Canada

2011-01-25T07:08:00.001+01:00

It's been more than 7 months since I moved to Canada, in the meantime some of the things I have written on my other blog in serbian language have helped a lot of people from my former country who came here to Canada searching for a better future.
I really hopped that someone else will be able to read it in a language other than serbian by using google translator but when I tried to do that, it came out as a bunch of nonsense, so I've decided to slowly translate most of it into English myself. Some things that are not that important will be omitted but I'll try to do my best and give along the way the information that might be useful to newcomers and that certainly was useful to me.By the way this is not immigrant info blog, this is my experience and my views and thoughts, so what I write down in this blog reflects only my picture of Life in Canada not everyone's else, and as I always say every person who comes here has their own path, some find it great some find it not so great and with a lot of bureaucratic obstacles in their way...

Introduction

To understand my story a little bit better I'll try to shortly explain what my life was like in the country I came from. I was born in a country called Yugoslavia that doesn't exist anymore, it was torn apart by several consecutive wars that started in the early 90ties and lasted the next several years, even though the historical archives can put the start and the end dates on those wars, for the people there 90ties have brought a wave of darkness and despair that is still omnipresent in their daily life, the economy collapsed and never fully recovered after numerous crises and hyperinflation...it seems as though it is never going to be better and that there will always be some kind of crises that will prevent you from living your life as you should and put you down to miserable bare survival.
I try to avoid this subject all the time, because I didn't see my future there, I have learned a lot about things and people, about values in life, about politics and elite,about choosing your battles carefully, but that kind of schooling I wouldn't wish to anyone.
Anyway, after 2003 my future husband and I realized that things are going for the worse once again, the new prime minister who wanted to cut the crime and old politics and bring the country into EU was murdered and the old regime took over once again, we decided to immigrate even though we had jobs at the time and were living at his parents house.We were the lucky ones, most of young couples in Serbia cannot get a job or find a place for themselves, simply because there are no decent jobs since the economy is almost non existing. They are forced to live with their parents and share income of one or two small salaries among several family members, sometimes that monthly income can not even cover a single utility bill.
We had two salaries and that gave us the opportunity to save enough money over 4 years to be able to immigrate.In 2006 we applied under the old skilled worker program and finally in 2010 immigrated to Canada with our baby that was born in 2009. We actually thought that we have waited enough and wanted to get on with our lives and have a baby when the letter from embassy came, it took us then one more year to arrange papers for the baby. We arrived to Canada beginning of June 2010.

The Departure

If you are lucky enough to get a visa and are able to immigrate buy airplane tickets as soon as possible because the ticket price changes in thousands of euros (in our case ) the closer the departure date comes ...
We bought tickets three months earlier at a cost of 900 euros for the three of us, the baby pays only some 30 euros and doesn't get the seat of his own, one week prior to the departure date the same tickets were nearly 4,000 euros.
Buy a ticket out of summer touristic season, if you can, that means do not buy dates after 15 of June to 1 September because the tickets are most expensive in that period and during the holidays.
Be sure to regularly check your flight, what happened to us was that Alitalia canceled our flight a week before the trip and we were not informed, I almost got a heartatack! If something like this happens the arangments for the new tickets and flight are free of charge as long as you didn't cancel the tickets and it's their fault.
Some companies give a discount for buying tickets online, call their representatives on the airport, you can save some money if you purchase it online.
Cheapest tickets are economic classes, no special services for children or babies, by airfare companies logic children under 2 years don't need to have their seats, but a flight of 15 hours is quite an effort for babies as well as parents, from our experience.
Seats are small and uncomfortable, flight is long, you are lucky is if there is enough empty seats on the plane that you can put your child to sleep beside you, in other circumstances it should you sit in your lap non-stop ...

Ask about the luggage limits

Each carrier has a limit depending on the price of tickets, the cheaper the tickets less luggage allowed, the rule is 23kg per 10kg for children, and hand-5kg or 10 kg per person, of course, make sure you don't end up paying 10 euros per excess kilogram, or 100 euros per suitcase if the weight and dimensions are not proper.
There is no "discount" when it comes to luggage for immigration or emigration.
Baby strollers are not included in the weight of the luggage.
Bringing food and water into the airplane is not a problem if you have a young child with you, I had 4 bottles of food and milk and 2 bottles of water and no one has said anything, I also had a blanket, spare clothes, bag with diapers, plastic bags for waste and other baby stuff ... all that I needed for my baby I brought on the plane without problems.

Carrier

In principle, all overseas flights are flown in a similar aircraft, the difference is in the price of the tickets and a connection.
We took Alitalia and it was quite stressful, but a bargain compared to the others.One week before the departure they canceled our flight without any warning and without informing us, we tried to get the next flight, but they forgot to make a reservation for the baby ...As we arrived to Belgrade airport we found out that one ticket is missing, Alitalia's office at the airport did not work because the worker was not coming that day and we were one hour away from the flight and with only two tickets ... JAT our connection flight to Rome somehow provided a ticket for the baby to Rome and told us to solve it there with Alitalia's workers.Then it turned out that the luggage is a problem, we had a surplus of 4 kg for which we needed to pay 100 euros, we decided not to, somehow we got the guy in charge to let us go because these were all baby items, we told him he can take all the diapers and baby clothes and toys out on the floor if he wants to, but I don't want to pay that ridiculous amount of money...at the end we gave him 10 euros instead and he let us go.
In Rome we caught to a train to the terminal we had half an hour to fix the ticket problem but 325 people were waiting to board the same flight.We got split seats, I pleaded them and asked that we sit together, explained that we have a baby and that we should hold it for the next 15 hours, finally they had mercy and we got to sit together.

The plane was a mess, small narrow space full of people, and small seats. In front of us was a guy with two wives and four young children, crying, screaming and running around, he'd play music on his cell phone and turn it very loud...It was hard with a small child, no where to move or turn and baby could not sleep because of the noise and the crowd ...I told myself I'm not getting on a plane until he is big enough to endure the flight or to sleep it over in his own seat.
My advice to you is: if there is any chance to take the night flight do it, the child will at least get a bit of sleep and you'll get some time to recover ...
Some have advised me to give him fever medication that will make him sleep but I didn't want to do that, I didn't see the point we would be dead tired after landing and he would be fit for fun, that would probably be even harder to cope with.
It took us all together 20 hours to reach our final destination.

WHAT'S NEW ON THE WWW...

2008-07-24T00:12:00.022+02:00

Here are some interesting links I wish to share with you

SEARCH

Microsoft vs. Google try Bing

There's a new cool search engine you should try, search me.

Another very interesting search engine by category is Clusty

You know that tune that goes na annana na, well midomi sound search engine may know :)

Need to find a picture try reverse search engine Tineye

This is kinda interesting Search Cube

FUN AND OTHER STUFF

Online games are at King.com

Up for a virtual life? go to gaiaonline

If you know it all and want to know more I warmly recomend funtrivia

The most beautiful and very interesting blog you must see zuzafun

If you want to try something different try papercraft

I guess all lolcat lovers know this place icanhascheezburger

You like comedy shows? Try constant comedy

See the world trough street cameras www.earthcam.com

Need a cute gif for your avatar try here www.gifworks.com

You just need to know what's that new movie all about www.themoviespoiler.com

Cute stuff is at www.cuteoverload.com

And this one is particularly interesting and educating, learn about your country CO2 emissions live www.breathingearth.net

Hang out on facebook

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

deviantart must see

treklens, treknature, trekearth only photos

COOKING

My favorite - meals for you

Hostess

Very large collection of recipes allrecipes.com

Foodnetwork.com

Chow.com

Recipematcher.com

Martha Stewart

Fatfreevegan.com

Bakingmad.com

linkove za kuvare na srpskom mozete naci ovde

EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS

Ehow

Videojug a very good one

great advice from experts (such as doctors advice on baby care)
well explained steps (even fools can do it right when watching the video)
variety of themes and ideas

Expertvillage

Wonderhowto.com

FUNNY VIDEOS AND PICTURES

Metacafe

Bofunk

Dailyhah

TUTORIALS

http://www.tutorialized.com/

http://www.good-tutorials.com/

www.lynda.com

www.free3dtutorials.com

http://psd.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/

pencil portraits

www.3dlessons.com

http://www.pixelbrush.net/forum/

Free and good SOFTWARE

for photography Picasa

for drawing Artweawer or Open canvas paint.net

3D modeling DAZ

create your own web site with www.weebly.com

irfanview.com

Flash website free stuff wix.com

I usually download stuff from
sourceforge.net
download.com or tucows.com

WORTH READING

ECOGEEK latest news in eco technologies

Human anatomy

www.innerbody.com

www.winkingskull.com

Hope this was helpful!

U GOTTA SEE - GLOBAL WARMING

2008-02-10T19:00:00.001+01:00

It's inevitable, it's here and you have to be blind not to see it's happening. No matter what you think, even if you say we are not the ones to blame we'll be the ones "enjoying" global climate change. Do your part, educate yourself.
Visit wonderingmind42 on youtube.

Still think it's a myth and the ice isn't melting, the seas are not rising? Try finding difference on these photos...

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE

SWEETS

2008-02-01T18:39:00.000+01:00

I miss Spring...well, the winter is not without it's good sides, especially if you count in all the holidays, food and cooking. Here's a little advertisement for my sister, she made some cute sweets this year, wouldn't you like to try this?

Ovo je malo reklame za moju sestru koja je napravila slatkise na slici...mmm ukusno :)

NO ISLAND IN SIGHT- Nema ostrva na vidiku

2008-01-25T20:58:00.000+01:00

I don't remember the name of the smart writer who once wrote that weekends are like the islands in the sea of days...This time no island in sight for me.
It's just work work work...Sometimes I don't even know which date it is and where did I spent most of my time.
I really don't know how other people manage to have a life when everything revolves around work...The days just seem to blur one into next one and I feel so helpless.
Today I just have terrible headache and my throat hurts like hell thanks to a friend of mine who smoked half a pack of cigarettes while we were in the car together.
It bothers me very much.
Even if I say it isn't so out of courtesy, it still makes me cough and feel nausea, I hate that, but most of the time I have no choice. 80% of people around me smoke at least a pack per day.
At least my room is smoke free.
People just don't care, whether they poison you, themselves or their children...And if you say something about it they'll make you their worst enemy, imagine that, why should you care if they love to take death in small doses.
Actually, I don't care.
You can take what ever you like, if you want it that bad, but please have mercy, have pity for the others who want to live smoke free.

Ne sećam se imena pametnjakovića koji je napisao "vikendi su kao ostrva u moru dana"...a ovih dana nema ostrva na vidiku za mene.
Nema vikenda, nema odmora, samo radi, radi, radi u nedogled. Ponekad ne znam ni koji je datum, ne znam gde mi je pobeglo svo to potrošeno vreme, čini mi se da su se svi dani stopili u jedan jedini koji tako prazan i uvek isti traje u nedogled...
Nije mi jasno kako drugi uspevaju ( i da li uopšte uspevaju) da imaju život pored svog tog posla.
Ustvari danas sam malo patetična zato što me jako boli glava i grlo, zahvaljujući koleginici koja je ispušila pola pakle pored mene dok smo bile u kolima.
Smeta mi, bude mi muka, peku me oči, kašljem hoću da umrem.
Smeta mi, iako kažem da mi ne smeta, iz ljubaznosti valjda...A i nemam baš puno izbora svi oko mene puše, bar 80% ljudi koje znam.
Jedino je još moja soba bez dima.
Ljude nije briga koga truju, sebe, tebe, svoju decu...nema razlike i samo probaj nešto da im kažeš na tu temu postaćeš državni neprijatelj broj 1. Zamisli to, zašto se ti brineš, zašto bi tebe bilo briga što oni uzimaju smrt na kašičicu?
Pa i nije me briga.
Možete da se drogirate čime god hoćete i koliko god hoćete ako vam toliko treba, nije me briga, ali molim vas pokažite mrvicu milosti i razumevanja za one koji žele da žive bez dima i otrova.

AIN'T THIS GREAT?

Choosing gifts - Kako birati poklone

2008-01-20T22:41:00.000+01:00

There are so many great people in my life and I often want to repay them for their kindness and being around, or it's just their birthday and it's time for me to pick a nice present they'll like, yay!

Did you notice how most of the time (if you're not careful enough especially with men) you get things you don't like or can't even use? I often wondered why is that so, seems that many people just buy to someone else things that they themselves like or perhaps they buy the first thing they see? I can't guess.

Choosing present for someone is not that difficult if you care about that person, or even if you don't care that much but just observe and listen.
What I like the most are original and useful gifts, some people like expensive stuff, some like unusual and some like food...Everyone is different.

Right gift can change someone's life, or not to go that dramatic a gift always makes you happy right? Because it's attention that matters.

Well, the reason why I'm writing this is that I noticed that my darling always mismatches when buying something for me, and most of the time I kindly tell him to take me to choose the next time, besides the Valentine is coming...
I'm began to laugh when I got Oil Bath from him knowing that I have sensitive and Oily skin and that I can't use any cream or oil...I never wear red color or strong make up, and he was about to get me expensive red lipstick (ok. he likes red, so I don't blame him)
but it was so inconvenient to tell him I don't like all that stuff...

So here's my way way of choosing things for people
Girls:Generally, girls are all about fashion and make up and if you know their bathrooms all colors it's easy.
Boys:They are more into gadgets and tech stuff, but some are ok with cosmetics and fashion too.

1. Cosmetics

When you go to someones bathroom you'll always see a bunch of brands they like and use, remember the most common one and perhaps several names of the perfumes.(For guys shaving foam or aftershave, perfume, shower bath). Notice the colors that girl likes to wear or use as a make up, ask about her favorite make up brand and favorite color in casual conversation.For example, my best friend loves the earth tones and gold, so I bought her earth tones combined eyeshadow and powder with sparkling gold particles (I love that one too).
Sometimes you can get something advertised in popular girly magazines like fruity bubble bath or rejuvenating eye cream...Don't worry everyone likes the stuff that smells good.

2. Clothes

Ok. for me this is a big no no. It's pretty simple, you don't know the size nor the taste of the person. Some simple things like funny T shirt are ok. if it's for a boy but I don't really think many girls would appreciate to big or to small stuff that only you think is nice.Let's face it, everyone choses their own clothes if they're smart enough or selfconcious. But if you're rich and wanna get to worse dressed celebrity list then you let someone else dress you up,
which is not always a bad thing but...On the other hand, buying lingerie for your darling is always great and sexy (if you get the right size.)

3. Accessories, house stuff and jewelry

Oh great, wide range of trinkets.
Anything goes, trendy lather wallet or purse (as long as it's "in" and you saw it in latest fashion magazine), scented oils and candles, unusual and original key pendant, my favorite little pink flash memory key pendant, for those who like to cook spice jar set with spices, for readers latest bestseller book or a classic, for fashion freaks a belt or a scarf that just rocked in Milan (Just kidding ), for new Mums a totally colorful scrapbook album and those cute stars that play music and put babies to sleep...Just think about what that person likes or currently goes trough in her life.For example, my friend has beautiful green eyes and likes jewelry, I bought her silver chain with rectangle pendant decorated with green sparkly stones that goes with her style and eyes.
My sister was alone and sad for a while, so I bought her a pet to make her company, it was turtle then but now she has two lemmings they are easy to keep in flat and she loves them.

4. Books and Plants

These are my things, I like books and plants, as well as computer gadgets, but not everyone does so make sure that you're buying a plant for plant lover- and if the person has pets or kids please check the plant you want to buy for safety, most of exotic and pretty looking house plants can be deadly to cats and small children.

5. Boy's stuff

Fine drink (whiskey, vine, tequila, some exotic liquor ...)
Computer gadgets and players, ties and watches...
I must admit I'm not really perfect at choosing stuff for guys but you're free to give comments on what you'll like to get as a gift sometimes.

Kako birati poklone?

Bliži se dan zaljubljenih a usput i gomila rodjendana u mojoj porodici, vreme je da počnem da razmišljam o poklonima...Postoji zaista puno ljudi u mom životu kojima na neki način želim da se zahvalim što su tu i uvek se trudim da im odaberem nešto lepo što će im se svideti.
Kada kupujem poklon uvek razmišljam o osobi za koju je, o tome šta voli i kakva interesovanja ima, koja joj je omiljena boja ili šta posebno voli da radi (hobi).
Primetila sam da u većini slučajeva ljudi ne vode računa o tome šta kupuju ili daju na poklon, obično uzmu
ono što se njima lično svidi ili prvo što im padne pod ruku...tako ja sa masnom kožom od mog dragog dobijem ulje za telo na koje ne smem ni da pomislim ili iako nikada nisam imala niti nosila ništa crveno, dobijem drečavi crveni ruž...
Mislim, to i nije neka nauka odabrati pravi poklon. Dovoljno je samo da zapamtiš nekoliko sitnica o osobi za koju je, sitnica kao što su šta voli i šta ne voli i koja joj je omiljena boja.
Neko voli originalnost, neko voli skupe stvari, neko se oduševljava sitnicama...ali pravi poklon može nekom promeniti život ili ga usrećiti bar na jedan dan, jer pažnja je ono što se računa.
To je otprilike kako ja biram poklone, za devojke je lakše one vole moderne stvarčice i šminku a momci više vole tehniku, kompjuterske spravice i pića iako kod nekih bolje prolazi kozmetika i moda.

Kozmetika

Kada udjete u nečije kupatilo videćete gomilu raznoraznih stvari, uglavnom su to kupke i šamponi neke marke (npr. dove ili nivea) koje ta osoba voli da koristi, zapamtite bar jednu stvarčicu možda čak i imena parfema koji su na polici...kad su muškarci u pitanju tu je pena za brijanje, afteršejv ili parfem. Zapamtite ono što se njima svidja a ne vama. Pitajte drugarice ili devojke u neobaveznom razgovoru koje boje šminke koriste, koje marke ili boje vole šta im se posebno dopada od mirisa...Npr. moja drugarica voli zemljane tonove za oči i zlatnu boju, kupila sam joj set senki u braonkasto rozim nijansama i svetao puder za lice sa zlatnim toplim prelivom koji odgovara njenom tenu. Ponekad vredi kupiti nešto novo sa stranica magazina, kremice za umorne oči i kupke koje mirišu na voće ili čokoladu...mmmm to svi vole!

Odeća

Odeću generalno ne volim da kupujem, osim deci, ponekad. Ne znaš ukus osobe i veličinu pa bolje ne rizikuj. U redu je kupiti drugaru neku smešnu majcu sa likovima iz stripa ili nešto slično, ali ne devojkama. Većina ljudi voli da bira svoju odeću sama. Super je kad momci kupuju devojkama "zanimljiv" donji veš pod uslovom da potrefe veličinu.

Sitnice, biljke i knjige

Ah, gomila tričarija, to uvek dolazi u obzir.
Kožni novčanici, zanimljivi privesci za ključeve, mirisne sveće i ulja, stvari za kuću ... to sve zavisi od toga šta osoba voli ili kroz šta trenutno prolazi u životu. Za one koji vole da kuvaju komplet teglica sa začinima, za buduće mame albumi i igračke, za modne frikove torbice i šalovi, za ljubitelje životinja igračka za ljubimce ili ljubimac, za gurmane zanimljiva egzotična hrana ili piće, kuvar, bestseler roman, Dvd omiljenog filma, CD , sitnice za komjuter ili neki sitni kućni aparati...
Ali ako kupujete biljku najpre budite sigurni da ta osoba voli biljke i da nije alergična na njih a onda proverite da li je biljka koju ste našli otrovna, neke prelepe kućne biljke mogu biti smrtonosne za mačke i malu decu.

Muške stvari
Naravno to su uvek dobra i skupa pića, delovi za kompjuter ili skupe igračke u vidu mobilnih i raznoraznih "aparatića", satova, kravata...

Možda nisam sve savršeno nabrojala, ali slobodno dopišite ono što biste vi voleli da dobijete (u komentaru)

My first post

2008-01-16T21:06:00.000+01:00

Ok. Here goes,
I know blog is not really a rocket science but until I figure out how to make it look nice enough this will be my introduction to world of bloggers.
To tell the truth, i don't really know why I even created one, but I guess I'll do my best to make it amusing and useful, at least to people who share my interests.
It's funny, I can't even decide in which language to write...but let's face it English is one of the languages most people know so why not leave it this way for now.
If you wanna know who is behind these letters click link on my galleries that says Deviantart.Hope you like my works, enjoy.

Kao što rekoh, blog nije neka nauka ali eto i nemam neku ideju o čemu da pišem sad odmah.
Moj život i vizija sveta se nekako svodi na slike,
Inače stvarno mi je lakše da pišem na engleskom, ali eto za one koji su kao moj ćale igrom slučaja učili ruski i sad nabadaju po tastaturi učeći da koriste net oduševljavajući se svakom sitnicom na koju smo mi već oguglali, eto za njih i one koje je mrzelo da paze na časovima pisaću i naški da me ceo svet razume :D

I discovered some hilarious comics online, just a few good ones though but I love to send them to my friends and make them laugh.
You should see these guys if you like WoW or fiction, or if you just wanna laugh a bit...

Looking for group

Comisioned comic

Otkrila sam neke super zanimljive i smešne stripove na netu, obožavam da ih šaljem društvu i nasmejem ih. Uživaćete ako volite WoW ili Sf...a i lepo su nacrtani.