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November 23, 2022November 24, 2022

Movie review by Jovana Vuković

THE (UNDEVELOPED) SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is an adventure fantasy directed by David Yates in 2022. The screenplay for the movie is written by J. K. Rowling and Steve Kloves. It is the third instalment in the Fantastic Beasts spinoff movie franchise. The film involves some star actors and actresses, including Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Katherine Waterston, and Mads Mikkelsen.[1] According to BoxOfficeMojo[2], Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has grossed $86 million domestic, $287 thousand in Croatia, for a worldwide total of $363.7 million against a budget of $200 million, becoming the 6^th highest-grossing film in 2022 so far[3].

The story takes place several years after the events of its predecessor, continuing the everlasting altercation between Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen), the dark wizard wanting to seize control over the wizarding world and eradicate the non-wizarding one. Due to a blood troth, Dumbledore is unable to counteract Grindelwald, which causes him to entrust the Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to lead a courageous team of wizards, witches and the intrepid Muggle baker on a treacherous mission of confronting Grindelwald’s proponents, as well as encountering some fantastic beasts.[4]

In comparison to the previous two instalments, this movie is superior to the Crimes of Grindelwald, but inferior to the Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them. The movie abounds with characters who, unfortunately, remain undeveloped. It also lacks magical creatures and magic itself. However, we do see the ever-resourceful Pickett, as well as the hilarious Teddy who always contributes to the comedic elements of the movie. The scorpion-like creatures’ and Newt’s dance sequence is one of the funniest scenes in the movie. When it comes to the visuals, they are well done, but aren’t as breath-taking as in the Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them where we are astonished by the beauty of Scamander’s suitcase world and the spectacular beasts. However, I really like the setting where the battle plan is elaborated, i.e. the train, as well as Bhutan, the place where the election is held. The sound effects mainly contribute to the overall suspense. I especially like the piece of Hedwig’s Theme as the game of Quidditch is played.

In conclusion, this movie is good! I might have had big expectations, but it is not a disappointment at all and is certainly worth watching. The film manages to answer some of the questions, such as Credence’s origin, Dumbledore’s and Grindelwald’s connection, but also has potential for further plot and character development. Grindelwald’s character has been played by three different actors – Colin Farrell (disguised as Graves), Johnny Depp and finally Mads Mikkelsen, which all have shown great success and talent. Although Depp is a brilliant artist, Mikkelsen is rather convincing in his performance. All in all, I am looking forward to new releases, Mikkelsen’s performances, and, of course, some new fantastic beasts!

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4123432/?ref_=tt_urv

[2] https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl842826497/weekend/?sort=date&ref_=bo_rl__resort#table

[3] https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2022/

[4] https://www.wizardingworld.com/collections/fantastic-beasts-the-secrets-of-dumbledore

November 23, 2022November 24, 2022

A Beautiful Journey

WRITTEN BY: JOVANA VUKOVIĆ

Four years ago, G. and I were having a bitter-sweet coffee at a local café. It was unimaginable this would be the last time we would see each other. Losing a loved one is perceived as a tragic happening, but it does not necessarily have to be so devastating and painful. At first, one might feel distraught and saddened, might ponder the question why it occurred, but ultimately, not all people are meant to stay until the end of the journey – our life.

At that point, our friendship had lasted for 15 years straight. Our sisters were close friends and had us introduced. From the first day, G. and I got along splendidly – a special bond was immediately created between us. As a child, I was very sensitive, shy, introverted and was thrilled to have a friend like her – extroverted, outspoken, and dare I say, a little rude. During our childhood, she was the one in charge, while I would solely play along. What could a pure, naive child possibly know?

As we grew older, we learned to balance each other well. Our friendship became full of sincerity and regard. Over time, we became equal characters in our friendship. Living in different towns, and attending different schools was not an obstacle in seeing pretty often. We shared fears, secrets, problems, crushes, and dreams. All of our leisure time was spent together, idling, and having fun. The idyllic friendship ended when I found a boyfriend.

We were madly in love and wanted to spend plenty of time together, which eventually contributed to G. and I spending less time together. At first, she acted oddly – ignoring my calls with the ridiculous excuse of being pretty occupied. Three weeks of not seeing each other made everything crystal clear – something transpired. I called and proposed our regular appointment. I hoped the issues would be addressed, but she acted like everything was fine. Such cognition made me both happy and concerned. That night might have been one of our best ever – we laughed like we knew it was the last one together. A few days later, I received a very detailed text – G. said that she was unhappy and dissatisfied with our friendship and it should be ended. This stunned me and made me think about what had gone wrong. After some time of contemplating, I resolved to write to her no more.

When I reflect on our friendship, she made an enormous impact on my life – she helped me increase my sense of belonging, helped me cope with problems, improved my self-confidence and self-worth, but most importantly, she taught me how to be a truly good friend. We have both grown up and changed, but unfortunately not in the same direction. We had to accept that we grew apart, that one path became two different ones, and that our journey came to an end. I believe that we should all be thankful for the people who were, are, and will be a part of our lives. They are present to enrich our lives, teach us valuable lessons, and change us and our perspective!

November 22, 2022November 24, 2022

Erasmus+ report from Porto

CITY OF OPPORT(O)UNITIES

You know when students come back from Erasmus full of impressions and acknowledge it was the best experience of their life? Well, we’ve only been on mobility for less than two months and we can agree that coming here is definitely one of our best decisions ever.

As for the university, the building itself does not reveal much from the outside, but the facilities it has are really diverse. For example, music courses are offered at the music faculty, which is new and contains very high-quality and modern equipment, just as art courses are taught in the atelier. Thus, students do not have to finance the materials needed for the lesson themselves. As was the case in Osijek until recently, the Faculty of Kinesiology is in the same building as basic education, which means that it has a large gym adequately equipped for various activities such as rollerblading, climbing, volleyball, basketball, tennis, cycling… and when the weather is good, as part of the lessons, we go skiing, hiking or surfing.

In class, notebooks and whiteboards are a thing of the past, work is done exclusively on laptops, tablets, or iPads, with a BYOD (bring your own device) policy.

The following are a few culture shocks we experienced, related to the university. The first and most impressive shock is definitely the “Praxe” culture. These are the students who dress in a different color every year, and in the last one (when they celebrate the end of college) they wear black, cover themselves with a blanket hey use as a cloak, and wear high-heeled shoes. What makes them different are the daily rituals they perform, so you can often see them lying down, yelling, doing squats, or smearing their faces with flour on the streets of Portugal. Sometimes these rituals are really extreme and cause fear in passers-by! Another cultural shock is the extraordinarily friendly relationship between students and professors – sometimes they kiss when entering the classrooms, they have lunch together in the canteen, during lectures both students and professors sometimes use bad words and it’s completely normal! Due to their maximal carefree behavior, we experienced that the professor did not show up for the exam without a single word of apology. Their mentality is such that they do not judge or pay attention to the clothes that the students or professors wear, nor is there any kind of dress code. Sometimes the college corridors are like a real fashion show. What disappointed us is that many young people do not understand a single word of English. In the beginning, it was really difficult for us because no one at the college could understand us or help us, not even the school staff. If the professors speak English during class, the other Portuguese students don’t understand what they are talking about, so a problem arises. Another disappointment is the food in the canteen – we realized that Slavonian meat is the best in the world, there is no such thing as good coffee in Portugal, cappuccino is milk with chocolate crumbs, no spice can beat Vegeta + we never want to eat rice again. Maybe the Portuguese people are so good-looking because they eat a lot of fish and olive oil, or maybe because they have P.E. twice a week for 2 and a half hours. Anyway, we’re enjoying it here, traveling, hanging out with people from all over the world and drinking really cheap booze! We are already afraid of the very thought of returning home and everything that awaits us.

P.S. the best thing of all is that we can miss English classes 10 times! 🙂

Written by:
Petra Mandić and Tihana Ristić, Module C, year 4

November 6, 2022November 22, 2022

Erasmus+ report by Josipa Kuterovac

Recently I applied and participated in my first Erasmus+ project. It was an international training course called “WHAT THE… SOLIDARITY?” which took place in the small town of Tuchola in Poland. I went there with my best friend and sister. It was a week full of fun experiences, gaining knowledge and unforgettable adventures. I met really interesting people from other countries: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Latvia, Greece, Denmark, Turkey and Poland. The English language was our way of connection. The main goal of the project was to familiarize the participants with Erasmus+ opportunities in the implementation of youth projects related to the promotion of solidarity and the building of international relations.

In the course of the project we learned about the values of EU solidarity, but we also worked on creating our own projects. Besides that, we played simulation games and shared experiences with other participants. In addition, we created small “families”– support groups in which we did small tasks to promote solidarity and shared reflection of what we experienced. We also visited a local school, met the students and thus actively learned about solidarity and its importance in society. When the project finished, my sister, friend and me had the opportunity to explore some other cities in Poland for 2 days so we visited Gdansk and Poznan.

This project has helped me to broaden my knowledge, gain valuable experience and become more motivated to continue working with young people. I’m looking forward to some new projects and I encourage you all to also apply because you won’t regret it. For me, next time will probably be some youth exchange.

Written by:
Josipa Kuterevac, 4th-year student of teacher studies, module C

November 1, 2022December 3, 2022

All Saint’s Day

_{Written by Dora Markulić}

All Saint’s Day

Bright fireflies and with them red houses

Surely there are thousands and thousands

Of them, whose sparks merge with Heaven

And against evil this is the best weapon.

We still don’t know what the beginning is after the end

And the fear of fear is our closest friend.

When darkness and loneliness tear our souls apart

All that remains is to pray to the Lord for a new start.

There are many people who have trodden the paths

And who put their lives in God’s hands.

They couldn’t get a better reward

to become our intercessors with the Lord.

We call them saints and know their names

But our prayers are still in flames

Burning with desire that our loved ones come

To the same place after this life and saints become.

Let’s remember them these days

In these days, covered by haze

When we bring them flowers and with a silent prayer

we also for holiness prepare.

October 31, 2022November 7, 2022

HALLOWEEN

October 31st, Halloween, that one night when you can be whoever you want. A night of endless possibilities, but also a night connected to history and tradition in many a ways.

When someone mentions Halloween the first thing we think about is probably “trick-or-treating” and “Jack O’Lanterns”, however there is so much more to it.

Roots of Halloween go all the way back to the 8th century before christ connecting it to the Celtic culture.

The celts celebrated the new year on November 1st so for them October 31st was the new years’ eve and they called it Samhain. According to their beliefs, it was the one night where the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead became blurred.

One of the most recognizable customs of Halloween, dressing up in costumes, comes from the Celits and their priests, the Druids, who dressed up for Samhain and predicted the future while dancing around a bonfire.

Later on, around 43rd year after Christ, when the Romans conquered most of the Celtic territory, Samhain was combined with two roman festivals: Feralia, which celebrated the passing of the dead, and The Day of Pomona, which celebrated the goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona.

Another one of todays’ Halloween customs is connected to this era. Apple bobbing, believe it or not, was invented by the Romans. Apples are a symbol of the aforementioned godess Pomona, so Romans decided who is going to get Pomona’s blessing through apple bobbing. Whoever managed to bob the most apples was
destined to have a good and successful year.

Halloween or Hollywin? A fairly recent question with roots in the 8th century. The name Halloween originated in the Middle Ages after Pope Gregory III established November 1st as All Saint’s Day, also known as All Hallows day. October 31st then became the All Hallows Eve and, with time, it got shortened into a name known by almost everyone – Halloween.

The Englishing team wishes you a Happy Halloween.

October 28, 2022October 27, 2022

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