Category Archives: You wonder about Miscellanea

Rio de Janeiro – beyond the Carnival and the Olympic Games

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most famous cities in the world. Samba, beach, and beautiful women – in one word, fun. The association is so powerful, that you can find, in different parts of the world, hundreds of brands who were named after or inspired by Rio. The Rio Carnival is the epitome of this state of mind.

And here you have it: in 2016, Rio de Janeiro becomes the host city of the Olympics. It’s a much bigger premiere than you may realize: because it’s the first time the Olympic Games took place in South America. The choice is appropriate: sports are fun too – at least for the hundreds of thousands of spectators.

But laying aside the carnival and the Olympics, which remain two punctual events, it is a city that might have something else hidden in the cupboard. The “skeletons” will be revealed to you in the following lines…

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Who Brings the Christmas Gifts? (It’s Not Who You Think It Is!)

This may seem like an ordinary question to you. Because you are not 7 anymore to make an existential problem out of it. Like I did.

I was in the 1st grade and Christmas was coming. Someone had been blabbing around that Santa was not… I don’t even want to remember. Anyway, this discussion divided us into two parties. In order to find a solution to our dispute, we made an appeal to the supreme authority: our school teacher. She explained to us, how she knew best, what’s the deal with all this Santa thing. That was the very first time I drew the conclusion that grown-ups don’t really know everything. (What does a grown-up know about pink unicorns, for example?!)

Since then, I have been fascinated by Santa Claus. I’ve found out a lot of interesting stuff about him. For example, that he doesn’t go from house to house. (And not for the reason that our teacher told us.)

Different countries celebrate Christmas in different ways. You can’t have imagined that Santa is such a fool as to travel to the Caribbean by sleigh?!

Let’s find out how operation Christmas Gifts goes in different parts of the world!

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The Art of Gift Giving

Generosity is a wonderful feeling! Giving something from the bottom of your heart is truly up-lifting. If each and every one of us would do this, we would live in a better world, a land of milk and honey. You wouldn’t even covet thy neighbour’s things, since he might give them to you.

It’s all well and good, until the day comes when you must pick a gift.. And this day will come, there’s no way around it! Be it a birthday, a name day, a wedding anniversary, Christmas, Easter, St. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s day, Children’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Unknown Buyer’s day (fallen in the line of duty while looking for the perfect gift)…

How is it possible that something which is supposed to be a lovely experience so often becomes an excruciating one?! There are several causes for that. But before putting the blame on social pressures, on salesmen, on cruel fate – let’s take a look inside ourselves:

Do you know how to give a gift?

I didn’t say it would be an easy thing to do. Actually, it’s quite an art to pick the perfect gift for someone. (You know, the sort of gift that touches your soul, melts your heart, and of whom you will remember dearly.)

But this art can be learned. Even if you don’t reach the “master” level, your loved ones will appreciate your efforts and they will admire you. So, I propose you take up an “intensive course”.

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The Lego Buyer’s Guide

If you are a parent, you want nothing but the best for your child. You want him to be healthy, happy, intelligent, creative, good, patient, neat, obedient, polite… (You can only choose five of all these, apparently.)

There are many things that can give him a good upbringing. Playing is his main activity. So, it would be great to sneak all these “ingredients” into his play time.

Creative games are among the most important of things. And Lego is the king of them all. Children love it, and parents are thrilled to stimulate their little minds and creativity in such a way. No wonder you want to buy Lego: for your own children, for somebody else’s, or even for your inner child.

But when you see the variety of Lego sets in a store, you can’t really make a choice. There are so many of them!

It’s a pity just to pick one at random. Even more so when you see that the price is not exactly cheap. Plus, in the long term, some of them can be combined with others. But there is hope: after reading the following tips, this will appear so much easier to you!

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The Truth about Black Friday (Practical Tips Included)

Black Friday. When you hear this, you either are excited, thinking that the moment to buy what you’ve wanted for so long, but you couldn’t afford it, has arrived, or you begin swearing hard at the consumerism, whose sole purpose is to empty the pockets of hard-working people.

Leaving feelings aside, Black Friday does exist. Just like the autumn rains. Or the changing of the time zone. Or the colds.

And if it actually exists, then it is good to know what you have to do in a situation like this one. So, I’m going to tell you what others are not so willing to share. Along with its ups and downs.

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