When it comes to shoveling snow, everybody knows Slovenes are the champions. When snow falls overnight in Slovenia, by 5 a.m. the streets echo to the sound of shovels.
England does not quite have that tradition. But here is a BSS member in England using a special ergonomic snow shovel “Efekt” made in Slovenia and presented to him for Christmas by Slovene friends. He had the path up to his house cleared in a few minutes (admittedly not at 5 a.m.)
The Annual Dinner of the Society will this year be held on Saturday, 9th February at 6.30 pm (welcome drinks) for a 7.20 pm start.
The location is Hotel Russell, Russell Square, London WC1B 5BE
(nearest stations: Russell Square, Holborn and Euston)
There will be the usual tombola in support of the charity Barka in Slovenia and speeches, poetry and music.
Ticket prices are £33 for members, £35 for non-members, £23 for fulltime students and free for members aged over 80 (a donation of £10 would be welcomed).
An application form for tickets can be obtained from Anica Page, 7 Hampton, Great
Holm, Milton Keynes, Bucks MK8 9EP and forms should be returned by no later
than Saturday, 2nd February 2013.
The British-Slovene Society supports Skupnost Barka, a community of people with special needs in Slovenia. Participants in this year’s carol service in London gathered £307.50 for the Barka community. A few days later St. Nicholas went to visit the community, as is customary in Slovenia, and brought presents for everybody. Here is a report of the group which organised the visit:
Kako lepo je prejeti darilo! … Še lepše pa je, če si ti tisti, ki obdariš drugega. S tem stavkom smo se mladi iz Gibanja Fokolarov tudi letos pridružili Miklavžu in njegovi ekipi, ki je želela obdariti osebe z motnjami v duševnem razvoju, ki prebivajo v Skupnosti Barka v Zbiljah.
Na Miklavžev večer se nas je tako zbralo kar nekaj; zavili smo darila in se nato skupaj s kombijem in še nekaj avtomobili odpeljali v smeri Gorenjske. V prostorih delavnic Skupnosti Barka so nas že komaj čakali, polni pričakovanja in z nasmehom na obrazu. Takoj smo zapeli nekaj pesmi in poklicali sv. Miklavža. Ta je obdaril prav vsakega – oskrbovance in tudi njihove spremljevalce. Najlepše je bilo videti veliko hvaležnost vseh teh oseb; darila so bila skromna, lahko bi rekli, da nič posebnega, a oni so izjemno cenili našo pozornost. Ko se je sv. Miklavž poslovil, smo skupaj preživeli še kar nekaj časa ob piškotih in toplem čaju, »Barkači« pa so nam tudi z velikim veseljem razkazali prostore njihovih delavnic in nam pokazali, s čim se vsakodnevno ukvarjajo.
Ana Praprotnik
The London church of Saint Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe was filled by a throng of Britons and Slovenes celebrating Christmas with carols and Bible readings on Friday 7th December.
Wren’s church is hard to find among the City of London’s busy roads and little lanes leading down to the Thames, but this annual event organised by the British-Slovene Society attracts an increasing number of participants, young and old.
In a service conducted by the Reverend Guy Treweek, the London Renaissance Singers sang in English and impeccable Slovene. Members of the congregation read the Bible’s nine traditional accounts of Christmas in both languages. All joined in singing the familiar carols in an elegant historical setting.
Then the congregation repaired to the sacristy to catch up on news, drink Slovene wine (courtesy of the Embassy) and tuck into delicious potica cake, baked by Slovenes in Slovenia and England.
Participants contributed £307.50 to the Barka charity in Slovenia, which has long received support from the British-Slovene Society – and needs it all the more now due to Slovenia’s economic difficulties.
A language manual Basic Grammar of the Slovene Language was published recently in Slovenia. You can order it by email: intermedija@siol.net.
Please see the presentation of the manual and the order form: Basic Grammar of the Slovene language, Narocilnica Osnove
17. junija smo priredili tradicionalni piknik pod slovenskim kozolcem v arboretumu blizu Oxforda. Kozolec so izdelali v Domžalah za razstavo v blagovnici Liberty v Londonu leta 1993. Ko je tam odigral svojo vlogo, so ga postavili na zemljišče antropološkega muzeja Pitt Rivers v Oxfordu, zdaj pa stoji v arboretumu Oxfordske univerze blizu Oxforda. Kozolec je postavljen čisto ob vhodu v arboretum, tako da si ga lahko ogleda vsak obiskovalec. Seno je bilo malce kratko za spravljanje na svoje mesto, otroci pa so dobro vedeli, čemu lahko kozolec tudi služi. Veleposlaništvo se je odrezalo z dobro zastopanostjo, košaro slovenskih dobrot in praktičnostjo že pri postavljanju baldahina za zaščito hrane pred morebitnimi padavinami. Prišlo nas je okoli 40 in je bilo tako živahno, da ni bilo možno vsega predebatirati. Ves dan ni padla niti kaplja dežja. Več slikovnega gradiva v galeriji.
Otroci so vedeli, čemu služi kozolec
