From editorial staff Dear Readers!

The first number of Feel The World includes articles about very different, but also very popular problems and social issues in our life. You can read here texts touching upon questions like: correct food habits, religious diversity, minority groups and alternative medicine. The articles were prepared by our experts and qualified journalists work on the social problems everyday. We hope that we will help you with being up to date with the most challenging problems of our modern world. Enjoy our magazine!

MC

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Religion is very important for us. It can be explained as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe (according to dictionary.reference.com). There are so many religions in the world and this situation can be described as religious diversity.

Religious diversity……

• “It is a variety of beliefs, religions in one place, society, Europe”.

• “It is the existence of different religions in the world”.

• “Religious diversity for me are different religions, different beliefs but the same God”.

• “Diversity lets us be open to new people and in this way broadens our horizons; the freedom to belive in what people choose”.

• “ This is a diversity of faith in your own God, in views on the world and your own rules for life according to your religion”.

• “ We shouldn’t be closed for only one religion but accept and develop our knowledge about the other religions and views”.

http://eusphere.republika.pl/Religious%20Diversity%20Poland.pdf

Living in such a diverse world is not so easy. History shows that many wars have been caused by religious

diversity. The most horrible thing is that we can still find some conflicts related to religions.What is religious diversity? Is it a potential danger or freedom of choice?

Most people think that it depends on our behaviour and attitude If we are tolerant and open, religious diversity will mean freedom of choice. It will make us feel that we can take decisions by ourselves, that we are independent.

The last survey, which was conducted at the lower-secondary school in Cracow, showed that nearly 3% of the interviewed teenagers usually pay attention to other people’s beliefs. 13 % strongly disagree with that and the most of the respondents (43%) are neutral.On the other hand, some respondents associate religious diversity with negative social conditions. 46.67% of the teenagers think that discrimination is the main consequence of religious diversity. It means that nearly 47% of respondents associate religious with danger and intolerance. There are other results below:

According to respondents, a conflict related to religious diversity is brought about mainly by stereotypes. So it means that it depends upon us. If we do not share harmful stereotypes, we will be able to create a better place to live in.

Religious diversity brings to society a lot of benefits. It promotes tolerance and understanding, lets us meet new people, get to know their customs and culture. It improves cultural experiences, facilitates the integration of minority groups into society. It “may lead to discrimination and it may help to deal with it at the same time”. Nowadays religious diversity is a symbol of liberty and respect, it proves that we are able to create a better world without religious conflicts.

The result Valid percentDiscrimination 46.67%Immigration 24.44%Civil Unrest 13.33%Unemployment 8.89%Poverty 4.44%All of the above 2.22%

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Time to think…What do you think about religious diversity? What does such diversity mean to us? Does it make the life easier? Write down your opinion and take part in creating the new world.

LK

hen you watch TV, you can find programmes in every language. You have an opportunity to learn about other countries without leaving

your home. You know everything about wars, performances and political developments in the furthest places of the world. Why? Because the global village is the part of a huge process which is called globalisation.

WGlobalisation – the process of increasing “global relationships of culture, people and economic activity” (en.wikipedia.org).

There are many kinds of globalisation:

• Globalisation of the economy – is caused by freedom of commerce and freedom of the flow of capital. Everyone has a possibility to buy and use consumer goods, which are produced in different countries.

• Political globalisation – it refers to the changes in institutional and policy regimes and rising to power different associations which influence or govern the world as a whole or a part of it.

• Cultural globalisation – it means that people have the same clothes, watch the same films, listen to the same music. International events are broadcasted in every country.

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Globalisation – blessing or danger…?

Globalisation makes the production costs lower. It also creates a possibility to develop new technologies. Globalisation gives us an opportunity to monitor human rights and helps to rebuild countries after natural disasters. On the other hand, globalisation has some disadvantages. Firstly, many languages and customs are disappearing, the mass culture is getting more popular. Secondly, the production usually takes part in poor countries so we can see that a lot of employees are exploited. Finally, globalisation damages the environment.So, to sum up I must admit that globalisation has both some advantages and drawbacks. It is not an easy phenomena to define, however, we all experience the results and feel a great impact of it upon our lives.

What do we think about it?“Globalisation builds the new world, the world which is my home”. Asia, 16

“I’m really happy that I live in this world. I have friends form different parts of the world. We can write to each other and talk together”.

Phil, 30

“I can’t see the sense of globalisation. We lose our culture, without any diversity the world will be horrible, I’m really afraid.”.

Tomek, 17

“We have nice clothes, we can listen to the fantastic music. It’s great but what about people who work in terrible conditions and earn little money? Is it fair?”

Julia, 15

“Globalisation gives us many opportunities. The world is open for everyone, we can study at the best universities.”

Maria, 18

LK

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An enemy is a person who doesn’t wish us luck, harms us, does not want to help. And a friend? I asked my computer about it. The first website was about Arystoteles and his opinion about friendship. He wrote that there are a few kinds of friendship: a perfect one, which is a value in itself and the one that has a function – giving pleasure or utility.

A computer with an internet connection is a main source of knowledge, it helps us teenagers while learning. It is a huge storehouse of expertise. It contains information from all fields of knowledge, for example science, history, biology etc. Friendship is not only about giving or taking. Nice and pleasant moments spent together are really precious.

A huge advantage of a computer is the fact that it provides with entertainment. Shops offer lots of different computer games and interesting programs. Intercourse with the computer is a great way of spending free time.

Giving an opportunity to keep in touch with people all over the world is a really friendly feature of computers. Programs like “Gadu-gadu”, “Skype” or “MSN Messenger” and social networking sites like “Facebook”, “My Space”, “Twitter” make our life easier. It is free of charge opposite to mobile phones. Calls and text messages send many times every day are really expensive.

On the other hand, nowadays we are spending too much time in front of the screen. It consumes our time and energy and has a negative influence on our health.

Irrational using of a computer can have really bad effect on our social life.

To sum up, a computer is rather a friend than an enemy. It is an important part of teenagers’ life. It helps, entertains, allows to contact with friends. Our life would be much harder without this equipment. It is not like a real, human friend but considering the other meaning given by Arystoteles a computer can be treated like a buddy. It may keep you busy with activities both pleasurable and rewarding while being very useful in everyday life.

AS

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ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE – OPPORTUONITY OR THREAT?

n recent years there are many new methods of treatment and many new specialists. They offer natural, painless, noninvasive and

more effective treatments. All this practices are called alternative medicine. The definition says that it is a healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence.

Alternative treatment includes: acupressure (pressure of certain areas of the body), acupuncture (putting needles into specific areas of the body), apitherapy (treatment of bee products),

aromatherapy (treating by special scents), bioenergy, phytotherapy (herbs), hypnotherapy, homeopathy (using highly diluted preparations), chiropractic (manipulation of the spine), urine therapy.

There are as many advantages as disadvantages of alternative medicine. It gives hope to people with incurable disease and is less painful than conventional treatment. „Miracle-workers” have better contact with patients than overworked doctors and use understandable language. On the other hand, alternative treatment is often untested and can be dangerous. The doctors are not responsible for their patients. There are also many cheaters who want to swindle people out of money. It is hard to check if the medic is honest or not.

Opinions are various. Scientists say that it is not really effective and people, who have already tried it, appreciate effectiveness of these methods. A Polish woman told me that since she had tried acupuncture she was able to sleep all night. Doctors explain good results of alternative medicine by the placebo effect. Placebo is a simulated medical intervention. Sometimes patients given a placebo treatment will have a perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition. The phenomenon is called the placebo effect.

There is also nocebo effect – the “reaction or response refers to harmful, unpleasant or undesirable effects a subject manifests after receiving an inert dummy drug or placebo. Nocebo responses are not chemically generated and are due only to the subject's pessimistic belief and expectation that the inert drug will produce negative consequences.”

As an example of both of the effects I am going to give you a story of Mr Wright. In 1957 he had been diagnosed with a cancer and a huge tumor (as big as an orange) in his head. In hospital in Long Beach, he heard that there is a horse serum called Krebiozen. He wanted to try it so he told his doctor to make an injection. He did it on Friday and on Monday and the tumor decreased. Two months later, Wright read an article about bad effects of the serum and his tumor got bigger again. To keep patient’s hope the doctor told him that he would get an injection of double action. In fact it was a neutral liquid but the tumor decreased again. The man had been

healthy for two months but then he read a definitive report again. He died two days later.

If you are considering alternative treatment, my advice is to choose the doctor and the method sensibly and spend your money considerately. If you have not decided yet, write to our magazine experts. We will do our best to help you!

AS

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I

The minority and ethnic groups in Poland.

While walking down the streets of the Polish cities we can hear foreign languages, we can notice all skin colours and observe people wearing clothes typical for other religions than Christianity. Some of those people are tourists, who arrive to Poland to take a sightseeing tour. They take photos, buy souvenirs and they come back to their homes. But there are some among them who stay here in Poland to live and work in our country. Why? There are lots of reasons.

To beginning to understand the sense of so-called ,, minority groups” we must firstly understand what exactly it means. A minority group is a group of people who live on the territory of a country but differentiate from the social majority by language, culture, ethnic origin or religion and strive to keep their culture alive.

Minority groups are created by people who often left their homeland to change their life conditions, who were forced to leave by the law or they had to escape to save themselves. The good example are members of the Belarusian opposition who do not agree with the government of this country. They can be arrested and be given a prison sentence therefore they have to ran away and hide abroad.

In Poland, there exist may of minority groups, usually people from neighbouring countries. The list of the greatest includes:

BelarusiansThey live mainly in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, where their representatives take part in the local government. This minority is composed of over 48,000 people according to the Polish census of 2002. The vast majority of them are members of the Orthodox Church.

GermansThis minority group includes about 150 thousand people living in the south-west part of Poland, in the region of Opole, Katowice and Częstochowa. In those regions, German are the majority of inhabitants so they have quite a huge impact on local politics taking part in the local government. The most of them claim that they are Catholics, only some of them are Protestants.

UkrainiansUkrainians are the third the biggest minority group in Poland (about 27 thousand members). They reside mainly in the south-east part of Poland. They are Catholics and Orthodox.

Russians It is a group consisting of 3 thousand people. The most of them are descendants of Russians emigrants who in the time after the

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First World War did not come back to Russia because of politic reasons. They are member of the Orthodox Church.

ArmeniansAccording to the Polish census of 2002, 1,082 people identified themselves as Armenians. The first Armenians appeared in Poland in the XI century. Actually, they live near to the south and east borders and in such big cities such as Warszawa and Gdansk. The Armenians of Poland are Catholics.

JewsThe Jewish minority group consists of about a thousand people. They live in scattered localities in Poland but especially in big cities. The first mention about them comes from the X century. Jews are the followers of Judaism.

RomaThis ethnic minority includes about 13 thousand of citizens. The first testified document about their presence in Poland comes from 1401. They used to wander from one place to another. Nowadays they live mainly in towns throughout the whole country. The most of them are Catholics.

LemkosThey are a group of about 6 thousand citizens. In the past they lived in the Lemkivshchyna region – situated in the Lower Beskid Mountains and part of the Beskid Sądecki Mountains. After the World War II, most Lemkos were resettled to north and west of Poland. They are Catholics or Orthodox.

TatarsAbout 450 people belong to this ethnic minority. They live on the territory of Podlasie. They began to settle there in XVI c. The Polish Tatars have lost their mother tongue but they are still Muslim.

KaraimsThey are the smallest ethnic group, includes only about 40 citizens of Poland. They live in Warszawa, Wrocław and Trójmiasto. The first groups of Karaims (people of Turkic descent) arrived from Krym in XVI c. and settled near Lwów and Halicz. They lost their mother thongue. They have got their own religion which comes from Judaism.

In Poland, minority and ethnic groups have specific rights. They are guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the Election Law, the Association Act, the Law on the Polish language, the Educational Act, the Regulation by the Minister of National Education and other international laws that have been adopted by Poland. Particularly they have the right to learn their mother tongue and to be instructed in their mother tongue, to develop their own culture and traditions, to follow their own religion.

They have got possibilities to create their own educational institutions and the right to election privileges. This shows that the Polish law has suitable regulations to prevent social exclusion of minority groups. Though there are a lot of stereotypes about the members of each minority group. Some of them might seem funny and exotic but there also negative ones. Education is the key to success and overcoming harmful beliefs and it can bridge any social divide.

MC

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Arabian Spring of Nations

Last year ( 2011), we could observe events in the majority of African and several Asian countries which has begun a new chapter in modern history. In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, ,Yemen, Algeria Iran, Jordan, Kuwait ,Morocco, Oman, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Sudan people have got tired of power abuse. Bad life conditions, restrictions and hunger have evoked strikes and protests against dictators. Historians compare it with the Spring of Nations which took place between 1848 and 1849.

Some countries have reclaimed independence but others had to submit. Last year was really aloud about civil war in Libya. The armed conflict between the citizens and the government turned out to be very bloody in some cases but no one wanted to give up. Finally the war ended in October, 2011 after the death of Muammar Gaddafi – the dictator of Libya.

Political and social unrest has forced many people to change their homeland. Hundreds of civilians have died. The difficult situation in the region is not over yet. Although the leaders are now trying to bring everything under control, people are still holding on to their weapons.

Countries of Spring of Nations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring

MC

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WE GIVE OURSELVES THE POWER

In public opinion, helping other people is associated with giving, for example, money, time, energy. After a half of the year of collaboration with one of the Polish foundations ‘ALMA SPEI’, I realised that it is rather getting than giving.

The foundation takes care of terminally ill children. It is a hospice, but not a typical one. Volunteers do their best for little patients to make feel them like at home with parents to the last day of their life.

At first I participated in collecting money. It seems to be a simple and easy job. In fact, you have to work all day standing in front of a church with a special box. Even in winter when it is minus 10 degrees Celsius (°C)! At first I thought that it did not make any sense but when I noticed that people really started to give a lot of money and were interested in the foundation work, I changed my mind. Some people wanted to became a volunteer and others wanted to help only financially but almost no one was

left insensible.Then, I started helping in the

office. We had been creating Christmas cards for donors, making lists of

Christmas presents for children and their families and many other things. I have met a lot of incredible people there and I have made new friends.

After some time I decided to take up a special course and work with sick children. Volunteers of the foundation are visiting little patients, playing with them and organising birthday parties. Dressed as characters from fairy tales and books for children, they come with presents and spend all day in the wards of ‘ALMA SPEI’.

These children suffer practically all the time and they are almost dying. But they are also very positive, full of energy in contrast to us – healthy people. We take care of money and other material things instead of enjoying

our everyday life. We are forgetting main values like family, love, happiness which we need to focus on. I have realized that after spending some time with sick children. They have taught me that I should enjoy every second of my life and have give me their energy and passion. They have shown me how to be a human and have given me an honest lesson of life.

AS

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EVENTEVENTJapan in CracowJapan in Cracow

In May 2011, a charity concert called "Cracow for Japan” took place. It was organised

for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in

Japan.

The concert was intended to bring us, the

Poles, closer to the mysterious culture of the Far

East. Many artists were involved in the event.

Some of them were associated with the tradition of

this country. Geishas were the main attraction.

Those attending the event had the opportunity to

listen to Japanese music and watch Samurai

performing traditional fights. There were

Japanese gardens, calligraphy and tasty sushi as

well as instruments like shamisens, koto and

shakuhachi.

We cannot wait for other events organised

by Costume Artistic Agency Geisha-art. We are looking forward to next concerts.

Check the website: http://gejsza-art.pl NP

FILM REVIEWFILM REVIEWMachine Gun Preacher

Machine gun preacher is a true story about Sam Childers, a

criminal who has changed. Influenced by the events of his life, the

drug dealer becomes a better man.

He arrives to the Sudan to help innocent, homeless, poor

African children, who are kidnapped and made to be soldiers.

The story is very addictive, touching and telling about

important issues of today's world.

The movie is worth recommending, so I am inviting you to the

cinema. :) NP

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Music can be a ‘personality mirror’ – your taste in music can show what sort of person

you really are.

lthough the question ‘What is your favourite music ‘ seems to be overused, almost everyone has their favourite tunes on a

personal MP3 player or an iPod.AShow me tracks you have on your MP3 player and I will tell you who you are. What we listen to gives hints about our lifestyle and personality.

1. Open, easy – going and talkative.If you enjoy listening to hip hop, rap, funk, soul, electronic music and dance, there is a great chance that you are an open, extrovert who loves chatting with others. You might also tend to be impulsive, romantic and spontaneous.

2. Sophisticated and creative.If your music collection is full of classical pieces, jazz and opera music, you are very likely to have above – average intelligence. You enjoy sophisticated art and, at the same time, you aren’t a big fan of sports. On the other hand, remember not ‘to overdo operas’. According to psychological research, people who watch

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operas too often may fall into depression or even commit suicide.

3. Peaceful daredevils and independent soulsIf you are a big fan of alternative, heavy metal, rock music and gangsta rap, you are very likely to enjoy risk and physical challenges (especially on your own). Although you like adrenaline, you are not a violent trouble-maker. Music gives you an energy boost, but doesn’t provoke aggression.

4. Sociable and friendly optimists.If you are keen on pop music, you are likely to be a popular neighbour or a member of your community. People enjoy your company thanks to your optimistic attitude to life. You often attend social get – togethers and various parties.

LK

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Quickly or healthy? People in Europe have begun to eat

more and more unhealthy. What is the reason?

It is worth considering whether they have

become lazy or have no time to cook?

National cuisine is a traditional way of

cooking which had started many years ago.

On festivals, during family meetings, people

still try to make something traditional, but

why not everyday?

Italians have a lot of pasta on their menu.

Meals are based on it. Other things like

tomatoes, cheese, olives are just topping. Of

course we cannot forget about Italian pizza

which is well-known all around the world!

This cuisine is very delicious but

unfortunately – calorific.

The French cooking style is not so

easy to follow. World knows especially

French wines which are really exquisite and

aromatic. Dishes are tasty too but not for

everyone. Snails, frogs and sea food are

mostly for gourmets. We can find here

something simple too, for example many

kinds of cheese (blue cheese, cottage cheese)

or baguettes.

Finally, people in Poland have a plenty

options to choose from. Among many

specialties of the traditional Polish cuisine

there are cereal and flour products (noodles,

dumplings), stewed cabbage, sausages, cream

or cottage cheese and many soups (especially

vegetable).

Although, there are so many delicious

dishes in Europe, people choose fast food

more often, as a cheaper and faster solution.

Nowadays, they have no time to eat healthy,

they are always in rush, because of school or

work. If they keep eating ready made junk

food , they will ruin their health.

However, it is worth to understand that

sparing the time, we are losing our health. NP

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DINNER DISH FOR TODAYSPAGTETTI BOLOGNESE

Ingredients: 20 grams of minced meat spaghetti pasta clove of garlic tomato sauce cheese salt and pepper olive oil

Heat the oil on a frying pan and put meat shredded into pieces. Chop the garlic into very small pieces and put it into the pan. Meanwhile, boil 3-4 litres of water in a saucepan. Put the pasta into boiling water, add salt and stir from time to time. Put tomato sauce into the frying pan with fried meat and stir for a few seconds. When everything is ready put the pasta and the meat sauce on a plate and sprinkle it with grated cheese.

DESSERT FOR TODAYCHOCOLATE MUFFINS

Ingredients (for 12 muffins): 1 chocolate 2 cups of flour 1,5 cup of castor sugar 2 tablespoons of cocoa 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 cup of milk 0,5 cup of oil 1 egg

Crush the chocolate and mix it with flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder. Then mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl. After that put everything together and mix it for a few minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 180 degrees. Put the mixture in a special muffin form and bake for 20 minutes.

ENJOY YOUR MEAL ! :) AS

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