Most of the people I asked, how would they describe Slovenia, used words such as: beautiful, diverse, homeland, multicultural, small. This fact surprised me, because Slovenians are normally very melancholic and pessimistic. The neighbour's grass is always greener for us, but when asked to describe our country we always try to find something beautiful. Nobody can criticise Slovenia except us.
The results that I got from my little survey were similar to Manja's; people described Slovenia as beautiful, nice, small, lots of nature... I wasn't surprised by that because when people are asked about Slovenia, they think of the country as a place with a very diverse landscape, green forests, blue lakes etc. What are we really pessimistic about are the people, but for that the question should have been: What are Slovenians like?
The results I got were pretty standard. Most people used the words “beautiful”, “small”, “quaint”, “pleasant” and “pristine” to describe Slovenia. I did however think it was interesting—and a little disappointing—that all of the comments were so clichéd. They all focused on the superficial appearance of the country and completely failed to evoke any of its philosophical ideals or values.
I got similar results as well. People mostly talked about the beauty of Slovenia and its smallness (somebody referenced its chicken-like shape). There were a few mentions of places my survey respondents found particularly beautiful: Piran, the Ljubljana city centre, the Tivoli park... The only comment on Slovenia's culture as opposed to its landmarks came from a person who was glad that we do not have a tipping culture similar to the U.S. one.
My results were the following: beautiful landscape, home country, Triglav, diversity, small, corrupted politicians, home, green, kind people, nature. These are the mostly the answers I would expect or associate with Slovenia, so I am not surprised by them. I agree with the comments above that we find Slovenian landscape beautiful as such but the people are often judged as pessimistic or envious.
I only asked the question "What is Slovenia" trying not to suggest an answer and yet a lot of them were similar. The answers were: beautiful land (appeared twice); beautiful nature - it is compact, everything is in one place; country (appeared twice); homeland; beatiful; my land; amazing; an experience, new adventure, family. The truly interesting part was that I tried to find as much foreigners as I could in those couple of hours I had to spare for this course this week, and I still got similar results. All of the respondents varied in age, there was also variation in their professions. I divided the number of respondents in half according to gender and nationality (the foreigners were from Gostivar, Macedonia; Egypt; Australia; Ankara, Turkey; Kiev, Ukraine).
The comments I got were pretty interesting. There were a lot of words connected to the nature of Slovenia as it is in fact quite beautiful ("green", "beautiful"...). On the other hand, quite a few expressed that the first association they get is for example, "no opportunities", "corrupted". I think most people see the beauty but also the many negatives sides present in out little country.
Most of the people used words such as green, beautiful, nature, Triglav, small, home, multicultural, etc. These are the words that I would use when asked the same question. I would say that Slovenia is my second home.
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ReplyDeleteMost of the people I asked, how would they describe Slovenia, used words such as: beautiful, diverse, homeland, multicultural, small. This fact surprised me, because Slovenians are normally very melancholic and pessimistic. The neighbour's grass is always greener for us, but when asked to describe our country we always try to find something beautiful. Nobody can criticise Slovenia except us.
ReplyDeleteThe results that I got from my little survey were similar to Manja's; people described Slovenia as beautiful, nice, small, lots of nature... I wasn't surprised by that because when people are asked about Slovenia, they think of the country as a place with a very diverse landscape, green forests, blue lakes etc. What are we really pessimistic about are the people, but for that the question should have been: What are Slovenians like?
ReplyDeleteAnd what would be your answer: What are Slovenes like?
DeleteThe results I got were pretty standard. Most people used the words “beautiful”, “small”, “quaint”, “pleasant” and “pristine” to describe Slovenia. I did however think it was interesting—and a little disappointing—that all of the comments were so clichéd. They all focused on the superficial appearance of the country and completely failed to evoke any of its philosophical ideals or values.
ReplyDeleteAnd what would you say at some philosophical ideals or values?
DeleteI got similar results as well. People mostly talked about the beauty of Slovenia and its smallness (somebody referenced its chicken-like shape). There were a few mentions of places my survey respondents found particularly beautiful: Piran, the Ljubljana city centre, the Tivoli park... The only comment on Slovenia's culture as opposed to its landmarks came from a person who was glad that we do not have a tipping culture similar to the U.S. one.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the tipping ....it's clearer to have one set price.
DeleteMy results were the following: beautiful landscape, home country, Triglav, diversity, small, corrupted politicians, home, green, kind people, nature. These are the mostly the answers I would expect or associate with Slovenia, so I am not surprised by them. I agree with the comments above that we find Slovenian landscape beautiful as such but the people are often judged as pessimistic or envious.
ReplyDeleteI've heard this about Slovene envy - why do you think this is?
DeleteI only asked the question "What is Slovenia" trying not to suggest an answer and yet a lot of them were similar. The answers were: beautiful land (appeared twice); beautiful nature - it is compact, everything is in one place; country (appeared twice); homeland; beatiful; my land; amazing; an experience, new adventure, family. The truly interesting part was that I tried to find as much foreigners as I could in those couple of hours I had to spare for this course this week, and I still got similar results. All of the respondents varied in age, there was also variation in their professions. I divided the number of respondents in half according to gender and nationality (the foreigners were from Gostivar, Macedonia; Egypt; Australia; Ankara, Turkey; Kiev, Ukraine).
ReplyDeleteGood diversity in your survey!
DeleteThank you!
DeleteThe comments I got were pretty interesting. There were a lot of words connected to the nature of Slovenia as it is in fact quite beautiful ("green", "beautiful"...). On the other hand, quite a few expressed that the first association they get is for example, "no opportunities", "corrupted". I think most people see the beauty but also the many negatives sides present in out little country.
ReplyDeleteAre there less opportunities here than in other EU countries nearby? If so, why is this, do you think?
DeleteMost of the people used words such as green, beautiful, nature, Triglav, small, home, multicultural, etc. These are the words that I would use when asked the same question. I would say that Slovenia is my second home.
ReplyDelete