Croatia's dream World Cup run ignites diaspora in Australia

Nothing has united the Croatian diaspora more than qualifying for the country's first World Cup final, with celebrations among ex-pat communities rivaling the excitement felt in Zagreb.

"You've got to understand how huge this is," said Veljko Bosnic, president of the Dalmacija Sydney Croatian Club in Australia, home to one of the largest ex-pat Croatian communities in the world outside of Europe.

"We've been raised on soccer for many, many generations. It's in our DNA."

Bosnic has to use the word "soccer" because Australians don't understand the round-ball game is "real football", and often confuse it with Australian Rules or Rugby League, played with a pill-shaped ball.

But the Pacific nation has caught World Cup fever with more than half a million people sitting up until the early hours of Thursday morning to watch Croatia's "fiery ones" defeat England to make it to their first ever World Cup final against France on Sunday.

Ivan Spehar, owner of Ivan's Smallgoods in the Sydney suburb of Chester Hill, had to employ extra staff to keep up with World Cup demand for cevapi, the traditional skinless sausage eaten in the Balkan states.

"Yes, there's big demand for tomorrow - big, big orders, much bigger than usual, and next week if they do win first place there's possibly even more then as they'll be celebrating more."

Croatian-Australians have always had a strong presence in the Australian national team, including big names like striker Mark Viduka and Mark Bosnich, the former goalkeeper for Manchester United and Chelsea Football Club, helping to popularize the sport.

With a population of 4.2 million people as of 2016, Croatia is the smallest nation to make it to the final since Uruguay in 1950.

In Australia's capital, Canberra, the First Secretary at the Croatian embassy Sandra Tvrtkovic visited French ambassador Christophe Penot on Friday ahead of the big match, which happens early Monday morning local time.

"To win would be a dream come true for our small country, plus for Croatians around the world. We are really just living the dream now. Hoping and cheering for the victory," Tvrtkovic was quoted as saying by the Canberra Times.

Australia's population of 24 million people includes more than six million citizens born overseas, according to 2016 census figures, while nearly half of all Australians were either born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas.

Many Croatians migrated to Australia in the 1960s and '70s, and the country was once within Yugoslavia, so while census figures show 43,681 Croatian-born citizens live in the country, the real number of Australians with Croatian heritage is much higher.

"The census is way off, there's a helluva lot more," said Bosnic, who has lived in Australia for 55 years and has seen three generations grow up in Sydney.

A childhood dream come true

KOCHI: To chase a distant dream and for it to come true is a real blessing. This rings as a reality for Sandhya P from Gottiyarkandi- a Kurumba tribal settlement in Attapadi. From a life filled with everyday struggles and hardships due to the scarcity of food, water, transport and electricity, Sandhya has come a long way to become the first woman to be selected as a civil police officer from her settlement.

Sandhya wanted to be a police officer from her childhood. But she had to sideline the dream, caught in the fear generated by the people around her. She was told it is a risky job for girls, and her family life will face uncertainty. These opinions made her choose over her dreams. Eventually, she made up her mind to become a teacher.Despite the odds, things went differently for Sandhya. She did her schooling away from home in Palakkad district and later completed her graduation in Economics from Vimala College, Thrissur. Her parents stood with her through thick and thin and gave wings to her dreams.

It was at the beginning of this year that she came across the call for 'women civil police officer' in a newspaper advertisement. 'Women Civil Police officer (SR) for Scheduled Tribes of the Attapadi block' is a post entitled to the tribal communities in the state.With the support rendered by her parents especially her father, Sandhya along with her sister Sharanya, who also graduated recently from Vimala College, applied for the post.

Then to the obvious questions of if she was sure about this, her reply comes up with a confident smile, "I was never afraid of applying. I was an NCC candidate in my college and also a sports person, all these achievements gave me the confidence. Then my father was beside me through the whole process. He really wanted both of us to do it, even though my sister didn't make it," said Sandhya.

The selection process consisted of a physical and medical test and a personal interview in which Sandhya cleared with a good margin among candidates from other tribal settlements in the Attapadi block. Being a shot put player and also good in long jump and sprint Sandhya was confident about the physical test but when it came to the interview she was slightly apprehensive about the medium. To her luck, the medium was Malayalam and she cleared it with confidence.

Sandhya has decided to put a pause on her alternate dream of becoming a teacher and go forward with her childhood dream. Some of the friends and others cautioned that the training will be tough, but she thinks she will do good. "Being an NCC cadet I liked parades and all those activities which were never easy. It has given me the self-assurance to do this," Sandhya said.Sandhya's family is also excited for her. Her sister Sharanya says with bright eyes "I am very happy that my sister is going to become the first woman police officer from our community. Our family is also very happy."

There were also many who were apprehensive about her achievement. Even after the selection, some asked her why she wants to take this risk and why shouldn't she take up another job since she has a degree. Sandhya has turned her back to all those discouraging voices and is determined to carry on with her dream.
Being the first woman civil police officer, Sandhya wants to give back to her community that has helped her grow. With a voice filled with hope, she said, "There is a communication gap that exists between us and the outsiders which I want to bridge. I want to help them in a lot of ways, from supporting children in their education to helping the community to understand the laws of the land."

Had a strange dream?

The significance of dreams varies across cultures, yet the desire to talk about them — whether it be out of curiosity, concern, amusement, or simply the search for meaning — is universal.
                                                   

It’s no surprise then that online dream-sharing communities sprang to life as soon as technology allowed, first appearing in the late 1980s in the form of regional Bulletin Board services before evolving into their current incarnations. Now, those looking to articulate their nocturnal visions can sign on to stand-alone social media platforms and message boards as well as pre-existing platforms like Reddit, Google groups, and Facebook to interact with other dreamers.

The board has over 40,000 subscribers, so the odds are in a poster’s favor that someone will have had a similar dream. The downside of having a forum of this size is that not everyone’s there to lend an empathetic ear. DeBord notes that some users are just there for their own entertainment while others perpetuate unfounded assertions, such as that dreams all come true.

One of the most popular forums is DreamsCloud, a social media platform devoted to dream sharing and interpretation. Available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, the website has received over $7 million in investor funding and has over 450,000 active participants, according to Jean-Marc Emden, the platform’s CEO. The platform enables them to post dreams with cover photos, discuss, and rate them based on their emotional response.

The most common dreams tend to be about sex, cheating, death, flying or falling, being naked in public, not being able to find a classroom, snakes, and being chased or chasing someone. Popular posts can rack up tens of thousands of views, which also indicates the importance of good storytelling in dream discussion.

The site’s users are eager to turn to others to gain understanding of their dreams, whether they’re searching for theories, a narrative to latch onto, or even reassurance that they’re not experiencing anything out of the norm. “When talking about dreams, every opinion is important, you don’t have to be a dream expert or a psychoanalyst,” DreamsCloud user Bruno Dante in an email.

Iradukunda says Miss Rwanda crown a dream come true

It is still sinking in. She woke up four times in the wee hours of Sunday morning thinking it was a dream.
                                               

“But it isn’t a dream. I can’t believe that I am Miss Rwanda. Dreams do come true,” said an ecstatic Lillian Iradukunda in an interview with The New Times.

18-year-old Iradukunda, who hails from Kimironko Sector, Gasabo District but represented Western Province in the beauty pageant, weighs 57kg, and is 1.70 metres tall, was crowned Miss Rwanda 2018 on Saturday night. She replaced Elsa Iradukunda, who won the coveted crown last year.

Despite this moment being her childhood dream, Iradukunda didn’t expect to win the crown. She, as she describes herself, was one of the most bashful and soft spoken girls of the 20 who were competing for the crown.

Iradukunda almost didn’t even make it to the six girls chosen to represent her province. She earned her spot on the second run in the pre-selection on probation.

Iradukunda completed Senior Six last year at APADE Kicukiro and her dream is to be a tour operator. Asked why, she says, “Because I love tourism. I will study tourism and become an investor in the sector.”

Her project is to promote cultural tourism, but she says that she will not limit herself.

“I know the other 19 girls had awesome projects too. I want to work with all the people around me to develop my country.

Iradukunda was crowned ‘Rwanda’s fairest’ in a colourful finale held at the iconic Kigali Convention Centre auditorium.

She faced stiff competition from 19 other girls who spent 14 days in a boot camp at Golden Tulip La Palisse Hotel in Nyamata.

But, she says, Shanittah Umunyana and Natacha Ursule Irebe who were crowned first and second runner up, respectively, were a force to reckon with.

Jacksonville’s dream season ends

It’s the eighth Super Bowl appearance for Brady and coach Bill Belichick, who have won five times — including last year’s 34-28 overtime rally against the Atlanta Falcons.
                                                 

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Give ’em a hand: Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are heading back to the Super Bowl.

Brady shook off a hand injury and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola with 2:48 remaining , rallying the Patriots to a 24-20 comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC championship Sunday.

Brady, wearing a black bandage on his right hand after hurting it during practice earlier in the week, showed no signs of being hampered.

And, with the game — and possibly the season — on the line, the Patriots star came up big again.

Brady finished 26 of 38 for 290 yards and two touchdowns for the Patriots (15-3), who’ll play the winner of Sunday night’s game between Minnesota and Philadelphia in Minneapolis on Feb. 4.

It’s the eighth Super Bowl appearance for Brady and coach Bill Belichick, who have won five times — including last year’s 34-28 overtime rally against the Atlanta Falcons.

Brady came out for warmups without a glove on his hand, and he came out throwing. He completed his first six passes — including a 20-yarder to Amendola on fourth-and-1 from the Jaguars 30 — for 57 yards to march the Patriots down the field. The drive stalled when Brady was sacked by Dante Fowler Jr., and New England settled for Stephen Gostkowski’s 31-yard field goal.

A wide-open Marcedes Lewis gave the Jaguars a 7-3 lead 45 seconds into the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown catch from Blake Bortles, who was 5 for 5 for 66 yards on an impressive and efficient seven-play, 76-yard drive.

The Jaguars made some big mistakes that hurt them just before halftime. Bortles completed a 12-yard pass to Lewis on third-and-7 from the Patriots 44, but Jacksonville was called for delay of game — after New England called a timeout.

That wiped out a first down, and Bortles was sacked by Adam Butler on the next play to force a punt.

Take a Risk to Live Your Photographic Dream

As the year draws to a close, I'd like to share a personal story of my own journey. While everyone's story is different, I hope that you are able to find some lessons in both my wins and losses that will help you to push forward and make the coming year even better than the last.
                                             

There I was. Sitting nervously behind a cheaply constructed metal table, I inhaled deeply, terrified of the sound of the convention hall doors swinging open. Anxiously, I awaited the chorus of footsteps. Knowing that I would soon be called upon to play the part of traveling salesman. I knew I would be expected to have all the right words to say. The only problem? Up until that very moment, I had yet to find even the foggiest clue as to what those “right words” would be.

I knew it would be a risk. This whole adventure would go by that description. Only three days earlier, I had taken an even bigger gamble, tossing my cushy and comfortable day job of the past twelve years for the uncertain life of a freelance photographer. I had some idea of what to expect. I was neither new to photography nor to the idea of being an independent artist. Having spent the bulk of my twenties as a screenwriter and director, I was more than familiar with the idea of following my dreams and the joys and disappointments which would accompany such a pursuit.

Slowly, but surely, things turned around. A rebirth of my physical health coincided with the discovery of a new tool which would provide me with a reason to return to life. My new best friend, and lightweight Nikon D200 with a cheap but versatile kit zoom lens gave me both the motivation and the permission to step out into the world. It allowed me to again see people and possibilities. The images the camera and I created reawakened the artist in me so long buried by endless fruitless pitch meetings and polite rejections from heads of development. And while those early days behind the lens were notably devoid of financial ambition, the sudden and unexpected positive response I was getting from my new art form had allowed me to breathe again.

As the years passed, my skills developed as did my ambition. I cycled through a vast cornucopia of clients and visual styles. I tried on aesthetic approaches the way most people try on clothes at the department store and eventually found one that fit.