E118 Marina Karelina

Femininity is powerful in all its forms, exceptional women, rare girls must be appreciated in every way for their perspectives, actions, thoughts, and their unique ways of being. Such rare girls are inspiring and this is what this podcast is all about. Hello, my name is Aziz and my guest today is Marina Karelina. Marina studies now both in Ukraine and in Switzerland because of the war. In life, she adores singing. She is a choir singer and danced for eight years modern dance, hip-hop, contemporary, modern, and slow ballet. Marina, how are you today? Hi, I'm great. I was a little bit busy but now I'm free and I want to talk with you. I'm happy about this. I'm honored and I'm privileged. Marina, to begin exploring who you are, if your friends were to describe your personality, who is Marina, what would they say? I don't actually know but I think that they would say that I'm friendly because like yeah I have really a lot of friends and yeah I communicate with all of my friends like really easy and we have a lot of topics to talk about and yeah and I think like I'm not selfish but I think I'm kind because like all my friends said it to me so yeah I think that friendly and kind. I like that yes from your energy you seem to be friendly and kind but to understand even more when you go outside of Ukraine or maybe Switzerland etc. Do you find it easy to make new friends or you stay mostly in communication with the old friends from Ukraine? I stay in a communication with my old friends but I have like really a lot of friends here in Switzerland and it's like yeah I can say that this is a little bit harder to communicate with other people that are not from Ukraine that don't speak like my native language and I must to talk German or English so it's a little bit harder but I but it's interesting and yeah I have a lot of friends here in Switzerland so yeah. Yeah that's very cool and did people at first when you were in Switzerland say oh wow you have a serious face they think you're angry all the time even if you're happy like having a poker face or that's not your situation? I think that no because I yeah I really miss my home I really miss my friends I really want to go home but like it's it's not the fault of people from Switzerland and other people so I mustn't be I mustn't to be angry like so I'm I'm really happy that I'm like in the safe place that all all my friends are in the safe place and they're happy so I can't say that I'm angry or something like this. I'm happy you're in a safe place that's really really important and so nowadays what do you do so that you feel inspired you feel okay emotionally so that you take care of your mental health? So now like I'm really busy because I have a Swiss school and it's really hard because like I've learned in my Ukrainian school German for nine years and here I can't speak German but it's like harder because it's not my native language so I'm really busy because I must to be concentrate on German I must to learn and all the like biology chemistry physics and that's all in German and it's like really difficult and like now when I'm in Swiss school and I must to do my Ukrainian school I don't know I'm like I'm like motivated so can I say like this and I can't say that I'm inspired but I'm motivated to do something because I understand that I can't go home right now but it's not the reason to be sad always and to do nothing so I think that it's a good idea to learn something new some new language or something like this so yeah it's it's like sure that I'm upset but because I want to go home but yeah. I really wish for you to be able to return home and I'm happy you're in a safe place tell me about dance though I want to explore that part that part of your life because eight years is a lot did you choose it in the beginning did your parents choose it for you how did you fall in love with dance like I really like I really like dancing it's a really big part of my life of my life so and first I think it was idea from my father like I was inspired by videos from YouTube like I wanted to do some gymnastics or something like this but my father had said that it's like a little bit dangerous because yeah there are a lot of dangerous things in gymnastics and you can fall out and like broke something and then he just said that I can like dance and I've danced in a studio for for small kids like for four years or something like this and I really liked it and then I've said to my father that I want to do it more professional and yeah then for three years I've made it like like a professional dancer and then was corona time or was closed and like my dance studio was closed too and then and now I just dance for myself I visit dance classes in like in different studios but I'm not doing it professional now so yeah thank you and when you're dancing which moment or experience during a dance session is your favorite part when I dance I feel like I forget about all problems that I have I forget about all I just tense and relax so it's all that I can say about it it's like I can describe this feeling but it's like you are in another universe you're like dancing and there are no one and no reason like to to be worried about so I like that so when you're dancing you feel like you're in another universe you don't worry about anything and you can really relax correct yeah are there other activities that also give you this same feeling maybe singing or some kind of art or time with friends etc I think that singing gives me the same feelings but but like I sing in a choir so there are a lot of people and you feel like you're a part of any universe and it's like really inspiring too and when we have concerts and you stay and like more than 100 people are listening to you and it's like it's like really nervous but in the same time it's like really happy that I'm a part of of this choir and I'm and like yeah so um I'm really bad in in any art like I'm really bad at drawing pictures or something so I can say that only dance and dancing and singing inspires me like like that thank you so feeling that you're doing a common activity with people feeling connected and not alone is important for you is this correct yeah how do you get that feeling when you're now in Switzerland both the feeling of relax and not thinking about anything that you get from dance and the feeling of being part of a community of a group of people who are doing things together and care like in the choir um here in switzerland I don't know I I don't actually feel this feeling like when I'm dancing or singing so I can say that this is for me it's in the switzerland I just oh I'm listening to music and it makes me relaxed but I don't feel this feeling like when I dance or when I sing so this is the big reason why I want to go home because I want to dance and I want to sing in my choir so yes yes that seems fantastic for real and then when you meet new people are you more shy and closed off at first and that's why it's a bit more difficult to make new friends or are you open but maybe the culture in Switzerland is so different that you cannot really easily connect with people yeah the Ukrainian culture and Swiss culture are different so it's a little bit harder but I I can't say that I'm open but in the same time I'm really shy I'm really shy person so um it's sometimes hard to communicate with new people so yeah but I can say that this is the always thing sometimes you you met just you meet person that is like really open to you yeah so thank you so have you ever had the experience in your life of meeting a new friend or someone where you feel so open and not shy from the beginning like you know them all your life and you have connection and chemistry and excitement or this doesn't happen because you're always shy at first and need time to open up I don't actually know because all my friends I I don't actually remember how our first meeting so and so I can't say that like my best friend she's is we were really really small when we when we met so I can't say I I can't answer in this um question so I think that no but it's not because if I'm like really shy and not open so it's because I don't remember so how I our first met with my friends so thank you and do you tend to have friends who have some specific values that are important to you or you like to have people who are different from you so that you learn from them or what seems to be common among the people that you enjoy be having as friends I think that the both types of friends because sometimes it's sometimes it's really interesting to learn something new from some new persons that are completely different as you but in the same time it's important to have the person who is like you and who can support you in every time and in everything you do thank you and you spend so many years of your teenage years and the pandemic and the war and it's absolutely horrible do you feel that this made your like the younger generation much more shy because they don't have so many skills at making friends and communicating or you think no because of texting and social media it's okay and everybody can be a text overt or open in texting and uh that's fine I think that that's fine like the others um I think that every human has um every teenager has his own problems and all the teenagers have something like that makes them sad so I think I think it's like social media and others um I don't know apps or devices helps them to um be a little bit stronger so thank you and in your opinion do you believe that social media is a positive thing or that because of people showing perfect lives perfect look perfect like beauty and things it makes people have low self-esteem because they compare themselves to that oh it's a really interesting question like I always talked about it with my friends but um I think it's a good thing think when when it's a good thing when uh some bloggers or some some people uh shows their life like reality not the good picture that they are really really pretty really healthy and uh all all the things so I think it's it's a good thing to to communicate to find new friends and to like I think it's more it has more um positive um sides than negatives thank you and what do you love about communicating with people is it the exchange of energy and the energy you get after such conversations is it learning from their stories and lives so that you develop as a person is it just curiosity like watching soap opera or a netflix series where you hear their news and updates like that or what is to you the most valuable thing an exciting thing about communicating with people that you like and that understand you um I think that it's um um I have one of my friends this this girl is inspires me always like she's a really beautiful person she's really kind and like here in switzerland I am sometimes really upset like unmotivated and um I don't want to do anything and when she sends me the voice messages that she she's doing like a lot of sports she's she's learning languages she's I don't know she's doing like a lot of things in a day and this makes me motivated and then she said that all will be okay you you will go home you will um you will meet me and so everything is gonna be okay so so and it makes me really motivated and I and I really like it but not all my all of my friends um inspires inspires me as as this person so I don't know like I really like to talk with people people um um and give tips and yeah um we're a little we're oh my gosh I'm really nervous so um um look relax just take a breath no no don't worry you're doing really well I'm impressed by you really you're an amazing person relax oh thank you no worries for now like you can be silent do you need some water do you want to take like a 30 second break don't worry you're doing very well I'm proud of you and your friend the one who is motivated you should tell her about this podcast and recommend she participates a lot to speak with her so yeah and I really like to um to talk about uh a Netflix uh show soap operas with with my friends it's it's I think it's really funny because we always watch the same films the same soap operas um so it's really interesting to talk about it yeah thank you your friend seems to be so motivated and positive are you or do you describe yourself as a girl who is has a positive mood often has positive energy and has a lot of potential to be very motivated yes but it's not like sometimes these these all things are not about me but yeah I think that yes I'm when I have school and when I have like really a lot of things to do I'm really motivated um to do quickly so yeah I think yeah I can describe myself with these words I like that and to end on the very important topic of the invasion of February 24th how was that day for you how did you hear about the war tell me the story how did you feel tell me everything oh it's a I'll never forget this day in my life so yeah I woke up because because I I've done I don't hurt my alarm for school that I must have stand up and to brush my teeth to bake a breakfast and to go to school like I was like oh my gosh I'm late like it's it's too late I will come late in in the school so and then I was okay and where is my phone and then my father comes to my room and said that today I'll stay home because the war starts and I was like okay then I can sleep and then in two minutes I was stopped like what like why why so and I was really confused and I I I was really nervous I was really stressed because I don't actually I've I've heard about the war from like films about second um world war and and I was um so what do we must to do then I then I when I've seen like a lot of cars that are arriving from our um city and uh really a lot of people in all of supermarkets and I was what's going on in this world like why is it so I was I was sure that um we will it will end in one week maximum in one month and I was sure that um it's nothing really bad will happen so I don't know and then I've thought about it like what's what can happen in this life so on 23rd of February I was happy with my friends in school we have plans for for a week and for our future and like in the one second all these plans are like not really so important because you must think about your life and yeah so it was my 24th of February yes that sounds really traumatic did it change you as a person how did your personality or attitude change in these six months of the war oh it is like yeah I think I'm not I'm another person that I was before 24th February I'm a little bit older like not um like mental because yeah because uh I I've not seen my friends like sit for six months I've yeah it was really stressful because I've I don't know I've don't know all about the war like on 24th February I was like and what will will going on so like um yeah so I think it's changed me really like mental yes it's a really horrible situation I really never wish it for any person or any Ukrainian or not to you Marina I really wish you peace I wish you the ability to return home to dance in your favorite studios to be with your friends to smile again and all I can say is Slava Ukraini. Hello I'm Slava thank you. You're welcome and thank you Marina thank you for participating in this podcast for this enriching conversation and please always take care of yourself. Thank you so much like it was really good experience for like to practice my English uh so yeah thank you so much I know that I I've made really really a lot of mistakes so