May 28, 2018 – One area where Dalmatian islands are among the best places in the world is in safety and an idyllic, natural and unpressured start to life, surrounded by loving family and without the commercial trappings of other societies. So it would make sense to get a feeling of life on Korčula through the eyes of its most precious resource – its children. We are very grateful to Korčula school and its pupils for agreeing to share their impressions about life on the island – what they love, what they would like to improve. The second in the series, a great piece from 7th-grader, Sara I.
My name is Sara and I am 13. I live in the south of Croatia, on a small island of Korčula. I live with my mummy, daddy, grandma and my little brother who I really like to annoy, just like other brothers and sisters (I hope so). I like to dance but I sing like a dead cat. I am not a sports type but if I would have to choose my favorite sport, I would say volleyball.
For as long as I know who I have been living surrounded by the sea. My dad is from Korčula and my mum is from Dubrovnik. My dad went there to college and that is how he met my mum. After she had finished university, she moved to Korčula and they got married. A year after that they got me and a couple years later my brother.
Life on the island can have good and bad sides.
When I am here I feel safe. When there was the War for Independence in Croatia, in Korčula it was less dangerous than in the other parts of the country. When I am at my grandparents’ in Dubrovnik, which I know was destroyed in the last war, I sometimes feel scared imagining all those horrible scenes. When I am in Korčula I never feel that way.
In Korčula we all are connected in a way, we are all friends. That can also be a bad thing because everyone knows you and if you do something bad f.e. when you are a kid, someone will soon tell that to your parents. But most of the time it is a good thing. You can ask anyone for help. You know the whole town because it is small one and you can’t get lost.
The island has some flaws ( that can easily be put backside when you look at all the good sides ).
We are not connected with a land with the bridge like some islands, we have a boat every hour or a ferry. My family and me love to travel so it makes us a little challenge when we want to leave or when we come back. We have to be always exactly on time when the boat or the ferry is leaving or arriving because if you miss it, you have to wait for an hour or two for another one. Sometimes it is annoying because we leave the house too late and we have to hurry, but sometimes it is an adventure (most of the time it is not).
Here you don’t have a lot of stores. When you want to do some shopping for the next season you have to go to another town to buy yourself clothes or any other stuff that you need. If you eventually buy clothes here you have to be aware that one to five of your friends will have the same thing. It’s not a big problem but…
After all this, Korčula is one nice, calm, family island where you would love to live. One day I am thinking of leaving it but just for some time, so that I can go to the university. After I finish it I would come back here, find a job, maybe hang out with my childhood friends. I would show my children the joy of living on an island. They would have happy and safe childhood, just like I am having right now.
