In 1982, I and my husband, parents with two young children, made a big decision. We fled our country, Czechoslovakia, to find our way to Canada and to start a new life there. As most citizens behind the "iron curtain," we felt increasing limitations of our personal freedom and our lack of defense against these. However, the main reason behind our decision was the worsening condition of the natural environment. In those days, in Czechoslovakia, I worked in the environmental field and was also taking postgraduate courses dealing with environment. I was not permitted to publish news about the deterioration of the environment, but because of my studies, I heard the bad news, gloomy statistics and hopeless prognosis. I was alarmed and finally, deeply depressed. "What to do? Where to move?" When even "our" mountains, our home, showed the undeniable signs of pollution, from no loacal cuases, we made our decision. A holiday in Yugoslavia provided, for us, the only oportunity to get out of the country with both children. From there, we had hoped to continue to Western countries. We managed it, despite the obstacles, but our stay in a German refugee camp extended over a year. Unfortunately for us, the Canadian government did not support our application for immigration. Our qualifications and experience in forestry and environment were not in demand, so our only chance for immigration to Canada was to obtain a sponsor. Finally, we were sponsored and in the Fall of 1983, and we landed in Canada, in Toronto. It took an additional two years before we came to the place, where we had dreamed of living, the Rocky Mountains.
Krista is about to finish grade three and looking forward to the holiday at her grandparents place, when her parents tell her that this year she will be going on her own. Krista will miss their parents but she is happy to be spending her holiday with grandma and grandpa. She always has a lot of fun at her grandparents place, unlike her everyday life during the school year. Every time Krista visits her grandparents, grandpa prepares different games and activities for her to do. This time, he invites her to try a game he played in his youth. The idea is to win a series of badges, each one being a reward for achieving different skills and disciplines. Krista is excited and begins the game, called a beaver hunt. For the first badges, Krista has to develop her physical strenght and agility by running, jumping and swimming. It is not always easy and she finds, she had to work hard to get the badges, but she enjoys it and wins three badges in first couple weeks. The hunts for the next badges are even more exciting. She would get one for bravery, another for her ability to spend a day alone in the outdoors, and so on. Kristas grandparents have prepared a further adventure for her. They will all go together for a week-long hiking trip through the foothills and mountains and they will have a horse to carry their stuff. Krista, who never slept in a tent, has to prepare herself for the trip. She is thrilled with the plans for her holidays! The hiking trip is beautiful and for Krista, her hunt for the badges makes it unforgettable. Before her holiday ends, she obtains still more badges after some remarkable hunts. Just before her departure, the seniors organize a big party with games, songs, and dancing. All kids as well as adults have lots of fun and happy memories to recall throughout the year. Krista is sad to leave her grandparents place, but they help her to make plans for more activities through the school year. Kristas parents agree to support her plans, and best of all, come to realize how much their help means to Krista.
In 1982, I and my husband, parents with two young children, made a big decision. We fled our country, Czechoslovakia, to find our way to Canada and to start a new life there. As most citizens behind the "iron curtain," we felt increasing limitations of our personal freedom and our lack of defense against these. However, the main reason behind our decision was the worsening condition of the natural environment. In those days, in Czechoslovakia, I worked in the environmental field and was also taking postgraduate courses dealing with environment. I was not permitted to publish news about the deterioration of the environment, but because of my studies, I heard the bad news, gloomy statistics and hopeless prognosis. I was alarmed and finally, deeply depressed. "What to do? Where to move?" When even "our" mountains, our home, showed the undeniable signs of pollution, from no loacal cuases, we made our decision. A holiday in Yugoslavia provided, for us, the only oportunity to get out of the country with both children. From there, we had hoped to continue to Western countries. We managed it, despite the obstacles, but our stay in a German refugee camp extended over a year. Unfortunately for us, the Canadian government did not support our application for immigration. Our qualifications and experience in forestry and environment were not in demand, so our only chance for immigration to Canada was to obtain a sponsor. Finally, we were sponsored and in the Fall of 1983, and we landed in Canada, in Toronto. It took an additional two years before we came to the place, where we had dreamed of living, the Rocky Mountains.
Krista is about to finish grade three and looking forward to the holiday at her grandparents place, when her parents tell her that this year she will be going on her own. Krista will miss their parents but she is happy to be spending her holiday with grandma and grandpa. She always has a lot of fun at her grandparents place, unlike her everyday life during the school year. Every time Krista visits her grandparents, grandpa prepares different games and activities for her to do. This time, he invites her to try a game he played in his youth. The idea is to win a series of badges, each one being a reward for achieving different skills and disciplines. Krista is excited and begins the game, called a beaver hunt. For the first badges, Krista has to develop her physical strenght and agility by running, jumping and swimming. It is not always easy and she finds, she had to work hard to get the badges, but she enjoys it and wins three badges in first couple weeks. The hunts for the next badges are even more exciting. She would get one for bravery, another for her ability to spend a day alone in the outdoors, and so on. Kristas grandparents have prepared a further adventure for her. They will all go together for a week-long hiking trip through the foothills and mountains and they will have a horse to carry their stuff. Krista, who never slept in a tent, has to prepare herself for the trip. She is thrilled with the plans for her holidays! The hiking trip is beautiful and for Krista, her hunt for the badges makes it unforgettable. Before her holiday ends, she obtains still more badges after some remarkable hunts. Just before her departure, the seniors organize a big party with games, songs, and dancing. All kids as well as adults have lots of fun and happy memories to recall throughout the year. Krista is sad to leave her grandparents place, but they help her to make plans for more activities through the school year. Kristas parents agree to support her plans, and best of all, come to realize how much their help means to Krista.
Stability of the internal environment in which neuronal elements are situated is unquestionably an important prerequisite for the effective transmission of information in the nervous system. During the past decade our knowledge on the microenvironment of nerve cells has expanded. The conception that the microenvironment of neurones comprises a fluid with a relatively simple and stable composition is no longer accepted; the microenvironment is now envisaged as a dynamic structure whose composition, shape, and volume changes, thereby significantly influencing neuronal function and the trans mission of information in the nervous system. The modern conception of the neuronal microenvironment is based on the results of research over the last 20 years. The extracellular space (ECS) is comprehended not only as a relatively stable microenvironment containing neurones and glial cells (Bernard 1878), but also as a channel for communica tion between them. The close proximity of the neuronal elements in the CNS and the narrowness of the intercellular spaces provides a basis not only for interaction between the elements themselves, but also between the elements and their microenvironment. Substances which can cross the cell membranes can easily find their way through the microenvironment to adjacent cellular elements. In this way the microenvironment can assure non-synaptic com munication between the relevant neurones. Signalization can be coded by modulation of the chemical composition of the ECS in the vicinity of the cell membrane and does not require classic connection by axones, dendrites, and synapses.
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