Blondynka w Australii

sobota, 22 grudnia 2012

Tydzien 6/7 - Week 6/7

Urwanie glowy - mnostwo zajec na uczelni, prace zaliczeniowe, przygotowanie sie do zajec itd. Wszystko to wplynelo na mala ilosc wydarzen, a zatem i zdjec, ktore warte bylyby opublikowanai na blogu. W ramach ciekawostek - bylam w restauracji typu Hot Pot, czyli ogolnie cala atrakcja polega na tym, ze w zasadzie gotuje sie samemu ;-) Na stole stawiany jest garnek z "wywarem" (2 rodzaje: ostry i ... bardziej ostry ;-))) i do niego wklada sie wszystko, na co w zasadzie fantazja pozwoli; rozne rodzaje miesa (wliczajac w to swinskie ucho) owoce morza, warzywa itd. Na koniec mozna dorzucic makaron. Mozna zdecydowanie nadrobic zaleglosci towarzyskie, bo gotowalismy chyba z kilka godzin, tak dobra byla zabawa :-)
Jako, ze nie mialam aparatu, jedyne "prawdziwe" zdjecie z tego wydarzenia jest kiepskiej jakosci, a reszta to po prostu fotki z sieci, aby oddac choc troche nastroj tego gotowania. Szukajac tych zdjec, natrafilam na kilka niesamowitych zdjec Sydney, wiec i te sa ponizej :-) Milego ogladania :-)

Busy, busy, busy, busy - lots of classes ("input sessions"), assignments, preparations for classes etc. All these resulted in hardly any events, and consequently hardly any photos that I could upload on the blog. However, there was an interesting evening, which we spent in a Hot Pot restaurant. The general idea is about cooking your own meal ;-) There is a simmering metal pot of stock (spicy and ... very spicy) at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat (and pigs' ears), vegetables, mushrooms, dumplings, seafood etc. You can also add some Asian pasta. It is definitely a social occassion and we spent a few hours at the restaurant, it was so much fun :-) I didn't have my camera with me, so the only "real" photo is of poor quality, the rest of them were found online to give you the idea what it is like. While looking for these pics, I also found some incredible photos of Sydney. Enjoy!

piątek, 7 grudnia 2012

Tydzien 5 - Week 5

Mimo, ze tydzien 5 znow obfitowal w robote papierkowa zwiazana z moimi przygotowaniami do zycia studenckiego na obczyznie (formularze, przygotowania do rozmowy kwalifikacyjnej i sama rozmowa - zakonczona sukcesem - tak!), to udalo mi sie znalezc chwilke, by na zdjecich uwiecznic slynna tutejsza galerie handlowa mieszczaca sie w tzw. Queen Victoria Building /Budynku Krolowej Wiktorii/ (zwanym przez miejscowych po prostu QVB). Jako, ze zblizaja sie Swieta, takze i tu przygotowano olbrzymia choinke, przystrojona krysztalami Swarovsky'ego. Bedac w City postanowilam tez wjechac na Sydney Tower Eye i "nieco" z gory obejrzec panorame miasta. Przed zaglebieniem sie w swiat tutejszej edukacji spedzilam tez nieco czasu u znajomych nad ich basenem, witajac Swieta w Darling Harbour oraz dokumentujac "Movember" - taka mala modyfikacja nazwy miesiaca (MOustache - was oraz NoVEMBER - listopad), - panowie na miesiac zapuszczaja wasy, zbieraja datki na organizacje pomagajacym chorym na raka, starajac sie zwiekszyc swiadomosc spoleczna a propos raka prostaty, a potem nastepuje wielki dzien golenia ;-) Wlasnie dlatego malpki nad pubem tez maja wasy :-)

Although week 5 was full of paperwork connected with my getting ready to become a student again (application forms, Language Awareness Tasks, interview - a successful one - YES!), I managed to find some time to take a few pics of Queen Victoria Building - a famous shopping mall in the City (known as QVB). Because Xmas is coming, a huge Xmas tree, decorated with hundreds of Swarovsky crystals appeared in the building. I also went up Sydney Tower Eye and had a look at the panorama of the city. Also, I spent some time by my friends' pool - relaxation time before coming back to the realm of education ;-)
Been to darling Harbour, too to participate in one of many Xmas events in the city and documented "Movember" (a portmanteau word from "moustache" and "November"), which is is an annual, month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other male cancer and associated charities. And then the big day of shaving comes ;-) Anyway, that's why the monkeys above the pub door have moustaches :-)

środa, 5 grudnia 2012

Tydzien 4/ Week 4

Tydzien czwarty uplynal w zasadzie bardzo spokojnie jesli chodzi o kwestie zwiedzania, bo mialam sporo papierkowej roboty zwiazanej z uczelnia. W ramach relaksu urzadzilam sobie wyprawe po tutejszych silowniach (rano, przed wpadaniem w wir pracy), zmyslnie wykorzystujac do tego darmowe wejsciowki ;) Odkrylam zajecia "Body Pump" (jak dla mnie rewelacja, choc to pewnie tez duza zasluga prowadzacego), wpadlam kilka razy na spinning (Asia, instruktorka z "mojego" polskiego spinningu pozostaje niedosciglym wzorcem), no i przeszlam sie po okolicy z aparatem, bo eukaliptusy i ich kora chyba nigdy nie przestana mnie zadziwiac i fascynowac :-)

Week 4 was quite a calm one as far as sightseeing is concerned as I had a lot of paperwork devoted to "school work". To relax a bit I did some reasech on the gyms in the neighbourhood (visiting them for free - almost every gym offers free passes for a limited period of time to let people see whether they like it or not). I discovered "Body Pump" classes, which I enjoyed a lot (and the trainer was really impressive and charismatic), went to a couple of spinning classes (Australian instructors have A LOT to learn from my Polish indoor cycling instructor, Asia - she is a true role model!) and had a walk or two to take some photos of some flowers and eucalyptus trees, which keep fascinating me... The flaking bark against the blue sky...

Dla zainteresowanych: "probka" Body Pump ;-)

czwartek, 15 listopada 2012

Tydzien 3 / Week 3

Tydzien trzeci / week 3

Tydzien trzeci uplynal na swietowaniu urodzin (nie tylko moich :-)) A jak swietowac, to swietowac: impreza w domu, calodzinna wyprawa promem (do centrum i na plaze), spacery, spotkania z tujejszymi jaszczurkami, owoce morza na obiad, wizyta w studiu telewizyjnym i udzial w nagraniu programu "Can of Worms" na Channel TEN. Gospodynia programu jest Chrissie Swan, a goscimi odcinka byli sedzia programu Master Chef - Gary Mehigan, trenerka z programu The Biggest Loser ("Wiele do stracenia") - Michelle Bridges i komik - Adam Richard. Zeby bylo weselej, mielismy wejsciowki VIP, a wiec po zakonczonym programie udalismy sie na poczestunek z gwiadami do green room'u . Powaznie! Do tego jeszcze legendarny Melbourne Cup (wyscig konny, ktory faktycznie zatrzymuje caly narod) w doborowym towarzystwie... Nawet ja dalam sie porwac hazardowi i obstawilam konia! Szkoda tylko, ze nikt z nas nic nie wygral ;-( Ale i tak fajnie bylo ubrac elegancka sukienke, obcasy i wtopic sie w tlum elegancko ubranych kobiet i mezczyzn :-) Nie mialam co prawda kapelusza, ani zadnego kwiatu we wlosach, jak wiekszosc pan, ale sasiad ze stolika obok chetnie uzyczyl swoj kapelusz do zdjec ;-) No i nie moge przeciez zapomniec o kolorowych gosciach, ktorzy w tym tygodniu wyjatkowo czesto odwiedzali moj balkon - o papugach.

Week 3 was devoted mainly to celebrating birthdays (not only mine ;-)) And if you want to celebrate, you should do so to the fullest: party at home, a cruise to the city centre and to the beach, walking around, meetings with local lizards, seafood for lunch, visit to the TV studio, taking part in the recording of the programme "Can of Worms" on Channel Ten. The hostess of the programme is Chrissie Swan and that dayher guests were: Master Chef judge Gary Mehrigan, The Biggest Loser trainer - Michelle Bridges and Adam Richard - a comedian. To make the evening even more fun, we had VIP passes so after the programme we were invited to the green room to join the stars of the programme and had a snack and a drink with them. Seriously! That week also the legendary Melbourne Cup took place (horse race which DOES stop the whole nation), which I spent in very good company. I even decided to join all the gamblers and bet on a horse! Such a pity that none of us won anything ;-( Anyway, it was fun to put on an elegant dress, high heels and mingle with a crowd of elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen. I didn't wear a hat or a flower in my hair, as most women did, but a gentleman from a table next to ours willingly lent me his hat so I posed in it for some pics ;-) Oh yeah, and I mustn't forget about the colourful guests that visited my balcony very frequently during the week - the parrots.