Christmas!!!

      We almost have Christmas. It's a time when all the family garthers around a table with a lot of food, everybody wishes all the best. We can sing carols, give presents, or just spend days talking. Of course, there is a lot to prepare- tidy the house, buy presents, write postcards (or, nowadays, SMSes or in Facebook :P), cook...
 For me, the best part of Christmas is the atmosphere- snow (well, it should be!), stars, christmas tree with lamps and baubles, mandarins, gingerbreads, the smell of beetroot soup...We can feel it just during one day.


So I wanna wish you all Merry Christmas, free of problems. And remember not to eat too much :P

Shopping spree

Every day we're nearer to the Christmas. We can see many decorations in houses, streets and shops, we can hear carols, buy presents... This is the best time to go for shopping, because in many of them there are cut-price, to encourage people. But, on the other hand, especially during weekends, there are crowds in shop centres, so there's no pleasure in trying to reach something, digging among people. All families are going to spend some time together spending money, so there is also a lot of noise... It's terrible!
Personally, I prefer to go shopping during the week, when I can quietly look around, find something interesting, try it on (when it comes to clothes). I hate standing in queues, but who likes it? 

Have you bought presents for your friends and family? I've almost all of them, but I have no idea what to buy to my mother, maybe you could help me ;) ?                                                                                                                                                           

Student life VS Family house

Last year I moved to Poznań to study here. For almost 25 years I had been living with my parents, and now I know how it is like to live on my own. Of course, I share flat with three girls (sometimes not only girls) so there are also some problems. For example, it's difficult to keep cleanliness. Everyone of us have something to do, but in practice it isn't so simple... And it generates conlicts, but

it is hard to avoid. What I miss is quiet... Sometimes if I have to learn it is very difficult, because I can't focus on it.
On the other side, I can go out whenever I want ( to explain- in Bydgoszcz my house is far from civilization, so it's hard to go out when it's dark outside...) and get back without explaining anything.

And what about family home? I have to obey to my parents, but I don't have to cook, so there is a balance ;) And I can sleep without being disturbed...  But I must admit that when I visit my parents I realise that I used to live on my own and it's better for me. From time to time it's good to go home, do nothing, eat normal dinner, listen that I should tidy-up my room... Now I appreciate these rare moments.

Concluding: There's no place like home, but student life is very interesting and we can gain many experiences ;)

Healthy lifestyle

Today I'd like to write something about a healthy lifestyle. It's becoming more and more popular nowadays, many people try to lead it, but what should we do to improve our health?

1. Diet

We should eat at least 5 portion of fruits or vegetables every day. Instead of juices we should dronk water or green tea. We should also give up eating sweets, but I know how difficult it is. Instead of meat it'd be better to eat fishes, they contain ''good fats'' and are better for our heart. What's more? Alcohol- a glass of red wine is good, but beer and other drinks... Well, from time to time.






2.Sport
Instead of sitting next to TV it would be better go for a

walk. Every day we should do at least half an hour of exercises, it could be jogging, swimming, dancing. Everybody will find something goog for him. For example, I can't imagine sitting all day and doing nothing. I have to use my energy, that's why I have a pass to the gym, it motivates me. And it's also a good alternative to learning ;)



3. Rest
Yes, we also need it. After many hours of working or studying, we also should find some time to relax, read a good book, watch a movie or just sleep.

So, from today:

Coffee time!

            The weather is getting worse and worse every day. Days are shorter, the sun doesn't shine so often... Isn't it good to sit with a good book and a cup of coffee? I really like it and I must admit that I drink it every morning, but I'm not addicted to caffeine, what's more- I can go sleep right after drinking espresso!

Here are some reasons why coffee is good for our health:
- it stimulates us, so we have more energy to deal with everyday problems. Also it improves the circulation of the blood, even in our brain. So it's recomended when we have to study hard
- it degrades a risk of liver cancer
- it help us deal with allergy (did you know that?)

 

There are many reasons to drink coffee.  
Beacause we want to relax.
Because we have guests.
Beacause it tastes great.

There are also many types of coffee. Black, with milk, latte, espresso, capuccino. We can add sugar, honey, syrups, even an alcohol.

Do you like coffee? Maybe you have some original ideas? For example I like nut-flavoured coffee, with milk and honey.

Have a nice weekend!

Why we should learn foreign languages?

 Nowadays it's very important to know at least one foreign language. It'll help us not only at studies or in job, but also in everyday living. I'd like to present some of reasons to learn language of other nations.

To develop confidence
Learning a foreign language is satifying experience and a serious confidence booster. You’ll have to overcome some of your fears and doubts, learn more about yourself, and meet new people. It'd be also easier for you to visit other countries, you'd vave an opportunity to test yourself. 

Increase your brain power
A psychologist at York University in Toronto, Ellen Bialystok, has found that students who study foreign languages obtain better results on tests than their monolingual peers, especially in the categories of math, reading, and vocabulary. Learning other languages alter grey matter - the area of the brain which processes information – in the same way exercise builds muscles.

Study or live abroad
As we know, many people prefer study or live in other countries, thats why it's important to know foreign languages. The same in a case of Erasmus. Unfortunatelly it's widely known that there are petter opportunities to find a job f.ex. in England than in Poland...

Discover new culture
Learning languages we also learn about the culture, literature, history etc. And sometimes we can learn really interesting facts ;)

Meet new people
I think everyone has at least one friend who doesn't speak polish, so it's a good reason to have an ability to comunicate with him/her in his/her language. It's a good oportunity for us to improve our skills, don't you think?

There many other reasons. And why do you learn foreign languages?

Friends

Hi :)

Today I'd like to write about one of my favourite TV series- Friends. I think everybody knows them, and I won't believe that exist at least one person who didn't see any of the episodes. I've seen every episode, some of them even twice. Usually I don't like TV series, but this one is really worth watching ;)

The series shows us a daily life of 6 friends, there are love, job, family and many other themes.

 

Rachel-  her hobby is fashion. She begins her carrer as a waitress in Central Perks, then she works in Bloomingdale and finally at Ralph Lauren's.

Phoebe- a massage therapist, singer and guitar player. She thinks that she is a medium. 

Monica- works as a chef, she is very pedantic.

Ross- onica's brother, works as a paleontologist in a Museum. 

Joey- my favourite ;). Actor, he likes girls very much ;)

Chandler- works as a businessmen, at the beginning shares a fat with Joey, but later he  becomes involved emotionally with Monica and they live together.

 

As a curiosity, I've found some things you ( me also) might not know about Friends, here are some of them:

1) Lisa Kudrow ( Phoebe) hated playing guitar at first- she learned just a couple of chords and decided that her character will use only them. That's why almost all of her songs have the same malody as famous ''smelly cat''

2)  The apartment numbers switched during the series- at the beginning of the series, Monica’s door had the number 5 on it. The producers later realized that didn’t make sense as Monica lived on a higher floor. They changed her apartment number to 20. The number on Chandler’s apartment changed as well—from 4 to 19.

3) The cast could've been different- both Jon Favreau and Jon Cryer were considered for the role of Chandler before it went to Matthew Perry; Kathy Griffin and Jane Lynch were auditioning for the part of Phoebe.

4)  Actors didn't always play well with animals- but their characters had to ;)

Here you can watch TOP 15 funniest friends moments. Enjoy!

 

How to train memory

Inspired by last English lesson, I decided to share with you some tricks to train memory and remember better, especially during studies ;) I've found 12 pieces of advice, here they are:

1) Crosswords
One of my favourites activities ;) (during free time of course!). Many times we can find the same words and definitions, and that's the way to remember them and also to learn new terms.

2) What happened during the day?
Try to remember all the things you've done during the day, then put them into chronological order. First it could seem a bit difficult, but practising every day you'll find it easier ;)

3) Board games, such as ''MEMORY''
I think I don't have to explain it ;)

4)  Mechanical learning
Lerning by heart f. ex. poems, numbers, directions etc

5) Fresh air
The best way to relax is to go for a long walk. Fresh air is very good for our brain, every day we should spend at least 15 minutes in a park or in any other place far from noises and air pollutions.

6) Physical excercises

They're crucial both for our physical and mantal condition. Doing exercises we provide our brain with blood, and then we can learn easier and more efficient.

7) Learn new subjects
Try to find some kind of subjects which may interest you, the best choice will be a foreign language, but not everyone feels a ''vocation'' to it. In that way we stimulate our brain cells.

8) Observe carefully
During walking try to concentrate on the environment, remember as much details as you could.

9) Read with comprehension
It's one of the easiest tricks, that's way it's crucial in learning languages. Reading we can learn new expressions and vocabulary.

10) Don't use ''helpers''
I shouldn't write it, as a student, but instead of writing everything in notebooks, we should remember them. But... is it possible?!

11) Associations
Creating some associations we can remember things better. I use it very often, so I recommend this technique ;)

12) Sleep!
Our brain, such us our all body, need to rest, that's why it's very important to sleep at least 8 hours every night (or day, it depends ;) ). But don't do it in school ;)


Do you know any other tricks? Maybe I'll try them out

My homentown- Bydgoszcz

Hi :)

This is my last post. A session time begins so I have to study, unfortunetelly. Soon a holiday will begin. Maybe some of you will visit Bydgoszcz, so I'd like to present you some of places worth seeing.

First some general information; Bydgoszcz belongs to Pomerania Voivodeship since 1999. It's the 8th largest city in Poland, with its area of 174.57 km² and population around 360000. The name of the city derives from Byd and Gost, foundators of Bydgoszcz.

Wyspa Młyńska (Mill Island) is among the most spectacular and atmospheric places in Bydgoszcz. It is situated in the very heart of the city centre, just a few steps from the old Market Square. It was the 'industrial' centre of Bydgoszcz in the Middle Ages. Now it's a place for many concerts, thans to it's ''romantic'' caracter we can also meet many young couples during their photo session. The are some cafes and famous Warzelnia, where we can drink beer fresh brewed. From Mill Islad we can see the building of Opera Nova.

 Śródmieście ( City Centre)- it's a part of city where we can find many histotical buildings. The main street is Gdańska Street. There are many shops, cafes, but also we can admire architecture, Piastowski Square with neo-baroque church. And, of course, we can go shopping to the gallery ''Drukarnia'' ;)

Myślęcinek, or Leśny Park Kultury i Wypoczynku - the largest municipal park, it's area is 830 ha. It's situated in a northern part od Bydgoszcz. It's divided into three parts:
- the western part- there we can relax and listen to the nature.
- the eastern part- it's zone for recreation. We can go to the zoo, enjoy ourselves in a lunapark, walk among the trees, make  a picnic in a clearing ''Różopole'', go fishing, eat diner in a restaurat or just observe horses during their excercises.
- the northern part- during winter we can use a ski lift and during summer we can play a golf. Also we can visit a botanic garden or a Centre of Ecological Education.
It's my favourite place in Bydgoszcz. I realyy like ride there by bike, then sit and reflect.

Fordon (sorry, but as a patriot I have t present my district ;) )- till 1793 it was a city, but then became a district of Bydgoszcz. It is know as a bedroom suburb, just because there aren't much to do. But, on the other side, I appreciate it because I've never wanted to live in a centre. The most famous part of Fordon are Górki Fordońskie (Hills). We can find there many things- mushrooms, apples, blackberries, hop... For everyone something special ;). Here is a view from Górki:

 In the end I want to show some more photos to inspire you and encourage to visit my city :) I can serve as a guide ;)

Enjoy your holiday!

          . 

Dublin

Last year I've been to Ireland, to visit my cousin and his family. They live in a semi-detached house about 40 km from the capital, in Rush. It's a small lovely village near to the seashore, so it's great place for long walks with their one-year-old daughter.
I really enjoyed a week which I spent there. We have visited some interesting places, but here I'd like to write about Dublin. It was the first time I've been there, but now I know I'll go there more often :)

Dublin is the capital of Ireland and belongs to the province of Leinster.  The city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network  as a global city, and I've to admit that it's really good comunicated even with the vilages, f. ex. from Rush we could tahe a fast train to Dublin. And it wasn't as standard as we have in our dear PKP, it was far much better!

Some places which I recommend to visit in Dublin:

Grafton Street- is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre. There are many ''famous'' people which we can find almost every day, for example, John Nee, a storyteller or Rodrigo y Gabriela (no, it's not a mistake, they're called so), a Mexican guitar duo. There is also Roadmage,
a street magic act created by magician and entertainer Owen Lean. And if you're hungry, you could eat some Irish dishes, such as:

Guiness- maybe I'm not a beer-enthusiast, but I really enjoy visiting this brewery. It's huge, so it takes much time to see every corner of it. There we can learn about the history, see some instuments required in a beer production and taste some dishes prepared with Guiness beer. And in the end we can drink an original Guiness, it's included in a ticket price. We can also buy some souvenirs of corse.

Natural History Museum- my favourite :) There we can find many species of animals, that's why it is also called ''dead zoo'' (personally I prefer the first name). Here are some examples (sometimes they loos so realistic than I thought there were alive!):

 Finally, when I was at the airport, I've met such a lovely potato :)

Last month...

This time next month I'll be writing the last exam this year, from English of course :) So I think it's a good time to make a summary of 4th year of my studies.

 

 

1) I moved to Poznań. I had studied here before, but only during weekends. I like this town, espcially Piątkowo, when I live. There are many green areas and there's also quiet, so I can go with a book and sit in some place to relax.

2) I have met many new people, not only at the University, but also my house-mates, people at paries, so my social life enriched :)

3) I have learnt spanish literature, language, linguistics, culture. Also I've practiced my english skills not only writing posts here, but also during lessons ;)

4) I became more independent, because here I have to take care of myself, but it's high time to leave parental house and begin to live on my own. I must admit that I really enjoy it :)

5) What's the most important- I have (almost) survive that year! I hope I'll pass all exams and I'll enjoy holidays (but just in terms of no-learning).

World Press Photo

This year I had a chance to view the World Press Photo exhibition in Zamek in Poznań. Maybe I'm not a art expert, but some of photos really intrigued me. I'd like to present one of them.

This photo was made by Julie McGuire and is titled ''Street Dogs''

Why I've chosen this one? First, because I really like animals, but I've written about it some time ago. What's more, it was taken in a house of a woman who set up an asylum for dogs, now she gives shelter for about 250 dogs.

I admire people who sacrifice their life to help others, no matter animals or human, but the most important is to help creatures in need. We can see that this woman alloted much space for dogs. They are everywhere, destroing all around them. It must be really hard tackle with such a number of animals, but I'm sure that she obtain much love and friendship in exchange. I believe that dogs are human's best friends.

An exhibition will be in Zamek till the end of May, I recommend to visit it. There are fantastic and impressive photos.

5 reasons to smile :)

Hi everyone :)

I'd like to present 5 reasons to smile, because it's very important in everyday life.

1. Because we have spring :)

As I've written before, spring is my favourite season. Why? If you wanna know I recommend you read preview post ;)

2. Because we have friends and family who love us

 It's a good reason to smile. We know that we're not alone. We have somebody to talk to, to laugh with, even to cry with. Friends support us and help us when we have problems. So, let's smile at them :)

 3. Because it's contagious
Did you realise that when one person smile, other peolpe also are in good mood? If you didn't, it'shigh time to check it :)

4. Because soon there will be holiday
Oh yes :) I know, first we have to write exams but, thinking about the reward, it's worth it. Personally I won't have holiday this year because I'll spend almost 2 months with crutches, but maybe for rest of you it will be good time.

5. Because it's good for our health
There are many good effects for our health related with smiling. For example, peolpe who laugh live longer and don't have problems with heart' attacks. What's more, laughing is good for abdomen muscles ;)



Maybe you know some others reasons to smile?

Spain- my second homeland

Hi everyone :)

Today I'd like to write a bit about Spain-the most beautiful country (for me at least). I fell in love with Spain, but I don't know why, it's something inexplicable. I like it's culture, history, language. I have been there three times and I have many good memories. I'dlike to present you two of my favourite cities in Spain.

1.Toledo

 It's located on a mountaintop, surrounded by the Tagus River. There are many places to visit, such as the Alcazar, the cathedral and a central market place named the Zocodover.
Toledo was known for religious tolerance. Today there are many religious monuments, for example the Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca, the Synagogue of El Transito, the church od San Sebastian or Mosque of Cristo de la Luz.
In the 13th century Toledo was a major cultural centre guided byb Alfonso X El Sabio.
The Cathedral of Toledo combines characterisctics of the Mudejar style. We can find there many figures of stucco, paintings, bronze castings and a masterpiece of Narciso Tome.
There are two bridges which provide access to Tolero acros the river, the Alcantara bridge and San Martin bridge.

If we want to taste a bit of the deliciuos cuisine, I recommend tortilla a la magra or cochifrito. And for a dessert marzipan (mazapan de Toledo), which has a Protected Graphical Indication.



2. Madrid

 A capital and also the largest city of Spain. It's the political, economic and cultural centre of Spain.
What's worth seeing there?

The Prado Museum- is one of the most visited museums in the world. It contains collections pf Goya, Velazquez, El Greco, Rubens and many others. We can find there around  7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints and 8,200 drawings.

The Reina Sofia Museum- it's the Spain's national museum of 20th- century art. We can find there collections of , for example, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. The most famous masterpiece is ''Guernica'' painted by Picasso.

 

The polish healthcare...

Today I want to write not about my hobbies, but about my objections. It's all about the weather outside ;)

Recently I had a couple of bad experiences with healthcare (who doesn't have them?).  For example, how is it possible that in Poland people have to wait months or even years for visit at a doctor? I mean visits from NFZ, because if we pay we can go even at the same day. And what about surgeries? I've heard that I'll have a surgery at 2019, because they don't have money now. If I had know earlier I'd have booked it 5 years ago...

Other things are sick bays at hospitals. Last week I had to wait nearly 5 hours because doctors didn't seem to hurry up. What's the worst- I've spent the first day of spring there... At least I don't have to wear plaster cast, which I was afraid of (a consequence od spring jogging, watch out for curbs, they could be really dangerous!).

Ok, that's all. Do you have any problems with healthcare? If no, you're lucky ;)

It's almost spring!

Within few days we wil be in spring time, so I'd like to say goodbye to winter ;)

I like when the sun wakes me up, even if it's seven in the morning.
I like stroll about the park watching children playing with their parents, dogs running and barking.
I like spend many hours in my garden (now it's possible just during weekends...), because there's always something to do.

Nature wakes up.
Birds are singing, flowers and trees begin to bloom, grass is become more and more green.

And people are happier! :)

On the other hand, now it'd me more difficult to sit and learn, that's why I think that the spring should be free from learning, I don't mean these few days during Easter or in May, but all the time when days are sunny :)

Pets :)

Today I'd like to write about pets, my biggest hobby (if I could say so). I can't imagine life without animals in my house. I had a dog, mice, guinea pigs, now I have a hamster and a rabbit. Let me introduce you some of my small friends :)

Dino- my dog. I've written about him some time ago. He was my first and only dog, he had 9 years. He very liked snow, meat and my room :] (he felt other animals, that's why). In his free time he used to sleep on a couch ;)

 He was also very elegant.

Tuptuś vel. Paszczak (I don't know why, don't ask me ;) ). Now, when I live in Poznań, he substitute me, so my parents aren't bored. He is 4 now. Don't be taken in his sweet apearance, it's a small evil :P

  He likes books very much, sometimes he even tries to eat them ;)

And finally I'd like to show you my little 'family'.

See you next week!