Do you ever have that indecision when you have two slices of bread/toast in front of you for breakfast and out of numerous spreads you just can't decide which ones to pick? Should it be peanut butter, or stawberry jam, or apricot jam, or honey and butter, or honey and cream cheese, or blueberry jam, or or or... This happens to me all the time...
I wonder if it's a sign that I'm not able to make decisions? Or only able to make big decisions? Or only able to make decisions in relation to things that don't come from baked goods? Does it even need to have a projected meaning onto other planes in my life?
Yes, I am in a philosophical mood this morning. I am getting over last weeks cold and thinking about life, the universe, and everything. The main thing on my mind are the coming-up exams... and yes, after I finish this post I will go and study. I think it is time to make this sad confession - I am not really satisfied with this course that I'm doing. There are too many negatives - such as the incredibly fixed and rigid courseplan, the silly system of presentations from peers which form part of each seminar (all seminars are compulsory, so you can't skip them) where there is no time for discussion - thus each seminar revolves around everyone sitting and listening to other classmates go on about things that most likely won't even be covered on the exam. OK - I know, learning is not just about exams. But then it kind of is, because that's what determines your later academic life. Then there's the whole stupid idea that we sit exams for the whole year (2 semesters) and not just one at a time... which would've been sensible, and no reason not to do it. So I'm not entirely sure what to do.
On the one hand I enjoy the stimulation I get from the interesting parts of the course... on the other, I get frustrated that I can't do better and by all the things that are not right. Up until now I've been only in two degrees which I just simply liked... Art History part of my very first degree at Melbourne Uni, and the Grad Dip in Psychology, also at Melbourne Uni. The Commerce part of my first Melb Uni degree, and my RMIT degree had infinite problems and was even worse than this one. Perhaps this is just not what I expected to start with? Next semester we should have more actual "psychology" subjects, so I hope I pass these exams and get to try those. So far those subjects were really interesting - like personality psych, and right now the brain anatomy. Patience, young one...
On this note this morning rant is over, as I've finished eating my bread (it ended up with blueberry jam after all)... and time to go and study for the said exams. Hope you, my readers, are having a fantastic time wherever you are!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Бактериофак... or Ukraine - the one and only
it would probably take someone like Tolstoy to write a novel-worth about all the amazing adventures in Ukraine, so I'll just try to remember the highlights... of which there was an INCREDIBLE amount.
The biggest highlight was catching up with everyone - Denis and his dearest Vika, Zoya, Clive and the little wonderful baby that is Cat, Adrian and Vanessa, Augustin, Olchik, Ulchik, and actually meeting some more of Denis's amazing friends - Karen and Marianne from the US, and Bianca and Karina from Romania... as well as Stella and Sasha from Moldova. There were a lot of us and there were also good reasons for us to get together.
To start with we celebrated Julia's birthday in a very classy restaurant right on the beach of Black Sea... the food was amazing and we must've drowned at least 2-3 litres of clear spirit... as well as much beer and wine. We chatted and sang songs... and Julia and I even braved the dance-floor. It was an amazing night and thanks again to Julia for letting us take part in her celebrations.
The ritualistic every-day/night boozing didn't stop when we got on the train to go to Kiev on Sunday the 8th of June... we got two coupe's.. very comfy and clean... even though we were travelling in second class... the only complaint was that on the way there, they left the heating on all night, making those of us sleeping on top bunks pretty much sweat out any liquid left over from booze-consume.
Kiev was great... or grand... however one might want to put it. It was a bit of a mix between Budapest and Moscow... certainly a lot more hilly than Moscow... but also with wide streets, such as Krishatik (the main street). We stayed in a cosy little hostel, which was dirt cheap and the older guy who looked after it was so wonderful, that we ended up buying a bottle of Georgian wine for him upon departure. The morning of the second day we got interviewed by a local TV station about our reasons (as international tourists) to stay in a hostel rather than hotel in Kiev... something that amuzed some and petrified others of us. Ade, Julia - any idea where or when we might air on Ukranian TV?
In Kiev we mainly walked around the centre, saw the oldest Russian Orthodox Church that is Sofia, and also the very beautiful Vladimirskiy Cathedral with the most amazing icons. Definitely recommended. On our second day we made our way up to the Kiev-Pecher Monastery and even walked through some of the caves... these weren't as long as I thought they might be, but I did get to see the remains of Ilya Muromec - a very famous Russian hero. Following the monastery we made our way to a huge WWII memorian, where the Gigantor (Mother Motherland Statue) rises above the Dnepr... the boys got to see some of the tanks and things from the old times and to admire the beautiful views of the city from the hill.
One event in Kiev especially comes to mind, as it concerned your humble directly:
while having lunch in the main square Adrian went off to the "little boys room" in the nearby Maccas and came back fuming about the cleaning "Nazi" who wouldn't let him go to the loo because she was trying to clean... not thinking much of this, Jack, I, Zoya and Clive decided to brave the said toilet ourselves. As we approached the stairs leading down to the toilet rooms, the said lady grumbled something at us which meant something like "I'm cleaning, bugger off"... so I translated this to the guys as we waited for her to finish. She must've thought that I said something offensive about her, as she hissed "what did you say?"... and as I didn't reply, she stepped aside to let us pass. But as we walked down, she looked me straight in the eye and with an evil grin asked "Are these your clients?"... taken completely aback I told the guys what she said as we walked down to the loo's... walking back up she looked at me again and said "so, you're finished so quickly?"... to which I didn't know what to say, but Jack being my wonderful brave and fair husband called her loud and clear in Russian "suka" (bitch)... this episode provided much amuzement over the following days :)
We got back from Kiev to celebrate another birthday/wedding/baby birth ... this time of Denis/Denis & Vika/Mark Denisovich. This classy event took place in a Ukranian restaurant in the centre of Odessa - right on Deribasovskaya. Food was yummy, drinks were plenty and also very very tasty. Our gorgeous hosts even treated us to a slide show... where those of us who haven't travelled to Tiraspol got to see the baby boy in all his glory. It was a wonderful night!!!
When I told my Grandma that we were going to Odessa, she said that it is the city she would've loved to live in... but couldn't because of all the anti-semite attitudes (I am not sure how much of that is still true...). I think she was right about the first part. This city is very quickly becoming my favourite after Venice. It is relaxed like I haven't seen a former USSR city. The people are friendly. In the centre there are numerous open cafe's where people sit around, drink their coffee's and there's music coming out from the inside. Street signs are pretty... the whole city flows. It's also fairly small, so there is no need to stress about transport (granted we did catch taxis almost everywhere). The beach is amazing... the sand is soft and white... the water clear and beautiful. Along the small streets in the suburb where we stayed there was much greenery and sweet smelling flowers. These streets also didn't have street lights, so walking at night involved one hoping for a full moon - something that really reminded me of my summers at Anya's and Zoya's in Volgodonsk... this warm, southern, lazy feel that the unpaved roads have.... anyway - enough rambling and onto some photos:
while in Odessa we did a trip to a WWII park as well...
the little funny things (can you find the funnies in the menus?):
trying to be "artistic" in a WWII memorial in Kiev
In our hotel there was a Mum cat with four adorable kittens, who provided much entertainment during breakfasts and evening drinkies... here they are.. three red-haired and one grey (this one had the unfortunate fate of being chased by some boy who also stayed in the hotel)
Lazy days spent on the beach... swimming and sun baking...
Videos provide proof of our singing efforts:
two photos from our last evening in the beautiful town... Julia, Jack and I - the last ones standing... (or in the very least drinking)... Viva Odessa!!!
The biggest highlight was catching up with everyone - Denis and his dearest Vika, Zoya, Clive and the little wonderful baby that is Cat, Adrian and Vanessa, Augustin, Olchik, Ulchik, and actually meeting some more of Denis's amazing friends - Karen and Marianne from the US, and Bianca and Karina from Romania... as well as Stella and Sasha from Moldova. There were a lot of us and there were also good reasons for us to get together.
To start with we celebrated Julia's birthday in a very classy restaurant right on the beach of Black Sea... the food was amazing and we must've drowned at least 2-3 litres of clear spirit... as well as much beer and wine. We chatted and sang songs... and Julia and I even braved the dance-floor. It was an amazing night and thanks again to Julia for letting us take part in her celebrations.
The ritualistic every-day/night boozing didn't stop when we got on the train to go to Kiev on Sunday the 8th of June... we got two coupe's.. very comfy and clean... even though we were travelling in second class... the only complaint was that on the way there, they left the heating on all night, making those of us sleeping on top bunks pretty much sweat out any liquid left over from booze-consume.
Kiev was great... or grand... however one might want to put it. It was a bit of a mix between Budapest and Moscow... certainly a lot more hilly than Moscow... but also with wide streets, such as Krishatik (the main street). We stayed in a cosy little hostel, which was dirt cheap and the older guy who looked after it was so wonderful, that we ended up buying a bottle of Georgian wine for him upon departure. The morning of the second day we got interviewed by a local TV station about our reasons (as international tourists) to stay in a hostel rather than hotel in Kiev... something that amuzed some and petrified others of us. Ade, Julia - any idea where or when we might air on Ukranian TV?
In Kiev we mainly walked around the centre, saw the oldest Russian Orthodox Church that is Sofia, and also the very beautiful Vladimirskiy Cathedral with the most amazing icons. Definitely recommended. On our second day we made our way up to the Kiev-Pecher Monastery and even walked through some of the caves... these weren't as long as I thought they might be, but I did get to see the remains of Ilya Muromec - a very famous Russian hero. Following the monastery we made our way to a huge WWII memorian, where the Gigantor (Mother Motherland Statue) rises above the Dnepr... the boys got to see some of the tanks and things from the old times and to admire the beautiful views of the city from the hill.
One event in Kiev especially comes to mind, as it concerned your humble directly:
while having lunch in the main square Adrian went off to the "little boys room" in the nearby Maccas and came back fuming about the cleaning "Nazi" who wouldn't let him go to the loo because she was trying to clean... not thinking much of this, Jack, I, Zoya and Clive decided to brave the said toilet ourselves. As we approached the stairs leading down to the toilet rooms, the said lady grumbled something at us which meant something like "I'm cleaning, bugger off"... so I translated this to the guys as we waited for her to finish. She must've thought that I said something offensive about her, as she hissed "what did you say?"... and as I didn't reply, she stepped aside to let us pass. But as we walked down, she looked me straight in the eye and with an evil grin asked "Are these your clients?"... taken completely aback I told the guys what she said as we walked down to the loo's... walking back up she looked at me again and said "so, you're finished so quickly?"... to which I didn't know what to say, but Jack being my wonderful brave and fair husband called her loud and clear in Russian "suka" (bitch)... this episode provided much amuzement over the following days :)
We got back from Kiev to celebrate another birthday/wedding/baby birth ... this time of Denis/Denis & Vika/Mark Denisovich. This classy event took place in a Ukranian restaurant in the centre of Odessa - right on Deribasovskaya. Food was yummy, drinks were plenty and also very very tasty. Our gorgeous hosts even treated us to a slide show... where those of us who haven't travelled to Tiraspol got to see the baby boy in all his glory. It was a wonderful night!!!
When I told my Grandma that we were going to Odessa, she said that it is the city she would've loved to live in... but couldn't because of all the anti-semite attitudes (I am not sure how much of that is still true...). I think she was right about the first part. This city is very quickly becoming my favourite after Venice. It is relaxed like I haven't seen a former USSR city. The people are friendly. In the centre there are numerous open cafe's where people sit around, drink their coffee's and there's music coming out from the inside. Street signs are pretty... the whole city flows. It's also fairly small, so there is no need to stress about transport (granted we did catch taxis almost everywhere). The beach is amazing... the sand is soft and white... the water clear and beautiful. Along the small streets in the suburb where we stayed there was much greenery and sweet smelling flowers. These streets also didn't have street lights, so walking at night involved one hoping for a full moon - something that really reminded me of my summers at Anya's and Zoya's in Volgodonsk... this warm, southern, lazy feel that the unpaved roads have.... anyway - enough rambling and onto some photos:
while in Odessa we did a trip to a WWII park as well...
the little funny things (can you find the funnies in the menus?):
trying to be "artistic" in a WWII memorial in Kiev
In our hotel there was a Mum cat with four adorable kittens, who provided much entertainment during breakfasts and evening drinkies... here they are.. three red-haired and one grey (this one had the unfortunate fate of being chased by some boy who also stayed in the hotel)
Lazy days spent on the beach... swimming and sun baking...
Videos provide proof of our singing efforts:
two photos from our last evening in the beautiful town... Julia, Jack and I - the last ones standing... (or in the very least drinking)... Viva Odessa!!!
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