Poland

So here I am, last time I was here was at least twelve years ago. A lot has changed! Modernisation has come, big shopping centres, malls, new subways, sky scrapers, etc. Of course there are places that mix the old with the new, where crumbling, old, neglected communist era building are just down the road from new giant sky scrapers, and shops..

Fashion has come a long way too, people dress here pretty well, reminding me of Japan. I don't think I have seen an obese person at all! Hopefully with all the new modern things, people won't change their diets and become Americanised.

Still some people find it hard, but others find themselves well. You can clearly see the contrasts, and that's interesting. Those that aren't progressing stagnate quite clearly, while others cash in.

I'm here for a of couple weeks, so will update with photos, and any other interesting facts I find :)

Plane Ride

I flew United on an old 747, no individual screens, old movies, no free alcohol. What can I say? I am a bit disappointed :( However the pasta meal was great. It was some cheese filled pasta shells in a really nice tomato purée. Also I didn't realise we travelled at over 1000km/h, somehow I didn't quite think that old massive 747s travelled with that speed... Anyway, after this trip I will have accrued enough mileage points to get a free return flight anywhere in the US & Canada, so I'm not really complaining too loudly ;)

The plane was completely full, so it was kinda busy the whole flight. I tried sleeping, however didn't have much success. Thankfully I had an aisle seat, so didn't quite have the cramped feeling of being stuck. But I did get the feeling that I have massive shoulders, or that the aisle was too small, or that people are fat. That's because I would get bumped almost constantly, and I was sitting as close as I could next to the person sitting next to me.. So maybe it's a combination of the above?

Meh, now to throw in some photos of some snow capped mountain/ranges when we had only just left San Francisco :)

Up, up, and away..

Tomorrow I head off on a two week trip of Poland, visiting family and friends. It should be a good time, hopefully I have the right clothes, and wont have to experience really cold temperatures :)

I wish anyone else on Christmas trips safe travel, and a happy, stress free period :D

Did I just find that in my oatmeal??

So the other day I was making some porridge. I used the rest of the container of oats up, added some milk, some cream (yes I added cream :P) and proceeded to heat it in the microwave. A couple of minutes later I was munching away after adding some half spoon fulls of brown sugar. Then in the course of eating, I took a spoon full and proceeded to feel something hard. Luckily I didn't harm my teeth, but I spat out the object and found that it was a screw!

Now finding a screw in your porridge is definitely perplexing, especially when it is 7am in the morning and you are still getting over that weird dream, only to again think you are having a dream.. >.< The only logical explanation I can come up with, is that it came from the oatmeal container. Naturally denser, heavier things, move to the bottom, so when I emptied the container everything that was at the bottom was moved to my bowl. It could not have been in the milk, as it doesn't float, nor could it have been in the cream for that same reason (I didn't finish either). So then you might say it was in the mircowave or the brown sugar. I checked the microwave for missing screws, and found no holes for them, which makes sense, as you don't put metallic objects in the microwave. The amounts of brown sugar that I put on my porridge could not have hid the screw, so thus leaving the conclusion that it came from the oatmeal container! (Oh and I had a clean bowl, so it wasn't there before I poured the oatmeal in, ruling that out as well)

I am going to send it away to the manufacturer, so I will keep you posted if I hear anything back.

Ten Months +

So, California has officially taken second place in the "where I have lived the longest for" category. But honestly, this last month or two especially, has flown by really quickly. I have been quite busy with work, planning my Christmas trip, and swimming. I am also amazed that I am only two months short of completing a year overseas, away from everything that was 'home'. When will I be back? Who knows? I guess I should know by April, but yea...

At the moment it's winter here, and well it really isn't that much of a winter. For instance it might get a bit cool (down to 0-4C) on a clear night, otherwise with cloud cover it's a bit warmer. There is some rain, but it isn't anything to want to get away from, and the wind, is just a breeze. There is nothing like a biting cold southerly wind from Antarctica, with a wind chill factor below freezing here - which I strangely miss. As I guess it's just not that challenging...