Irish news

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_tubridy.xml

from the Irish tv and radio station.

I really have to wonrk on the comprehension of Irish accent, even though it doesn't sound that difficult.. maybe because it is from the Irish tv..

business news, bbc

Business News from BBC.co.uk

Which newspaper did report on Zimbabwe?

What is Zimbabwe trying to take control on?

51% has been mentioned. What does this percentage refer to?

When was this process started?

Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world. How much is it exactly?

In which context were China and Malaysia mentioned?

Which bank is still active in Zimbabwe?

Which holiday determines the beginning of summer?

Is the price of fuel increasing with the same pattern of oil price?

83% is referred to …..

Why is the price of fuel on the West Coast traditionally higher than on the East Coast?

What has been introduced recently, which makes fuel cleaner but costlier?

What about the London stock exchange today?

What is Australia suffering of?

What can smaller companies do more easily?

The Australian twin-engine is made up by …..

How much is the unemployment rate?

How is the Australian stock exchange going?

What countries have been mentioned, talking about immigration?

How much was the government surplus last year?

And the inflation rate?

land wars in venezuela

after listening and watching the video about Venezuela from the "NYTimes.com":

LAND WARS IN VENEZUELA

What did Hugo Chavez introduce?

When did it come into effect?

Who is Alonso Sapada?

Why does the interviewed farmer say “he seems to have a thorn in his chest”?

By which crops were sugar cane plantation replaced?

Why did Mr Hines end up in Venezuela?

He wasn’t denied to carry a fire arm. What does he carry instead?

How many land owners were killed during the take-overs?

Who is Carlos Gimenez?

Which expression does he use instead of “take-over”?

Why hasn’t the interviewed woman left the country yet?

What is Fundo Bellavista?

Who inaugurated it?

From which countries does Venezuela mainly import food?

Corruption. According to some rumours, who is slightly accused of corruption?

How does the situation in Caracas look as far as sugar is concerned?

How do reach people feel? And poors?

Did Mr Hines succed in selling his property?


VOCABULARY

squatter: someone who occupies unused land, either to farm it or to build a house on it, without having a legal right to do so.

inaugurate, to: - if you inaugurate a system or service, you start it.
- when a new building or institution is inaugurated, it is declared open in a formal cerimony.

agrarian: relating to the ownership and use of land, especially farmland, or relating to the part of a society or economy that is concerned with agriculture.

to be a thorn in one's (chest) side: to be a continuous problem to sone, to annoy.

something general about wwoof

I'm an official member of WWOOF-Independents!

WWOOF stands for World-Wide opportunities on organic farms.

it's an organisation which helps you getting in touch with organic farms and consequently supporting you making your decision by sending you a booklet with all the host-farms joining wwoof-Independents.

Ireland hasn't got its own national organisation. that's why you have to join the "Independents".

the history of wwoof starts in the 1970s, founded by an English woman who later on spread her idea all over the world.
there's a membership fee you have to pay. it's about 25€ and your membership will last 1 year.

there are many different kinds of farming or organic experiences. the wwoof-hosts aren't always organic farms. some of them have organic restaurants, they restore buildings, some are nature / healing centres, some others produce organic food, and so on...

they usually recommend you to take a sleeping bag, a rain jacket, boots and gloves with you. essentially everything you may be using on a farm.

as wwoof is a volonteering organisation, you're supposed to work 4 to 6 hours a day in exchange of accomodation and meals. anyway, most of the host farms give you some pocket money.

so much so far!

I'll surely get to know more about wwoof as time goes by..

if you don't like soccer, you're not Italian!!!

we made it!!!!

after 2 years we got our revenge!
after that night in istanbul, when we all cried (me either..), after so much strengh and work, we made it again!

we won in regular time (90 min). we didn't play well, it wasn't any spectacular game like the one against Manchester, but still we won!

you may say:

it's not wether you win or lose, it's how you play the game


well, bullxxxx!!

I don't think Liverpool is happy just for having taken part to the final!
we didn't play well, but damn it, they are crying!

kaka was a sort of ghost on the field, seedorf either. gattuso tried to control himself after the yellow card. maldini, the captain, is 39 and played the whole match long. pirlo made an enormous amount of mistakes but his free kick passed through the wall reaching inzaghi, whose best quality is to be always ready, like a rapacious bird, to take advantage of every mistake the defenders make.

the cup and the happiness of maldini & co.













but there is also another side of football.. the one of stupid people who can't just enjoy the victory! the destroy everything they come across! they burn, they devastate everything!










piazza del duomo (the main square in milan) looked like this a couple of hours before the referee blew his whistle for the first time yesterday.









anyway, my sister called me yesterday. she dressed up our dog "red and black"!


if you have never felt like that, if you don't feel nervous while watching football, sorry but you're not italian!!!
and if you study italian, you have to know that football is such a big part of our life that you can't learn our culture if you neglect football!

and for those who have never heard it before...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI7h1FRr4VM&NR=1


Milan milan solo con te
Milan milan sempre per te


Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Una grande squadra
Sempre in festa olã¨
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
E insieme cantiamo

Milan milan solo con te
Milan milan sempre per te

Con il milan nel cuore
Nel profondo dell'anima
Un vero amico sei
E insieme cantiamo

Milan milan solo con te
Milan milan sempre con te

Oh oh oh oh oh ...

we can control global warming

The “Panel” is made up of _representatives_ from __120 countries___

What can we protect by using technology and right strategies? the ozon layer

What should we introduce? more fuel efficient vehicles

What happens if we change the way we use energy? we can save the planet

How much would it cost to change our life-style? it would cost less than 3% of the world economic output

What is happening due to rising temperatures? rising sea levels, estinction of few species, more destroying storms

Who is Alan Watson? the head of the US team


some key words: global warming; clean technology, fuel-efficient, rising temperatures, greenhouse gases, ozon layer, International Panel on Climate Change, to change the way we use energy, bio-fuels.

disappointed..

eventually I finished to read "jaywalking with the Irish". I'm so proud of me!
usually I don't read books I don't like even if they are compulsury!!
I made it till the end, hoping it would have got better!!! but it didn't and the end was pretty disappointing!
he wrote 239 pages about settling to Ireland and at the end of the book you get to know that he didn't even stay!!!

dear Mr Monagan, I understand that you appreciated that Irish eventually showed they had accepted your family, and that you only recognised at 50 that Ireland is your predestined home country, then why didn't you stay, or to be more precise, why did you so firmely want to torture us with your book????

and if you really wanted to write your book, why didn't you write it in a more readable way, so that foregneirs can understand what you really mean?

red bull 2

sorry, as usual I forgot to add the link of the event...

http://www.redbullgravitychallenge.at/#page=ArticlePage.1169581674495-1311539676.1

red bull gravity challenge...

Sir Isaac Newton was doubtlessly a clever guy!

but still there are people who try to prove that gravity doen´t exist....

today was the Red Bull gravity challenge and I can tell you that some guys really made it!
Newton´s Law of Gravity has been a couple of times contradicted...

during the challenge more than 35 teams threw an egg supported by an umbrella, for example, from a 15 m high platform. the point was that the egg had to land unbrokenly on a platform where a fried egg was drawn on. the teams got marks for both their creativity and succeding.

pretty fun! especially the try of a team which threw its egg supperted by balloons!
the balloons were inflated with helium (great idea, you may even say!) while a small bag filled with some fluid had to act as a counterweight, so that the whole thing could land slowly..
unfortunately the bag bursted, the fluid spilled and the balloons flew away!
I´m sure that they got the highest mark!!!

I couldn´t watch the whole challenge as I had a lot of things left to do, but maybe tonight at the red bull gravity party I´ll get to know who eventually won!

I´ll keep learning now!

see you!

cooking tonight!!

today I have a lot of time...

I'm going to cook some fish tonight!
I haven't already decided which kind of fish I'll be cooking! maybe a trout or sward fish or bass (perch????).
if I cook it with noodles, I'd really like to make a souce made with curry, sward fish, rucola and fresh tomatoes.
otherwise a trout filled with garlic, parsley and other aromatic herbs. mint leaves would just suit perfect!! but I'm sure I won't find either at billa or spar.

something with aubergines would taste also very good!

I read today that at restaurants when noodles look yellow it's because they put saffron in boiling water! that's why they taste completely different from mine!

well, I'm going to spar or billa now. As soon as I'm back I'll write the recipe I'm going to use for the dinner tonight! and of course how it tasted too....

see you!

"on a shoestring to Coorg"

just a curiosity..

Coorg is just the anglicised name of the region which is actually called Kodagu.

"on a shoestring to Coorg"

here's some vocab work on the book "on a shoestring to Coorg".

Dewy: wet with dew.
The feeling of dewy grass under your feet.

Lithe: a lithe person is able to mover and bend her body easily and gracefully; flexible
Arching her body, a lithe gymnast achieves postures of astonishing grace and skill.

Quaint: something attractive because it’s unusual and rather old-fashioned
the Constitution itself is quaint and outdated.

Abscond, to: if someone absconds from somewhere such as a prison, they escape from it or leave it without permission
Two paedophiles absconded from the State prison yesterday.

Bullock cart: bullock is a young bull that has been castrated. A bullock-cart is a cart drawn by bullocks.
Instead of taking a taxi you can opt for a bullock-cart ride.

Latrine: a structure, usually consisting of a hole in the ground, that is used as a toilet for example in a military camp.
Most latrines in East-Africa are more that 10 m deep.

Sartorial: relating to clothes and to the way they are made or worn.
recognising a sartorial sin is the first step to get to know fashion.

Endeavour: attempt to do something, especially something new or originally.
Shuttle Endeavour to stay in space until Wednesday

Brusquely: quickly and shortly, almost rude
I brusquely told him to piss off.

Favouritism: if you accuse someone of favouritism, you disapprove of them because they unfairly help or favour one person or group much more than another.
Hypocrisy and favouritism are on the top of most people’s ethical concerns’ list.

Conspicuous: can be seen or noticed very easily;
the Thai Majal is a conspicuous construction.

Callous: very cruel and shows no concern for other people or their feelings.
Many tv-stations had such callous reactions to the bombings that took dozens of lives.

Stark: stark choises or statements are harsh and unpleasant./ very plain in appearence.
Oil industry faces a stark choice caused by the failure to find easily exploitable oil resources.

Intermarriage: marriage between people from different social, racial, or religious groups.
Most Jews do not accept intermarriages between Jews and non-Jews.

Provoke inter-caste friction:
intermarriage can provoke inter-caste friction

Susceptibility: if you have a susceptibility to something unpleasant, you are likely to be affected by it./ a person’s susceptibilities are feelings which can be easily hurt.
Genetic susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer was proved by many scientists.

fruit and vegetable

as I give kids private lessons in Italian, sometimes I have to write vocab lists for them and last time I edited them in English, German and Italian about fruit and vegetable... I didn't know there are so many fruits and so many kinds of hybrids obtainable mixing plums and apricots or peaches and apricots, and so on...

here's a list, I hope I can upload the file, otherwise it won't look readable..

no I can't upload it!!!! damn it!

English German Italian

Fruit Obst Frutta
apple Apfel Mela, la
medlar Mispel, die Nespola, la
pear Birne, die Pera, la
apricot Marille, die Albicocca, la
cherry Kirsche, die Ciliegia, la
plum Pflaume, die prugna, la
Zwetsch(g)e, die
Prunes (dried plums) Backpflaume Prugne secche
quince Quitte, die Mela cotogna
rosehip Hagebutte, die Frutto della rosa canina
peach Pfirsich, der Pesca, la
nectarine Nektarine, die Pesca noce
Pluot
Aprium
Peacotum
Plumcot Hybrid of plum and apricot
blackberry Brombeere, die Mora, la
raspberry Himbeere, die Lampone, il
Bilberry (BE) Blaubeere, die
Blueberry (AE) Heidelbeere, die Mirtillo, il
Huckelberry (AE)

cranberry Moosbeere, die
Kranbeere, die Mirtillo rosso
strawberry Erdbeere, die Fragola, la
Wild strawberry Fragolina di bosco, la
currant Johannisbeere, die Ribes, il
Black currant Schwarze Johannisbeere Ribes nero, il
Red currant Ribisel, die Ribes (rosso), il
elderberry Holunderbeere, die Sambuco, il
gooseberry Stachelbeere, die Uva spina, l’
Kiwi fruit Kiwi, die Kiwi, il
persimmon Kaki, die Caco, il
grape Traube, die Uva, l’
papaya Papaya, die Papaya, la
Prickly pear Kaktusfeige, die Fico d’India, il
pumpkin Kürbis, der Zucca, la
melon Melone, die Melone, il
watermelon Wassermelone, die Anguria, la
Raisin Rosine, die Uva sultanina, l’
Sultana Uvetta, l’
currant

Date palm Dattelpalme Palma da dattero, la
fig Feige, die Fico, il
Dried figs Fichi secchi
jujube Jujube, die Giuggiola, la
pomegranate Granatapfel, der Melograno, il
Grapefruit Pampelmuse, die
Pomelo (AE) Grapefuit, die Pompelmo, il

lemon Zitrone, die Limone, il
mandarin Mandarin, die Mandarino, il
Clementine Clementina, la
tangerine Tangerine, die
Mandarine, die Mandarino, il
orange Orange, die Arancia, la
avocado Avocado, die Avocado, l’ (maschile)
lychee Litschi, die Lychee, il
Passion fruit Passionsfrucht, die
Maracuja, die Frutto della passione
pineapple Ananas, die Ananas, la
coconut Kokosnuss, die Cocco, il
Noce di cocco, la
mango Mango, die Mango, il
peanut Erdnuss, die Arachide, la
Rose-apple Mela rosa
tamarind Tamarinde, die Tamarindo, il


Broccoli Broccoli, der Broccoli, i
Brussel sprouts Kohlsprossen, die Cavolini di Bruxelles, i
cabbage Kraut, das Cavolo, il
cauliflower Karfiol, der Cavolfiore, il
Curly kale Krauskohl, der Verza, la
Eggplant Melanzani, die Malanzana, la
aubergine
cucumber Gurke, die Cetriolo, il
sweetcorn Mais, der Mais dolce
pumpkin Kürbis, der Zucca, la
artichoke Artischocke, die Carciofo, il
Sweet pepper Paprika, der; die Peperone, il
Bell pepper (AE)
Zucchini Zucchini, die Zucchina, la
courgette
fennel Fenchel, der Finocchio, il
celery Sellerie, der Sedano, il
garlic Knoblauch, der Aglio, l’
rhubarb Rhabarber, der Rabarbaro, il
beet Rübe, die Barbabietola, la
leek Lauch, der Porro, il
cumin Kümmel, der Cumino, il
carrot Karotte, die Carota, la
cassava Maniok, der Manioca, la
Chinese cabbage Cavolo cinese, il
truffle Trüffel, der Tartufo, il
chestnut Kastanie, die Castagna, la
peanut Erdnuss, die Arachide, la
ginger Ingwer, der Zenzero, lo
parsley Petersilie, die Prezzemolo, il
turnip Weißrübe, die Rapa, la
lentil Linse, die Lenticchia, la
Bean Bohne, die Fagiolo, il
pea Erbse, die Pisello, il
Broad bean Puffbohne
Saubohne Fava, la
French bean (BE)
Green bean (AE) Fisole, die Fagiolino, il
Asparagus (uncountable) Spargel, der Asparago, il
Spinach (“”) Spinat, der Spinaci, gli (mehrzahl)
mushroom Pilz, der Fungo, il
champignon Champignon, der Champignon, gli
lettuce Salat, der Insalata, la
radicchio Radicchio, il
Shallot (BE) Schalotte, die Scalogno, lo
radish Radischen, das Rapanello, il
Brazil nut Paranuss, die Anacardo, il
almond Mandel, die Mandorla, la
walnut Walnuss, die Noce, la
hazelnut Haselnuss, die Nocciola, la
pistachio Pistazie, die Pistacchio, il
Pine nut Pinienkern, der Pinolo, il
coriander Koriander, der Coriandolo, il
Fennel seed Semi di finocchio, i
Cardamom Kardamom, der Cardamomo, il
anise Anis, der Anice, l’ (maschile)
clove Nelke, die Chiodo di garofano, il
horseradish Kren rafano, il



it looks sqeezed together but it doesn't in the "compose window"!

I repeat it once more: I do hate technology which doesn't do what I want it to do!!!!!!!!!

sorry for the squeezed view!

working on a farm in Ireland

I got the job!!!!

I'm going to Ireland in summer! I'll be working on a bio-farm! it's located in County Kildare.. somewhere very rural I presume....

I have to go to work now but I'll write more later, I promise!!

Prague

I’m back!!

After my short trip to Prague I’m ready to tell you everything about it..

Our journey lasted 8 hours by a very full (and consequently uncomfortable) train.
When we finally got there we had no crowns, so we looked for a cash machine which of course gave us just “big” notes and we desperately needed coins as there are just ticket machines…
So I bought our first Czech beer and I got some change!

At about 11 pm we reached the “hotel” (it was a student dormitory) where we had a reservation for 4 nights in a double room. Everything was going fine! We got to our room left the backpack there and headed to the pub of our dormitory.. you have to know that the dormitory is actually made up of 12 buildings (3 or 4 floors each) and the guys there told us that almost 6000 students live there. Crazy!!!
Every block has its own pub and sort of club.

So back to our second beer!! As beer costs less than 1 euro (at least not in the most tourist places) you can imagine that Prague is simply awesome for everyone in love with beer..
We went downstairs, drank 2 beers (we hadn’t eaten anything for hours..) when 2 guys we had already met at the reception came in. They introduced themselves. They were both from Poland but one of them was half Polish and half Scottish while the other one was half Polish and half Italian with an incredible strong accent from Rome!
Anyway, they were really nice and we started talking and drank some more beer.. I was really shocked how fast the half-Scottish guy could drink his beer! It was like water to him!!!! He just shouted “down the hatch” and drank his 0,5 l beer at once!! I can do it with “schnapps” because it’s not much, but I think I would throw up if I would do it with beer!!!! And I actually saw a couple of friends of mine getting “sick”…
We ran out of money… when they paid a round, than another one, another one… we struggled, drank it and just said goodnight to the crazy Polish guys.. here’s a picture of us..









On the following day waking up wasn’t that hard.. Czech beer doesn’t damage you too much…
As we were staying on a hill, it was really amazing watching downtown from above! Down to a small alley and to our great disappointment there were so many tourists that we couldn’t even go! We tried to go to the fortress-castle where the “golden alley” is situated but there, if possible, it was even worse! We decided to leave it and we didn’t dare to go back! We just went down to the river and went for a long stroll there.
The following day started with a huge fight. The good atmosphere was spoiled till we left the centre looking for a cheap place to eat at midday. We walked for 15 minutes and we found a nice restaurant, typical Czech, where building workers would eat. Anyway we got a goulash, a fish (carp is a typical Prague’s dish), 2 beers and side dishes for 9 euros!!! I was pretty impressed!

On Tuesday we visited the miniature museum, some other spots downtown and at night we crowned our drinking and eating weekend by eating a pork knee! I had never eaten so much meat at once!! And we ordered potatoes too!! I was full to bursting point! We drank a slibowitz, smoked a cigarette and it got better… better till some guys next to us started paying becherovka-rounds!! It was again a Pole (he was there with his 8-year old son who could speak perfect English as he attends an American school somewhere in Poland), a Czech guy and both of us (Italian, Austrian). The match between Chelsea and Liverpool was about to end when we started drinking. By the time we drank the 4th Becherovka, they had played 2 overtimes and penalties.. we stood up and headed to the door, when the Czech guy just fell down “SPLAT” on the floor. His nose was bleeding and I felt it was my duty top tell the young kid that he shouldn’t take that guy as an example as alcohol can be very dangerous and can even kill you. In such situations I always feel like I have to behave like a mother!!
Anyway, we got to our dormitory around 12 pm, pretty drunk and knowing that about 5 hours later we would have had to get up! At 5 am we got up, went to the bus station, took the subway and got to the station where our train would have left Prague at 6.07 am. We sat down and I didn’t even notice that the train left the station…I was already sneering!!!!

It was a nice and fun trip! Anytime again!! (maybe next time to Budapest or Warsaw!!)

looking for a job

I've been sending out application for summer jobs for 2 hours now!
I've applied for posts as waitress, fruit-picker, worker on an organic farm (the only disadvantage is that most of the people working on an organic farm are totally vegan freaks!!).

I wrote e-mails mainly to Irish farms or restaurants (I think it has to do with the fact that I'm 100% convinced that I don't like English people...)

anyway, I'll keep you up to date as soon as I get some answers...

have a nice weekend!!

I won't write anything till Thursday as I'm going to Prague tomorrow and I won't be back till Wednsday..

Manchester - Milan: first leg

champions league!!

it's always exciting watching a Champions league match! especially if one of the 2 teams is your favourite team!!
exactely, yesterday Manchester United played against AC Milan in Manchester, and Milan has been my favourite team since I was born..
you have to know in Italy soccer is a very big deal and I think it is the only thing which still keeps us together...
as I'm studying in Austria I don't have the chance to watch soccer (Italian league) every Sunday afternoon but when it comes to Cahmpions League I don't care if I have to go alone to a pub to watch it, because I would do it! and I used to do it indeed! I hadn't got a tv untill january but I never missed a Milan game! I usually went to one of the 2 Irish pubs downtown and sometimes even alone. I didn't care being the only girl there, as I am as passionate as any other guy when it comes to Milan!

it goes without saying that yesterday I watched the game, that I shouted and swore like hell!!

the fist-half was excellent! rapid passes, almost no fouls, nice one-twos between Seedorf and Kaka, and two magnificent goals by Kaka!! not like the one "scored" by Cristiano Ronaldo (actually the goal was than registered as an own goal by Dida, Milan's goalkeeper).

I really had a good feeling! but in the second-half Gattuso had to leave the field because of a foot injury and also Paolo Maldini (our captain and an institution of the Italian soccer) had to be replaced by Bonera!
as a result we soffered during the last 30 minutes while the English team was litterally assaulting our net! and right in the 91st minute Rooney scored the 3rd goal which meant Manchester won 3:2.

it's ok! we didn't deserve to win. Italian players were so tired in the second-half that they couldn't even pass anymore!
Manchaster played well and deserved to win. now I'm looking forward the return leg next week on Wednesday!

as I read an article from the Guardian online about the match, here's a list of the most important vocabulary (at least for me..)

second / return leg
quarter-final
semi-final
to win a tackle
winger
striker
midfielder
goalkeeper
own goal
header (Kopfball)
to lob Kaka lobbed the ball over Heinze
booking (Gelbe Karte)
a foul on sbody
unmarked
to beat the goalkeeper


and now some vocabulary you can use in the everyday language:

resemblance: the resemblance with her sister was striking
to collide: the car collided with the bus at the crossing
mayhem: he wasn't distracted by the mayhem going on there and kept doing his homework
menace: Kaka was the only source of menace during the game
sluggish: the market was experiencing a sluggish demand for agricultural products
frantic: he got in a frantic state when he heard that his brother was kidnapped in Nigeria
to factor in: during your 2-month journey in Laos you should factor in getting sick.

going vegetarian? (addition)

I've just realized, by reading through my last entry, that I forgot to write the name of the web site I mentioned.
it's
http://www.vegsoc.org/

going vegetarian?

my sister has become vegetarian! unbelievable! she was just eating lamb with me on Easter and now she's vegetarian!!
she said she had been thinking about becoming vegetarian for a very long time till she decided that the time was ripe for change! she won't eat meat anymore!

but as I couldnt believe her I asked what she's been eating lately. her diet turned out to be very poor so she asked me to surf the net in order to find recepies balancing the luck of meat in her diet.

I didn't expact to find so many sites written by freaks stating that you shouldn't eat vegetables either because the poor vegy do also have a sould and they have a life you can't take them away just because you're hungry
excuse me, dear freaks, what am I supposed to eat if, and just in the remote case, I get hungry?

that disturbed me a bit: I don't want my sister to become a freak!
so I kept surfing the net in order to find a more reasonable site..

I came across a very nice web site about how to become a vegetarian, what you should know and so on.
it's called "Vegetarian society".
web

I read something about iron as it is the only concern my sister had about becoming vegetarian. Iron is responsible for the formation of haemoglobin, which makes blood look red and, more important, it transports oxygen all over the body.
but iron isn't just in meat, there's iron in chickpeas, in spinach, muesli and even in dried apricots!
some researches have proven that there is no prevalence of iron deficency among vegetarians compared to non-vegetararians.

there's even a booklet about "how to reassure your parents" if you decided to go veggie.

I could never go veggie but if you're really convinced it is the best for you, then go for it! there are enough people who are vegetarian and I'm sure they all eat plenty of vitamines and iron.

So, my dear sister, I wish u good luck!

PS: anyway I read that tofu sausages taste almost the same as the normal ones!
the proof of the pudding is in the eating! (is it right?!?)

nerd's eye view

I'm slowly changing my mind about nerd's eye view.
almost all entries in the section "Austria" are interesting and, as I'm an "expat" too, I found the entry about Topfenwickerl incredibly fun. It was January when I fell very ill, high fever and I was afraid I wouldn't have recovered for the final exam..
I was alone at home and so scared because I can't take a normal aspirin as I have a bad allergy to its active ingredient. almost desperate I called the emergency doctor who prescribed me a strong antibiotic.
the following day my boyfriend came back to graz and came straight to my place. guess what he said?! "You need ESSIGPATSCHEN"
despite my vain attempts to avoid the essigpatschen (because as Ms Nerd writes they stink!!) by saying that it isn't a scientific method and doesn't work, he won! I got my essigpatschen and fell asleep (fever reached 39.5° C and I was pretty exhausted because I had tried too hard to persuade him that his remedy wouldn't have worked...).
anyway, my feet and I sweated like hell and believe it or not fever significantly dropped!
I'm pretty sure that the antibiotic was the reason of my miraculous ricover but it wasn't too late to prove it! the following day as the fever went up again I couldn't stop him bandaging my poor feet with the holy essigpatschen!!

Austrians are all the same! all proud of their home (grandma) remedies!!
dear Ms Nerd I do understand you!

ps: http://expatinterviews.com/Pam-Mandel.html
this is an interview about her living in austria. pretty interesting!

ok I hate tecnology! I can't alter my last post! I wanted to add a picture of Mr Friedman...

hier it is:

forgot sthing

I forgot to write who Mr Friedman is!

Thomas L. Friedman was born in 1953, studied Mediterranean studies and Modern Middle East studies. he has been working for the Times since 1982-3 when was settled in Beirut and later in Jerusalem. he wrote many books about foreign politics and won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. since 2003 (or 2005 I can't remember exactly) he has been member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.

this time for real!

good night!!

the power of green

as I am fed up of translating a stupid mith about why the Styrian Erzberg was called so, I decided to have a look at the home page of the NYTimes especially because of what happened yesterday. but as I didn't want to read all the articles I just watched the video summarizing how that crazy guy started shooting other students in the campus and why the university authority didn't do anything to prevent the massacre from happening. it seems that around 7.15 am the killer opened fire for the first time. at 9.26 am he shot the second time. why didn't the rector of the college close down all the buildings?
I don't think it's very important now after 32 or 33 persons were shot to death.
this is one of the reasons why I don't like the US! too many weapons! and people are so crazy that they really use them!!!

however, this isn't what I wanted to write in this entry.
as I said, I watched the video, got angry because there are too many disturbed people who can buy a gun, and decided to watch something else.
I watched the interview to Thomas L. Friedman talking about how climate changes (ie hurricane Cathrina) and the recent acts of terrorism (9/11) have to make Americans think they should change their way of living. A decrease in electricity consumption is one of the most important things the Americans along with their government have to achieve. first of all because the oil sellers are situated in potentially terroristic areas (Saudi Arabia is an example) and secondly because of CO2 emissions , the main cause of global warming.
he mentions "chindia prices" (affordable and competitive prices for China and India) for biofuel.
he says than that every State in the US has to foolow the example of California. this State has one of the lowest electricity consumpion in the country because the state government set high standards and taxes on pollutants (like gasoline).
he says that all western nations should become leaders of efficiency.
he mentions in the end a "green" new deal and petropolitics (with its first law).
the green new deal has to reconnenct the US to the real world economically, industrially and politically.

I didn't take note of the details. I just wrote down the main points of th einterview and summarized it with my own words (to some extent).

tonight I'm too tired to do my usual vocabulary work on the respective article as it consists of 11 pages.. I'll do it tomorrow!

well, take care and turn off the light if u don't need it!!
good night!

sorry Ms nerd's eye view...

I have to tell the truth: I don't always like what she writes..
I am a very curious person but, sorry, I really don't care about what she's doing!! that she's moving into the new flat, that she's painting the walls purple but purple is a very "difficult" colour!!! You can be curious about things which have somehow a link with your life, but her life in Seattle doesn't sound that exciting to me...
despite my luck of excitement while reading her blog, I decided to read more because if she's so famous she must write interesting things too!
and exactly when I was going to close her blog and doing something else, I came across this entry:

http://www.nerdseyeview.com/blog/?p=510

I couldn't agree more!
what's more she's wise!
I still don't care about where u can buy the best coffee in Seattle but sometimes unpredictably she writes such an interesting and "wise" entry that it makes u think "well, maybe I should really read it and learn something from her! and not just because I have to for the exam!!"

PS: when I eat out, I still order the only thing in the menu I've never heard of (last time I ordered "Ochsenmaul im Kernoel") .. the name scared me at the beginning because of the Maul in it but it tasted really good!! even better than Leberkaese, another thing which terrified me 2 years ago!!

JW presentation

hi!!

as I know that paying 200% attention during presentations is almost impossible.. that's why I'm uploading my vocabulary work. I included words which may not sound very significant, but I still think they might be worth reading.

Vocabulary

Punts salad days osculate queasy marauder chuckle pishogue serendipity


The marauders attacked with a violence that terrified the villagers.

According to figures released today by the Central Bank, Irish punts worth €810m remain in circulation despite the end of the dual circulation period last Saturday.

'Salad days' is used these days to refer to the days of carefree innocence and pleasure of our youth.
Salad days: It appears in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra of 1606, in the speech at the end of Act One in which Cleopatra is regretting her youthful dalliances with Julius Caesar: “My salad days, When I was green in judgment”. So the phrase came to mean “a period of youthful inexperience or indiscretion”, though it only became popular from the middle of the nineteenth century on. It now often refers to a period in the past when somebody was at the peak of their abilities or earning power, in their heyday, not necessarily when they were young.

“Osculate?” I asked. “What’s that?”
“Let me show you,” Luke said. He leaned over the bench toward me and kissed me.

Catherine felt very queasy after the ride on the roller-coaster.

It was hard to resist a chuckle when we saw the looks on their faces.

There was some pishogue (superstition) about witches being attracted to a house with more than three working clocks in it.

“Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for.”


hoping it can be useful, I wish you a pleasant sunny Sunday evening!!

verse about months of the year

I was reading the pages from unit 43-44 for homework and noticed that they wrote "31 September" which obviously doesn't exist. so I got curious and started looking for the English equivalent of an Italian rhyme children learn at school in order to remember which month has 30, 28 and 31 days. I finally came across this verse:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

excepting February alone,

which hath twenty-eight.

Leap year cometh one year in four,

in which February hath one day more.

if it's actually used by English-speakers, it can be interesting knowing it...

bye!

some research

After the Chinese invasion of Tibet, many Tibetans left their country heading to South India, where in 1965 the Indian Minister of External Affairs gave them 5000 acres of vergin forest near Mundgod. Tibetans built there houses and temples in perferct Tibetan style.
Tibetan settlement at Mundgod
http://www.confluence.org/photo.php?visitid=12405&pic=ALL (just look at the last picture, n. 9)
Here’s a map of Mundgod:
http://www.dhonden.nl/images/Kaart%20Mundgod%20groot.jpg

In the book, Murphy wrote that Tibetans greeted her and “stuck out their tongues”. Sticking out one’s tongue represents the traditional Tibetan greeting to say hi. Since the book “Stick out your tongue” by Ma Jian was published in 1987, this greeting is strongly connencted with the title of the book describing a very brutal side of the Tibetan society most people were not aware of.

Easter Sunday

happy Easter!

I know it's just a day like the others but the fact that my mom cooked so many good&tasty things (typically Italian Easter-dishes, like lamb cooked as noodle-sauce, as meat, actually just lamb, but as I do love it, it was just perfect....) and that I've been eating chocolate since midday, well this does make the difference!! or maybe another explanation is that I have so much serotonin flowing in my venes thanx chocolate!!!

sorry for the spelling mistakes but I drank some glasses of wine and now I'm relaxing on the veranda.....
and while relaxing I thought it might have been a good digestive activity writing something on my blog... anyway, I've also made some grammar exercises on line: http://esl.about.com/?once=true& as suggested-recommended on the link site of the yahoo group..
I have to admit that despite wine I scored pèretty good (once good, and once excellent..).

I'd like to practice more but my father's computer doesn't work very good and it takes ages to process everything!
I'm prepairing an entry about Tibetan refugees in southern India, pretty interesting... I saved it in my usb-stick which isn't right next to me now, so I think I'll upload it tomorrow (when I won't have drunk wine..., at least I hope..).

so, I don't know if what I've written does make sense.. I hope so!

bye and enjoy the sunny day!! (if u're in italy....)

hi!

after a 24 h party I recovered and I can upload some vocab (+reading) work I've been doing recently.
I'm trying to keep up with newspaper reading as much as I can but sometimes the articles do not interest me at all or, more often, I don't have time.. but I save them as pdf files and I read them maybe after a week, but who cares when I read them! the most important thing is reading them and trying to get the best out of it!

as usually I watch almast every day one episode of some tv series, just to do some listening work!
the last film I watched in English was "the unfaithful" starring Richard gere and Diane Lane but most important is Olivier Martinez!!!! he's sooo cute!! I don't know if you have already watched the film.. it's about a perfect family richar+ diane + stupid kid living in suburb of NYCity because the city itself is too dangerous to raise a child. well, she's shopping for her son's birthday party in Soho when a strong wind litterally throw her in the arms of Olivier!! you can imagine what happens after that, as the title reveals pretty much the main content of the story..
she's overwheld by passion and forgets about her hunband and son! I can't give everything away.. you should watch the movie!! I do recommend it to u!

I tried to upload a chart but it didn't work... this was originally a chart...

March 5, 2007 NYTimes online Without health benefits, a good life turns fragile
Receive health benefits, to She doesn´t receive health benefits fron her employer
Provide health benefits, to Small businesses are less likely to provide health benefits
Obtain coverage, to Having had a cancer, she could not obtain coverage
Federal figures Federal figures show an increase of ...
Jump to the top of ..., to The problem of the uninsured have jumped to the top of the domestic political agenda
Nonpartisan A non-partisan organization
premium Life insurance premium rate
Temporary or contract workers
Have surgery for, to She had surgery for breast cancer in 2005
Quote a price, to
Permeate, to Concerns about health insurance permeate her life
Be legally responsible for, to She doesn´t want her husband to be legally responsible for her medical bills
File lien against sth, to To collect unpaid medical bills, health care providers file liens against your home.
Collapse, to The plan collapsed in 1994
Blackball, to = boycott, to
Discriminate, to A federal law limited the ability of insurers to discriminate against people …
Under one umbrella Why can´t X+Y have coverage under one umbrella?

March 29, 2007 NYTimes Living with Alzheimer´s before a window closes
Be in/at the early stages of Alzheimer´s disease
Keep up with the normal patter Parlantina
Lose track of time, to
Pass for normal, to They are struggling to pass for normal
Be impaired, to She is impaired but not helpless or demented
Bristle at sth, to Experts bristle at toothbrush misuse
Grass-roots movement (Basis-)
tendency There´s a tendency to think they don´t comprehend
Lose one´s mental capabilities, to
oblivion Alzheimer´s disease is a march to oblivion
viable People with alzheimer´s are still viable people

that's all!

see u soon!!

sara

miscellaneous

I fonrgot to send Ms Joyce the address of my blog...
but as I don't think you can cheat on the date of your entries, I hope she'll understand it...

and if not, well I'm old enough to say "it is quite an achievement..!" and I can take the responsability of it, especially if you, meanwhile, were preparing your 2.Diplompruefung, another exam, keeping up with job, other courses, and in the end, trying to have a (tumultuous) private life..

unfortunately English wasn't really high on my agenda..

ps: I've been reading some articles from the wikipedia about India, as I haven't received the book yet and as I got Jw w/I just on Friday.
summer doesn't seem to be the perfect season for visiting India, at least the South. it is monsoon season! but if you can't take 2 months off in january, what else can you do?? just forget about India.. fortunately an American friend of mine is Indian, I think she still has an Indian pass by the way, so if I really fall in love with the book I could ask her if she can give me a good tip/hint!

well I think it's all for today!
tomorrow I have the oral exam of the notorious 2.Dipl.pruef., I have to learn a couple of new phrases and vocab I might be required to use during the exam!

what a boring entry!

I promise I'll try to write something more interesting next time! "parola di lupetto"! (no idea in English and I forgot the German version)

bye

test...

well, blogging doesn't seem to be tooo difficult...

...she said!!