I can't stand the cold. This morning I was waiting for a bus. Standing for about twenty minutes in -7 is not pleasant. Shivering from the inside out even though I was wearing a couple of layers of clothes was not pleasant. I began to wonder how the homeless feel in Warsaw. There are many of them. Of course there are shelters available however there are conditions upon entry. Those under the influence of drugs or alcohol are usualy not welcome and end up in the cold. When temperatures reach -10 or -20 or more, survival is grim and unfortunately many homeless die.
Poverty is a huge problem in Poland. Everyday I see homeless individuals on the streets of Warsaw. They are not looked after. There's no workable system in place to help them. They are treated as if they are nothing, left on the streets to beg, steal, and drink. After a while people stop noticing them, they simply begin to blend into the background of the city. Some choose to be there, others have little choice.
According to the Krakow Post (www.krakowpost.com) more than 300,000 homeless are fighting to survive this winter. That's a huge number of people at risk of dying this season. Over the New Year long weekend alone there were more than 13 deaths in Poland due to extremely low temperatures (www.news.ninemsn.com.au). Cases of hyperthermia are common every winter, yet not enough is being done to fix the problem. Sometimes a bit of spare change can make a huge difference. To most people a couple of zloty won't make a difference, to someone on the street the same couple of zloty could mean everything.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Bye bye '09, Welcome '10
The year has started, it's already five days in and I am falling off track. What am I doing with my writing? I've started rewriting my novel in progress and the process feels like swimming through thick mud. Every word is so difficult. There are still scenes that need to be reworked, added and deleted to make it work. During some moments it's rather depressing but I must persist. Persistence is the only key to success. Along with continuous education. Continuous education in many fields. Especially with writing, continuously writing in order to make rapid improvements.
I would like to say that persistence always pays off in the way that we want it to. Unfortunately that's not always the case. Usually but not always. Success comes from hard work and persistence, combined with talent and luck. All four are required in order to achieve. However, even hard work, persistence, talent and luck may not be enough on their own. At first it may seem like a lost cause, but eventually it does happen. In one way or another the hard work and persistence pays off. At least that's the way I see it. The people who say they fail are usually the ones that have given up without giving it an adequate go. Over the past two years there have been many times when I thought about giving up. I'm glad I didn't. I'm going to persist until I get to where I want to be and beyond.
2009 has finished. Last year was a tricky year for many people. It was a difficult year. One that many will want to forget and move on from. It is also a year that taught many lessons to many people, including me. Lessons in love, life and finance. Lessons in friendship, trust and education. Last year I spent too much money, didn't laugh enough, didn't learn enough, went out to little, spend too few moments with my family and friends, wasn't thankful enough, and didn't bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut often enough, nor did I write as much as I wanted to or was as active as I hoped to be. All my fault of course.
2010 is a year I hope to do the right thing, whatever that is. My goal is to be a better writer, friend, partner, daughter, teacher, athlete, person. I'm not sure how that's all going to work. I do know that it's not going to be smooth sailing. There will be difficult moments but there will also be moments I won't want to forget which will push me past the tough times and get me through it all.
What do you want from yourself in 2010?
I would like to say that persistence always pays off in the way that we want it to. Unfortunately that's not always the case. Usually but not always. Success comes from hard work and persistence, combined with talent and luck. All four are required in order to achieve. However, even hard work, persistence, talent and luck may not be enough on their own. At first it may seem like a lost cause, but eventually it does happen. In one way or another the hard work and persistence pays off. At least that's the way I see it. The people who say they fail are usually the ones that have given up without giving it an adequate go. Over the past two years there have been many times when I thought about giving up. I'm glad I didn't. I'm going to persist until I get to where I want to be and beyond.
2009 has finished. Last year was a tricky year for many people. It was a difficult year. One that many will want to forget and move on from. It is also a year that taught many lessons to many people, including me. Lessons in love, life and finance. Lessons in friendship, trust and education. Last year I spent too much money, didn't laugh enough, didn't learn enough, went out to little, spend too few moments with my family and friends, wasn't thankful enough, and didn't bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut often enough, nor did I write as much as I wanted to or was as active as I hoped to be. All my fault of course.
2010 is a year I hope to do the right thing, whatever that is. My goal is to be a better writer, friend, partner, daughter, teacher, athlete, person. I'm not sure how that's all going to work. I do know that it's not going to be smooth sailing. There will be difficult moments but there will also be moments I won't want to forget which will push me past the tough times and get me through it all.
What do you want from yourself in 2010?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Back on the Gold Coast
I love the Gold Coast. It's got to be one of the best places in the world. The sun shines, the people are friendly and it's such a relaxed atmostphere that there's no better place to be. I'm back. Back home in Australia and loving it. While for now it's only for a three week holiday, it's a much needed break. Two days in I'm already red and sun burnt. The weather is great and there's so much to do and see.
Already been out for a delicious pizza at Alto's in Broadbeach, yummy. And ice-cream at Baskin & Robbins. I've caught up with my best friend and relaxed on the beach. Three more weeks of sleeping in, swimming, sunbathing, eating delicious food, and having a great time - and hopefully coming up with article ideas. Gotta love holidays.
Already been out for a delicious pizza at Alto's in Broadbeach, yummy. And ice-cream at Baskin & Robbins. I've caught up with my best friend and relaxed on the beach. Three more weeks of sleeping in, swimming, sunbathing, eating delicious food, and having a great time - and hopefully coming up with article ideas. Gotta love holidays.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Choices
Everyone has a choice. Young. Old. Rich. Poor. We all have a choice. Sometimes we like our choices. Sometimes we don't. Either way, the choices we make are our own. Often external factors influence our choices, in the end we are left with making a decision. Occasionally our choices are limited or unsatisfactory, however we are still responsibility for making them, regardless of whether we like or dislike them. This was another one of my TEFL topics today and it made me think about some of the choices I have made.
Then comes the issue of good and bad choices. Is there such a thing? Or does each choice inevitably lead us towards the same direction and destination just via a slightly different path? I'm not an expert so I'm not sure, but what I like to believe that is if we want to achieve something, the choices we make along the way are extremely important.
Today I made the choice to get up, go to work and teach all day. I also made the choice to do more work and write for this blog late at night when I should be going to sleep. Why did I make these choices? Probably because no one is going to do these things for me. If I wanted the standard of living I have, it's necessary for me to do this. If I want to achieve my goals, I have to do these things. Result? Job satisfaction, money, one step closer to achieving my goals.
On the other hand I could have not gotten out of bed and decided it was much more pleasurable to stay under the warm duvet and forget about work. I could have spent the day in front of the television, drinking or eating too much or simply not doing anything at all. The choice was mine. Result? Possibility of job loss, less money, a backwards move.
Obviously, each choice would come with a consequence. This consequence could have dramatic effects on my life, as it can on yours, thinking about the consequences I was able to make the choice that would have the more positive result.
Our circumstances do influence the choices we have to make. However, we can always change our situations in order to have a different set of choices. Certain individuals choose to work hard and keep going until they succeed, while others give up and think it's all too hard before they've even tested the playing field. That's why they say that the only difference between the published writers and the unpublished ones, is that the published are those who never gave up and chose to persevere. I'm going to choose the same. How about you?
Then comes the issue of good and bad choices. Is there such a thing? Or does each choice inevitably lead us towards the same direction and destination just via a slightly different path? I'm not an expert so I'm not sure, but what I like to believe that is if we want to achieve something, the choices we make along the way are extremely important.
Today I made the choice to get up, go to work and teach all day. I also made the choice to do more work and write for this blog late at night when I should be going to sleep. Why did I make these choices? Probably because no one is going to do these things for me. If I wanted the standard of living I have, it's necessary for me to do this. If I want to achieve my goals, I have to do these things. Result? Job satisfaction, money, one step closer to achieving my goals.
On the other hand I could have not gotten out of bed and decided it was much more pleasurable to stay under the warm duvet and forget about work. I could have spent the day in front of the television, drinking or eating too much or simply not doing anything at all. The choice was mine. Result? Possibility of job loss, less money, a backwards move.
Obviously, each choice would come with a consequence. This consequence could have dramatic effects on my life, as it can on yours, thinking about the consequences I was able to make the choice that would have the more positive result.
Our circumstances do influence the choices we have to make. However, we can always change our situations in order to have a different set of choices. Certain individuals choose to work hard and keep going until they succeed, while others give up and think it's all too hard before they've even tested the playing field. That's why they say that the only difference between the published writers and the unpublished ones, is that the published are those who never gave up and chose to persevere. I'm going to choose the same. How about you?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
Busy. Busy. Busy. Now that's got to be the understatement of the month. I have no idea where November disappeared to. One thing I do know is that it has been a busy month with lots of things happening and even more getting done. At the beginning of the month I set off to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge and write 50,000 words in 30 days. Well I am pleased to say that I managed to reach this amount today. Just. I slacked off a little bit halfway through but managed to pick up the pace near the end of last week. While the story still has a little bit go before it's actually finished I plan to complete the rough draft by next week. It'll be a struggle but I'm willing to put in the effort.
This month has left me running around a lot. I'm going back to Australia next week for a long overdue holiday. I'm so excited. I haven't been back for two and a half years. Wow. I can't believe it. It feels like only a month ago that the plane touched down in Warsaw. My intended holiday turned into an indefinite stay. But it's been enjoyable and a huge learning experience. I'm not going alone. My partner is coming, and his younger cousin. It's going to be exciting for them both to discover a new country.
We've had to get passports sorted, visas, tickets and insurance. I have to say that organising the visa was easier than I imagined. It took ten minutes to complete the application on-line and seven hours later we had an emailed visa approval. Simple and free of any hassles.
Now that's all organised I've still got presents to purchase and last minute things to get done before we live. Even though we are only travelling for three weeks I am completely stressing out. Technically I am going home. Australia is my home. It'll always be my home. But I'm scared. I can't predict how I am going to react. It's bizarre but a part of me is a little bit afraid. While there are no expectations, there are definitely many things on the 'to do' and 'to see' list while we are over there.
This month has left me running around a lot. I'm going back to Australia next week for a long overdue holiday. I'm so excited. I haven't been back for two and a half years. Wow. I can't believe it. It feels like only a month ago that the plane touched down in Warsaw. My intended holiday turned into an indefinite stay. But it's been enjoyable and a huge learning experience. I'm not going alone. My partner is coming, and his younger cousin. It's going to be exciting for them both to discover a new country.
We've had to get passports sorted, visas, tickets and insurance. I have to say that organising the visa was easier than I imagined. It took ten minutes to complete the application on-line and seven hours later we had an emailed visa approval. Simple and free of any hassles.
Now that's all organised I've still got presents to purchase and last minute things to get done before we live. Even though we are only travelling for three weeks I am completely stressing out. Technically I am going home. Australia is my home. It'll always be my home. But I'm scared. I can't predict how I am going to react. It's bizarre but a part of me is a little bit afraid. While there are no expectations, there are definitely many things on the 'to do' and 'to see' list while we are over there.
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