This task really brought back wonderful childhood memories.... There are so many of them that I simply would not have the time to describe them all. One thing is for sure I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world :)
I was born in August 1989 in a small town Ciechanów during my parents' vacation (I guess I liked it there so much that I decided to surprise my parents 3 weeks before the deadline). This town was where I spent the first four years of my life, as my mom decided to finish her physiotherapy practice in the local hospital.... The thing I remember about Ciechanów was the view of a huge playground from my balcony and a fountain outside my mom's hospital.... Anyway, this is a photo that my dad took with me busy playing with my cousin's car and musical instrument in Ciechanów...
This next picture is me with my mom. I look really calm, but from what I was told I had an exhausting day- my Christening. It was during this ceremony that I guess I cried all of my tears out. Other than that I was good that day :)
The next picture is with me and my dad during Physiotherapy camp that my mom organized for handicapped children in Ciechanów. This was our last family outing before we were separated for a whole 7 months- with me living with my grandma and godmother, and my parents living in New York. The wait was worth it as I got to fly all by myself at the age of only 4 and a half years old and join my parents.:)
Everyone in my family says that I was a very happy child, who loved to dress up, sing in the shower and was always optimistic.... Ohhh those days.......................
Music has always been a big part of my life since I can remember. This due to my dad's fascination with music and his constant begging for me to hear the whole song out before claiming that it is absolutely worthless. I must say that there isn't one song that I can call my absolute favorite, as the music I listen to depends mainly on my mood. Lately I try to listen to such music which at least boosts my mood with all the school responsibilities on my mind. When I read that the assignment was to pick one song I automatically knew that it will be IMPOSSIBLE. There are just too many songs to pick from, that if I were to listen to them on the same day it would take at least a couple of hours. I was fortunate enough to be taken to a couple of concerts by my dad and these are the songs that bring back a lot of good memories about our trips to Jones Beach or Madison Square Gardens in New York.
I remember the Bruce Springsteen concert right after my elementary school graduation and the song "Hungry Heart" when the whole crowd of people got up from their seats to sing along with the band- I remember being kind of shy and not really singing but whenever I hear this song I remember the chillls running up and down my spine :) and the fact that I was glad that school was finally over.
Then I remember the attacks on 9/11 and the charity concert at Madison Square Gardens and how my neighbours from our street organized a block party at the last minute to watch and listen to the concert together. I was too young to understand what really happened but the fact that 4 graduates from my school died actually brought tears into my eyes- I remember that all of us were never the same again- unfortunately suspicion knocked on our doors. I remember The Who's performance the best although I am not really into their songs.
Then there was a song that I understood for the first time in English while being driven to school. I was so satisfied that I actually opened up to my classmates and started to like speaking in English, while took a load off of my parents' shoulder.
Then I really liked the song sung by Florence and the Machine during my visit in England last September. I remember walking into every store and it was there playing making shoppping with my mom much more pleasurable :)
Then there are the Eagles, Neil Young, Pink Floyd and many more... and of course I also listen to the music of my generation and maybe these new songs will bring back more memories in some years time...
As you probably know all eyes are on the situation in Japan after the horrifying earthquakes and tsunami which took away many lives and the homes of thousands of Japanese people. I decided to find at least one piece of news about the situation in Japan which could fit the category- good news at last. Well, to my surprise it didn't take me as long as I had expected to find some comforting info about Japan. It happened only yesterday, March 20,2011, nine days after the tsunami hit Japan. A 16-year-old boy Jin Abe and his 80-year-old grandmother Sumi Abe were rescued from the rubble of their house by rescuers. What moved me the most was that the boy risked his own life by only wrapping his grandmother in towels. We must remember that there was snow and mighty wind, so that was very thoughtful of Jin Abe. The rescuers heard Jin yell and when they finally reached him,he only had energy to whisper that somebody else was under the debris with him. Like I mentioned before, it was brave of him to give up towels for his grandmother as being in such a temperature can lead to a collapse of vital organs and death. Fortunately, Jin and Sumi got help just in time. When asked how she feels, Sumi just mentioned that her leg hurts a little due to the fact that something fell on it. They were very lucky, as they managed to survive because of the surplus of food they had in their refrigerator and some water. Apart from that, Jin is also responsible for their being rescued as he climbed up to a hole in the roof to be heard. This just shows us that there is always hope and giving up doesn't help at all.Let's just hope that more news of this kind will come from Japan.
When I sat down to think about the book that I had the chance to grow up with,the title " The Secret Garden" automatically popped into my head. I remember having it read to me by my parents before going to bed, as well as it being the first book that I have read on my own a couple of times during my summer vacation. This book was written by Frances Hodgson Burnett and was entirely published in 1911. What makes this book unique is that today it is considered to be a children's novel, but in the year 1911 it was aimed mainly at adults. Just like the title speaks for itself, the garden is the book's main symbol. The main character is a girl by the name of Mary Lennox who lived with her parents in India until they died in an earthquake. Unfortunately, Mary had to move back to England to live with her rich uncle whose wife died 10 years before. What is more, the uncle lived in a beautiful castle but was hardly around the house as he missed his deceased wife too much and was ashamed of his handicapped son. Mary was very lonely in this great manor, but soon found a way to fight her boredom. First, she discovered a beautiful but locked up garden that used to be her deceased aunt's paradise. Another thing that she discovered was the existence of her cousin, Colin who was handicapped and instructed to stay in bed all the time and to stay out of the sunshine. Mary felt very bad for her beloved cousin and decided to change his life for the better. With the help of a local boy named Dickon, Mary turned the garden into paradise again. It was in this garden that Colin learned how to walk and where Colin's father saw his son walk and accepted him for the first time.
When I had to think of a gift for my cousin this year, I really didn't have to think twice. I decided to buy her this book, and she actually liked it. I believe that this book is a classic and will fascinate future generations in years to come. There are many movies based on this book, and I had the opportunity to see many of them when I was younger but to be honest I like the book better because no movie director has filmed the moviein the garden that I have pictured in my mind when I was a little girl.But when I was looking for images of gardens this is the image is the closest to the one I had in my mind since I can remember...
I never thought that my life would change for the better when I decided to get rid of something. Ninety-eight percent of households in the United States have at least one of them and 34 percent have two.According to the A.C. Nielsen Co. the average American spends 3 hours and 46 minutes with it each day (that's more than 52 days per year). By the age of 65 the average American will have spent nearly nine years glued to it. Parents spend 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children with it usually playing in the background. What is it? Of course, television. I remember sitting down to watch one of my favorite serials and after only 19 minutes of watching I decided to turn off the TV;in fact, I was so disgusted by what is usually shown on television that I convinced my parents to pack the set and give it away to my grandparents. Now, when I visit my grandparents I feel relieved that they are the ones who have to fight with the people on TV. Just yesterday, my grandma said that she wasn't aware of the fact that TV is so tempting. At first, we were all terrified that there would be nothing to do in the evenings, but now we cannot imagine our lives with it in the house. I remember making up all sorts of excuses for not finding time to read a book before going to sleep. Now, I have a dilemma with which book to read first. Another thing that I noticed is that communing with nature has become my natural habit. I don't imagine a weekend without going for a long walk. It used to be that a weekend without watching movies was wasted. Now, one without spending some quality time with my beloved ones is wasted. Of course, I know what's going on in the world as in my house the radio is on all day long andthe Internet provide me with info I am personally interested in. Will I have a tv set in the future??? Don't know, but one thing is for sure- I love every moment of not being tempted and glued to the TV screen....
Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. ~John Ed Pearce.
I was looking through many pages with quotes on home and finally I decided to pick this one. Why?Hard to say, but I guess I would like to return to Poznań when I retire. I live in a place that many envy, and that I used to deplore because of the surroundings- many restaurants, or should I say too many, loud students who love to party on school days, and the tradition of hearing garbage pick up trucks outside my window at 5 a.m. The things that I have always loved about living where I live is: stores are right at my doorstep, museums are in the centre, many parks and I have many options of getting to school by the public means of transport. I really love living here, but also plan on settling down in the countryside for a while to escape from the noise and pollution. :)
