Christmas is coming, are you all ready? Me neither.

Every year I promise myself to come up with ideas for presents around October, so that I can buy them all in November and have a lot of time in December to focus on baking cookies and singing carols. Of course it never works and now the only thing I can do is wake up early in the morning and go shopping before everyone does, so that I won't have to spend few hours standing in the queue.  

Another thing I promise myself is to buy something original. Every year I buy books and CDs and even though there's nothing wrong with them (the more books the better!) it would be nice to find something more personal, that says "I'm your daughter/girlfriend/granddaughter and I know you so well I bought you something no one else would ever buy and I know you'll love it". 

Anyway, the most important thing is that you get to spend time with the people you love, so every year I console myself that even though nothing went the way I planned, that's not really what Christmas is about.  

Do you know that next week new Star Wars movie is coming up?

I know it perfectly well as my boyfriend reminds me of it every single day. He's so excited there's nothing else he can talk about right now. I really like it when people have their passions, hobbies, favourite movies...but this is clearly an obsession.

Anyway, I've seen only three Star Wars episodes, but I'm looking forward to the next one as I want to see Harrison Ford on a big screen again.

If you're tired of writing your master thesis, take a break and watch Harrison Ford talk about the movie (what I really want you to see is his answer to the last question -around 3:35, unless you've heard about it already).

"25" album is out!
After listening to "Hello" I was really sceptical, I've listened to the whole album only once to it's hard to make up my mind so soon, but one thing I know for sure - other songs are much better then the single promoting it. If you want to check it out, well, it's possible to find it somewhere on the Internet, but I don't encourage you to download it illegally. On the other hand the album is so expensive I can afford it only if I get it as a present for Christmas, so I had to look it up on the Internet even though I prefer to buy CDs. My favourite songs so far (yes, I've heard it once and I already have my favourites) are "Sweetest devotion", "Send my love" and "I miss you". Enjoy!

Did I miss something, or did Florence and the machine relase a new album? Yes, they did! It's called "how big, how blue, how beautiful" and it was released in may. Good thing I finally realised that.

Few days ago I was in our cafeteria, sipping coffee and pretending to be learning, when I heard "Delilah" and I loved it! I've heard some of her new songs over the past few months but I didn't really pay attention to it, shame on me! I spent last two evenings catching up on her work and I think it's great. She's so full of energy and yet so shy when she's being interviewed. Her voice is so powerful it's hard to believe it's coming from such a slim woman. If you haven't heard it already in Trójka, enjoy :

Did you get to see the new Bond movie?
There are so many diffrent opinions about this film among my friends, I have trouble telling you if it's worth seeing or not. To me it's great. Nothing compares to "Skyfall", which I adore, but still, it's one of the best Bond movies I've seen. (Not that I'm a specialist, I haven't seen all of them)
I don't want to talk about the ending as I don't want you to know exactly what happens, maybe you plan to see it next weekend, but I just want to say that I like it, the whole idea of "closure" ;)

Do you know who won WTA Tournament in Singapour five minutes ago? Yes, our Agnieszka!!!!!!!

I've decided to write this post after the final as I wanted to write about how excited I would be that she won, so apparently I felt what was coming ;)  But seriously, after this everlasting fight just to get to this tournament I thought that there was no way she was gonna get to semis. What is more, after losing two matches in the beginning of the tournament I was pretty sure she won't be able to beat Halep in two sets, not to mention Muguruza...anyway, I'm extremely happy, I spent last two hours jumping on a sofa, screaming and crying, swearing and laughing...what a beautiful match!

I know, Radwańska has a tough character, many people don't like her. I sometimes hate it when she seems mad at everything around her after losing the match, nevertheless you all have to admit that the way she's been playing over the last few years is extraordinary. She may have her worse days, but regardless of her small posture and tiny arms she is able to beat the strongest players (one day she will beat Serena, no doubt about that!).


(forgive me my mistakes, I'm so excited I don't even speak Polish correctly right now)

Adele is back!
I've been waiting for this moment for so long, I can't believe this day has come.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out her new single :

To be frank, I have mixed feelings about this song. She looks stunning, her voice sound better than ever, still something's bothering me. Maybe I have to listen to if few more times, or it takes time to like this song, but it's definitely not the same feeling I had when I heard "Rolling in the deep" of "Hometown glory". What is more, I love her down-to-earth attitude, the way she comes up on a stage and talks about how much her feet hurt and how manic it was for her to meet Beyonce, and now there she is, in the middle of a forest, like a model posing for a beauty magazine. I know it's a role she's playing in the video, maybe I exaggerate, and I know you probably hate me already for saying there's anything wrong about Adele, but I'm still waiting for her album (4 weeks and two days left!!!) and I still think she's wonderful.

Anyway, if you miss the "old Adele" as much as I do, here's something for you ;)

Did you get to see  "Everest" movie?
It's a new film that tells a story of the most tragic season on Everest.
I was afraid to see this American production, I would never want to watch the story of this great tragedy presented in a Holywood way, with many special effects and swift action. That's what it looked like in the trailer but fortunately "Everest" is not a complete failure.
The mountain is presented in a exceptionnaly detailed way. I always wanted to get a better idea of what this mountain looks like on the way to the top and that's what I got to see in this movie. I've read many descriptions of ledges or gutter ice, but I finally got a chance to see it in all its glory and it made me understand better every journey and accident I've read about in different books.
The only problem of this movie is that it's not that interesting for people who have never read anything about the accidents described there. I mean, surely, everyone understands that if a guy spends one night all by himself on the top of the mountain in the middle of a storm, it is not likely for him to get back to his tent.  But there is no explanation of the circumstances that made him stay there, no one says anything about the reason why there were no bottles with oxygen left that could have saved at least few people coming down to the camp...everything that made all this stories so touching and frustrating is not mentioned. It's the dark side of mountain climbing that should have been presented in a more clear way. If you want to see this movie, I recommend you reading "Dark Summit" first. It's a very interesting story of this terrible season on Everest, with many explanations and descriptions of what should have been done better and why so many people died that year. Not a very uplifting topic, but undoubtedly facinating.

Do you guys like tennis?
I used to play it for few years, but my arms are so weak right now that I can play no longer than 30 minutes. I still love watching it, though. That's why I've decided to read Agassi's autobiography "Open". My friend recommended it to me few years ago but I've never come across this book when I was in the library and somehow over the years I forgot about it. But 3 weeks ago I visited my friend in Warsaw and found this book on a flee market. The great thing is that I bought an English version, so that I don't miss out on anything that could have been lost in translation. Agassi is one of the best tennis players of all time, and one of the most controversial ones as well. I don't want to get into details as I would love for you to read this book, I just want to say that it's fascinating to read what tennis looks like from players' perspective.

I've already written one post about Tatry, but I went there again and it is all I can think about right now. After a long day of hiking I fell asleep in the middle of the field, next to the shelter we stayed in and that is how I got tanned. It's great because every time I look in the mirror it reminds me of these 30 minutes on the field, probably the most relaxing time I've had this year.

I love everything about mountains. The air is so fresh you can feel it getting straight into your lungs. After hiking your legs are in pain but that's the best feeling in the world, it really helps you to relax and clear your mind when you get this tired. At this time of year there were too many people, I prefer places like Bieszczady or Beskid Żywiecki where you can spend whole day hiking and don't meet anyone on your way but that's the price I'm ready to pay for these incredible views. I need to plan the next trip as soon as I come back from my holiday job, let me know if you want to join me ;)

I would like to stay in the subject of coffee, as it is one of the best things to talk about ;)

About two years ago first "Columbus coffee" was opened in Szczecin. It's owners decided to create a whole chain that would be competitive to Starbucks of Coffee heaven. They succeeded. You think I should be happy for the success of the people from my hometown...well I'm not. They sell products of a very low quality, their black coffee has nothing to do with a real black coffee, their idea of a business is to get students who will do their job for very little money so that you can save up and open more cafes all over the country. Right now there are 18 of them, in Poznań too. I'm not saying that they're terrible and that they should not exist - it's still a good place to go with a friend, drink coffee and talk. All I want to say is that there should be more small, independent cafes with people who treat coffee as their passion and not only as money making. I guess you don't have that problem in Poznań - I've seen many different cafes, not only the most popular ones.

In search of inspiration I started to sift through your blogs and Gosia inspired me to write about coffee, but in a slightly different context.

Have you seen "Coffee and cigarettes"? Jim Jarmush is famous for his weird movies, either you love them of hate them. I am somewhere in the middle of this classification - some of his movies I find brilliant, some of them...well, not so much. Many people are crazy about "Dead Man", but I don't like it.  But as it comes to "Coffee and cigarettes" I can't find a single weak point of this movie. The idea is simple - it consists of short scenes that take place in different cafes where people meet and talk about coffee and cigarettes while...drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. Jim knows well Jack White. He and his ex wife Meg appear in this movie and they really funny (if you like that type of humour). I am a huge fan of the music band called The White Stripes, I think that Jack White will never again be as good as he was when he played with Meg (apart from the Dead Weather, but that's a long story) so it was really exciting to watch this movie not knowing that he'll be there.

Another great movie is "Only lovers left alive". The greatest thing about it is how differently people react to it. Some of them are fascinated with acting, music, sense of humour and exceptional atmosphere of it while other can't stand it so much, they have to leave cinema hall in the middle of it (believe me, half of the audience left the room when I was watching it in the cinema!).

If you haven't seen them, give it a try. Let's see wheter you'll love them or hate them ;)

Did you notice how cold it is in april and may? It may seem that as the days are longer, the temperature gets higher, but this cold wind is really tricky. Nevertheless the season of wearing shorts for jogging is finally here! The great thing about this time of year is that it's perfect for running, it's not to dark in the evening and I can run in shorts which I absolutely love. This feeling of wind and fresh air somewhere around my ankles makes me feel that holidays are coming, even though there's so much to do. Anyway, I can't wait for my little guy (who is getting bigger and bigger every day!) to get all the vaccination and go running with me! There's nothing better than running with a dog, and nothing safer!

Lately I didn't post any new words so it's about time I finally do it.


an action-packed movie - a movie full of action
all-out war - total war
badly-run - badly, inefficiently managed and organised
a close-knit community - a community in which everyone knows each other
far-fatched - unlikely to be true or practical
far-reaching - having a big impact on a large number of people, with effects that will last for a long time
long-winded - sth that continues for too long and is boring as a result
the odds-on favourite - the person, team, etc. that everyone thinks will win in a race, competition, election
to clean forget to do sth - to completely forget

Look at this fluffy little piece of cuteness. There are no words to describe how much I love this little buddy, but I guess everyone who has a dog knows this feeling. My family has always been crazy about german shepherds, since I was born there were four of them in my home.
Five days a week I'm 300km away from this guy and I miss him like crazy. I look at his pictures in the train, in a bus, everywhere. I've been trying to come up with an idea for a post about something concerning studies or sport or books, but lately all I think about is him so I gave up. I try to take a good picture of him to put it on my wall in my room in Poznań, but he's unstoppable, he runs all the time and he bites everything. Dogs are the best, no doubt about that.

You know how little girls cry whenever they listen to Bieber or One Direction? When I was little my friends were crazy about Enrique Inglesias while I was hung up on The Rasmus. 

I don't know what happened to this great band, I don't know if it's me growing up or it's them changing their style into more commercial one but when I was 12 years old I was crazy about them. 

I still listen to their old songs (by "old" I mean first three albums, I'm not talking about their most famous "in the shadows" - they have so many other great songs!).

Anyway, I'm writing about it because I used to listen to them to learn English. They're great to do it because it's a Finnish band singing in English, so it's very easy to understand.  What is more, Lauri Ylönen likes to rap which is even more challenging if you want to sing along, try it out!

Look at her. What a beautiful, sophisticated woman. It's incredible how much charm she has and how beautifully she speaks. I guess we can all agree that after "Pride and prejudice" it seemed obvious that she'll become a wonderful woman, but this short clip really moved me. I haven't seen many movies with her, I have to catch up. Just listen to her, she's amazing!

This week I decided to visit Toruń. My father had a rally out there and I thought it's a good opportunity to meet him there and see the city. It turned out to be a great idea! I spent two days sunbathing by the river, drinking coffee and sightseeing. I don't really like visiting cities, I prefer seaside and of course, above all, montains. But this time I had a lot of fun, I don't think I've ever been so impressed. The city is charming, there are many people, but it's not too crowdy. All the buildings seem to be harmonised, even though some of them are much older than the others. It's really amazing how beautiful Old City can be. We have one in Szczecin, but it's out blind-spot, if you ever visit Szczecin don't go there, it's much more beautiful by the river. 

Unfortunately weekends are so short, that I had to go back to Szczecin to do something productive. My train to Poznań leaves tommorow at 5 a.m. so I still have some time to catch up with my homework and go for  walk in Szczecin. The weather is so wonderful, it seems silly to stay at home!

Have you heard about "Top Gear" being suspended because of a conflict between Jeremy Clarkson and his producer?

Few years ago I bought Clarkson's book as a present for my father. Since then we read everything he wrote and we laugh so hard it's hard to breathe. What is more, we love "Top Gear". Since BBC Brit channel is available in Poland we watch it whenever I come to Szczecin. Even right now, the moment I'm writing this post, I'm watching it. It's hard to focus beacause I'm laughing all the time, but it's worth it. It's raining outside, it's terribly cold and it really cheers me up.

I know Jeremy Clarkson is a very controversial person. You may find him racist or pretentious but there's one thing you have to admit - this guy is really intelligent. Personnally I prefer James May and I can't imagine Top Gear without Hammond, but without Clarkson this show does not exist.

We'll see what happens to the show in the future. Clarkson is  probably very difficult person to work with and I'm not trying to say that his innocent, but on the other hand I'd love for them to make things work and let us watch new episodes.

If you see me this week at the university (I'm finally back, so there's a chance we'll see each other) and I seem sleepy, or even unconscious, I have an explanation : House of Cards is finally back!
Netflix did a very stupid thing releasing all the episodes at once. I'll probably finish watching them by the end of this week.
I don't watch many tv series, they are very time consuming and addictive and I don't even look for new ones so that I wouldn't be tempted to watch them all day long. Anyway, once my mom was watching HoC on the TV and I couldn't resist. I even organised House of Cards marathon and I watched it all night. So now the time has finally come for the third season and I watch it whenever I can. Many people think it's silly, not realistic and very "American", but I don't care, I watch it anyway.

Lately I haven't been posting and new words, so today a little longer list :

abjure - to reject, renounce (To

acerbic - biting, bitter in tone or taste 

acumen - the ability to think clearly and make good decisions

antipathy - a strong dislike, repugnance 

aspersion - a curse, expression of ill-will

assiduous - hard-working, diligent

blandish - to coax by using flattery 

boon - a gift or blessing

burnish - to polish, shine 

cacophony - tremendous noise, disharmonious sound 

calumny - an attempt to spoil someone else’s reputation by spreading lies

I'm slowly turning into an insomniac. It's driving me crazy, but on the other hand check out what I found five minutes ago!

http://quizlet.com/13731924/scatter


I tried googling stuff like "list of the most difficult words" and I accidentally came across this great site. I don't want to waste too much time googling cute kittens or other silly stuff (Internet is a time-consuming creature!), that is why I started to google some linguistic-related features, Enjoy!

I'm writing this post on my way to Szczecin (having a mobile internet finally pays off - I've never used it until today, I can save some time and take a rest when I get home). Normally I prefer to read books and listen to the music, but this time I came up with an idea for a post and I want to share something with you immediately.
Last week I bought a book called "Runners life"in our cafeteria (that's what I love about this place, every time I go there I have an instant need for lecture). This time I made a great choice, this book is just perfect!
I like running from time to time. I'd love to develop my running skills but every time I try to improve and run more, I immediately get sick and need to stay in bed for at least two days. That is why I find my latest lecture so interesting. This book was written by a runner, and by runner I mean a guy who has been running his whole life and really know what it's all about. He gives some very practical clues how to improve and how to work on your body. I don't need any source of motivation because running is so awesome I can't imagine my life without it, but if you need to find a reason to get out of bed and force yourself to get sore muscles, sweat and pain, you will find it in this book.

There's so much going on lately that I have no idea what to write about this week, and since our test is coming I've decided to combine writing a post with my learning process. I prepared some words that I find really hard to memorise and I want to share them with you. I don't know how on earth am I going to learn them by heart and recall them tomorrow, apparently authors of our workbook did a great job when they decided to put together such ridiculous words as creaking or crackling. So there you go : 

with no regard for reality check  - it's not that hard, my only problem is to memorize the preposition

staggering - I was proud enough to learn such sophisticated words as "astonishing" of "bewildering" and there's another synonym, even more difficult to learn

dwindling and dwelling - come on! they are so similar, I keep repeating "dwindling resources" but than some stupid voice in my head changes it again into "dwelling resources" - I'm pretty sure sth like this does not exist

implement and impending - well this is just mean. I know they aren't even the same part of speech, but still, they are so hard to learn.

trickle - I don't even know how to name it in Polish, there are few words describing it, but all of them seem inadequate

and finally, my favourite : 

creaking and crakling - I try to link one of them up with eating and another one with a monster coming out of a wardrobe and doing a creaking sound, but they still make me go crazy

As I was sifting through the photos on my computer I realised that it's been so long since I've been hiking in the mountains. I need to do something about it. This year I promise myself, I'll go there no matter what. We always promise ourselves to do this and that, but eventually we find any excuse not to do something, like "I don't have time" or "I'll do it later". No, you will not do it later. And if you really want to do something, you'll always find the time to do it. That is why this year there are no excuses - I need to go to Tatry, sunbath on the top of....Rysy or Kozi Wierch? We'll see. 

watertight - impossible to argue or prove wrong

dreary - boring and depressing

scruffy - old and worn out, untidy

astute - clever and understanding people and situations

tedious - boring and often frustrating

mundane - ordinary, boring, giving little satisfaction

Recently I'm trying to get back on the track with my studies. As always I start with the most important task - choosing the perfect music for studying. This rules out every polish song, because polish lyrics distract me. Another type of songs not suitable for studying is pop. Everything you can hear on the radio is being played to entertain and as we know studying is not the most entertaining task in the world, so these two don't really combine. One radio that can pass is Chill Zet, but it makes me too sleepy to stay motivated. What I do, is take my father's CDs and search for jazz. That's how I discovered Pat Metheny. He's a brilliant guitar player, he recorded millions of CDs and most of them I really adore. Check out "Secret story" of "Imaginary day". You may know him from his cooperation with Anna Maria Jopek, the single promoting their CD was "Tam gdzie nie sięga wzrok".
His music is perfect to relax, to go on a long trip (me and my parents used to listen to him all the time during holidays, when we were stuck in a traffic for example) and to learn. Give it a try!

Another words for today :

blunt - someone who says what he really thinks,even if it may hurt sb or is impolite

brash - annoyingly loud, overconfident

callous - cruel and heartless

fickle - not faithful or loyal to friends

meticulous - someone who is really careful about what he does, paying attention to small details

squeamish - someone who doesn't like the sight of unpleasant things such as blood

sullen - someone who is bad tempered and do not speak much

Whenever I want to relax I face a very complicated problem : should I discover a new movie or should I watch one of my favourites? I love that type of problems, I could have them every day if only I had time.
I want to share with you one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. It fits perfectly my type of sensibility, it's music touches me to my very core and I have to watch it at least twice a year (this rule is as important as the rule of watching "Home alone" every Christmas). It's called "Once".
I'm not going to talk about the plot, there's no point in that, you just have to sit down with a huge mug of hot coffee, cover yourself with a huge blanket and watch.

If you like them and want to discover more, this is the song from their last album "Strict joy".

My new year's resolution is to develop my language skills (both English and French), so I'll post here few new words that I will force myself to learn and never forget. Enjoy!

disconcerting - causing one to feel unsettled
errant - travelling in search of adventure
emblazoned - decorated, ornamented
billow - a large mass of something, typically smoke, cloud or steam
sprawl - a carelessly relaxed position in which one's arms and legs are spread out

It's already fourth day of a new year and I still think about new year's eve. I had a great time and I keep comparing this year's party to the others I had. 

Last year, for the first time, I decided to stay at home. I ate pizza, drank wine, danced a little and had a lot of fun, even though I spent it with only one person. This year I decided to go out. I thought this could be a good way to compare these two styles of partying and decide which one I prefer. The problem is, both of them were great.  It's not possible to decide which is better - party with a huge group of people (most of them unknown) or a meeting with boyfriend, music and wine? 

The general idea of welcoming the new year by partying and dancing all night long is a great way to be exhausted the next day, which is supposed to be the most productive, because the rule says "first day of the year defines the rest of it" (I really hope that rule isn't valid, I slept all day).To start the new year productively it's better to stay at home, relax and go to sleep right after midnight, but as long as I'm not forced to do it, I guess I prefer to dance a little longer and collect great memories.  

Lately I've been searching for my favourite song lyrics. In English everything sounds better, even Rihanna's "Umbrella" doesn't sound so stupid, but that's the magic of this language, I suppose. Of course there are some songs like "Anaconda" that are so stupid, that no language can suppress it, but anyway, let's get to the point. I've been searching for my favourite lyrics in Polish.

I started with Kasia Nosowska (this brilliant woman comes from Szczecin, naturally). She wrote some many different pieces that I find it too difficult to find my one favourite. Still, I've decided to choose "Chyba", it's quite old but very interesting in it's simple form. It seems like a short song about nothing in particular, but that's the charm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMHSo0Qo0g4


Moving on, another great songwriter is Artur Rojek. Recently he finished his adventure with Myslovitz and decided to record something on his own. I was devastated, but it turned out to be a great idea. The whole album is brilliant, I love songs like "to co będzie" or "krótkie momenty skupienia", but to draw your attention to this great guy, I recommend you his first single promoting his album, there you go :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMHSo0Qo0g4


When I was in high school, I was really crazy about Pidżama Porno. Lyrics written by Grabaż were like encyclopedia to me. He still writes some good stuff with his present band, Strachy na Lachy, but the magic of "Gdy zostajesz u mnie na noc" stays irreplaceable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUTeCh9MOfw


And finally, my greatest master of written word - Łona! I don't like hip hop but he's so much more than a rapper. Of course he's also from Szczecin, that's the cradle of brilliant people. His concerts are pure masterpieces, there's so much positive energy. People from Szczecin are crazy about him, we always ripp off our throats when he starts to sing. Anyway, just listen to him and hopefully you'll share our admiration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1rYlzac3gs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayr0qXppofo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97wHluV2vnI



The last thing I want you to see is a verse of a song "Ludzie odchodzą" written by Łona. I don't like the voices of rappers singing in it, that's why I'm just going to put here his verse, it's about death but written in a very unusual and subtle way.

"Codziennie tracę jeden dzień bezpowrotnie
W starciu z tą, która w końcu mnie dotknie
I choć istotnie zapominam o niej
Ona nagle tuż obok przypomina mi o sobie dotykając kogoś
Towarzysząc mi z rosnącym uporem
Zastępując ciszą słowa niewypowiedziane w porę
Trudno o poręcz skoro tak ciężko o dowód
Że istnieje coś poza końcem na końcu tych schodów
Trzeba przyjąć to pamiętając o tych których serca już nie biją
Bo póki pamiętamy oni żyją
Wciąż dając nam obraz tego
że ci, których kochamy odchodząc od nas
Zostają w nas samych
Będąc gdzieś tam i gdzieś tu równocześnie
Szkoda, że was nie ma, dobrze, że jesteście"

New year came and all I do is sleep and eat. I guess that's the magic of Christmas - all you do is cook, than Christmas Eve comes and you have to eat it all. Then you get so tired of eating that you sleep all the time - sounds familiar? That's probably why I completely forgot that I am actually a student and that it's about time I learn something, or maybe write a post, or some essay...This year I promised myself to find the motivation to get out of the bed, wear something that is neither pyjamas nor fluffy onesie and to spend this christmas break productively. It didn't work out the way I imagined, but at least my plan was good. I try to spend as much time as possible taking long walks and enjoying my stay in Szczecin. In few days I have to go back to Poznań and I have no idea how on earth am I supposed to get up at 7 and go study? Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about, we are all the same!

This post perfectly reflects my actual state of spirit. I don't think about anything apart form "what should I eat today?", so I am definitely not capable of writing about anything more interesting that how awesome it is to take a rest from time to time and act like bears in winter that eat a lot and go to their winter sleep. That's what I'm doing - winter sleeping. I hope you're doing the same thing.

And last but not least - have a great new year!