| 100 in 1000 |
- Spend a week up a mountain learning to ski
- Visit Karoline's place in Moravia
Hold a conversation in Czech (only)- Drink 500ml of each of the following beers:
PilsnerStaroprammen- Budvar
- Velke Popovice
- U Fleku
GambrinusKrusovice
Respond to at least one GOARN request (WHO and MSF are
also acceptable)Travel across the AtlanticReturn to South America- Read a book to, or with, an impressionably aged child
- Participate in one NanoWriMo Challenge and come within at least 10,000 words of the goal length
Have my nose pierced- Have my next tattoo drawn
Purchase the perfect jeans (x 2 pairs)- Attend a spin class 3 times a week for 8 consecutive weeks
- Bake Viv's cheesecake
Make David's casserole Make David's Chicken Cashew-nut StirfryInvite 4 people who don't know one another too well to dinner- Ride from Vienna to Venice on a motorbike (pillion acceptable, those less desirable)
- Attend a book group for at least two books
- Go on a choir weekend (learn and perform difficult piece in two/three days)
- Visit Madame Tussaud's (in London)
- Take an architecture appreciation course
Join an all-girl group and sing a soloPublish in a scientific journal (top two authors)Cook a duck or other 'waterfowl'. Locate the Al-Timimi's from Doha Veterinary PractiseHave a pedicureMaintain a Brazilian (ouch) for three months.Find a trustworthy Czech hairdresser- Treat my inner-6-year-old twice a week (at least)
- Do the liver-cleansing diet properly (12 weeks)
- Don't eat out for one month
Find a flat and flatmate- Purchase one Joseph sweater
- Purchase one of the following pairs of
designer shoes (they MUST also be COMFORTABLE, and be able to be worn with 4
different outfits and 2 types of occasion): Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks,
Christian Louboutin (Ebay or 2nd hand are acceptable)
- Send 5 books to the booksphere and track them.
- Go hanggliding
- Read 10 'classic' books (from 1001 Books to Read before you Die)
Moll FlandersEverything is illuminatedMadam BovaryZen & the Art of Motorcycle MaintainanceCatch-22OdysseusOn the Road
- Run (non-stop!) for 5kms outside (preferably in a street race thingy)
- Send Christmas Cards on time
Make a collage/mural out of street lights on my wallBuy a bed, build it, and sleep soundly in itGo to AfricaHost an 'event' (classified as and when)Organise a 30th Birthday PartyWear a costume- Sing on stage
- Buy a painting that evokes memories of Prague (cannot involve queues!)
Learn a god-damned card game that stays in my memory (other than fish/snap)See sunrise. Be sober. Have woken for it. Excludes months Nov-Mar- Take a walk and flip coins at each intersection
Win something- Draft a will
- Take a roadtrip
Go to Italy already- Sea Kayak around Abel Tasman Park (NZ)
Get plantsTake a train to another Eastern European Destination (accession countries are acceptable) alone preferably.- Get UK to give me a provisional motorcyclists license and simultaneously get a 'card' license.
- Go SCUBA diving again - at least two dives lasting 30mins each.
Go to a dentist. *sigh*- Do a Czech Wine Trail. And live to tell the tale
- Make an 'outbreak emergency kit'.
- Go to bed prior to 11pm every night (inc weekends) for four consecutive weeks.
- Marvel over lack of tiredness
- Dine at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant (or Nobu)- preferably for free.
Bet on the nags- Do something for charity (applying and getting a 'red card' will count)
- Walk along the Champs Elysee
- Do 100 sit ups in a row
- Do 50 pressups (arms in tight)
- Make branston pickle (or nearest substitute)
- Cook something 'new' and 'adventurous' at least once a month
Find a mentorBe a mentorLearn what mentoring is all aboutMeet an online person in real lifeResist the flirt. Once. Just one night. It's okay if people don't immediately succumb to my natural charm. Really it is.Spend time at a spa (spa towns in the CR don't count)- Send a care package to someone
Get a Tata Bojs CD- Take a French/German/Dutch course and SPEAK THE DAMNED LANGUAGE WHEN I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES ME SOUND
LIKE AN IDIOT!
- Order new contact lenses.
Make a list of things I take with me when I pack for different occasions- Eat lobster. Prepared by someone else.
Back up the blogPut everything onto an external hard drive- Find a DDR mat and console and 'dance, I say dance!'�
- Go to the beach and lie on the warm sand. For an hour. (with sunscreen on, natch)
- Take and complete a course in either: Tango, Salsa or Flamenco
- Join the Municipal Library of Prague
- Move to another country
Go to a live concert of a band I actually like- Pay off debts (student loan excl.)
Send thank you cards for every gift I receive (other than the gift of happiness, blah blah blah).- Get an agent (literary or theatre)
- Go to a sports bar without cringing, by personal choice
- Ride a rollercoaster
- Hold a snake
Spend a day wandering around a museum (not art gallery!) |
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| Oscillations in the Nomes Orbit |
| Thursday 10 November 2005 |
So I’m still uncertain about being here. Okay, it’s beautiful – at some moments Prague truly deserves it’s nickname of the Golden City. But the bureaucracy is interminable, the language inhospitable (not to mention incomprehensible) and the city planning (with regards to guessing which street to turn down next) is totally counter-intuitive. Also, I take a tram at least twice a day at the moment; I see it pull away from the stop JUST as I arrive at least once each day.
But, on the plus side, the Stereo MC’s are playing for one night on the 25th November, and I don’t leave for Budapest until the morning of the 26th. Talk about fortuitous. Incorporate the fact that, by then, I’ll have been paid and will be able to afford the NZ$30 or €17 ticket and you’ve got one very happy excited Nomes – who thinks she should pack on Thursday evening so as to avoid making the mistake of turning up in Budapest with nothing but ‘going out’ gear.
The downside is, of course, that I’ve no one to go with.
Have you ever watched people of different nationalities eat? There are only a few people on the planet who can make me feel like a total klutz at the dinner table (I prefer to use the term ‘expressive despite cutlery’) but the Czechs sure ain’t likely to win prizes for ‘neatness with food’ either.
I’ve noticed they hold their forks in their left hand, like a spoon. Then, when they need to pierce something with it, they put their fist around it, not over the top as you or I (the more proper of us) may do in a rare moment of ‘must-eat-now’-ness, but underneath – as one may do to shovel more ice cream into my mouth - apparently. So that when they take their food to their mouth, they’ve got their left fist held inner-wrist-upwards, with their little finger closest to their mouths. To think I’ve made at least two people hold their fist as such on the other side of the world – merely with my words! Mwahahahahahaha! Where did I put that ring with the funny inscription…
Seriously though, I’ve never seen cutlery management more awkward. And instead of ‘carving’ with a knife, they tear. I remember my Dad telling me (when I was all of 7 I think) that knives aren’t claws. I think it was the imagery that did it…I’d loved to have thought of myself as a giant cat, mauling my way through my pork chop dinner, but obviously – big cats don’t have poles stuck down the back of their clothes (long story) so I wasn’t one. Yes mum, snort with laughter all you like now dear, but you won’t be snorting when you get my therapy bills. Or, more satisfyingly, the therapy bills for my offspring!!
Today, I thought I would get the keys to my new place. But alas, the holder of the keys has already departed for home; it is, after all, 3.30pm. And I also thought I might have been reimbursed my relocation expenses. But again, alas. It’s still a good day though. Because I had a good Czech lesson this morning, following a night where I spent at least four consecutive hours in blissful unconsciousness.
And, because I am just so impressed with myself, I’m going to show you something I wrote. Press print, cut it out, and put it on your fridge – if for no other reason than to confound the person/people you live with!
Moje rodice bydlíte v Gladstone, bizko Brisbane, v Austrálie. Ron, můj tatínek je inženýr. Moje maminka, Vivienne, je v domácnosti, tak ona dělá oběd a večeři každý den. Ona vaří dobře. Muj mladší bratr, Rowland, bydí v Anglií s Julia, jeho přítelkyní. On dělá hezký nabylek: skřín, polici, stůl etc. On má narozeniny v sobotu! Julia je v úřednice záležitosti. Těším se na vánoce, jsme spolu.
Not bad huh? I should really leave it at that – since it looks impressive. But, damnit, the honest bone in my body tells me I ought to inform you that it says:
“My parents live in Gladstone, near Brisbane, in Australia. Ron, my father, is an engineer. My mother, Vivienne, is a housewife, and she makes lunch and dinner every day (not true – you KNOW you get takeouts sometimes! J) She cooks well. My little brother, Rowland, lives in England with Julia, his girlfriend. He makes nice furniture: wardrobes, beds, tables etc. It’s his birthday on Saturday (see…I haven’t forgotten yet!). Julia is an environmental health officer (though I’m not entirely convinced the teacher understood what you did!). I look forward to Christmas, we’ll be together.”
I bet you’re less impressed now huh? From the eloquence required to “adopt and express the Central European malaise” © (Brett) to writing a bunch of verbs, nouns and adjectives in the present tense. It’s enough to make a grown woman cry (on several occasions). See what I mean about sounding like a four year old!?
And how’s my reading going – I hear you BEGGING to know? Well, every day I read a few pages from a children’s encyclopaedia (published 1959) to Tamara, complete with the finger under the word, and the pauses to ‘sound it out’ when I get to a word like nejmocnějším! I have no idea what I’m reading – but at least it’s unlikely to offend if I mispronounce too horribly. And on occasion, we have drawings and actions to describe particular words (today: tears, bush vs. tree (we concluded that an angrešt is a gooseberry – so don’t laugh!) and thorn).
This learning another language thing is hard bloody work when your brain is set to ‘science’ and ‘rules’. Sure – there ARE rules…but first I have to figure out what the grammatical terms are. “What’s the first person, past participle, masculine inanimate object of the sentence? Funny you should ask that, Paní Kořanova, I was just wondering about it myself!!”
Oh – and for a final task - next week: I have the domácí úkol(doh-mahtsi ookol = homework) of writing a one act play comprising a scene between four characters. It has to contain at least 80 lines of dialogue, and be set ‘at home’ or ‘at a restaurant’ or ‘in school’ or ‘at a public transport place’. If someone wishes me to include anything, now’s your chance to say! Any assistance will be gratefully appreciated, and you WILL of course, be duly acknowledged when it wins a Nova (Czech telly award). |
posted by Nomes @ Thursday, November 10, 2005   |
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