Morning has broken

Hi I am James from Taiwan (Yilan County),

December, 1st (Tuesday) Time Zone= GMT (UTC) +8 Humidity: 65%
Weather :17-21 °C (cloudy), Coordination= 24°45'23.47"N, 121°45'54.41"E

There is a saying in Chinese:” A day's plan starts with the morning.”

The very first place I go to after I wake up every morning is the bathroom. The things I usually do are: brush my teeth, wash my face, and sometimes take a dump (poo-poo) or/and a piss. After that, I eat breakfast in the kitchen. I often take an everyday shower in the evening instead of in the morning. How about you? How long do you take a shower? When is it?

A photo can say thousands of words. The following photo is one of the three bathrooms in my house, which is the one I mostly use.

The house I live is a semi-detached housing (consists of four houses built side by side as units sharing three party walls). It has three and half floors and has three bathrooms for each floor. Five persons live together, therefore, we don't need to fight for using a toilet. How many bathrooms are there in your house? Do you have to fight for using a bathroom?

Best wishes
James Wu (Wu Zhih Cheng, Student Blogger of 2007, May)

Satya Speaks...

Hello All,

It's been wonderful being here. I don't know how but everytime a change takes place in my life, I get a call from BBC Student Blog. It was my Birthday when I blogged during October two years back. I got a job when I blogged for the second time in December last week. And now, I got the joining few days back. A new life altogether. Due to long working hours, I cannot write much today. I'll be posting a story of mine here. Please read it..


____ Satya...

Life is Creative...

I Love You...

She leaned forward and told him, in a soft but firm voice: I Love You...


The Three words... Just three words... but he had to wait three years for just these three words...


* * *


" I love you.." , he said.


She was silent. He continued, " I'm not asking you to love me. But, I'm just informing you that I love you."
She had not said a single word to him. She had been watching him in the class everyday.. watching his smile which had not asked her to love him.. but which told her that he loves her.. She felt she was as hard as rock. She knew what she wanted to become in life. She felt that love is just a fool's paradise and she would never think about it.

She was walking in the rain. No umbrella... No raincoat... She just wanted herself to be in the rain. Suddenly, she heard a voice ...


" Hi.." , he wished her, brushing his wet long hair not to fall on his face.
"Oh.. how come u r here ? " , she asked in a surprise tone.
" Well... I just saw you and thought of speaking with you."


" about what?", she asked.
" about anything... or may be .. nothing... but just wanted to talk...", he said.
"Do you like walking in the rain?", she asked playing with the raindrops.
"I like walking with you.." he told her.
She was silent... silent for the rest of their walking...


It was her birthday and he called her. She expected a birthday wish from him. But he said, " I love You"..
Later in the afternoon, he gave her a love letter. She read it and pointed out 7 grammatical errors and 5 spelling mistakes.
He smiled and she was silent.




They were standing at the bus stop. It was a cool winter evening.
She asked him: " Why do you love me?"
He said, " I don't know. There are some things in life which you can't do by making a choice. They just happen."
She asked," What will u do if i die?"
" I will still love you..."


She was silent...
" You want a hot cup of coffee?" , he asked pointing to a shop on the other side of the road.
" Of course.." , she said.
He crossed the road and ordered two cups of coffee. She was watching him. She was thinking about him. Slowly, she felt that the rock inside her was melting...
He was crossing the road with two cups in both the hands and suddenly, a car hit him....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


She leaned forward and told him, in a soft but firm voice: I Love You...


Three words... Just three words... but he had to wait three years for these just three words...
A drop from her eye had fallen onto his photo... and she was still silent...looking at his picture..

Waiting for a Christmas!

Taru from Rovaniemi, Finland

The main celebration of Christian People is fore coming. Jesus born 2000 years go and Christians want to remind it once a year. The life style and time was totally different then and it is really hard to seek authentic Christmas spirit today. Actually we have no real understanding what it would have been then but we can try to imagine trough Bible and history writings. Today we can see three different Christmas. The First is a religion Christmas, the second is a commercial Christmas and the third is a Non-Christmas.

People who want to have a religion Christmas follow the calendar and events of Church. There is a four pre-days at the calendar which are for the people who want to repair their souls to forward the spiritual Christmas and its miracle bearing of Jesus. The name of the Sundays is Advent. The meaning of the Advent for the Church is very important because the new year of the Church will start on the first Advent. It was 29th of November on this year. You see it is not according the Gregorian calendar at which the year starts on 1st of January. The main thing to do pre-repairing to Christmas is be on the Fast. You may do not eat meat or other energy food. You have to drink a lot of water because of two things: it refresh and keep you going on. Slowly day by day you fall in peace and calm to spend the Christmas. For these four steps, The Advent Sundays, remind us the four branched candelabrum, one branch for one Advent Sunday. The candelas are lighted one by one on each Sunday.

As a marketing world it can be said that the Church has a brand of Christmas. More and more the markets want to have people’s money. You can see the development of Christmas opening ceremony. It has been earlier and earlier on each year until now the opening ceremony of the Christmas is on the first Advent. People have more time to spend all of their money to markets. Shops and Stores are allowed to be open even on Sunday and very late on evening. After this day this rule or law is considered the whole year. It means that the shop entrepreneur or the chief of the store can decide the opening hours and times at the shop. It can be open in the middle of the night if necessary. The idea of Santa Claus enrols the commercial Christmas, Santa have to have something to give for the kind children. It is the time when you see the relatives and parents and give presents for them.

Non-Christmas is for those who don’t mind Jesus, Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, markets and spending money. Actually it can be said that such kind of person has just some day’s longer weekend. You may travel somewhere, f. ex. abroad and have sun under the palm trees, drink alcohol and be away of your relatives, all hurry and crowed places. The idea of escape is more and more fascinating idea. It is extra time for yourself and depends on you how you spend it.

We will go further to Christmas time or just the end of this month and I will share with you what all happens here during this month.

See You,
Taru

What is it? :” Kiss and Ride”

Hi I am James from Taiwan (Yilan County),
December, 2nd (Wednesday) Time Zone= GMT (UTC) +8, Humidity: 53%
Weather :15-22 °C (cloudy), Coordination= 24°45'23.47"N, 121°45'54.41"E

I detoured to take a picture on my way to office this morning. Here it is:

I Love You...

She leaned forward and told him, in a soft but firm voice: I Love You...


The Three words... Just three words... but he had to wait three years for just these three words...


* * *


" I love you.." , he said.


She was silent. He continued, " I'm not asking you to love me. But, I'm just informing you that I love you."
She had not said a single word to him. She had been watching him in the class everyday.. watching his smile which had not asked her to love him.. but which told her that he loves her.. She felt she was as hard as rock. She knew what she wanted to become in life. She felt that love is just a fool's paradise and she would never think about it.

She was walking in the rain. No umbrella... No raincoat... She just wanted herself to be in the rain. Suddenly, she heard a voice ...


" Hi.." , he wished her, brushing his wet long hair not to fall on his face.
"Oh.. how come u r here ? " , she asked in a surprise tone.
" Well... I just saw you and thought of speaking with you."


" about what?", she asked.
" about anything... or may be .. nothing... but just wanted to talk...", he said.
"Do you like walking in the rain?", she asked playing with the raindrops.
"I like walking with you.." he told her.
She was silent... silent for the rest of their walking...


It was her birthday and he called her. She expected a birthday wish from him. But he said, " I love You"..
Later in the afternoon, he gave her a love letter. She read it and pointed out 7 grammatical errors and 5 spelling mistakes.
He smiled and she was silent.




They were standing at the bus stop. It was a cool winter evening.
She asked him: " Why do you love me?"
He said, " I don't know. There are some things in life which you can't do by making a choice. They just happen."
She asked," What will u do if i die?"
" I will still love you..."


She was silent...
" You want a hot cup of coffee?" , he asked pointing to a shop on the other side of the road.
" Of course.." , she said.
He crossed the road and ordered two cups of coffee. She was watching him. She was thinking about him. Slowly, she felt that the rock inside her was melting...
He was crossing the road with two cups in both the hands and suddenly, a car hit him....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


She leaned forward and told him, in a soft but firm voice: I Love You...


Three words... Just three words... but he had to wait three years for these just three words...
A drop from her eye had fallen onto his photo... and she was still silent...looking at his picture..



__________ Satya...
Life Is Creative...

Adriana says hello!

Hi BBC LE community,

I’m Adriana from Brazil. I was the September 2007 student blogger… the time of my life that I will never forget. I still have the picture from that last blog:

Shirley Posts: Remembering the Good Ol' Days...

I was having a dinner with a friend the other day, when I noticed something really disturbing about his behavior... From the moment we managed to secure a table, sit down and order from menu, he could not keep his hand off...his Blackberry. Yes, that bulky black calculator-like gadget has become the center of his universe for the last few years. He is just one of many people out there who cannot live without moving their thumbs every now and then.

What happen to the good old days when you just sit and interact with other people while you are having a meal? What happen to the good old days without worrying what to tweet or to plurk so that karma will not drop? *lol*

I guess asking for simplicity is too much to ask nowadays :)

After realizing that I was a bit upset, he finally put down his Bold and apologized to me. And I cannot help wondering how many "Blackberry addicts" do that to others; if my friend is probably tuning on his smartphone every 10 seconds, that probably means he is doing it during driving, queuing, meeting, sleeping, or doing his business in the restroom. "The world will not stop turning if you stop checking on incoming messages for a while," I said to him. "...but your real moments in life will," I said to myself. Isn't it ironic that technology that was invented to make life easier and simpler turning life complicated instead? The idea was to be able to check your email anytime anywhere, so that people could do their normal activities and spend less time dealing with internet. The idea was to be able to be free from boundaries. The reality is people become less focused in doing their normal activities, people spend more more time dealing with facebook, twitter, email, instant messenger and they create their own world.

I don't have any objections to the booming of Blackberry device in Indonesia, but I just think that people should not stop living because of that. "You should get one for yourself, too," my friend suggested me. I just smile in disagreement.

Are you one of the addicts? Here is one's suggestions to cure it.

PS. Hello, it's good to be back. December is always an interesting month for me, especially because I was born 2 days after Christmas :) I am sure we will have a lot to share. Can't wait to read the teachers' open blog, too. Cheers!

- written in Jakarta, Indonesia

White roses from Finland

No other like it! I mean friendships among people; they are a real foundation for peace and prosperity. How are you all my virtual friends all around the world? I do hope that the life is treating you favorable enough in these difficult and chaotic days.
Nothing is as it has been before, that is a certainty. I am not saying it should be, but somehow I do miss a quiet moment, a tranquil minute to reflect. Yeah, I know who is stopping me? The answer is: The clock.
Today I am happy. My daughter Katri is well settled in her new home, her brand new-fangled horse stable is a marvel and horses are happy. Pekka (my husband) still loves me and… in addition I am happy to tell you that my father is going to be honored on Finland's Independence Day, 6 of December, Esko-papa receives the First Class Medal, in Order of the White Rose of Finland as a symbol thanks for his war years.
I leave you hopefully in good health with the following:
"Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won." Duke Of Wellington 1759 - 1852

Leila from Finland

Taiwan’s sky

December, 4th (Thursday) Time Zone= GMT (UTC) +8, Humidity: 49%
Weather: 16-21 °C (cloudy), Coordination= 24°45'23.47"N, 121°45'54.41"E

Hi I am James from Taiwan (Yilan County),
I walked out of my office’s room at a lunch break time, looked at the sky, and meditated:” Where are BBCLE December Student Bloggers?” As I read on December 2nd , there should be 13 Student bloggers. Where are Ana (Brazil), Cris (Argentina), Anita (Slovakia), Naheed (Pakistan)…? I am waiting for your blogs and for going on posting my next entry.

Shirley Posts: What's Your Fave Japanese Food?

Hot or cold. Dry or soup. Raw or Cooked. I just looovee Japanese food at all time!

My choice for lunch this time is Chanponmen ramen (ramen with corn & seafood) from a restaurant called Tai-chan, in one of the oldest Mall in Jakarta. Thank goodness I can have many choices of Japanese food in my country (probably because there are many Japanese expatriates here).

Get the taste of the soup, mix it with ichimi (chili powder)... and I am in heaven *lols* I often crave for Japanese food, especially for sushi and kanimaki... Anything made with crab is delicious... I like sitting in front of the sushi bar and watch all those beautiful food creations pass in front of my sight.

Anyways, enough with the mouth-watery descriptions... I just want to say have a wonderful weekend to all of BBC LE readers, and I'll be back (hopefully) with heavier topics next week :)

- written in Jakarta, Indonesia

Comments and Replies

Hi I am James from Taiwan (Yilan County),
December, 5th (Saturday) Time Zone= GMT (UTC) +8, Humidity: 59%
Weather: 13-20 °C (cloudy), Coordination= 24°45'23.47"N, 121°45'54.41"E

Thank the readers who comment on my blog, I’ll reply to you at the comment area.

Best wishes
James Wu (Wu Zhih Cheng, Student Blogger of 2007, May)
PS: The photo on the banner still has not changed.

It´s nice to be back!

Hello everyone!

How are you doing? It´s really nice to have once more the opportunity to catch up with all of you.
I can see that James, Satya, Leila, Adri, Shirley and Taru have already posted their blogs, and so our teachers Stephen, Amy, Rachel, Kieran and Rachel. it´s a pleasure to read your blogs again.

This year some many nice things happened. As you might remember, I took up this year an undergraduate course in English-Portuguese, which here in Brazil is called "Letras", well, the semester has just finished and yesterday I received my results. I passed it! Yippee!

My routine has changed significantly since I started the uni. I´m still working nine hours a day at the same company, so when my workday ends I have to dash to the bus station in order to take the bus to uni. That´s sometimes is quite funny because I´m always running after buses. Maybe this can help me lose some weight, right? Hmm... up till now I haven´t observed any change in my weight. Anyway, I also used to be a regular commentator in this blog area, but nowadays with the exam and papers I hardly have time to check my emails. That´s a pity indeed. But I´m trying to keep up with all of you during the weekends.

Even though things get a bit busy for me now, I can tell you that I´m enjoying very much the university life and it´s been wonderful to have the opportunity to learn more about so many things that I´m interested.


See ya soon,

Ana Paula.

When do you buy stuff everyday?

Hi I am James from Taiwan (Yilan County),

December, 6th (Thursday) Time Zone= GMT (UTC) +8, Humidity: 68%
Weather :17-22 °C (cloudy), Coordination= 24°45'23.47"N, 121°45'54.41"E

There is a Chinese saying:” God curses those who do not pursue selfish interests.” I prefer to write the trivia of life to brush up my English, hopefully you don’t mind.
. The following photo is one of the streets in my hometown in the evening(at 21:36 pm).

Christmas is for Children

by Taru from Rovaniemi, Finland

On Thursday the mother of my daughter’s friend called and invited us to join to “a little Christmas” celebration to their home. It is some kind of pre-celebration of Christmas. The adults have own and the children have their own. I was very delighted about the invite. She gave the introductions that it should have a hat of elf on head. During the little Christmas it is made cakes called “Pipari”. The paste of Pipari is made of wheat flour, liquid brown sugar, fat, and spices like ginger, carnation, cinnamon and cardamom. The real taste and smell of the Christmas began when the house is full of those aromas.
Our mistress has made repairing forehand and when all of the children have come they began to bake cakes.
I have added here some photos of the little Christmas.

HI FROM BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

Hi everybody,

Just in case you don’t remember me, I’m Cristina the student who blogged in April 2008.
How can I forget that memorable month? It was during and after it that I got to know so many friends around the world. Thank God we are still in contact with each other and I can proudly say that they are my best friends now.


We are in spring now. However, the temperature is very low yet. It was mild and hot at the beginning of the season but these days have been colder than usual (around 15º while the average was 25º).


About my life? Mmm, nothing has changed much. I’m still working at the same office and go to the sport centre twice a week to keep me fit.

Here it’s a picture of 2 of my officemates and me.

Fast and Furious

Shirley Posts: Your Friends Resemble You

I am currently preparing a bridal shower for my best friend. As I was inviting some friends on facebook, looking at their pictures, I was thinking how my friends have similar look and similar background somehow. High school was the place where I found most of my lifetime best friends, and we have been through a lot together. We know goofiness of one another, and we grow together (and as we bloom, one by one are getting married). Tie a knot with men of their choice; either out of love or out of time :) Well, the point is I can see what my friends and I have in common.

Then I started to look at my list of dear friends, and I see that there is a pattern somehow. Whenever I visit a mall and see a group of friends walking and hanging out together, I can see their resemblance, too. One group consists of lean girls with stylish attires and polished nails, second group consists of geek guys with average looks and strange laughs, third group consists of big eaters who would spend hours to eat from one place to another, and so on. They are not only similar in term of likeness, but also physical appearances. Have you ever noticed that? It's like high school once again *lols*.

I love my friends. I wouldn't trade them for diamonds. I completely agree with those who said that friendship is like wine. It is. And somehow I can see a part of me in my friends. So, if you want to know how others see you, take a look of your best friend and you might get a glimpse of clue.

PS. Thanks for all of your comments from my previous posts. Blue from China, you are correct! I am a Chinese woman who was born in Indonesia. If you come and visit, you will find many Chinese people like me who cannot speak Mandarin fluently (if not at all) anymore here. Sad, but understandable.

-written in Jakarta, Indonesia

Polar Night is here :)

Aboozar from Iran, Kirsti from France, Filippo from Italy, Beatriz from Uruguay, Jeff from Colombia, Marianna from Slovakia and HYOSHIL from UK thank you for your response, I valued your comments.
We are entering in these Northern parts of the world our yearly dark months, Polar Night, our yearly visitor is taken its grip.
Kirsti asked me about candle burning; yes we Finns are very fond of lighting a candle whenever we have a reason to do so. Indoors and outdoors, I suppose the next time we will see a sea of light is Christmas time; the graveyards are going to be lit for sure.
I do hope you all kind people will have good and happy times ahead.

Leila from Finland

A warm greeting from Slovakia...

Hi everyone, this is Anita speaking... How are you? I do hope life is treating you and your families well. I am sorry I have not written yet.... just watch this space and you will find out why.

I ended the open blog 2008 with these words: “Do you have any hopes and dreams for the New Year? For me, I think it will just be continuing to be creative in the kitchen, keep plugging away at our business venture, and hopefully brushing up on my English. Simple dreams for the New Year, but they should keep me busy enough.”

Well, quite a lot has happened during 2009. My life has changed since March, when I started to work in our LED lights showroom. My task at he office is doing the business correspondence with our suppliers from all over the word. I like doing that so I am in contact with English every day. I have learnt so many new things about LED lamps and accessories, about electricity on the whole. I am exactly a lifelong learner but learning is a great thing, I believe. I can describe the year as a year of big changes as I have become a working woman from a housewife who helps his husband from home. What is more we changed our company's profile, we do not work in agricultural any longer. Maybe the timing was not the best, I mean we live in difficult economic times which does not really helps our business. But I am generally optimistic about our future and hope things will improve. I carry on in the belief that good times are just around the corner.

I work from 8 am to 5:30 pm, 5 days a week. This brought quite a lot of changes to my schedule. Sometimes I feel a twinge of guilt as I cannot cook a warm meal every day. Once my son said : “Hurray! Tomorrow is Saturday, mum will be at home and we will finally have a home made dish and cake.” So, during the weekends I am up to my ears in work at home: I try to cook Peter's favourite meals and bake at least two types of cake, I remove the big pile of dirty clothes, clean the house and so on. It is easier now, during winter, because we do not have to work in the garden. I also have to admit that I have finally experienced a role reversal, as my husband helps me to do housework and sometimes Peter cooks since I have been working. They do my job so they appreciate it much more.

Well, I think my hopes and dreams are fulfilled and yes, they kept me busy enough. How about you, my friends? Was the 2009 good to/for you? Did something change in your life? Well, let me know your news.



It is me in the picture arranging price tags in our showroom.

Bye for now,

Anita

Hello from Naheed

Hello This is Naheed from Pakistan!

Time really flies. It eems it was just yesterday that we participated in the open blogs and now we are again here. How have you been all and what have you been upto my friends (both old and new ones)? On my side, nothing much has happend, the whole year spent mostly in yoga and working as a yoga instructor. But the best part is that I have learnt a lot during my work and at the moment I am working with all the problems related to weight and preparing workouts for weight loss through yoga and along with that working as a private instructor in this regard too. Another best thing that has happend is that now I have a small kitten as a pet and it's changed my and everyone's way of thinking about animals in my home. All I can say is that this kitten is like one of our family members.

I can see my other blogmates have posted many interesting posts and I would like to say congratulations to Ana on passing her exams. Aninha, only sky is the limit. Anita, wish you good luck for embarking on your journey as a working woman.

So friends what are your plans for this Christmas and what gifts have you decided to give your children in Santa's sock or perhaps this time a lovely letter from your local postman.

Clue: there's a clue in my post from The beatles' song.

Best wishes,

Naheed

P-S- I can see teacher Jo hasn't appeared in the teachers' blog this time.

Reading

Hello everybody! It´s Ana Paula blogging again.

Are you following the new Talk about English series "The Reading Group"? Well, I am and this series is giving me plenty of information about how to take the best of reading books in English. I know every now and then we talk about books on the blogs but there´s nothing as a good cup of tea or coffee and a nice book to wind down, right? Anyway, this reading talk makes come to mind a very good website I´d like to share with you:

http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/




In this website, you´ll find videos of three acclaimed British actors doing dramatic readings of classic and modern books, such as Persuasion by Jane Austen and High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. Besides, this website is really worthy of attention once it helps us to improve our listening and in a very pleasant way. I hope you enjoy the readings as much as I do and I hope also they can help you to brush up your English.

I´d like to say thank you to Anita, Beatriz, Cris, James, Fillipo Leila and Kremak for your comments on my blog. It´s nice to get in touch with you again.

Naheed, I´m glad to know you´re keeping up your work as a yoga instructor. Could you show us a picture of your kitten please? I´m quite curious to see her. Ooops! I mean him ;-).

Good bye for now,

Ana Paula.

What is your house made of?

Hi I am James from Taiwan (Yilan County),
December, 4th (Friday) Time Zone= GMT (UTC) +8, Humidity: 53%
Weather :18-26 °C (cloudy), Coordination= 24°45'23.47"N, 121°45'54.41"E

The houses in Taiwan are usually made of concrete; the whole of Taiwan looks like a concrete jungle. What is your house made of? Personally, I like wood-made house rather than concrete-made house. However, it is a pie-in-the-sky to me. A detached house is rare and expensive. A detached wood-made house costs a huge fortune which is beyond my imagination.
(Photo= there is the one which is my concrete-made semi-detached house.)

Traditions of Christmas

By Taru from Rovaniemi, Finland
The story of Christmas starts on the 17th century when the sailor men got the Bishop of the Myra for their Parton on the seas. The Turkish Bishop gave shelter to those who were in trouble on Seas. Later he was named as a Saint Nikolas and his memory was kept alive among mariner nations especially Hollanders. The Hollanders call him as Sint Nikolaas and Germanies call Kris Kringle or Christkindlein. Saint Nikolas comes to see kind people for giving presents on 6th of December every year. The Hollanders who went to America at the end of 1800 century took this tradition with them and around 1920 finally Coca Cola company launched the red dressed, white bear “ Hody Hoy” Santa Claus on markets.
Here in Finland the traditional Santa Claus had an influence also from Saint Nicolas. It was named “Kekri” and actually it was the harvesting crop celebration of the year. Kekri was not as nice person as Santa Claus is today. Kekri was a bit eave and nasty and demanded services for his visit. It had to give food and it had to honor him giving the best place of the room for him sit on. Kekri had not so nice outlook as Coca Cola Santa Claus have. Kekri had a fur coat, antlers on his head and birch bark front of his face. But slowly Kekri got influence of Santa Claus and got red wears and white bear. And more over start to behavior himself even though he wants to know have the children been kind during the past going year and do they deserve the presents that he will give.
I have some photos of Santa Claus:

Are you a part of the problem, or part of the solution?

Hi everyone!

It's good to be here to write again. Last April, when I was the 'blogger of the month', I could not write as much as I wanted. I felt bad about it. And I missed to write and share ideas here. I apologize.

Now I'm here again. Thank you to BBC LE Staff.

This week we are watching on TV, reading newspapers and news on the internet, or listening comments on the radio about COP15. People from all the world are discussing the climate change and the role of the governments to reduce carbon emissions.

But we have to do our part. We have to think about the way we are living, how the things we do affect the environment, and what we can do to stop the climate change.

I suggest you to answer some simple questions to have an idea of the legacy you are leaving on the planet. Just click on the link below to know if you are a part of the problem, or part of the solution.

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

After answer the questions, leave a comment!

Good luck!

Marcos Martins Santos, from Brazil.

Sex, Chocolate and Rock and Roll

It is snowing...

Hello! Hope all of you are having a great Sunday.

The other day I was complaining that the Christmas spirit has not hit me yet. Up to now... because on Saturday I baked these biscuits filled with poppy seeds to get myself into the Christmas mood. I believe you can imagine how much I would like to say to everyone: “Please, help yourself!”



And today... it is snowing, it is snowing, it is snowing... it gives me a real Christmas feeling!!!
This is the view from my kitchen. I do hope these photos help you to get into the Christmas mood too.



Many thanks to everyone who left a comment on my first blog entry. Thanks to James, Adriana, Kuldeep, Beatriz, Hyoshil and last but not least to Cris for your positive feedback which were really encouraging.

Hi Hyoshil, I did not want to sound proud of myself. You know, I am not career minded at all and lots of women juggle children and a career in Slovakia. But I am a lucky one because when my children were small I had the opportunity to work from home so I always was at home when my children arrived from school.

Dear Kuldeep! I am glad to know you re-read all my entries written in September 2006. Wow! I dare say, my blog seems to be a lengthy family saga so I am going to write about my children soon.

Oh Cris! Thanks for your kind comment. To be frankly honest, there was a slight increase in my weight. :(

The calendar shows December 13th again - it is Lucia Day or Luca Day. I did it last year so I am going to do it again. What? I would like to wish a Happy Lucia Day to Lucy who we all know, to Stephen Keeler’s daughter. Dear Lucy! Have you sung the traditional Swedish Lucia song to your father yet? Have you received the small Lucia gift from your father today? I hope so. :)

Looking forward to hearing from you. Take care!

Anita

WHEN DECISIONS COME TRUE.........

Hi again,

It’s Cristina from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Today I remembered the day when Csilla (Anita’s daughter) came to visit Buenos Aires.
It was in March this year and I had promised Anita that, if one day Csilla travelled to Argentina I would meet her with pleasure. At that precise moment it seemed to me that one day she would be able to come but I didn’t realize that her strong decision would come true so soon.
When she told me that she was arriving in March I felt very exhilarated. Not only I was eager to meet her but I also thought that if she made it, any of my cyber friends could make it too. And this is really wonderful.

Actually this year Guzin from Turkey came too and we could also meet one day.

Here it’s a picture of Csilla and I at Madero Port

Friends forever...

Another change in my life is that I joined Facebook in February. I was not familiar with such a social networking at all. I did it because my daughter went to the South America and I wanted to be in touch with her, to see her pictures that she would upload there. But, I found some of my blogmates: Cris, Ana Paula, Naheed, Adriana, James, Rosalba and commentators as well: Hyoshil,Mahjabeen, Carmen, Toni, Darío, Pary, Mercé, Ewa, Güzin, Beatriz signed on FB and since then we have been keeping in very close touch. As Cris said, we had made really good friends. We can share our happiness and sadness with each other. My friends always lend me a hearing ear and helping hand.

I have already received several postcards from my lovely friends. I put them on my fridge so they are really with me when I am in the kitchen. Here is picture of my fridge covered with cards from friends, pen pals and Csilla as well.



And this special one is from James, Taiwan. I have never seen before such a beautiful screen card. Many thanks to everyone once more.



Hi friends! How are things with you?

Thank you for the wish of good luck for our business. Fingers crossed that it will go smoothly in the future. Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. It is really kind of you to take the time to write.

Darío! You forgot to mention: mowing the lawn!!! Ha, ha... and do not forget to put the kettle on. My secret...hmm... I reckon it is my family. As a father you know how important it is to me. Glad to know you are in the Christmas mood. I am sure, your Christmas tree is fantastic and you are eagerly looking forward to the evening when your children will open the presents.

Pary! Nice to read your comment on my blog. Yes, it is different to write here since the commentators are my friends. It is hard to come up with something new and interesting that I have not told you yet.

Cecilia! I used to go to the church with my grandmother when I was a child so I know what are you talking about. But since she passed away I am not a church-goer any longer. But the smell of my freshly baked biscuits got me into a perfect Christmas mood. Yes, I absolutely agree with you that Christmas is not all about gifts.

Filippo! Pizza with poppy... sounds strange to me. I am wondering whether it has a sweet or salty dough and topping? Filippo, have you been to Dublin? Looking forward to hearing about it.

Naheed! If only I could send them to you, dear. Anyway, the filling was made from poppy seed, grated apple, raisins, a big tablespoon of home-made apricot jam and a little sugar... and now the biscuits are all gone..

Güzin! You are right, I am the type of people who does not have any problems with putting on weight. However, I must also be careful because of my high cholesterol level.

Cris! You have to save up enough money to buy a plane ticket to Europe but then you will not have any problems to stay in Slovakia, Turkey, England, Germany and so on.... I am sure. You know, I have been cherishing the dream that we will meet one day, either in Slovakia or in Argentina, and cook together.

Kuldeep! The forecast says more snow for this weekend and perhaps even up to Christmas. I will take some photos, if you would like. The entry about my children is coming.

Mercé ! I am fine, thank you. How about you? Looking forward to hearing your plans for Christmas. Take care!

Beatriz! The other day Csilla told me that the shopping centres in Rio were decorated with snow flakes and snowmen and it was really funny because the temperature was around 35 degrees. It is her first Christmas in the heat... I reckon, it is something really funny for her.

OK, friends, I think I responded to all your comments. Have a nice day! Take care,

Anita

Shirley Posts: "It's Complicated"

It's been more than a week since I wrote my last blog. Thank you to all of you who have been reading this blog. I will reply your comments after the post.

The first cold week here in North

by Taru Palokangas from Finland

Hi Shirley and the others! I have been thinking also that I would be a marvelous idea to join and continue conversation in FB. I would be really nice thing to emancipate experiences and thoughts. I have already friends from Spain, Viet Nam, China, Nigeria and Sweden. So If you are interested in, would you please, search my name and land, I think you will find me.

About literature and translations

Ana Paula wrote about good books to read and keep language skills on. I found this The Kalevala book from a shop and fascinated it immanently. It was interesting to read the translations which were made from very old Finnish runes. F. ex the adjective describing Lemminkäinen was translated wanton. The ordinary word describes very slipper, good capacity of social skills especially among women and “very ready to talk” –person. By some other words I came to see that it is very hard to be a interpreter it have to find right kind of descriptions to a mood of the word and probably stretch it to readable form to reader. I came to this conclusion too when I read J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. I found new Finnish words and they were amazing.

About wanton Lemminkäinen
He was a man who challenged another hero, Väinämöinen, of The Kalevala to a singing competition. Väinämöinen was an old steady rune singer and you may quiz that Lemminkäinen lost the competition and sank to the swamp. But wanton Lemminkäinen didn’t learn anything and he was too much found of women of the village and then he got troubles with the men of the village. Then he died and was thrown to the driver of the death and of it his mother collected peaces of him, sawed his as a whole and bowled the spirit of life to his nose. It was very hard thing to do Lemminkäinen’s mother but her love gave power to him and Lemminkäinen got his life back.

I have a seventeen years old son. He and his fellow decided to spend a night in wild land in an uninhabited house a day ago. The house is a lodge house, which have no electricity, no free water and the heater is a small fire place. They decided to do there by walking and the distance was around 20 km. On this morning they will walk back. And it is -25 degrees Celsius cold out of there. It is now the first cold week on this winter and they decide to go to the desert. I think I understand the worries and sorrow of wanton Lemminkäinen’s mother.

Thank you of your comments Frank from China and James Wu from Taiwan.

Regards
Taru

Photosynthesis

Hi I am James from Taiwan (Yilan County),
December, 16th (Wednesday) Time Zone= GMT (UTC) +8, Humidity: 76%
Weather :16-22 °C (drizzle), Coordination= 24°45'23.47"N, 121°45'54.41"E

You cannot see my face clearly on the following photo, because it was soaking in the sunshine to have photosynthesis.

Every dog has its day

Hi friends,


Today I’ll start the blog with a question because I’m still shocked. What would you do if you are rushing to the work and suddenly the most beautiful little dog appears in the middle of the road just in front of your car?

It happened to me and I can say we don’t have time to think of looking at the mirror. My immediate reaction was to stop the car not considering the speed. I know it isn’t a sensible decision. As a result I almost caused an accident for myself. Luckily there wasn’t another car behind me, the dog stayed alive and I arrived safe at work. Happy end to us. Thank God. Tell me… what would be your own reaction?


Finally we are planning Christmas in my family. Perhaps it’s the heat that is disturbing my snowy picture of Christmas or it might be my sister’s sadness. Maybe her dog won’t survive until 25th December. His name is Mozart and he is very ill.

-

-

Christmas is a time of joy

Christmas is a time of joy, so let us all respond to that spirit.

Nevertheless my sincere condolences to Dima Kostenkos family and friends, I am certain that all BBC LE student bloggers feel an outmost sympathy for all of you in your bereavement.

The photo was taken just a moment ago, the light here in Finland is, as you can see, a real twilight, or to be more precise Polar Night.

Anita, Cristina, James, Adriana, Naheed, Pary and all you kind folk that I mentioned in my previous blog, have a very happy New Year and oncoming Christmas. Bye now... from Leila in Finland

Sad news about Dima Kostenko

Sadly, our colleague Dima Kostenko passed away on 7th December 2009. We appreciate your kind comments and support very much. He will be greatly missed by his friends in BBC Learning English and around the world.

However, out of respect for his family, we can't have an open discussion about his death on the blog. We hope you understand, and thank you once again for your support.

Although we couldn't publish them on the blog, we have saved the comments which some of you have already left here. If you would like to pass on your condolences to Dima's family, friends and colleagues you can email us on learningenglish@bbc.co.uk

Many thanks,
BBC Learning English team

Snow in Desert

Hello everyone.

Here is an African guy talking. Wouldn't you guess who it is?
Exactly! It is me, Cheikh Vall, last month blogger.

I have been reading what you guys has to write on this amazing page since the beginning of this month.
But I decided, for some reason, not to jump in quickly.

It is strange that Christmas is coming up and it doesn't snow yet.
Actually, it never snows here in the Sahara.
Anyway, if the climate of our planet is going to fluctuate in few years time, I hope we would get our share of snow over here by the end of next year.

People here are bereft of all celebrations; they do not celebrate Christmas as they do not celebrate their own day of birth etc.
But, they enjoy the vacation they got of the end of every year.

Is there anybody knows about the story beyond the Christmas tree?
I am curious to know about it.
Was it the tree under which Jesus believed to be born?
The Muslims, by the way, believe he was born under palm tree.

Happy new year to all of you guys.

best wishs.

Cheikh Vall

Replies before the sunrise

Hey up friends,

First of all, I’m sending the warmth from the tropics straight to your heart. I wish you all the warmest Christmas and New Year Eve.

Little Prince

Hello friends! How are you doing?

It´s been difficult to turn on my computer recently because of the heavy storms São Paulo is facing. Some parts of the city is suffering the flood consequences more drastically. You should have seen the lightenings. Very frightening indeed!

Anyway, despite all this pouring rain I could manage to go to the Little Prince exhibition at Oca, a pavilion where exhibitions and other cultural events take place. The Oca is located inside Ibirapuera´s Park, one of the most beautiful parks of São Paulo.




The Little Prince is known all over the world. He takes care of his little planet with rigorous discipline and he cares about his rose like a precious jewel. Maybe The Little Prince ´s author, Saint-Exupéry, wanted to show we don´t pay much attention to our planet and the people around us. Therefore, we should see things with the eyes of a child, who can see so cleary the truth through his inocent eyes: we take for granted our planet and human relations. We can´t turn our back on this situation anymore. Everyone must do something in order to make our planet more peaceful and healthier to all of us.

Bearing this in mind, The Little Prince was chosen to represent children´s thoughts about a better world to live in. I reckon it was a good choice, wans´t it?
I´m posting some pictures of the exhibition below:















We are responsible for all the things we captivate. Our planet has many natural resources, which we can enjoy consciously. Consequentely, we´re also responsible to preserve our planet and make it a better place to all of us.


This is the 'Star Tree', where children write messages about how the world could be in the future in order to be a better place to all of us live in.

Let´s chat a bit friends!
Anita, James and Hyoshil, I´m in debt with you. I´m owing you a postcard of my city. Now that I´m on holidays from uni I´ll take care of this as soon as possible, ok?

Cris, I wish I could meet Csilla too, but she wasn´t able to meet me in São Paulo. Well, maybe another time :-).

Pary! How are you my dear? I´m so glad to hear from you again. How are your boys? I hope they are very well.

Hello Saad! Nice to meet you.

Kuldeep, thanks for your kind words about my writing. Actually, I need to improve it a lot. I took up this year a preparation course for the CAE exam and I realise that I have to work on it a bit more. I have to brush up even more my vocabulary. There´re loads of new vocab to learn and that´s makes me a bit dizzy, but I´m enjoying a lot this new challenge :-).

Oi Fillipo! It´s always nice to here from you :-).

Guys I have to go now. Lunch time!

Enjoy your Sunday,

Ana Paula.

Magic moments...

I know Christmas is coming and some of you might think from the title of this blog that I am going to write about Christmas. No. I would like to write about magic moments that I can spend with my children, especially with Csilla talking to each other on Skype from a very big distance.

You might remember, Csilla has decided to live out her dreams of travelling and living abroad before pursuing her Master's degree. She struggled with her 15 kg rucksack from snowy London to shiny Brazil at the beginning of February. Yes, she went backpacking around South America. I will never forget her first message she sent me: “I am suffering from the scorching weather, so I am heading for the beach.” On day she made a snowman in London and on the next she swam in the ocean in Brazil. From February to May she visited beautiful beaches, Iguazu Falls in Brazil, spent a wonderful time in Rio during Carnival, made friends in Buenos Aires Argentina (thanks a lot, Cris), visited Valparaiso and San Pedro in Chile, went on a Jeep tour in Bolivia and ended her journey in Lima, Peru.




There is no space to enumerate all the beauty she has seen, she has experienced. She fell in love with Rio so she travelled from Lima to Rio de Janeiro by train and by bus to settle down there. At the moment she is enjoying the life in her cosy apartment, teaching English to her students and volunteering at one of the biggest favelas (slums) in Rio, called Rocinha. Without a shadow of a doubt, she does have a penchant for the Brazilian lifestyle. She is happy.... so I am happy too. I will not have the chance to hug her this Christmas season so I appreciate every magic moments spent with her on Skype, seeing she is well, happy and satisfied. In the picture: Csilla and her students from Rocinha.



My son, Peter turned 18 this February so I have two grown up children. Peter usually spends his free time with his friends, like every young adult so the evenings when we can talk are also magic and valuable. He is doing well at high school. The other day he took his driving exams so he gets his driving license soon. However, what this means for me is: One more thing to be worried about, you know.



Hello everyone! What is new with you?

It is always lovely to get your comments and to hear about what is happening in your life. Thank you. It is even nicer to meet new commentators on my blog so a warm welcome to Marry form Ukraine and Marcos from Cuba.

Dear Marcos from Cuba! I can let the cat out of the bag and tell you that Cuba is my number one dream holiday destination. It is easy to get to know me better... just read my blog September 2006 here. I took part in all Open blogs too so you can find lots of information about me. I am looking forward to hearing from you and make friends with you.

Hi Leila! Good idea to make friends with you on FB too. But I do not know ( do not remember) your second name. I have typed Leila but there are around 500 Leilas on FB. :( It has cooled down here too. However, the temperature has not been so cold than in Oulu, it has been around -15 degrees. :) The comment on your last entry without name and location is mine.

Filippo! The mentioned pizza sounds even more stranger for me as I do not like eating sweet and salty things together. But I would like to try Bresaola...hmm...yummy. Glad to hear that you had the chance to go to Ireland... lucky you. Thanks for your interest to meet me on FB. I am looking forward to it.

Cris! I can share your special feeling for postcards. They are valuable and important to me too.

James, thanks a lot for your wishes for our business. I do hope the Slovakia and Taiwan will be able to develop closer business relationship not only in lighting but in different fields of economy too.

My very best wishes to everybody! Take care!

Anita

Straight from the horse's mouth

Hi all, the previous entry of mine with a lonely tree outside my work place shows, what the light is at the moment in Northern Finland. It is our shortest day today, a real sun shine is due at the end February.
So Guzin from Turkey; our light is exactly as the picture you saw, it is blue and gets darker blue until it is totally dim.
Thank you all for your replies to my short entries, today is no exception, but I leave you with another wintery picture. I will try to find some of you guys in FB.

SOME CHERISHED MOMENTS

Hi everybody,

Today I received a Christmas e-card telling that to celebrate this Holiday Season one has to be as a child again. So I remember my childhood with some nostalgia. We used to have a big family gathering at Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I remember being so happy when the Holiday Season was approaching.
Now, everybody celebrates with his close ones. Nevertheless, we all call each other that day and send good wishes.

Thinking back at that period, I wanted to share this picture of me when I was a child.

The Best of Both Worlds

Hello dear friends,

Now you’ll hear from Adriana in Brazil.

I’d like to tell you how was my weekend
But firstly…Please, be honest…When I say that I live in the countryside, what do you guess? Only cows, ducks and chickens? I reckon it’s not easy to imagine the unknown state where I live.

Well, I’ll show you a picture of the countryside with the sea in the background.

Seasons Greetings!

Dear BBC team, student and teacher bloggers, commentators and last but not least all readers!

I am wishing you and your families a happy, healthy and memorable Christmas and Holiday season. I am sending a photo of our Advent wreath to all of you.



Home-made holiday treats are the best! An easy project for the whole family is making orange and clove ornaments. Choose fresh, attractive oranges. Poke the cloves into the orange. Poke them deep, up to the bigger top of the spice clove. You can cover the orange completely or make lines and patterns. The spicy cloves will absorb the orange juice and give off a great Christmas smell through the whole house. Leave it as long as you want. Enjoy your attractive, fragrant home-made ornaments!



As a special treat to you, my loyal readers, I have enclosed a photo of my Christmas biscuits.



Take care! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Anita

Christmas Greetings!

Merry Christmas dear all!

Wish you all a wonderful day. You must have decorated your christmas trees and have placed presents and that I'm sure is the most exciting thing for both elders and children that to open up the presents.

Anita, I loved the decoration of the Advent wreath and the ornament oranges and yummy! biscuits. You have golden hands I must say.

Everytime I post a blog entry I never forget to be thankful to BBC LE for making us a part of this learning community. In any part of this world where there are learners of English and they log on to BBClearningenglish we can communicate with them through these blogs.

Thank you so much friends for your comments on my post and keep posting your comments it really makes me happy when I see there's a comment.

Wish you all a wonderful Christmas day!

Naheed

P-S There seems to be some problem in uploading photos. I tried to post a photo but the error 502 appears.

A new era is about to start

I love this time of the year, one can let the old burden go and hope for a better year. I at least always feel joyful and hopeful about the days ahead. Another year!

It has been good to have been able to take part in BBC LE blog again, thank you. This will be my last greeting to you Marianna, Anita, Cristina, James, Adriana, Naheed, Pary, sidharta, Enrico, Filippo, Daniel, Alexander, aboozar, Kirsti, Beatriz, Jeff, HYOSHIL, Ana Paula, Cheikh Vall and everyone who may be reading this. I am sorry if I did forget some of you from my list of names, it is impossible – as you well know - to remember all names correctly.

What are you doing over the New Year?

I will be skiing and making an effort to start my yearly diet, I am planning to lose some five kilos in weight by the end of May 2010.

The weather here in Northern Finland is wintery. The temperature is – 20 Celsius. It is bitch dark during the night, evening and mornings, but we do have a few hours dim light during the day. I do like the winter and Polar Night period, it is calming and soothing for one´s soul. Now without further ado I bid you farewell!

The photo below is taking by a work mate of mine Jouni Lehmusvuori, the picture is from my home town Oulu during late autumn night.

Happy New Year from Leila in Finland

Get Things Ready For The New Year.

Hello everyone!

I hope you´ve enjoyed your Christmas Holiday. I spent last week in bed recovering from a bad cold but thank God now I´m feeling pretty well!

So, as the new year is just on the corner, I reckon it´s high time to tidy up all the things in the house that I have been procrastinating since the beginning of this year. I decided to get started to the most critical part in the house: the living room, where my DVD collection is in a quite (dis) order. Although my film collection isn´t that large, 120 titles, I didn´t have much time to keep them all catalogue as I was acquiring new titles during the year, but the important thing is I could manage to tidy up the living room and my film collection too. Oooh I´m so proud of me :-).
I took a couple of pictures to show you how is my film collection after the tidy up operation.





I was thinking about buying some shelves in order to organise the films better and in this way it´ll be easier to find a title I want to see. What do you think?

Most of the films in my collection are classics in black and white. The oldest film in my collection is a French adaptation directed by Jean Renoir of Gustave Flaubert novel Madame Bovary. The film was made in 1933 and it has wonderful outdoors scenes, which was something quite rare to be seen in films made by that time. However, it´s not only of classics that my film collection is made. I have the eight seasons of the sitcom Will & Grace, which have also helped me to brush up my vocabulary.

Well, friends, I´d like to wish you all a wonderful new year. May all your dreams come true for 2010. Apart from that, I´d like to thank you once more the BBC LE staff for this opportunity to be here in the open blogs. Being a student blogger was one of the best things that happen in my English learning process.

Happy 2010!

Ana Paula.
xxx

Bye bye 2009...Welcome 2010

Shirley Posts: Auld Lang Syne

We might have heard the song being sung all around the world, but I guess probably not all of us know what it means. It derived from a poem written by Robert Burns, which in English means "times gone by". I always get a warm feeling when I hear the song. So, I am writing my last post for BBC LE site and wish that all of you had had a wonderful Christmas and now is getting ready to welcome 2010. What a year! I am writing this from the beautiful island of Bali, and while I am seeing all kinds of tourists from around the world flooding Bali for the NYE, I remember those who decide to stay home and fully reflect on 2009. Yesterday was a sad day, because one of our former presidents passed away. He was a humble hero who always tried to unite the whole nations and demand equality for everyone in Indonesia. I hope many future leaders will follow his steps and continue to bring peace.

So, what is your resolution for next year?

Well, I have a lot in mind, but for this year I think I will try to accept things as they are and just keep flowing. I have always been such an ambitious person in a way that I would like to be able to control my future (and hate to fail), but last year has been such a ride for me that it reminded me to be patient and keep my head cool (instead of doing impulsive things). I just celebrated my 28th birthday few days ago, and received tons of good wishes (as well as presents) which made me realized how lucky I am. Feeling loved is the best feeling in the world!

With that note, I would like to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year, and hope to see you again on the next BBC LE open blog. Keep on writing!



written in Jimbaran bay, Bali- Indonesia.

Welcoming the first 10th year of this millennium!

Hello everyone!

I hope life is treating you all well and most of you must be preparing the party to celebrate the new yaer and some of you must have celebrated already. I wish you all a very Happy New Year! May this year brings peace, happiness, health, wealth and success to all our lives. Some of you must have made resolutions for the new year and some of you might be just thiking how to get started and how to kick start the works still in the pipeline and some of you must already be on your way. So all of you, get started, control the controlable and leave the rest to take care itself:-)

And yes friends, it's lunar eclipse in Pakistan today and will last for 3 hours.

In my first post I told you about my kitty but didn't post any photo of him and the second time when I tried uploading his photos, it couldn't due to some error. A small story of him as how he came to us, once upon a time my sister found him in the compound of the place where we live and brought him with herself. It was the day of my father's birthday (August 25) so we all call him as' dad's birthday present'. Until three months, we all thought it was a female kitten but a fortnight ago we came to know that it was male. That was a really funny incident and we all had a laugh. He is very cute and understands everything even the language of our eyes and I think we both have started getting to understand each other well. Here are a couple of his shots for you all.







Wish you all a wondeful new year my dear readers.

Naheed

Miscellany...

Hi everyone!

New Year's Eve is a time for celebration, friends, family and great food. There are only a few hours left in 2009...tick, tick, tick...the clock says 24 o'clock soon and we are wishing everyone all the best for 2010. Well, dear friends, let me wish you the very best for the coming year. May 2010 bring you all that you would wish for yourself.

I thought you might like my last entry - a mishmash of different photos. I have promised some more snowy pics to Kuldeep and I reckon Naheed and Ana Paula would love them too.








The next photos are of animals: a rescued sparrow, Csilla with a kitty that have been abandoned and our dog, called Bobó, who is everyone's 'darling' in my family. Sometimes, I think he is a little spoilt as we let him go inside the house not only when outside is cold but at any time when we are at home.













The penultimate photo is of me holding cocoa snails in my hand in my kitchen. I had sent this photo to the BBC LE team when they were sorting out the calendar for 2009. This pic is also my profile pic on FB so, friends, you can find me there too.



The last shot is of my favourite flower, a sunflower. Every flower has specific meaning, sunflower means: homage, devotion and adoration. I am sending this photograph to the whole BBC LE team to express my gratitude. There is no day without visiting the BBC LE website. Thank you for everything you have done for me this past years. Without you I would not be able to be standing where I am today. Thank you.



HAPPY NEW YEAR!

See you all in January. Take care,

Anita