Read/watch the presentation Bang, Bang published at http://konwersatorium1-ms-pjwstk.blogspot.com/2014/12/week-10-8-141214-bang-bang.html
and comment on/discuss
it here.
English Conversation Course for Part-Time Students
Wednesday 10 December 2014
Monday 8 December 2014
Week 5 (08.12-14.12.14): The Polish Mountains.
Good morning everyone, the
title of my presentation is: The Polish Mountains.
First, I would like to talk
about two places that are worth visiting.
These are :
- czerwone wierchy
- dolina pieciu stawow
Then I will move on to give
you some advice how to get prepared for a trip to those places.
If you have any questions, I
will answer them in the comments.
Let Me ask you a question:
What places come to your
mind when you think about mountains?
Most of you,will probably
say:
- kropowki,
- morskie oko,
giewont,
they are really atractive
and popular, but also full of annoying tourists.
If you go a litte bit
farther, you will find as beautiful places as the popular spots, but
not that crowded.
These are:
- czerwone wierchy
- dolina pięciu stawów.
First of all, i will talk
about czerwone wierchy.
Their name can be explained
with the fact that in autumn the mountain meadows are full of red
flowers as You can see in the picture.
If you take a walk there,
everything around you is red.
However, this is not the
only reason why we should go there.
In czerwone wierchy we can
also climb four peaks, these are :
- Ciemniak 2096 m
- Krzesanica – 2122 m
- Małołączniak 2096 m
- Kopa kondracka 2005 m
As You can see it
is really worth seeing.
That's all for Czerwone
wierchy.
Lets move on to Dolina
pieciu stawow.
As the name suggests it is a
valley with five lakes, which you can see walking through the valley.
The place is definitely
worth seeing mainly because of its landscapes.
The view of the lakes
surrounded by the mountains is breathtaking.
Before going to those places
it is really important to get well prepared.
There are some pieces of
advice that you should take into consideration:
- first, you should buy good
pair of shoes,
- the next thing is a
backpack with a jacket, a bottle of water, food and choclate.
Jacket in case of rain.
Bottle of water in case of
thirst.
Food in case of being
hungry.
Chocolate to increase the
level of sugar in your body when it is too low.
As You can see preparation
for the trip in the above-mentioned points is not very complicated
issue. Specialized equipment is also not required in any case, well,
maybe the shoes, but their cost scales within 150-300PLN. As regards
the difficulty, these are very mild route, but still time consuming.
Be prepared to walk for about 12 hours, take into account the
weather, that it was not raining and it was the sun, and You can
enjoy the beauty of the mountains move. I was there in person two
years ago and to be honest I go back there again. There I developed
any injury, the situation is not expected have not known, maybe
except fatigue, which is a well remember the pride I beat Czerwone
Wierchy of (route rather long). This can not be forgotten :) I really
recommend it, but what do you think gold, maybe some of you have
already seen these places?
Sources:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czerwone_Wierchy
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolina_Pi%C4%99ciu_Staw%C3%B3w_Polskich
and My experience :)
Sources:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czerwone_Wierchy
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolina_Pi%C4%99ciu_Staw%C3%B3w_Polskich
http://footsteps.cba.pl/wp-content/gallery/czerwone-wierchy/img_2856.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L6yJIaG3mTA/TfL3XoCt3OI/AAAAAAAAAYU/FwlUv5Syyyg/s1600/dolina_pieciu_stawow%255B1%255D.jpg
http://www.marekkacperek.pl/krupowki/images/k41.jpg
http://www.ezakopiec.net.pl/atrakcje/morskie-oko/7.jpg
https://fotopolska.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/mg_0099.jpg?w=529&h=352
http://www.globtroter.pl/zdjecia/polska/69480_polska_tatry_zachodnie_czerwone_wierchy.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Krzesanica_a1.jpg/1024px-Krzesanica_a1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Czerwone_Wierchy_a7.JPG/1024px-Czerwone_Wierchy_a7.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/HW_Kondracka_Kopa.jpg/1024px-HW_Kondracka_Kopa.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H43OXXfqlKc/TJ55CNC0HQI/AAAAAAAAHWc/A8-7xuOD9Q4/s640/654758.jpg
http://kolumber.pl/upload/photos/0007/8132/8b35f626f9ce225be97c3ffe5cc37c09_big.JPG
http://www.footwear2you.com/sites/footwear2you.com/files/Trekking%20and%20Hiking%20Shoes%20-%2011.jpg
http://www.blessthisstuff.com/imagens/stuff/img_finisterre_jacket_2.jpg
http://admin.kidspot.com.au/images/contentarticles/3611.jpg
http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/sandwich.jpg?w=720&h=480&crop=1
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Yorkie-Bar.jpg/1024px-Yorkie-Bar.jpg
Week 5 (08.12-14.12.14): Manchester United Tour
I guess
that talking only about my favorite football club could not be interesting
enough for each of you. That’s the reason why I won’t tell you about Manchester
United’s history, success and all that stuff which you can easily find on
Wikipedia etc. Today I’m going to take you on Manchester United Tour. Let’s
begin!
 |
Image 1 Old Trafford - Copyright to me
|
Tickets
The most
important thing in our journey are tickets. Tickets for the game and of course a flight ticket. Both of them
you have to buy in advance. The
cheapest flight tickets are offered by Ryanair and WizzAir:
 |
| Image 2 Boeing 737 - (Wikipedia) |
http://wizzair.com/
Accommodation
Game
Day
Museum
and Stadium Tour
Summary
 |
| Image 3 Airbus A320-200 - (Wikipedia) |
There is a
small trick. Flights to Liverpool are sometimes much cheaper than to
Manchester. Here comes terravision – a well
known shuttle! For only 8 pounds (which is max price) we can easily and for a low price get to Manchester from the Liverpool’s
Airport. It’s a common way which I travel.
 |
| Image 4 Terravision shuttle - (Terravision) |
Tickets for
the game are a more complex thing to organize.
Firstly, we have to buy Official Membership on the Manchester United’s
website:
 |
| Image 5 Membership Card - Copyright to me |
Now it’s
time to pick the game. Remember to do it in
advance. Almost during each game
there is 100% attendance.
Accommodation
When the
game is over we need some place to sleep. There are plenty
of ways to find something interesting. I recommend these
two sites:
If you
don’t mind to stay in a youth hostel here is one
which I use very often:
Next to the Hilton Chambers (the location of the above hostel) is a very nice place serving breakfast - Koffee Pot. Every day before the opening time there is a huge queue! The quality of food is excellent. But the most important is the atmosphere of the place - so English!
 |
| Image 6 Full English Breakfast at Koffee Pot - Copyright to me |
Game
Day
Don’t go to
Megastore (The Official Manchester United Store located at the stadium) on the game
day! The number of people there is enormous! Do
it the other day.
If you have
time and some luck here is the chance of seeing
players! The coach with them comes to stadium 2h before the game starts. The only thing you have to do is go to the West Stand and you
will find the place - there will be a lot of people.
Unfortunately
The Manchester United Red Café is not open on the
game day. But (as with Megastore) you can visit it the other day. It is located
on the third floor of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.
If you want to see the players’ warm-up you should be at your seat at least 30
minutes before the game starts.
Atmosphere
during the game is absolutely amazing… it’s hard to describe… but I’ll try by
sharing my own short movies:
Museum
and Stadium Tour
Since we
have the Membership we can go to the Museum and the Stadium
Tour with a discount.
There is a great opportunity to go behind the scenes at Old Trafford and see
the stadium from the inside. You can visit a conference
room,a dressing room and of course the museum full of trophies.
During the
tour you come across a small store - where prices are much lower than in
Megastore (because Megastore is under the Nike’s
brand), but not all items are available.
Summary
In a big
shortcut this is it. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe for some of you it will be
helpful.
Questions:
- Have you ever been abroad on a football match?
- Do you have any experience with airbnb? (it’s quite a new way of finding accommodation for me)
Week 5 (08.12-14.12.14): Misterious Vivian Maier
Her works saw the light of the day
by accident. Now, after 60 years we get to know the amazing, black
and white street photographs by Vivian Maier. We don't know a lot
about the artist herself though. She was private and very misterious.
She couldn't afford to develop most of her photos, so a great
majority of the plates waited for their moment till 2007, when they
were discovered on a flea market.
Maier was born in 1926 in New
York. She spent her childhood in France and came back to United
States in 1951. There she stayed and worked a nanny till the end of
her life. She never learned photography and didn't live off it.
Probably none of at-the-time most famous photographers were
inspiration for her. Among her stuff no photography album was found.
Though she was an amateur, she took photography very seriously. She
had a camera always with her. Most of her photos come from streets of
New York and Chicago, but there are also some from Canada, India,
Egypt and Yemen.
Vivian's
photos create an unusual portrait of american society of the 50's,
60's and 70's, showing its ethnic, racial and class divisions. The
artist does not discriminate: objects of her pictures are elegant
women, workers, homeless people and children. Even though Maier was
perceived as lukewarm, she photographed people from a short distance
not breaching their privacy. She saved unique extracts of reality,
gently penetrating intimate situations. Maier inspired trust and
captured people in their natural poses, presenting unfattered
gestures and emotions. We often hear about Maier's photographies as
one of the best examples of american street photography.
Self-portaits play an important
role in Maier's work. They're usually author's reflections in
mirrors, store windows etc. The pictures are accompanied by some play
with lights and outstanding frames adding mystery to the artist's
figure. Her presence is often marked by the shadow visible in the
picture. Experiments with her own presence by emphisizing the
importance of it or simply extinghuishing it, changing identities,
are an inherent part of both Vivian's work and her private life. She
didn't publish her photos. This fact helps to understand Maier's
creative attitude. She collected newspaper clippings, carefully
observing the political situation in the country. On the other hand
she manipulated facts concerning her past and her future, she gave
fake names. I think the best description of this controversial person
would be an invisible observer who tried to process and save the
greatest possible amount of information.
Vivian's figure emerging from
photographs, recordings and friends' descriptions is undoubtedly
fascinating. This snippy and private person didn't let anyone get
closer. For us she will stay very mysteorius person. Photos had never
been described by a commentary or a note. Everything we know about
the photographer is a compound of memoirs and conjectures.
Sources:
Monday 24 November 2014
Week 4 (24-30.11) KUNG - FU
KUNG-FU
[http://4everstatic.com/pictures/674xX/fun/animals/cats,-kung-fu-171781.jpg]
I would like you to present my new passion that I discovered 6 months ago. I
hope it will be interesting for you.
What is Kung-fu ?
Most people think that Kung-fu is a word (words) that means a fight, martial arts or something like that. Unfortunately this is not true. In Chinese “kung-fu” means “to achieve perfection/high level of
mastery”.
To be honest ,kung-fu very often isn’t even about the fighting. Of course, I know that when someone
will hear “kung-fu” he will see in front of his eyes: Bruce Lee, Jackie Change, Jet Li, Chuck Norris (and his powerful kick !!). But what with Taijiquan (better known as T`ai-Chi) ?
It is an internal Chinese martial art style but it is very heavily related with your health, sport,
meditation. You don’t train T`ai-Chi to fight but you need to know that forces generated are very big. My Si`fu (master) who also trains Taijiquan has shown me how deadly it can be. It is all about the precision of the move, the understanding of the move.
Kung-fu is about creating yourself, about perfection, about your internal peace, about creating life
not taking it away. It is a martial art (and the word “art” is very important !) that can be beautiful.
Why do I hear Wushu ?
At the moment wushu is one of the most popular sports in China. Wushu means exactly “martial
arts”. Wushu at the moment is divided into 2 disciplines:
-> Presentation of the forms with and without weapons. This is like a fight combined with acrobatics. It often looks amazing !!
[http://www.omei-wushu.com/images/aboutWushu.jpg]
-> Sanda is something like a Chinese version of boxing. It is a pure fight. There are different schools of Sanda and each of them has its their own way to learn it. In some schools you learn a style based on other styles, in others you will learn only one style with specific elements for Sanda. In Poland, for example, most of the schools teach a different version of kickboxing and call it Sanda.
Styles
There are numerous styles in kung-fu. Many of them are long gone and forgotten, some of them are restored, some of them are new, some of the restored are not full systems because they are just too old. Most popular that you can learn in Poland are:
-> Taijiquan
-> White Crane Style (Bai He quan)
-> Mantis Style (Tang Lang Quan)
-> Long Fist Style (Chang Quan)
-> Wing Chun
-> Hung Gar
Remember that each style can have a different version. For example, there is Wing Chun and Ving Tsun – two similar but different styles. We can say that there are about 200 quite complete kung-fu styles that you can learn
Sources:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-fu
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wushu
http://www.wing-tsun.pl/index.php
Week 4: Living on the ISS
Imagine opening your eyes in the morning and experiencing an image of pitch-blackness halved with pure blue horizon through your window. That is the sight that usually meets International Space Station expeditions’ astronauts in their wake-up call. What do you do then?
 |
| International Space Station |
 |
| Earth, Moon and Soyuz |
ISS resides at an altitude of 220 miles and orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, which accounts for 16 sunsets and sunrises each day. It’s a unique opportunity to take just as unique photos or videos of the Earth from the orbit’s perspective.
Currently, the only way to get to ISS (or return to the Earth) is through a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, owned by (surprise) the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). Since the 2011 closure of American Space Shuttle Program astronauts have been left with no options. The “hitch” ride in Soyuz costs about $71 million per person and takes 6 hours.
So, what’s the plan?
A typical day of the ISS inhabitant looks like this:
- 7 AM -- Wake up
- 7:10 AM -- Conference
- 7:30 - 8 AM -- Breakfast and prep for work
- 8 AM - 12 PM -- Doing assigned experiments
- 12 - 12:30 PM -- Lunch
- 12:30 - 6 PM -- More experiment work
- 6 - 6:30 PM -- Conference with ground crew to review that day's activities and discussing the next day
- 6:30 - 7:30 PM -- Dinner while watching the news taped by the ground crew from the day before and beamed up to the station
- 7:30 - midnight -- Clean up and reading of the procedures for the next day, family time and time to look out of the window to see the glorious views outside.
- Sometime within the day, 5-6 days a week – A two-hour exercise (30 min. on the treadmill and 70 min. of resistance exercise)
- Fridays -- Astronauts work on personal projects and watch movies together as a crew
The day consists of usual lab-work (and a bit of space-walking) in an unusual environment which leads us to the question - what abnormalities could astronauts encounter in space?
 |
| Space closet |
Rapidly-decreasing bone mass for instance. Humans in outer space lose calcium 10 times faster than a 70-year-old man. The same goes with muscle mass. That is the main reason why astronauts have to exercise at least 2 hours almost every day to decrease these losses.
Another health issue is receding vision experienced by most astronauts, which is supposedly caused by elevated pressure levels in the human’s head because of zero gravity in space. It is also linked with “space sickness” (nausea, dizziness) and a swelling face which happens during the first few days of exposure to zero-g and accustoming body to the body fluids going upwards.
You could also grow an inch taller, because the spine elongates in space.
Taking care of yourself
Between sleep, work and exercise, one has to maintain their looks and hygiene, eat and have a little pastime. How does it work in the zero-gravity environment?
A morning shower is basically a sponge bath here, as the water cannot quite fall down on your body and you do not have a luxury of having bubbles of water floating around. Tooth brushing is less of a challenge, but you have to swallow the toothpaste afterwards.
Vacuum might come in handy when you’d like a haircut done and if one needs a shave, a special shaving gel is also available at the station (no electric shaver allowed though).
Space toilets are a peculiar invention. They use a suction system to collect all the wastes, which are then stored in dedicated bags, stored inside aluminum containers. When these containers fill up entirely, they’re thrown to the Earth atmosphere and they burn upon re-entry. The tricky part is that space toilets, designed by Russians, were not designed with women in mind. A funny fact - urine goes its own way into the water recycler, which then serves drinking and food-rehydrating water to crew members.
Food is packaged for consumption and the menu is quite broad (in contrast to what we’re used to seeing in films). Some of the meals need rehydration to be edible (remember space-toilet-recycling?). The only catch here, is that astronauts have to prevent crumbs from floating inside the station, as they could get into the equipment.
Pastimes consist of watching pre-recorded movies, TV, shows, music or books but being in space gives the one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to admire the amazing views from the windows. Some beautiful shots have been taken by the crews in recent years.
 |
| The inner workings of the #SpaceToilet maintained
by a certified #SpacePlumber |
In 2013, thanks to NASA, the ISS has gained a broadband Internet connection (max downlink speed - 300Mbps), so the crew can do all the things that we do right here on Earth without experiencing significant connection latency which they had in 2010.
Sleeping takes a little practice at the beginning, as members have to tie themselves to the wall and they do not use a pillow or a quilt. But after the learning period - sleeping in space is a form of pure relaxation, that is what every astronaut says (no shoulder pains or messy hair in the morning!).
Astronaut-turned-social media superstar
One ISS expedition member took a great advantage of the Internet broadband to connect with the public on Earth through social media during the famed Expedition 34.
A former Canadian Air force pilot, (now retired) Commander Chris Hadfield has provided some unforgettable social media highlights during his 6-month tenure at ISS on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and tumblr. Most of them were beautiful photos - see the selection of 30 below:
While he was launched on December 2012 he had about 20 000 Twitter followers. Since he landed in May 2013, he has already passed 1 million followers count.
He was active on Twitter almost every day of his expedition, providing us with some of the most spectacular photos of the Earth, while also sharing a lot of knowledge (and generally cool stuff) about zero-g phenomena via YouTube videos, Reddit AMA or live student conferences.
Check out some of his most spectacular YouTube acts below:
Chris has been only retired for barely more than a year and has already been dubbed as the most famous astronaut since Armstrong and Gagarin by BBC.
Questions:
What is the most bizarre daily activity in space in your opinion?
Which space picture did stun you outright?
When will humans be able to permanently inhabit Mars? :)
Sources:
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