Approximately One Year Ago...

Hey hey~

I got an email with a familiar photo from Nic Trim in my inbox today.

It brought a HUGE smile to my face. ^__^

Thanks Nic - Yepup I am definitely looking forward to SPMs this year!!

*hugz*

MelMel

Oh Lody!

Hey hey~

My favourite (and probably only) Polish word I learnt while I was at IC was lody - which means ice cream.

How did I come to learn this word?

Well to be honest I have to thank Zara (my fellow lard sister) who drew the connection between the word and the number of ice cream palours that were EVERYWHERE throughout the study tour.

But funnily enough this posting isn't really about real lody, as in real ice cream - at least not until I find my lody related girls' night out photo.

You see one of my favourite people at conference was a guy called Youssef (MCVPICX in Morocco). We affectionately nicknamed each other Lody due to our passion for this cold dessert ^__^

It was so much fun to shout the word "LODY!!!" really loudly to each other with all the other Australians only to have other IC delegates look around confuzzled. Okay, upon rereading that last sentence I'm beginning to realise this is probably one of those 'you-had-to-be-there-to-get-it' sort of things... oh well!

In conclusion, here's to Lody - May we never forget that some things like ice cream really are universal!

*hugz*

MelMel

Eating Adventures in Europe #1

Hey hey~

I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something amusing about eating a chocolate danish in Denmark... hehehe

*hugz*

MelMel

Auschwitz

Hey hey~

Of all the destinations on our pre-conference study tour, Auschwitz was probably the place I was the most interested in seeing, even though I was also equally as nervous about what I would encounter once I got there.

Everything about it was so confronting. It was the height of summer, the sun was shining, and the grass looked ever so green, yet there was something undeniably eerie about the former concentration camp site.

Even now as I reflect back on my experience there I can't quite put into words how I felt about everything I saw - the gas chambers, holding cells, finger nail scratch marks on the walls, the crematoria, the endless rows of Birkenau concentration camp buildings as far as the eye could see...

The exact number of victims killed at Auschwitz is unknown. In visiting the extermination camp it really challenged me to think what it would take for a person to actually contribute to the mass genocide of millions of people?!?

It really is a haunting thought when you begin to think about it.

*hugz*

MelMel

On Castles, Palaces and Bananas...

Hey hey~

As I reflect upon my trip to International Congress, one of the strongest inital impressions of my first European adventure revolves around how cool castles really are - We don't have anything like them in Australia!

I think most people on the study tour were over the whole castle thing, but I think that was mostly in part because many of them came from European countries that were saturated with castles of their own.

Between Copenhagen and Krakow I can definitely say that castles rock and I can't wait to put them on my future shopping list (along with owning my very own salt mine!)

In other news, the Australian delegation's obsession with bananas rather amused the other delegates on our trip. In case you hadn't heard, Australia's banana prices have skyrocketed nearly four times in value since a freak storm wiped out a substantial amount of our crops. Yes, given our immense joy and fascination with this fruit, I can't honestly say that everyone else in Europe must have thought us crazy!!

*hugz*

MelMel