Is this still possible?
It is Wednesday, 18.45, and I am just leaving the office. Walking in the rain, the dark surrounding me and all I can think of is the good old days, when I was working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Is this still possible? It seems like impossible.
Mmmm, a couple more years and then I am of to my island:)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Miles to help
Do you fly Lufthansa? Do you have your Miles and More card to collect miles, but you do not fly so often that you would actually be able to exchange them for a ticket?
If you have some and you would like to do some good things, you can. You can give them to support education, fight disease, feed the hungry, preserve endangered species, replant forests, protect ecosystems, help children and orphans.
How?
Go to Miles and More webpage and clik on Miles to Help - Do Good tab on left side of the screen.
I have given my 10.000 miles to protect ecosystems by purchasing and protection of 2,500 square metres of the world's largest wetland area, the Pantanal in Brazil.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Le français
Not everybody has the privilege to work in international environment. I have the privilege to work in mainly French speaking environment having colleagues that appreciate my French mistakes and do correct me when I say something wrong. We all know that people do not always correct our mistakes maybe because they do not want to offend us, maybe because they just do not want to correct us or due to other causes even though we would love them to do so.
Let me make the story shorter. How to learn which gender is the appropriate word in French? I know, I know, English language does not know the genders of the words, but let us think about the genders of the words in other languages that know this issue:) French, Spanish, Italian, German, Slovenian, Croatian and even Dutch has something similar. But let us focus on French.
For all those who speak Slovene and would like to learn French; here is a hint about how to learn the genders of the words in French. Please note that this is not a rule, but merely my own observation (just for fun). The observation goes like this: If the word is of female gender in Slovene; then it is probably of male gender in French language and vice-versa. Let us look at the examples:
English - Slovene - French
f - female gender
m - male gender
n - neutral gender
A book - knjiga (f) - un livre (m)
A group - skupina (f) - un groupe (m)
A pillow - blazina (f) - un coussin (m)
A chair - stol (m) - une chaise (f)
A pool - bazen (m) - une piscine (f)
Sound - glas (m) - une voix (f)
A beer - pivo (n) - une bière (f)
A question - vprašanje (n) - un question (m)
A bicycle - kolo (n) - un vélo (m)
However and although it is still very interesting thinking of the word beer being of female gender, this does not apply always. Let us have a look at the examples below:
A door - vrata (f) - une porte (f)
A night - noč (f) - une nuit (f)
A flower- roža (f) - une rose (f), une fleur (f)
A step - korak (m) - un pas (m)
A day - dan (m) - un jour (m) (but "une journée" (f))
A glass - kozarec (m) - un verre (m)
To make the things more likeable I randomly picked 10 words from the French - Slovene dictionary to see if they were female or male. Here is the result:
A tip - napitnina (f) - un pourboire (m)
Surface - površina (f) - une surface (f)
A balance - tehtnica (f) - une balance (f)
Heat - vročina (f) - une chaleur (f)
A Secret - skrivnost (f) - un secret (m)
A List - seznam (m) - une liste (f)
A horn - rog (m) - une corne (f)
A bandit - razbojnik (m) - un brigand (m), un bandit (m)
A coat - plašč (m) - un manteau (m)
A circle - krog (m) - un cercle (m)
I guess the odds are 60:40.
Let me make the story shorter. How to learn which gender is the appropriate word in French? I know, I know, English language does not know the genders of the words, but let us think about the genders of the words in other languages that know this issue:) French, Spanish, Italian, German, Slovenian, Croatian and even Dutch has something similar. But let us focus on French.
For all those who speak Slovene and would like to learn French; here is a hint about how to learn the genders of the words in French. Please note that this is not a rule, but merely my own observation (just for fun). The observation goes like this: If the word is of female gender in Slovene; then it is probably of male gender in French language and vice-versa. Let us look at the examples:
English - Slovene - French
f - female gender
m - male gender
n - neutral gender
A book - knjiga (f) - un livre (m)
A group - skupina (f) - un groupe (m)
A pillow - blazina (f) - un coussin (m)
A chair - stol (m) - une chaise (f)
A pool - bazen (m) - une piscine (f)
Sound - glas (m) - une voix (f)
A beer - pivo (n) - une bière (f)
A question - vprašanje (n) - un question (m)
A bicycle - kolo (n) - un vélo (m)
However and although it is still very interesting thinking of the word beer being of female gender, this does not apply always. Let us have a look at the examples below:
A door - vrata (f) - une porte (f)
A night - noč (f) - une nuit (f)
A flower- roža (f) - une rose (f), une fleur (f)
A step - korak (m) - un pas (m)
A day - dan (m) - un jour (m) (but "une journée" (f))
A glass - kozarec (m) - un verre (m)
To make the things more likeable I randomly picked 10 words from the French - Slovene dictionary to see if they were female or male. Here is the result:
A tip - napitnina (f) - un pourboire (m)
Surface - površina (f) - une surface (f)
A balance - tehtnica (f) - une balance (f)
Heat - vročina (f) - une chaleur (f)
A Secret - skrivnost (f) - un secret (m)
A List - seznam (m) - une liste (f)
A horn - rog (m) - une corne (f)
A bandit - razbojnik (m) - un brigand (m), un bandit (m)
A coat - plašč (m) - un manteau (m)
A circle - krog (m) - un cercle (m)
I guess the odds are 60:40.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Nederlandse examen
As always, doing everything else, but studying before the exam. This is with what I will enlighten my Dutch teacher tomorrow.
Betrapte inbrekers op YouTube
Schaarbeek - Bij een man uit Schaarbeek, bij wie was ingebroken, werden de boeven via de computer gefotografeerd. Hij zette de mannen herkenbaar op zijn eigen website en op YouTube. De inbrekers maken daardoor kans te worden vrijgesproken door de rechter.
Op 8 november kreeg André Lovinfosse ongewenst bezoek over de vloer. Inbrekers forceerden de deur van zijn flat in Schaarbeek en stalen zijn laptop, tv, fototoestel en juwelen. Toen de boeven de computerkamer betraden, werden er - zonder dat ze het wisten - foto's van hen gemaakt. Een webcam die beweging kan registreren, nam de foto's en stuurde die op per e-mail. Op de foto's zag Lovinfosse twee inbrekers, van wie het doen en laten uitgebreid gefotografeerd werd. Met de foto's heeft André een filmpje gemaakt, waarop de daders goed te zien zijn. André Lovinfosse heeft de beelden doorgespeeld aan de politie, die één van de daders zou hebben geïdentificeerd. Hij zette de beelden ook op het internet. Hij wil ze er af halen als de inbrekers zichzelf kenbaar maken.
"Die mensen zijn bij mij binnengekomen zonder mijn akkoord, dan mag ik hen ook tonen op mijn website zonder hun akkoord," zegt André Lovinfosse.
Volgens communicatiespecialiste Lieve Desmet mocht Lovinfosse de inbrekers niet op het internet tonen. Hij neemt het recht in eigen handen en schendt de privacy van de daders, zegt ze. Na een klacht mag enkel de onderzoeksrechter de beelden van de inbrekers publiek maken.
Door zijn actie op het internet zou Lovinfosse de inbrekers wel 's troeven in handen kunnen geven als ze voor de rechter komen. "De advocaten van de daders kunnen zeggen dat hij onrechtmatig gebruik heeft gemaakt van die beelden. En dat kan de besluitvorming van het proeces beïnvloeden. een vrijspraak is mogelijk," aldus Desmet.
Article taken from http://www.brusselnieuws.be/site/rubrieken/1091053972/page.htm?&newsID=1197045099
Almost midnight. Perfect timing for going through the rest of the material for tomorrow:) The funny thing is I have testing to determine my French tomorrow during the day, he he he, and the Dutch test at 6 p.m.:) Ik zal morgen aleen nederlands spreken op het werk. Mijn baas zal gellukig zijn als he van het Nederlands kom.
Betrapte inbrekers op YouTube
Schaarbeek - Bij een man uit Schaarbeek, bij wie was ingebroken, werden de boeven via de computer gefotografeerd. Hij zette de mannen herkenbaar op zijn eigen website en op YouTube. De inbrekers maken daardoor kans te worden vrijgesproken door de rechter.
Op 8 november kreeg André Lovinfosse ongewenst bezoek over de vloer. Inbrekers forceerden de deur van zijn flat in Schaarbeek en stalen zijn laptop, tv, fototoestel en juwelen. Toen de boeven de computerkamer betraden, werden er - zonder dat ze het wisten - foto's van hen gemaakt. Een webcam die beweging kan registreren, nam de foto's en stuurde die op per e-mail. Op de foto's zag Lovinfosse twee inbrekers, van wie het doen en laten uitgebreid gefotografeerd werd. Met de foto's heeft André een filmpje gemaakt, waarop de daders goed te zien zijn. André Lovinfosse heeft de beelden doorgespeeld aan de politie, die één van de daders zou hebben geïdentificeerd. Hij zette de beelden ook op het internet. Hij wil ze er af halen als de inbrekers zichzelf kenbaar maken.
"Die mensen zijn bij mij binnengekomen zonder mijn akkoord, dan mag ik hen ook tonen op mijn website zonder hun akkoord," zegt André Lovinfosse.
Volgens communicatiespecialiste Lieve Desmet mocht Lovinfosse de inbrekers niet op het internet tonen. Hij neemt het recht in eigen handen en schendt de privacy van de daders, zegt ze. Na een klacht mag enkel de onderzoeksrechter de beelden van de inbrekers publiek maken.
Door zijn actie op het internet zou Lovinfosse de inbrekers wel 's troeven in handen kunnen geven als ze voor de rechter komen. "De advocaten van de daders kunnen zeggen dat hij onrechtmatig gebruik heeft gemaakt van die beelden. En dat kan de besluitvorming van het proeces beïnvloeden. een vrijspraak is mogelijk," aldus Desmet.
Article taken from http://www.brusselnieuws.be/site/rubrieken/1091053972/page.htm?&newsID=1197045099
Almost midnight. Perfect timing for going through the rest of the material for tomorrow:) The funny thing is I have testing to determine my French tomorrow during the day, he he he, and the Dutch test at 6 p.m.:) Ik zal morgen aleen nederlands spreken op het werk. Mijn baas zal gellukig zijn als he van het Nederlands kom.
Just another ordinary day in BXL
People move every day. They commute to work, they leave their homes to go and live somewhere else, on the other side of the globe. Boulot, metro, dodo. A person or more a day leave our lives, but the same number enter. Balance, everything is about balance. I have been told so before I arrived to this marvelous city called Brussels. The locals do not like to mingle with the international community, because they say we will be leaving sooner or later. In a way they are right, however I am still here. Am I just waiting to wake up from this strange dream? Here are some moments from one of the spontaneous lunch developed into farewell party for a soul that just left us for the sunny, green and calm south France. However, hope never dies, right?!
In this collage: Samir, the friend of an evening story teller, half Algerian, half French; Rita, south Italian; Vlado, true Serbian; Jennifer, a local; Liam, another local; Gergana, imported Bulgarian; Angelo, north Italian; another Italian, this one from Sicily; candles from the flea market somewhere from Paris, bananas from Costa Rica, barbapapa from local store, pictures of mountains in the back from Slovenia, the hanging thing on the fridge from India, the white sheep a products made by Portuguese and British, T-shirt from HospitalityClub mtg in Warsaw, PL...what else can I say...globalisation, we love you:)
In this collage: Samir, the friend of an evening story teller, half Algerian, half French; Rita, south Italian; Vlado, true Serbian; Jennifer, a local; Liam, another local; Gergana, imported Bulgarian; Angelo, north Italian; another Italian, this one from Sicily; candles from the flea market somewhere from Paris, bananas from Costa Rica, barbapapa from local store, pictures of mountains in the back from Slovenia, the hanging thing on the fridge from India, the white sheep a products made by Portuguese and British, T-shirt from HospitalityClub mtg in Warsaw, PL...what else can I say...globalisation, we love you:)
Bruxelles, je t`aime
Can that be? Most probably only during December due to all the Christmas lights and the fact that people do not take dogs much out as the city is packed with people (read as: less dogshit on the streets as dogs have nowhere to shit as there are too many people all around).
Need an umbrella? Take one. Nobody needs an umbrella in Brussels as the winds blow too strong:) Not to mention the fact that Belgium is the country where everything is possible. Just about anything...
Everybody knows that highways in Belgium are illuminated. So are the streets. They just produce too much electricity and they do not want to sell it to the neighbouring countries, so they might just spend it. If only electricity would be cheaper for the inhabitants of Brussels. Not to mention that I still did not received a bill for heating and electricity since April. I should move into another apartment soon and definitely before the bill reaches me:)
One of the views that not every Bruxellois knows about. After having more or less 100 guests over in these more than two years, this is one of my favourite places. The top of P58
The view from the big white wheel from the picture above. The St Catherine square. Most of the shops offer food and drinks. Don`t feel surprised why people in Belgium get fat and why they do not consider my lovely celery and ginger juice as food:) he he he
Need an umbrella? Take one. Nobody needs an umbrella in Brussels as the winds blow too strong:) Not to mention the fact that Belgium is the country where everything is possible. Just about anything...
Everybody knows that highways in Belgium are illuminated. So are the streets. They just produce too much electricity and they do not want to sell it to the neighbouring countries, so they might just spend it. If only electricity would be cheaper for the inhabitants of Brussels. Not to mention that I still did not received a bill for heating and electricity since April. I should move into another apartment soon and definitely before the bill reaches me:)
One of the views that not every Bruxellois knows about. After having more or less 100 guests over in these more than two years, this is one of my favourite places. The top of P58
The view from the big white wheel from the picture above. The St Catherine square. Most of the shops offer food and drinks. Don`t feel surprised why people in Belgium get fat and why they do not consider my lovely celery and ginger juice as food:) he he he
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