Uni is finito.

I cannot believe I am writing this, but I have officially finished university and have moved home from Bathurst. It's sad, that's true, but it's also very liberating.

I just finished a week of internship at WIN television in Orange, and managed to get several stories on the TV. I even did a golf story. Yes, that's right, a golf story... and I don't usually go anywhere near sports reporting, so that was a huge thing for me.

Next week it's off to Macquarie Bank for two weeks, then a week at SBS.

I then have five days off with some of my best friends in Noosa - cannot wait.

Don't really know what's in store after that - I've applied to a bejillion ski chalets in France and nothing is permanent yet (please universe, give me a job!)... so it's a waiting game. Who knows, maybe I'll end up working full-time in Sydney for a while?

Ciao for now.xx

City 2 Surf

Today my family and I ran the City 2 Surf, at 14km, it's the largest running event in the world.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of the famous city to Bondi race and, with wonderful weather, it was a fabulous day.

I set myself the goal of running the entire course and I ended up walking for a little bit up Heartbreak Hill, but apart from that, I did manage to accomplish my goal. I don't know my exact time yet, but it was between 80 and 90 minutes.

The blisters on my feet tonight are ridiculous. They are on both feet and hurt so much, but it was well worth it.

The best feeling of the race was sprinting between the 12 and 13km mark down the hill into Bondi, with beautiful views of the water and Calvin Harris blasting in my ears. So much fun! It was also brilliant hearing a rock band playing on the roof of the Sheaf Hotel in Double Bay, and it was very cute to see all the little kids on the sidelines wanting to slap your hand as you ran by.

I have always been a fan of fitness and exercise, so it was special today to know I was surrounded by similarly-minded individuals, not to mention everyone running by encouraged me to keep a quick pace.

I'd definitely recommend the race for next year to anyone and everyone. Even if you just walk it, it's an experience you can't afford to miss.

Plus, the feeling at the end, when you cross the finish line and your legs feel like jelly, the accomplishment is just indescribable.

Images courtesy of: http://cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

M@sterchef and the apathetic Australians.

I love Masterchef. A lot. To give you some idea of how much I love it, I make my Mum and Dad record it on TiVo while I'm away at uni and then, when I return home, I watch hours upon hours of the TV show and never get bored. I tweet #Masterchef while I watch and loved that #Masterchef was a trending topic worldwide on Twitter. I know the names of all the contestants, know their professions, their cooking specialities. Yep. Told you I was obsessed.

What I didn't realise was that the rest of Australia also felt the same way. Four million Australians - that's just under one fifth of the Aussie population - are set to tune in for the finale which will be screened at 7.30pm Sunday evening.

What I find incredible is that "the great debate" between Abbott and Gillard, which was scheduled to occur at, you guessed it, 7.30pm on Sunday night, has been rescheduled to the earlier 6.30pm timeslot because, when given the choice between the two, most would prefer to watch the Masterchef finale. This way, they can watch both pollies and amateur chefs battle for their lives... sounds like the perfect way to finish one's weekend.

At a deeper level, this shows that Australians are becoming politically apathetic. The future of our country and the discussion of policies which, let's face it, will affect us, just aren't as interesting as a cooking show.

I know I'll be interested to see the audience ratings following Sunday evening. I also know I'll be tuning in to both the Great Debate and to the Masterchef Finale. Which timeslot do you think will win the most viewers?

Oh and, as a side note, I hope Adam wins the finale. I love his delicious Japanese fusion cuisine and he just seems like such a nice guy. Then again, Callum is lovely and is incredibly talented! Really, the winner in all of this is Channel Ten. When other TV channels have to include Masterchef segments in their current affairs programs, you know they're getting desperate.

Photos courtesy of: http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2010/04/11/1225852/460526-masterchef.jpg and masterchef.com.au

Healthy Eating

I have been trying to eat healthily recently. Think lots of vegetables, brown rice, oats and poached eggs for protein.

This is a recipe I would definitely recommend - it is traditionally from provincial France - and it's something I've grown up with.

It has a movie named after it (which is very cute) and most people can't spell it, but it's called Ratatouille, and here's the recipe (serves 4):

Ingredients:

• 4 tomatoes
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 yellow capsicum, diced
• 1 eggplant, diced
• 1 tbs tomato puree
  
• 2 stalks celery sliced
  
• 2 zuchinni sliced
• 2 carrotts diced
  
• 1/2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tbs torn fresh basil leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Method:

• Score a cross in the base of each tomato and plunge into a bowl of boiling water for 20 seconds.
  
• Peel the skin from the tomatoes and discard.
  
• Chop the tomato flesh into medium dice.
  
• Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add the celery, zucchini, carrots and capsicum and cook for a further 5 minutes. Transfer the onion and capsicum to a plate and set aside.
  
• Add the eggplant to the pan and cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Return the onion and capsicum to the pan and stir in tomato puree. Add thyme and tomatoes.
  
• Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the basil and garlic.
  

Ratatouille is perfect for winter; it is delicious served hot on a bed of brown rice and you could poach some chicken (in a chicken stock) for protein too if you liked.

Photo courtesy of: http://progressives.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/ratatouille.jpg

Quelques films francais...

Over the winter holidays I decided to expose myself to some french films and was not disappointed.

In fact I am rarely disappointed by french films, with their originality, quirkiness and unpredictability.

These are the films I viewed and I'd really heavily recommend checking them out:

1. La Classe (2008)
I loved this movie, which happened to win the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and was also nominated for an Oscar. Having lived in France and attended a french school, I could certainly relate to the storyline; it provides an insight into a teacher and his class of 13-14 year olds who come from a plethora of cultures and backgrounds. It is at times humorous, at times heart-wrenching and always captivating.

2. À la folie... pas du tout (2002)
This title translates to He loves me, he loves me not and stars one of my favourite female actresses, Audrey Tatou. It plays in two parts, each developing an alternative point of view to a series of events. The film has a macabre twist to it, details erotomania, and really forces you to challenge your perceptions of truth.

3. I've Loved You So Long (2008)
Although this wasn't my favourite of the three movies, I still enjoyed it. It tells of a woman, who murdered her child and consequently served fifteen years of prison time, and once released, goes to live with her sister (who has two young children of her own). This is a dark film with heavy themes, but it does make you question the ability of murderers to be rehabilitated into society.

Image courtesy of: http://www.mymovies.it/cinemanews/2008/3607/la_classe_3.jpg

Ski Camp (After)

I promised I would write about ski camp upon return and, because I have been back for at least three weeks, it seems timely to pen my experiences.

To recap, I travelled with year's nine and ten at the school where I work, alongside several staff members and two gap students. We had lots and lots of fun over the five days, with one of the highlights of the trip being snow shoeing. This consisted of fitting tennis racket-esque covers over our shoes and trecking with stocks up snow covered mountains. This was so very rewarding as, at the peak of the mountain, there were the most spectacular views over to adjacent mountain peaks dusted in snow.

Another highlight of the trip was watching the year 10 students put a menu plan together on $200, which had to provide people with a three-course meal, as well as catering for breakfast the next morning. The students not only had to source their ingredients, but to cook for the group also. They did an amazing job, choosing a simple menu of garlic bread as entree, pizza for main, and ice cream with toppings for dessert. The next morning pancakes were on the menu, and the kids were really proud of themselves for accomplishing what they saw to be a rather challenging task. It was also lots of fun getting up at 4.30am with the kids to watch the soccer, and all sitting in a refurbished train carriage, snuggled in our doonas and pjs, cheering on the Aussies!

While the snow wasn't the best, it was still good to have a ski and I skied predominantly with the male teachers on the trip - we were fond of High Noon (because it was the most challenging piste with sufficient snow) but were also fond of coffees at the top of the mountain! The skiing part of the trip really made me excited for my ski season at the end of the year!

A very long drive home at the end of the trip meant that most of the kids had naps, and the teachers joined them in dozing away the six or so hours back to Bathurst. After three stops at McDonalds along the way (either for toilet stops or for food), we finally made it home and it took several days to catch up on the lost sleep from 6am-11pm days jam-packed full of abseiling, rock climbing, orienteering, skiing, snow shoeing and cooking.

I am to leave Scots in late August and I'm grateful to have been able to part with fond memories of skiing and traveling with the students and teachers.

Ski Camp (Before)

I'm off on ski camp today with the school I work for. The above photo is from last year's ski camp with one of my best friends, Beck. I'll be looking after a group of year 10 children, skiing and cross-country skiing as well as orienteering and, for one night, camping out near snow. It's going to be freeeeeezing, but it was so much fun last year, I hope it's just as good this time around.

I'll be sure to write about how it went and any crazy shenanigans (unlikely given it's a school camp) that occurred upon return next week.

An eventful weekend.

The Queen's birthday long weekend was fast-paced and full of fun. A friend from Scots, Claire, came to stay with my family and I, so we made an effort to pack as much into those four days as possible.

Friday evening consisted of a drinks party at my house, mainly for all of my Mum's friends, but there was good food and wine, and we stayed there until about 8.30pm, when we ventured to Neutral Bay to a friend's gathering. The crowd we were with were really nice, though not necessarily people I usually hang out with. They were into alternative music and had lots of tattoos and piercings, but it was fun getting out of my normal social groups and I met some new people.

Saturday Claire and I woke up and went for a run along Manly beach, which was a great start to the day. We then decided we would do something a little bit different, so we drove to Glebe and had a really lovely time walking around Glebe's markets, looking at the amazing stalls with hand-made jewelry and uniquely designed clothing, though there was also lots of bric-a-brac. Gypsy Kings-esque music played as we had our lunch on the grass in the markets, and it was a very cool way to spend our afternoon. We had coffee in a very chic little cafe, and next door to it was the most incredible patisserie I've seen (apart from those in France).

Sunday we walked my dog and, on four hours sleep, we were pretty exhausted. We watched a really great british movie, An Education, which I would thoroughly recommend. We cooked dinner for my family: chilli, garlic and spinach prawn tagliatelle, followed by an apricot crumble. Yum. An early night followed, as we had a very early morning the next day.

Monday morning saw Claire and I waking up at 3.20am so as to travel to Darling Harbour to watch the Socceroos vs. Germany in the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The above photo shows the crowds that were around us! The atmosphere was very exciting and there were 25,000 people there, although it was such a disappointing game and the temperature was extremely cold. We returned home by 7.30am, had a bit of a nap, and then at about midday we went for a beautiful walk from Harbord Diggers to Curl Curl, and back again.

It was a jam-packed weekend but it was lots of fun and I'm glad we were able to explore Sydney a little bit as, generally, when I am home I don't make much effort to get out of my area and explore other places.

The Hills

Only recently, with exams and assessments for the most part out of the picture, I have developed a dangerous addiction to the Hills. It's not quality television, that's for certain, but it is entertaining and highly glamorous.

The Hills provides an insight into the lives of four girls; Heidi Montag, Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port (she's my favourite). The four girls live in Los Angeles, California and work in events, fashion and music PR. They drive Mercedes and BMWs and have their own personal trainers, get their hair done and go shopping as they please. Their lives are interesting, but also very superficial.

I suppose it's fascinating seeing what the lives of the rich and famous are like. Sure, the girls work hard. Lauren and Whitney are interns at Teen Vogue, Audrina works 9-6pm and Heidi works ridiculous hours at night clubs running events. It seems to me like they've been given their amazing jobs either because their parents are 'somebodies', or because of the coverage their companies will receive from being on MTV's reality TV show.

The girls aren't incredibly bright (bar Whitney) and don't have the best work ethic, so you wonder how they are excused when, for example, they allow their friends to crash important nightclub events or they just don't bother showing up when they're supposed to be working.

They have obnoxious boyfriends and their apartments are furnished extravagantly, but you can't help but wonder whether they are completely oblivious to the real world and what it's like to pay bills and to have real problems and responsibilities. For the most part, it's all about feuds between friends and "loyalty" between guys.

But maybe that's the reason it's such compulsive viewing; you can escape your daily life for that of the rich and famous and, after twenty minutes of the Hollywood lifestyle, you can return to your bedroom refreshed and with your dignity in-tact.

I've just finished Season Three and I can assure you, I'll be finished the next season in no time at all.

Photo courtesy of: http://imagineannie.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/the-hills-400a-0822071.jpeg

How I love Snoop Dogg.

I just wanted to express my amusement at Snoop Dogg. I know he's supposed to be very cool, but to me, he's just funny. He composes his own porn music - how talented - but he hasn't got that gangsta feel to him like Usher or Jay Z. Regardless, I love this song, and really enjoyed watching the performance of California Girls at the MTV Awards 2010.