Heat & hide

I have been in Australia for 6 full days now & the temperature outside has been climbing higher & higher each day. So today, knowing it would get up all the way to 35°C, I decided to stay in my lovely little room & spend my time otherwise than those previous 5 days.

What happened previously? Well well, wouldn’t you want to know?! But I guess you are in luck, because I am one of those who cannot keep it to themselves, one of those who just simply have to share. And so, I am going to tell you.

Day 1

I exchanged my money because currencies such as YEN, Euro & USD wouldn’t do much good to me here. I went to the bank with all that money & opened a bank account. Which was super easy & fast. AND, because I am here as a student, I don’t even have to pay any extra bank fees. How cool is the life of a student???!!!

Then I ordered my new iPhone (publicity much?) along with the yearly contract which was much much MUCH more difficult. Yes, Australia – this is your first black point. Or maybe we are spoiled in Europe & anybody can get a phone for as long as they want & it always will be advantageous to their needs & financial possibilities. No, I do NOT need 500min of talk time per month. I, nevertheless, am the queen of text messaging. No, I do NOT need the internet because honestly, there are so many restrictions to it that no matter how well you understand it, you will always get screwed & then hello tears when the phone bill comes with extra units to pay for!

And I also went to fetch my health insurance card. Let’s hope I never need to use it.

Administration is a bore to me & so I was very happy when my friend took me to Sorrento for a late lunch. No, not the one that is located south of Naples opposite the Isle of Capri. Sorrento is a township in Victoria. The one that is located on the shores of Port Phillip on the Mornington Peninsula. It is about 1h30 car ride south of Melbourne. From what I read, it is a largely upper class, seaside resort area. I dipped my feet in the sea. Yes, I live dangerously from time to time!

Did I say I live dangerously before I actually told you about my trip to Springvale’s IKEA store?  & after that grocery shopping in Fairfield? Yeah, I think I did. My first day was a long one. But exciting & calm at the same time.

Day 2

You all know my passion about food & markets. So it will come like NO SURPRISE at all when I will tell you that I went to Victoria’s Market & the Tea House in Melbourne.

And after that I was taken to my belated birthday gift. A brand new, gorgeous & very sexy red bicycle that was waiting for me impatiently in Brunswick!!!

Day 3

You know what? I’m blanking out here!

Am I Australian yet?

Day 4

AUSTRALIA DAY N°1

I was kidnapped to Phillip Island to celebrate the Australia Day with a bunch of very young & fun Australians. But before that happened, I lost 10g of my weight by cutting a piece of my left thumb off. Yes, that IS my secret of staying fit at my age!!!

Like the name indicates, the place I was kidnapped to is an island. It is about 140km south-southeast of Melbourne. It forms a natural breakwater for the shallow water of Western Port. The island is 26km long & 9km wide, it has 97km of coastline & is part of the Bass Coast Shire. (Thank you Google!) It is known for its wildlife – fairy penguins, wallabies & kangaroos but I didn’t see any of those. The day was about Australia & not about the animals this time!

Dim sum in Chinatown MEL

Day 5

AUSTRALIA DAY N°2

Program of the day? Took my bike for a ride. Enjoyed the greenery of Victoria’s Gardens, walked on the Softbank, had dinner in the Chinatown & watched the sunset at St Kilda.

Fairfield Yarra NMIT campus

Fairfield campus today

Everybody will agree with me that mothers & fathers are usually the members of your family that are the most concerned about your well being (no matter your age!). I'm not saying that other members of the family aren't concerned, but these particular 2 actually say it aloud.

And so dear mum & dear daddy, before I start giving slightly more detailed info about my accommodation - I just wanted to let you know... I arrived safely, I have a roof upon my head, I have a bed to sleep in, there are several bathrooms, there is a kitchen where I can prepare my meals, there are game rooms where I can spend time with other students, there are security guards who keep an eye our campus 24/7. If I forgot something, it's probably because there is nothing to report.

When I started looking into schools & where I should be accommodated, I did not look for the information whether the school or the accommodation party had a good reputation like many other people would. I looked at the distances between one & the other & I looked at the weekly rate. Yes, that's all I needed to know. It isn't because I am not concerned about my safety. I just automatically assume that since this is a campus for students of all ages (but mostly half my age!), the safety must be there. Yep, I'm trusting that way.

When I moved in, I found out that this building used to be a hospital. Infectious diseases hospital, to be more precise. It was operated from 1904 & it closed in 1996. If you google it, you will find out that it is perched on the banks of the Yarra river at Yarra Bend in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fairfield. It had an international reputation for the research & treatment of infectious diseases. It was the last specific infectious diseases hospital in Australia.

Some of the students confided in me saying that it felt little spooky to them to be living in a building where people with typhoid, diphtheria, cholera, smallpox, poliomyelitis, scarlet fever, HIV AIDS used to live in. (There is a part of this complex of buildings where the dead bodies were burned.) I myself feel rather intrigued by such fact & I'm curious to find out more! For I find it fascinating how things were, how they changed, evolved.

Since closure in 1996, most of the hospital site has been redeveloped. The northern portion of it (including the majority of the hospital buildings) were sold to NMIT. You don't know who or what NMIT is? Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE. They offer a wide selection of study options in vocational education. They have different campuses. Mine is in Preston. So Fairfield is where I get to live & relax, Preston where I get to learn & grow happier.

Do you think you know it all by now? Well, lemme tell you one more thing (or 2 - naaah well, you know me, I cannot keep it short!!!). From 1956 till 1986, there was HM Prison Fairlea (first all female prison in Victoria) who operated at this location. Prior to that, it was Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum. Crazy, right?! I mean, literally!!! Then, in 1986 it was rebuilt, expanded, reopened, just to be closed 10 years later. In 2000 a hospital with a very high security forensic mental health opened. It functions as both a prison & a hospital, providing advanced clinical treatments & programs for the patients who are usually admitted from the criminal justice system. Either via prison transfer or from a court order for psychiatric treatment.

And now I ask - do you still remember what I wrote at the beginning of this post?

I love this campus. It has a history, a past & a very interesting present. It is surrounded by nature from & towards all 4 earthly directions. Wherever you look, there is grass, trees, flowers, birds... There are adventure playgrounds (for both kids & adults), a skatepark, public BBQ areas, Westfield reserve, Fairfield park, Fairfield boathouse & tea gardens, Merri Creek waterway runs through here & so does Yarra river, there are bridges. Both Merri creek & Yarra river have a bicycle trail named after them. On the Yarra river you can go for a romantic boat ride (romantic for her, sporty for him) or you can take your bicycle + kayak & get a whole body work out. For the richer there is also a golf park. There are always people walking, riding a bike, running, playing, eating. What is there not to love, right? Oh yeah, I do know of one thing - the flies. But let's leave that for another day.

But, where is my bed...?

Who said that 24h of flying was going to be long? Especially because, dear me, it was not a direct flight. Well, I actually didn’t see the time pass by. For once. At least not during the first part of my journey. I had an amazing chance to meet with lovely Slovak ladies who were travelling to India. One of my favorite destinations (even though I only went once!). They were kind, they were generous, they were chatty, they were fun. We all waited for our connecting flights at the Doha airport. Exchanging our personal stories, marital/companion statuses, shoe sizes. Dah, we are girls after all!

Life is well made. It puts amazing people onto your path when you least expect it & boy, does it feel uplifting! Obviously, during the second part I had no such luck but I didn’t mind. Greatness comes in small doses & I wouldn’t have been able to handle more anyway.

So instead of socializing with my neighbors, I watched few movies. Despicable 2 was my first choice & what a choice it was! I love “kid” movies. Since I was on the roll, I watched Blue Jasmine. Cate Blanchett is stunning in it! Not that the movie belongs to the happy group but I liked it very much. Third movie was about Steve Jobs. Boy, was he an angry bugger! Even though it was a movie about him (or so I though), I still don’t know much about him. Fourth & last movie – well, I would have watched more as the choice was quite extensive (& appealing) but have you seen the size of the screens on the planes??? – Ain’t them bodies saints with the very gorgeous Casey Affleck & Rooney Mara. But let’s pass, I can’t imagine you would actually be interested in my movie reviews.

Arrived to Melbourne safely, we landed almost on time. In one piece & surprisingly, rather fresh. Oh yeah, I washed my face & brushed my teeth just before the “keep your seat belt attached” went back on for the landing. A friend of mine was expecting me at the airport & I must say, I thank this universe (& HIM, obviously!) for those “little” favors! I’ve done a lot of travelling in my life & I’m sure that I would have found a way of getting to the accommodation on my own if I had to. But it was absolutely lovely to be able to just sit in a very comfy car & be taken to my new home.

Funny thing is – even though I communicated with the people from my accommodation, my room (let alone my bed) was not ready. Nobody actually expected me that night. So we had to wake the manager up.  Who then welcomed me barefoot, in his night gown. Hopefully he shall forgive my indiscretion & for divulging such a private detail from his private night habits. I found it very endearing & amusing. It also probably helped me not to get annoyed. Even though – I wonder what could have annoyed me today. I was so excited to be here after all the plans & preparations!

All right lovely peeps. Not that this hasn’t been fun, but I am supposed to be sleeping. Now that I have a temporary bed for the night, I shall try to take a full advantage of it. Wish me luck, for these people are 10h ahead of my sleeping time. Nite nite!

Day D

borrowed

This is it friends. Day D is here.

Day D – as in this is THE Day when I put it all in motion. 

Day D – as in the Dream that starts becoming true. Slowly but surely.  But I would rather that than nothing at all. 

Day D – as in the Destination that I’m heading towards to. Yes, it is at the other side of this planet. But lemme tell ya – this planet is smaller than you think!  

Day D – as in Down Under. Well yeah, I did say it was at the other side of the globe from Europe. 

Day D – as in Discover me! And believe me when I say, I sure will do my best to not to let you down. 

Day D – as in Damn, this certainly is exciting!

But who is Lana?

by Alex Oles Cheresko

Today is my 36th birthday. I was born at 5:40pm, in Bratislava, Slovakia. And my parents gave me a very luminous name, Svetlana.

I have lived in Slovakia for 19 years & then the travelling bug bit me. I moved to England for little less than 2 years. When I got "bored", I moved to France. Where I have lived for 15 beautiful years. With a small break in 2006, that's when I went to make one of my small dreams come true. And the dream? To live in Italy & learn that gorgeous language of theirs. OK, it was only for 2 months but it still counts as a break! I will soon go & live my other dream. Much bigger this time. I am going to a cooking school in Australia. YAY!

When I started this blog, I was living (for a short period - too short to my taste) in Japan. A friend of mine (yeah you, dear pusher!) kept nagging me about a blog and that's when this was born.

So why Lana's Svet? Because in Asia, they call me Lana. Why Svet? Because that's what they call me in Europe. But also because in my mother tongue, the word "svet" means "world". And because when you swap the place of Lana and Svet, it becomes me again.

And well, after all this time I have been posting (in a very irregular way!) my thoughts, I wanted to welcome you to my world. Feel free, feel happy, feel comfy, feel loved in it. Peace to you all.