Phoebe's fire alarm.

The episode started late at night at the Phoebe's unit. Her fire alarm was making noises for no reason. She decided to disconnect it from the wall. Then she was sure the problem was solved and went back to bed. The fire alarm made another noise. Phoebe took the battery out of the alarm, but it continued making noises, which made Phoebe angry.

She explored it carefully, looked at all the wires, but suddenly, when she got confused, she just smashed it with her shoe. After that the alarm rang even stronger and more annoyingly.

Phoebe's next action was to wrap the alarm in a blanket and throw it into a rubbish chute.

After some time a knock at the door woke her up and she heard her alarm beeping. She wondered how her alarm could get back. But it turned out that the fireman had brought Phoebe's alarm back to her. She tried to lie that the alarm was not hers to get rid of it. But there was Phoebe's name in the blanket with the alarm. So, Phoebe asked a fireman how she can turn it off. The fireman said she only had to press a reset button on the plastic cover. Phoebe got happy! She looked for the reset button, but she found it lying on the floor separately from the alarm.

Australian Aborigines, their instruments, habits, culture.

The Aboriginal culture of Australia is one of the oldest and most mysterious of all cultures on Earth and stands in direct contrast to just over 200 years of European history. There are many places where one can learn about this culture and even though Aborigines make up only 1% of the population, they live in all areas of Australia including the cities.


There were more than 250 languages spoken by Australian Aboriginals prior to the arrival of Europeans. Now they use only about fifteen languages.

Aboriginal people traditionally adhered to animist spiritual frameworks. Their oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in a Dreamtime. Major ancestral spirits include the Rainbow Serpent, Baiame, Dirawong and Bunjil.

The various Australian Aboriginal communities developed unique musical instruments and folk styles. The didgeridoo is one of the most famous musical instruments of Aboriginal people that we know. It was traditionally played by people of only the eastern Kimberley region and Arnhem Land, and then by only the men.  Clapping sticks are probably the more ubiquitous musical instrument, especially because they help maintain rhythm for songs.


Australia has a tradition of Aboriginal art which is thousands of years old, the best known forms being rock art and bark painting. Evidence of Aboriginal art in Australia can be traced back at least 30,000 years.


Woggabaliri is the oldest Aboriginal game. It was played mainly by the Wiradjuri people of central NSW before European arrival, Woggabaliri is a non-competitive "co-operative kicking volley game" played with a ball made of possum hide, using soccer type skills of teamwork and ball control.

I have found most of the information on a Wikipedia site, here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians

Australia web quest answers.

2. Animals:
Dingoes are Australia's native dogs and have features in common with both wolves and modern dogs, and are regarded as more or less unchanged descendants of an early ancestor of modern dogs.

The Platypus is an aquatic, furred mammal with a bill like that of a duck.

The Emu is Australia's largest bird and is related to the Ostrich. Most native mammals.

Kangaroos have large, powerful hind legs, large feet adapted for leaping, a long muscular tail for balance, and a small head. Female kangaroos have a pouch in which their babies grow. They are marsupials.

Koalas are found in South Eastern Australia and have been described as "ash coloured pouched bears". But they are not bears they are mammals ( meaning they feed their young on Milk) and are Marsupial (meaning they carry their developing young mostly in a pouch).

3. The Didgeridoo is a long wooden flute, perhaps the oldest musical instrument on earth. It has been made and played by Aboriginal people for thousands of years now. The droning sound of the didgeridoo represents with as much accuracy as possible the essences of the sounds of the animals, birds and nature.

4. The most famous and representaitive building in Australia is The Opera House which is situated in Sydney. It was designed by Jorn Utzon.

5. Uluru also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory. Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly remarkable sight when it briefly glows red.

6. Kakadu is a National Park. It is situated in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km southeast of Darwin.

7. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef supports a wide diversity of life, and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

My first post

Hello, my name is Katie and this is my first blog.

I don't usually do this because I'm a kind of a private person but in this case I have no choice)))) so we'll see how it's going to be.

I'm from Russia and I came to Australia about a month ago. I still feel new and a little uncomfortable here. My English is far from perfect but my goal for the nearest future is to improve it as much as I can and to make it close to perfect!! )))

Because my husband is Australian, I'm learning a new culture pretty quickly and I already know which is my favourite NRL team and why Shane Warne is so famous! By the way, I had never heard about the name Shane before I came to Australia. Since I came here, I've come across this name everywhere, so my first thought was - are all Australians called Shane?! )))

My plans for the future: I'm thinking of getting an Australian education when I know English pretty well and after to get a job that I'd like and be happy to do. (I haven't made up my mind about what I would like to do yet). So, I'll probably find an unqualified job which helps me to keep busy and to learn English better by talking to different people.

And the last one - why "kstovoblue", because Kstovo is my native town and blue is the colour I was wearing when my husband first saw me, so every time I wear blue now, he calls it "kstovo blue". )))