Monday 24 December 2012

Merry Christmas and Happy 2013

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We hope to see you in our 2013 activities!!!


See you!!!
The Australian New Zealander Catalan Society (www.aunz.cat)

Tuesday 18 December 2012

"Aunzcat" Singapore Airlines discount...

Xmas holiday in Australia or New Zealand?
Enjoy the discounts offered to Aunzcat members by Singapore Airlines!!!


Friday 14 December 2012

Catalan tradition...revisited...

An Aussie and an Irish living in Barcelona "explain" the story of  Caga-Tió, a Xmas Catalan Tradition... Just a joke...

Sunday 9 December 2012

Xmas Gift Ideas at Lu-Ink

Lu-Ink is owned by a Barcelona-based duo (she's from BCN, he's from Australia). Show your good taste getting your Xmas gifts from this shop&workshop opened in Barcelona in 2011.


Sunday 2 December 2012

Job Opportunity...

We've been contacted by a company's human resources department. This company is based in Barcelona.

They are currently looking for Australian native speakers to collaborate with them in a project that involves the linguistic and funtional testing of a software/hardware product for a client.

It's a temporary in-house position starting on January 2nd until March 2013 with an 8h a day collaboration. They are searching for people that are freelance and can invoice them. The salary is 2000 EUR a month (+IVA -IRPF).

It's a requirement that the person is native Australian and has experience in software testing or videogame testing.

If you are interested we'll give you the contact details.


Tuesday 27 November 2012

International Science Seminar by The Australian Studies Centre...

The Australian Studies Centre at the University of Barcelona and The Centre for Peace and Social Justice of Southern Cross University coordinate this international science seminar called Looking back to look forward  (10-14 December 2012).

Further info...


Monday 26 November 2012

Sunday 11 November 2012

Saint Patrick revisited at Lu Ink

Next 16th of November at 6:30 pm you can enjoy a "Saint Patrick revisited" at Lu Ink.
Several artists will collaborate and you can taste some hot&spicy wine or chocolate!

www.lu-ink.com
www.facebook.com/luink



Australia and New Zealand Opportunities Day (29th November)


Once again we are organising an event to talk about the Society and about the possibilities of migration/study in Australia and New Zealand.

Date: 29th November (4 pm)
Place: Pub Michael Collins, Plaça de la Sagrada Familia 4 (BCN)

Un altre cop organitzem un event per parlar sobre la Society i sobre les possibilitats de migració/estudi a Austràlia i Nova Zelanda (rebem moltes consultes sobre això)

Data: 29 de Juliol (16:00H)
Lloc: Pub Michael Collins, Plaça de la Sagrada Familia 4 (BCN)
Entrada gratuïta però cal confirmació enviat correu a aunzcat@gmail.com
Us hi esperem


Monday 5 November 2012

Kangaroo steak at Lidl (8th Nov to 10th Nov)

You can find it at LIDL shops from 8th to 10th of November

1 Kg   = 16,64€
300 gr = 4,99€

Thanks Susan for thinking about us while reading the leaflet!! :)


Wednesday 24 October 2012

Aussie projects in Catalonia: THE KANGAROO KITCHEN

Another interview to an Aussie who has started a project in Catalonia. She is Lauren Cahill, co-founder of THE KANGAROO KITCHEN, a cooking school for children in English.


When did you come to Catalonia?


St Joan's Day June 24th 2011

Do you know more Aussies living here?

Yes, one! My friend & business partner Bree.

What is your project about?

I co-own & manage a cooking school for children in English called The Kangaroo Kitchen. We hold regular weekly classes in a private restaurant, for children aged between 5-14 years. It is a fun, interactive class where we cook food from different countries and learn about that countries' culture, environment, animals, food etc.

Was it difficult to get started?

Not really. The biggest hurdle for me personally is my limited fluency in both Spanish & Catalan, but I am learning quickly and Bree speaks fluent Spanish & Catalan! We have had hurdles to jump in trying to understand how to reach people (in particular busy working parents) here. We've really had to rethink the consumer behaviour strategy we initially thought would work.

All start up's take an enormous amount of work but compared to the stress and hours I experienced from my previous corporate jobs, so far I am really loving this project. Who wouldn't love baking delicious recipes with a group of happy & hungry kids!

Are you optimistic about the future of your project?

Absolutely! Despite the economic hardships right now, there is both room for growth and a high demand for children to learn English in a non-pressured environment. Coincidently, Catalunya is only just seeing the start of the global baking craze so it's a good time for us to enter the market. The response so far from the kids & parents to our classes has been encouraging so we are happy

Thank you!!






Aussie projects in Catalonia: IMMERSCOM

We start here some short interviews to Aussies living in Catalonia, if you want to be part of it, send us an email.

Here you have the words of Andrews Ambrosius, who started his business 3 years ago, it's called IMMERSCOM and it's about business English training.

When did you come to Catalonia?

I moved to Catalonia 5 years ago, in 2007.

Do you know more Aussies living here?

Yes I know some, they all live in Barcelona though and I live in Manresa. I think I am pretty much the only Australian who lives in Manresa.

What is your project about?

My project is Residential Business English courses, basically we take Executives and business people out of the city and relocate them to a very nice comfortable rural environment for 5 days and immerse them in business and social English. They get to practice English for the entire week. We work on making them feel more confident with their English in many different situations. We develop presentation skills, telephoning skills, negotiation skills and many, many other useful business skills that people can apply straight away in their business life.

Was it difficult to get started?

The project is still only 3 years old, it is slow, especially with the crisis but we’ re happy with the outcome, people really enjoy the courses and that is rewarding. The group sizes are small but this allows us to offer a very high and detailed level of customer service. We are hoping to expand the number of courses we hold per year as well as the number of participants.

Are you optimistic about the future of your project?

Yes, I am very optimistic, it is a great product, our facilities are fantastic and people really learn what they need in a short period of time.

Thanks!

Sunday 7 October 2012

Interview to the President of the Australian Football League of Catalonia (LFAC)

I met Pere Casan, president of the Australian Football League of Catalonia (LFAC), the federation of Catalan footy clubs at the Michael Collins Pub while we were watching the Australian Football League Grand Final. He agreed to answer some questions to inform about the situation of Aussie Rules in Catalonia.

Does footy have many followers in this country?
Footy is still fairly unknown in this country. Most people know about it, but they don't know what is it about, what it stands for and the fact that they can play it in here. Footy is more known for its fights, hits and tackles than for what it really is: a great sport with a lot of strategy, dinamism, perfect to get fit and a lot of history behind.

How many clubs are in the LFAC?
Currently there are three clubs, two of which coexist in the southern part of Catalonia (near the city of Valls) and the other one in the outskirts of Barcelona.

Do they play international matches?
The clubs have played a few friendly games against other clubs from Spain, France and the UK. Our Catalan national team is a founding member of the nowadays called AFL Europe, organization through which footy is arranged around Europe. We have been playing in the Euro Cup (the 9-a-side European Championship since 2005). We have only missed 2012 due to the economic crisis, but we hope we can travel again to participate next year.

Can anyone practise Australian football?
In Catalonia, yes. We're amateur, so we're in it to have a good time. In Australia, they are professional athletes who earn salaries for playing footy. To be honest, we're also far from the best countries in Europe on this sport (Ireland, Denmark, UK, etc), but we still manage to compete with passion nonetheless. We welcome both catalans who want to try the sport for the first time (and we teach them) as well as seasoned Aussies who either live here for a short period of time and need to mantain their fitness, or those who live here in a more permanent basis and just want to keep some kind of contact with their background. The more the merrier.

If you are interested in playing footy, who should you contact?
Anyone interested should send an e-mail to info@lfac.cat and we will try to get the information required, and help in any other way we can. We are always looking for more players, everyone will be welcome.



Joan

Sunday 30 September 2012

"Taste Barcelona": culture, tapas, wine, walking tours,...

One of the AuNZ.Cat membres, Paul Morris from Melbourne and now living in BCN, has launched a new project, Taste Barcelona, a new way to enjoy Barcelona through a proposal designed for "Foodies" and for those with an interest in local wines and culture...

More info in our Classifieds section...


Good luck Paul!!

Opera from Sydney... Thursday 4th October La Traviata

Do you like opera?

You can enjoy La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi next Thursday 4th of October (20:30 pm).
It's an spectacular production by Opera Australia performed on the Sydney Bay.

PLACE: Màgic Badalona Cinema


We've got a couple of tickets... be the first to ask for them on the "comment" link.

Enjoy!!

AFL Grand Final 2012... Thanks for coming!

Once again we enjoyed togheter the AFL Grand Final, this time at Michael Collins Pub.

In this occasion we also had  our friends from the LFAC (Lliga de Futbol Australià de Catalunya), even its president Pere Casan (thanks Pere for the promotion).

Congratulations to the winners!


Thursday 6 September 2012

AFL Grand Final 2012 in Barcelona...

The Australian Football League Grand Final returns to its traditional date on the last Saturday in September.

Once again we'll keep the tradition, we'll be seeing the AFL Grand Final in Barcelona, another excuse to meet up.

Date/time: Saturday 29th of September, 6:30 a.m.
Place: Michael Collins Pub in Plaça Sagrada Familia, 4 (metro Verdaguer or Sagrada Familia) Tel. 934591964

Come with your friends. See you there!





Tuesday 4 September 2012

The Kangaroo Kitchen: Children's cooking classes in English

Children's cooking classes in English in Barcelona.

Lauren Cahill and Bree Gilmore from Australia and currently living in Catalonia offer a combination of cooking and English teaching in Barcelona for children aged between 5 and 14 years. Lauren and Bree have experience teaching English to adults and children. Lauren also has experience working for multinational companies in Australia, Hong Kong and London.

The Kangaroo Kitchen is located in Barcelona (Via Augusta/Diagonal) and Santa Perpètua de Mogoda. They offer regular weekly after school classes, holiday workshops, birthday parties and cooking classes in schools.

If you have children is a very very interesting possibility!!!

Tuesday 7 August 2012

New Zealand dormant volcano erupts after a century

A NZ volcano dormant for more than a century has erupted, sending up ash clouds, disrupting flights and closing roads (from the BBC) ...

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Spanish Civil War Tours around Barcelona...

Tours visiting some of the key sites in the city between 1936-1939. The tour covers themes such anarchism, George Orwell, the realities of daily life and bombing.

The British Nick Lloyd run the tours, he is a regular contributor to the Barcelona Metropolitan specialised in history and geography.

Sunday 8 July 2012

Australia & New Zealand Opportunities Day: Last Call ! / Últim Avís!

DIJOUS 12 de Juliol: Sessió sobre estudiar/treballar a Australia&Nova Zelanda...
THURSDAY July 12th: Session about study/migration to OZ&NZ...

Friday 6 July 2012

Flat white coffee in Barcelona...

Aussies & Kiwis are familiar with flat whites, you don't need any explanation...

A flat white is a coffee beverage. It's prepared by pouring microfoam (steamed milk from the bottom of a pitcher) over a single or double shot of espresso. It's similar to the latte or cafè amb llet. The beverage is typically served in a small 150-160 millilitre, ceramic cup.

Microfoam is used, resulting in a smooth and velvety texture. A flat white may incorporate "latte art" as you can see in the picture.



Lauren (one of our membres) says there are some places in Barcelona where they know how to serve a flat white: Federal Café and Cornelia & Co. If you know more places, let us know, please.

In case you want to try by yourselft, here you have a tutorial...



Enjoy!

(sources: wikipedia & Lauren)

Thursday 5 July 2012

English summer courses by Immerscom

Andrew, one of our membres and owner of Immerscom, has sent this info that could be helpful...
It's about 5-day courses surrounded by nature.

Monday 2 July 2012

Sydney Morning Herald: article about Barcelona with the help of AuNZ.Cat...

Weeks ago I asked some of you if you wanted to be contacted by a SMH journalist, he was writing an article about Barcelona in "the (sydney) magazine", a magazine sold with the SMH..

The article went to press and Dominic send me a paper copy. It was funny to receive an envelope in this "email age":


...even a hand-written note:

... and finally, the article:

The local chosen as the source for the article has been Lauren Cahill, they even comment on her Kangaroo Kitchen classes (Lauren, I'll give a  paper copy if you want).

Enjoy.
Joan

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Human towers Video


Human Towers, the three hundred years old Catalan Tradition unites three cities,  Santiago, Mumbai and Vilafranca del Penedès in this interesting documentary... Enjoy!!



A taste of the video...


Documentary website...

(Ariana inspired this post)

Monday 25 June 2012

Australia and New Zealand Opportunities Day (12th July)


Once again we are organising an event to talk about the Society and about the possibilities of migration/study in Australia and New Zealand (we receive lots of questions about it).

Date: 12th July (17:00 pm)
Place: Pub International, Rambles 81 BCN


Un altre cop organitzem un event per parlar sobre la Society i sobre les possibilitats de migració/estudi a Austràlia i Nova Zelanda (rebem moltes consultes sobre això)


Data: 12 de Juliol (17:00H)
Lloc: Pub International, Rambles 81 BCN
Entrada gratuïta però agraïm confirmació enviat correu a aunzcat@gmail.com
Us hi esperem

Sunday 24 June 2012

My vegemite cargo has arrived...

Paul's brother from Melbourne sent the periodic "Aussie food pack" and I got my part as you can see. Thank you Paul. This is the moment of the delivery...



The guy who appears in the picture is Paul, he tries to improve my English every week (sorry for the quality of the picture, my Blackberry did what it could).

More about vegemite...
From the blog
From the Wikipedia

Joan

Thursday 21 June 2012

Better Life Index

The OECD, a mainly rich-country group, has created the Better Life Index. The index uses 24 variables across 11 sectors to create a mesure of welfare for 34 of its member countries, plus Brazil and Russia. Australia is scoring first. (source: The Economist)


More detail about New Zealand...
More detail about Australia...
Full The Economist article...

Monday 18 June 2012

Dinner Friday 15th of June (Silvestre Restaurant)

Thanks to all of you who came!!!!

It was a dinner full of interesting people, stimulating conversation, the warm Silvestre's staff ...

There were people who have lived in Australia some time ago, Aussies, locals that plan to go to Australia very soon, some others,... An amazing mix, event a good place to talk about business but mainly to share experiences, opinions... and enjoy. I even forgot that my arm was broken (seriously).

If you couldn't this time, come to the next one!

Joan

Dinner from the East


Dinner from the West


Kangaroo and red wine



Tuesday 12 June 2012

Follow the sun (by Xavier Rudd)

Thanks Lulu for this post!


Xavier Rudd is an Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in 1978 and grew up in Torquay, Victoria. He attended St. Joseph's College, Geelong.
He has developed a strong reputation for playing live performances at musical festivals and concerts in Australia North America and throughout Europe. His following is particularly strong in Australia and in Canada, where he has recorded several albums.
Many of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as environmentalism and the rights of Aboriginal peoples. In addition to playing the yidaki in many of his songs, he has also included both Australian and Canadian Aboriginal vocals in some of his songs (source: wikipedia.org)


Here you have his song 'Follow the sun'...




and its lyrics...


Follow, follow the sun
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done
Breathe, breathe in the air
Set your intentions
Dream with care
Tomorrow's a new day for everyone
A brand new moon and brand new sun

So follow, follow the sun
The direction of the birds
The direction of love
Breathe, breathe in the air
Cherish this moment
Cherish this breath
Tomorrow's a new day day for everyone
A brand new moon, brand new sun

When you feel life coming down on you like a heavy weight
When you feel this crazy society adding to the strain
Take a stroll to the nearest water's edge, remember your place
Many moons have risen and fallen long, long before you came
So which way is the wind blowing
What does your heart say

So follow, follow the sun
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done

The English-speaking Children's Parents' Association



The English-speaking Children's Parents' Association provides a forum
for those interested in working to change the Catalan school system's
approach to native speakers of curricular languages.  They are a civil
society group whose aims are

Recognition of English as a heritage language (in Catalan, a
llengua d'origen), which would make it possible to sponsor
after-school mother-tongue English classes in Catalan schools,
beginning at age 6 (ten other languages are already recognised as
llengües d'origen)

Recognition of children who speak English at home and attend
Catalan schools as special needs learners for whom English as a
foreign language instruction is not appropriate

Advanced/enriched English instruction, especially at the secondary level

In the long-term, English-Catalan dual-language education.

They have a web site (sites.google.com/site/catangloampa/) and are
active on Facebook (just enter "English-speaking Children's Parents'
Association of Catalonia" into the search box).

Sunday 27 May 2012

Time lapse Auckland, Barcelona, Melbourne, Sydney

Time-lapse photography is a technique whereby the frequency at wich film frames are captured is much lower than that used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing (source: Wikipedia)

First time I heard about time-lapse was when Manuel (who has collaborated in all aunzcat videos) explained it to me.

Here you can enjoy some time-lapses...

Joan

Auckland

Barcelona

Melbourne and Sydney




Tuesday 15 May 2012

Collaboration with The Sydney Morning Herald (article about Barcelona)

A magazine that comes out with the Sydney Morning Herald is going to publish an article about Barcelona in the travel page.

They are looking for Aussies living in BCN (better if they are Sydneysiders, the SMH, you know), they want to know about 10-12 hidden gems from a favourite bar, restaurant, shop, place to stay, ...

If you want to collaborate send an email to aunzcat@gmail.com

Thursday 10 May 2012

Dinner Friday 15th of June

We have organised a dinner, just another excuse for Australians, New Zealanders and Catalans to meet up!

WHEN?    June 15th (Friday)
WHERE?   Silvestre Restaurant, Carrer Santaló 101 Barcelona (METRO Muntaner)
MENU?    Two courses + dessert  (3 options per course, including salad, fish,  risotto, KANGAROO,...)
PRICE?     28 Eur (water/wine included)

We are going to be about 25 people, if you want to have a good time with interesting people, just send an email to aunzcat@gmail.com


Hem organitzat un sopar, una altra excusa per trobar-nos australians, neozelandesos i catalans!
QUAN?  15 de Juny (Divendres)
ON?       Restaurant Silvestre, Carrer Santaló 101 Barcelona (METRO Muntaner)
MENU? Primer, segon i postres (3 opcions per plat, per triar amanida, peix, risotto, CANGUR,...)
PREU?   28 Eur (aigua/vi inclosos)


Serem unes 25 persones, si vols passar una bona estona amb gent interessant, envia'ns un correu a aunzcat@gmail.com




Saturday 21 April 2012

TRVL Magazine for ipad

If you have an ipad we have a recommendation for you. It's TRVL Magazine, a free App. Each issue presents a location-specific look at some of the world's most beautiful and fascinating destinations.

One of the reasons of our recommendation is they have published a whole issue about Australia (Red Heart), another one about New Zealand (South Island) and the one about Catalonia (Human Towers).

Enjoy them!!!


Sunday 25 March 2012

Field Hockey in Castelldefels

Do you miss your [Field] Hockey and finding it difficult to find a club in Barcelona?
Castelldefels H.C. Men's Section are seeking players for next season. The club currently runs a single Men's XI playing in the Catalan League but next season will field a second, Veterans team. Thet are therefore looking for players of all ages. The club is conveniently based close to Castelldefels train station, a 25 minute journey from Barcelona. In addition to the Men's section, they have a very successful Women's section, kids teams from the age of 5 years old and up, as well as training evenings for all levels.

more in the Classifieds Section...

Sunday 11 March 2012

English-Speaking Children's Parents' and Guardians' Association of Catalonia

Catalan schools, wheter public or independent, lack special programmes for native speakers of English. This group will work to change that.

Interesting site to visit... (click here)

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Australia & NZ Opportunities Day.... THE VIDEO !!!!

Last 19th of Feb we met at the Hogan's (now The International) in Rambles (BCN).
We are showing here a summary of the event.
Thanks to Manuel, our personal film director...


Tuesday 21 February 2012

Video by the Transport Accident Commision of Victoria

Video broadcasted by the Transport Accident Commision of Victoria.
Enjoy your friends, enjoy life.... but be careful
Hard to watch...



Thanks Manuel

Monday 20 February 2012

"Made in Catalonia" film festival: Cinema Nova, Melbourne (2,3,4 March)


Melbourne’s fourth 'Made in Catalonia' Film Festival (MiCFF) will be screened at Cinema Nova, Melbourne. Over the first weekend in March.  Organised by the Cultural Catalan Centre of Victoria, the Festival's aim is to promote the lively film culture of Catalonia.  

The Opening Night* film on Friday 2 March is ‘Heroes: Forever Young’, a drama
for General Exhibition. A young publicist, with a successful professional life but with an empty personal life, finds himself reconnecting with survivors of the most emotionally satisfying but challenging period of his childhood – the summer in which he was accepted by the local teenage gang - *Complimentary glass of Sangria Salamanca included

On Saturday afternoon the MiCFF will be screening  ‘Maria and I’, a remarkable documentary full of humour, irony and sincerity, about how an unusual pair of parents share the caring of their child Maria who has severe autism. The father is one of Spains’ most successful cartoonists, Miguel Gallardo, and the film is enriched with his animated cartoon commentaries.   

On Saturday evening the Festival presents the adult drama ‘Elisa K’.  Elisa, the ten-year-old child of separated parents, behaves a little oddly after a visit to the city, but that’s all. Fourteen years later she becomes terrified by a memory that has suddenly emerged from her childhood. A virtuoso performance by actress Aina Clotet.

A highlight of the Festival for Spanish history buffs is kept for the Closing Night on Sunday 4 March: ‘14 April: Macià versus Companys’. Television fiction under the formal guise of a documentary, which appears to have been recorded in 1932, yet with the methods, style and equipment of nowadays. Thanks to this journey through time, the heroes of one of the most important episodes in history of Catalonia during the 20th century discuss the details of that moment in the first person, while an inquisitive camera allows us to relive the events that took place in Barcelona three days that the Catalan Republic was in force. 

Festival's website:



Wednesday 8 February 2012

Opera from the Sydney Opera House in Barcelona...

From the Sydney Opera House via satellite here in Barcelona in High Definition...


Where?: Cinemes Filmax, Gran Via 2 Barcelona
Tickets: via SERVICAIXA or CINEMA FILMAX (in "Gran Via 2" Commercial Centre) or in MAGIC BADALONA's CINEMA.
Further info: Conchita Escura. Phone 670.615.798

Saturday 14 January 2012

Australian Week in Barcelona / Setmana Australiana a Barcelona

+Bernat, a bookshop in Barcelona (well, more than a bookshop: restaurant, cafeteria, meeting point, activities,...) organises an Australian week with books, Australian menu and conferences...

+Bernat, una llibreria de Barcelona (realment més que una llibreria: restaurant, cafeteria, lloc de trobada, activitats,...) organitza una setmana australiana amb llibres, un menú australià i conferències...

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Australia and New Zealand Opportunities Day (19 Feb)


We're organising an event to talk about the Society and about the possibilities of migrating/studying in AUS&NZ (we receive lots of questions about it). This event will be held in Catalan.

Estem organitzant un event per presentar la nostra Societat i aprofitar per parlar de les possibilitats d'emigrar (i/o estudiar) a Austràlia i/o Nova Zelanda, ja que rebem moltes consultes al respecte. Durant l'event una de les empreses col·laboradores (TrekYourWay.com) parlarà dels tràmits necessaris i donarà informació general al respecte.

Lloc: PUB HOGAN'S (Rambles 81), diumenge 19 Febrer, de 12:00 a 13:30 h

L'entrada és gratuïta però agrairíem confimació enviant un mail a aunzcat@gmail.com.

Us hi esperem!!!!