Also known as 'Destination Anywhere'. Second version of my blog in English. The main purpose of it is to write some kind of personal diary during my exchange in Würzburg (Germany), but there can be everything, from real stories to crazy poems.
Write a poem by putting your itunes/mp3 player/whatever you listen to music on on shuffle and writing down the first line from the first 20 songs that pop up. Use the first line from the 21st song as a title.
Here are some pictures of some of the people I mentioned in my last entry.
My choir buddies :)
David and Natalie
Ollie (the keyboard player) and Ross
Andy and Patrick (our director)
The boy and girls from County Amsterdam ;)
Annuska, Cristian and me
Tiia, Annuska, Pilvi and me
Anneleen
My dream flatmate
Albrecht and me
Last time, I also forgot to mention to some important friends of mine from the Internet.
Raquel:
Thanks for following this blog so faithfully... and for forcing me to update XD It's sad that we never got to see each other in Germany, but now we have a whole year in Salamanca to catch up.
Xavi:
You've also been following my blogs since Ireland, and during my time in Würzburg we've become really close, which I really appreciate. It was also a great time with you in Frankfurt (I've been obsessed with Sushi ever since).
Adi:
We met absolutely by chance, but I'm really glad we bumped into each other. You've been very supportive to me since we started writing to each other and we still have great talks about fiction and real life.
Tita:
I don't know whether you'll get to read this, but I know you've been visiting my blog since the old days in Ireland (just like Xavi), and I felt really proud that you even got to overcome your fear for techonology and leave a comment.
And now, last but not least, I'd like to do a little tribute to my tree. Every day I've spent in Würzburg, the first thing I'd see from my bedroom window was this tree.
I don't know what kind of tree it is, but I got to love it. I've seen it changing through every season - yellowing leaves in autumn, leafless and covered in snow in winter, blossoming flowers in spring and green and strong in summer. I just wish I had taken a picture each season...
By the way, if you relate this to the fact that I've been living in the Galgenberg, a hill where they used to hang people centuries ago, I have to think of a certain song. I was planning on posting and translating the lyrics, but as probably no-one will read them, so I'll leave you with this video instead.
It's been ages since I updated for the last time... and it's been over a year since the adventure in Würzburg began. My current adventure is probably not going to be that exciting, so I'll get the chance to tell you some things I didn't have time to tell you about Würzburg and Germany. Now let's get to the point.
What can I say? It was a great year. I can't believe a journey that started so desperate turned into such an amazing time with so many changes and new experiences. I've learnt a lot - and not only German. I can't say it often enough: I strongly recommend going abroad to everyone if they get the chance. It's really worth it. Just like on every special occasion, I'd like to mention some people who have been important during this time.
The choir:
I loved all the songs we sang (even though there were moments when I was starting to hate "Killing me softly"), but the most important thing is that it was great to meet you guys. I just wish I had attended your coffee meetings after the rehearsals a bit more often. Special thanks to David for picking me up every Monday :)
The people in the DSH-course:
If there was an intense time, that was September last year. I can't believe we made it to go out almost every evening and still survive the four-hour intensive course! In the end, we all went separate ways and maybe we should have tried harder to meet after that, but I'd like you to know that you'll still be in my memory. Most of you are probably back home, but wherever you are, I hope you're all doing great :)
Pilvi, Tiia, Cristian and Annuska:
Tananata *nods* tananata *nods* Stupid things aside, our trip to Amsterdam was for sure one of the highlights. Cristian - I'm just sorry that we started to bond most when you already have to leave, but I hope we'll still stay in touch. Tiia - you're a really fun girl full of surprises, I just love your sense of humour! Pilvi - I hope to see you (and Tiia too) in Salamanca soon, you're great company for a night out ;) Annuska - you changed my life in ways you'd never suspect without having a clue, so I guess I should thank you for that. I wish you all the best of luck and hope to see you again - in Amsterdam or elsewhere!
The Germans:
Dominik, Jana, Manuel, Rebekka, Emine, Jakob, Mareike and (last but not least) Albrecht. It's always hard to get in touch with locals when you're abroad, but I'm glad you were able to break up with the stereotype. And Albrecht, all I can say is that you're simply the flatmate of my dreams!
Anneleen:
I loved visiting you in your hometown. You have a great family (do you think your parents would be interested in adopting a fifth child? :P) It's a pity that you could only stay five months, as you were probably one of the people I had most fun with. I'm sorry that the thing with Brussels didn't work in the end, but I hope we meet again soon, whether in Spain, Belgium or Germany again.
Marco:
We haven't had much contact for quite some time, but as I told you the last time we phoned, I just wish you all the best and a lot of happiness.
The cutest cutie in the cutieverse:
There's nothing to say to you other than what I tell you everytime we talk. You're simply wonderful and always make me feel very lucky. Or in just one word... RAKATUKUTUKUKUTUKURUKUTUNTUN!!!
And coming soon... my tree and some pictures of the "suspects" ;)
Although I'm already done with the exams (and leaving Würzburg in about a week), here's the traditional post about the courses I've been taking in the summer semester.
1. THE SECRETS OF GERMAN GRAMMAR
Real title: Sprachwissenschaftliches Seminar II (Linguistics II)
Type: Seminar
Lecturer: The one with the very long last name (again)
What it consists of: We learn EVERYTHING about German grammar - we analyze phrases using tree-shaped diagrams. It's more interesting and difficult than it sounds, really. Oh, and the best thing about it is that we foreign students seem to know some things much better than Germans (they don't even know their own verbs!)
What to do to get marks: Written assignment (thank god I did it together with the Finnish girls! Otherwise I wouldn't have survived it!) and exam... which was last week and didn't go as well as I'd like to...
2. HOW TO BECOME A TEACHER
Real title: Einführung in die Didaktik der spanischen Sprache und Literatur (Introduction to the didactic of Spanish language and literature)
Type: Übung
Lecturer: The adorable Rayman... erm... Reimann
What it consists of: Let's face it - the course is damn boring. Some terms ring a bell to me because I faintly recall having heard something about them in Linguistics, but most of the time I have no idea what it is about. It's really theoretical and I don't think I've learnt anything useful at all... but the lecturer is just adorable! He printed some documents for me and gave me some practical advice in case I want to teach Spanish in Germany. I just have to love him.
What to do to get marks: Nothing! I just got a paper stating that I visited that course for being there every day.
3.THINGS YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW
Real title: Tutorium zum Sprachwissenschaftlichen Seminar II (Linguistics Tutorial)
Type: Tutorium
Lecturer: Fat Kat (god, that was mean :S)
What it consists of: We basically repeat the same things we learnt in Linguistics, but the girl (who by the way is rather cold and boring) doesn't seem to manage to get anyone's attention... and most of the students don't seem to give a damn about it. She asks the same questions everyday and I'm often the only one who answers...
What to do to get marks: You don't get marks.
4.GERMAN FILMS FOR DUMMIES II
Real title: DaF-Filmseminar (Film seminar for international students)
Type: Kurs
Lecturer: Our good old Dominik
What it consists of: Pretty much the same as last semester, but as this time there were like twice as many people, we don't really get a chance to discuss the film in more depth or to answer questions, as we have two or three presentations every day. Some remarkable things are the lecturer, who's just a great guy, the trip to Munich we went on to visit the Bavaria Filmstudios and the film "Das Leben der anderen" (The lives of others)... simply amazing!
What to do to get marks: Written assignment and presentation about one of the films - in my case, it was the Star Trek parody "(T)Raumschiff Surprise", and both went quite well.
5. SLANG FOR BEGINNERS
Real title: Wortschatz (Vocabulary)
Type: Kurs
Lecturer: Bruce Willis
What it consists of: First of all, you get the impression that all German words sound the same, as most of the exercises we've done were about words that are easily mistaken. Apart from that, we learn synonyms for many words and slang. It's a very interesting course and the lecurer is great fun... and hot!
What to do to get marks: Exam, which was last week and wasn't bad at all.
6. MORE SECRETS OF GERMAN GRAMMAR
Real title: Gasttutorium zum Sprachwissenschaftliches Seminar II (Lingustics tutorium for international students)
Type: Tutorium
Lecturer: Ellen
What it consists of: A group of foreign students meets to revise what we learnt in Linguistics. Ellen, the girl in charge, is really nice and managed to get the class involved pretty well. I take my hat off for her.
What to do to get marks: You don't get marks.
7. FUN FOR FOREIGNERS
Real title: GastStudentenBegrüssung (I don't really know how to translate it)
Type: Seminar
Lecturer: Emine and Jakob
What it consists of: It's just great! We meet every Wednesday evening and do something else each week - once we analyzed poems, another time we went to the cinema or the theatre... we even had a farewell barbecue! The main purpose of it is to get to know new people and to get to know Würzburg a little better. Besides, Emine and Jakob are really nice and easy-going. She's a 24-year-old Turk and he's 26 and from Würzburg.
What to do to get marks: I didn't get marks because I didn't go to every session, but if I had, I would have had to give a presentation about my home land.
I'm back! Well, in the end the writing marathon hasn't worked the way I expected... but before the weekend is over, I'd like to leave something else from me here.
The inhabitants of every country tend to complain that tourists merely visit the biggest and most popular cities. No-one cares about small villages, which can often be much more interesting than cities... Well, I decided to follow this piece of advice and, apart from beautiful Bamberg I've been to two more German villages in the past weeks.
Probably there's not much to say about them. Both of them are engaged in wine production and they are respectively located close to two of Germany's most important rivers: the Main and the Rhine. The nicest things to do there are roaming their cute, romantic streets, while looking at their old buildings or sitting in one of their numerous inns or wine taverns. That's why there might not be much to say about them... but there are certainly things to show.
Wineyards in the Rhine area
Hana (Czec Republic) and Pirjo (Finland) by the Main
Main street of Sommerhausen (Main)
More of the main street of Sommerhausen
Anniina (Finland) and Kristiina (Estonia) in a cute wine tavern
One of the specialties from Sommerhausen - vanilla ice-cream with biscuits, whipped cream and rose jam... delicious!
Julia (Russia) in front of a traditional German house
And last but not least, a street of a village in the Rhine area. Apparently, the plans for the church were stolen from some Middle East country.
First of all, SORRY SORRY SORRY and SORRY once again! :( In order to compensate for having disappeared for one month, I'm gonna try to have a blog marathon this weekend (for once there are no interesting plans in sight...)
Yesterday our university celebrated what they called the Nacht der Lichter (Night of the Lights). As none of my German friends outside Würzburg had heard about it, I had assumed that it might be some ritual related to Würzburg. However, to be sure I looked it up on Wikipedia and (to my dismay) I found out that it's related to some religious meeting for young people in the French town of Taizé (!!!), which has little to do with what we did last night. In the end, the only thing I found on the wikipedia article which can be remotely similar to our Nacht der Lichter is a way to celebrate the change of season, so... I take it that's probably what it was about.
In the photos you'll see pretty much what it was like. It began in the campus fields around 20.30 (it was not yet dark) and I don't know how long it went on - we went home around midnight and they were still there. In a few words: chips and bratwurst, drinks, live music, fire jugglers and a certain Woodstock feeling. Here's some illustration.
From left to right: Rachel, me and Anthea. Both of them are from England. In fact, we had quite a British evening last night ;) And I have to say that they all surprised me positively, as they were quite a fun group. Besides, I had a chance to speak English.
More people in our group: Julia (Russia), Charlotte, half of Andrew, Chris, Laura and half of Anthea (all from England).
The Finnish girls also joined us, and here am I with them: Tiia, Annuska and Pilvi.
And this one so that you can have an idea of the atmosphere on the fields. Notice the nice lights all around. There were different colours and even some huge scented candles. But for me, the best was getting 'infected' with the party spirit and having a chance to mingle with people I hadn't seen for quite some time. Yes, that was definitely a nice night!
One thing you need to know about me is that I'm terrible at anything resembling household tasks. I'm lazy, chaotic by nature and my cooking repertoire is quite limited. Another thing you should know about me is that when I like something or someone, even if it can sometimes be slightly obsessive, I try to learn something from it. Now thanks to my fascination for a certain character of a certain TV show (and boredom), I've decided to improve my cooking skills and try some new things. And I'm pretty proud of the results. Here's a picture of what I had yesterday for dinner... and yes, I made it myself :)
Exactly! Croquetas... with ham and cheese inside. I know the shape is not perfect, but as Robbie Williams says 'please be gentle, I'm still learning'. Besides, I have to say that they were DELICIOUS! I enjoyed eating them as much as I enjoyed cooking them. Isn't learning fun?
Although not many people know them outside Germany, they are one of the most popular and successful bands in this country nowadays. I have to admit that I didn't know them too well either and the few things I had listened to in You Tube were not particularly my cup of tea - too depressing, too pop... Even so, when my friends told me that there was going to be a concert by Silbermond in Würzburg, I thought I shouldn't miss it, as there's usually not much going on here. And that's why we did yesterday.
Probably the fact that I didn't have too many expectations was the reason why I was positively surprised by this band. The concert took place in the S. Oliver Arena, which is not particularly big (what can you expect from Würzburg, anyways???) We had to stand for the whole concert, which was around three hour long, as our tickets were not for the tribune. But of course, that didn't prevent us from having great fun and even dancing and cheering with the rest of the fans. The only pity, though, is that small as I am, I couldn't see much of the stage.
The concert started at 8 with a supporting band whose name I didn't manage to understand, even though they said it three times. The only thing I got was that they were from Augsburg. Although mainstream, they sounded pretty good and full of energy, very rocky. They sang in English and, of course, the lead singer didn't forget to mention that we were 'the best audience they had ever played for'... a classic...
Silbermond started performing around one hour later. And I must say that they sound much better live than anything else I had heard by them before. At the beginning I was slightly afraid that Stefanie Kloss, the lead singer, would lose her voice in the middle of the concert, since she seemed to like adding a certain 'heavy metal' voice to their songs, if you know what I mean... But hey, she proved to have a great voice, which got even better throughout the concert. Apart from that, something I really liked about her was that she was very friendly and fun to the audience. She asked us a couple of times to clap our hands, do the wave and even sing along. She also talked a lot, unfortunately a bit too fast for us foreigners, and I could see her running and jumping around the stage, with a lot of passion and energy. Together with Thomas, the guitarist, she also sang two songs only with accoustic guitar from the tribune, surrounded by fans trying to take pics of her with their mobile phones.
Probably their most popular song is Symphonie, which was also covered by Sarah Brightman in English. Other hits they sang were Durch die Nacht, Keine Angst, Unendlich and Nicht mein Problem, a duet with another singer, who also performed with them. Apart from that, they also took a very brief break in which some comedian recited two 'poems', one of them consisting entirely of numbers (543212345...) and the other one being simply the alphabet from Z to A. Later, when we all thought it was over, the members of the band went back to the stage and played a very good and inspiring medley of different rock songs (We Will Rock You, Smoke on the Water...) and the singer joined them singing (very well, by the way) a fragment of Joan Jett's I love Rock n Roll. We got some bonus tracks (to my taste, they postponed the ending a bit too long, but I enjoyed it anyways) and she closed with Das Beste, to all couples' delight, which she repeated so that we could sing along.
All in all, it was a great experience and I'm glad I went. I knew very few songs, but that also gave me the chance to discover some really nice ones. Here are two of the most popular ones:
User-made video with different images related to the lyrics to Symphonie.
