DAY 2 in Amsterdam- Heineken Experience

After this very interesting, but also kind of “not-funny- visit” we were searching for “HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE”- “THE” SPOT! For all the beer-lovers that’s the place to go to. At the entrance you get four buttons, for one you get a gift at the end of the exhibition and for the others you get beer.
The tour through the 140 year old brewery gives you an insight into the history, the brewing, the bottling, the worldwide communication, and the facts and figures about how many litres and how many people drink Heineken over the world.

In the end of “Heineken Experience” there’s the “SEE YOU AGAIN BAR”, where you can get your beer. There we got to know some Dutch men, who were celebrating a Bachelor party for one of those guys. “The-yet- bachelor” had to collect as many kisses on his shirt as possible, for which he got a beer. So they asked us if every one of us could give him a kiss. Well, as he was a goodlooker we didn’t refuse… Talking to them was just hilarious!
After this sweet coincidence with those guys it was already 8 p.m and we decided to get something to eat and to become sober again. (The 3 Heineken were strong!)
Pizzeria-here we come! Apparently, it was our day that day, because the boss and his employee were great fun- eating, drinking, and chatting! Could it become any better?
“Surely- Schnurli” as I prefer to say. When we got home I met some French guys, who were in Amsterdam to take part in a soccer tournament. Although my French “no est tres bien”, I managed to understand them or vice-versa.

DAY 2 in Amsterdam- Van Gogh

On the second day of our weekend-trip we woke up early and energetically left for visiting “the must-have-seen museums”. In our case, it was the VAN-GOGH museum. (When I told other people that I had been there they didn’t believe in me at all)

Anyway, although I am not very into art, I really liked the exhibition. This museum holds the largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh.

It houses more than 200 paintings, including many famous masterpieces like “Sunflowers”. The museum also provides a wide range of works of other 19th-century painters and sculptors.
Further information on Vincent Van Gogh: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh
If you go to Amsterdam you really should have a look at this museum, it’s worth the money.
VAN GOGH MUSEUM (Info): info@vangoghmuseum.nl

AMSTERDAM- ONCE AGAIN

Hey guys! Sorry, it’s been a while since I last posted an entry, but I’ve got a very good excuse: I was in Amsterdam over the weekend once more! I’ve already told you that I was there in 2005 and I returned to "the loveliest-city-ever" once again.

Although I had solely slept 3 hours and was therefore really tired, I was way to excited to go to bed when my friends and I arrived at the airport, named Schiphol, in Amsterdam. Anita, Daniela and Gudrun- my friends who accompanied me on this trip, couldn’t wait to see all the impressive sights for which Amsterdam is famous. As the sun was gloriously shining, we headed to our hotel called Hans Brinker. There we stored our luggage in the luggage room, because our room wasn’t ready then. Anyway, instead of wasting any time checking in, we decided to do so later in the afternoon. We wanted to take advantage of the great weather and headed for “the Dam”, the main street in Amsterdam which makes women lose control when it comes to shopping: A shopping paradise, which stretches over two “Mariahilferstraßen”. So Daniela and I decided to go on a little shopping tour- which in the end lasted about 6 hours. Anyway, Anita and Gudrun settled for a “Grachtenfahrt”- a drive through the canals of Amsterdam.
In the evening we dined out and went to bed earlier than usually since we were really exhausted from the rigorous sightseeing.

Girls just wanna have fun ...II

Last Tuesday Hermi, Julia, Johanna, Kristel and last but not least me decided to dine out. That time "Thomawirt" situated in the Leonhardstraße was our choice to celebrate Julia's, Joana's and Kristel's brirthdays a little bit. Additionally, we talked for a about an hour or more in English about a wide range of topics. But I really don't want to mention them now... it was mainly girls-stuff. However, we had a craic and the food was absolutely delicious.
Anyway, in order to improve our oral skills, to get to know the city of Graz a bit better and to share more time together, we decided to try out various restaurants in Graz.

So, meeting your friends and doing something useful with regards to university goes in one...

A House Somewhere - Chapter 2

"A Home in Paradise"

by Isabel Allende

Summary:

Since Isabel needed some free space, due to the divorce from her first husband, she accepted a two-month book tour through Europe and the United States. The last city on her journey was San Francisco, more precisely Marin County. There, during her reading William Gordon showed up. As he had read one of her books and liked it as well, he wanted to get to know Isabel closer. He took her around to show her the natural beauty of Marin County. To come to the point: they married.



Even though, it was in the nature of Isabel to travel around she ended up living in Marin County and grew roots in it. It took her a while to feel comfortable in the “Paradise”- that’s how she describes Marin County. However, she mastered to get accepted: she decided to learn English, to get a driver’s licence and to accept the customs. Finally, she adapted so well that she considers herself being a part of Marin County and definitely not feeling like an alien any more. It’s her home now and she loves it.

Isabel Allende: " ... I found the direct approach of Americans offensive. Their sense of time is so different! Time is gold: fast money, fast sex, fast food."

I really liked this story. Not only am I interested in the person of Isabel Allende, but also her writing style is funny, informative and descriptive at the same time. The excerpt of “A House in Paradise” was easy-and enjoyable to read. It’s really worth-reading.

VOCABULARY:

ferocious (wild;grimmig): fierce and violent e.g: Women can be ferocious when they fall in love.

gracious (freundlich; gnädig; gütig): behaving in a pleasant, polite, calm way e.g.:He was gracious enough to thank me.

ambiguous (doppeldeutig; unklar):having or expressing more than one possible meaning, sometimes intentionally

e.g.: His reply to my question was somewhat ambiguous

oblique (verblümt; indirekt):describes remarks which are indirect, so that the real meaning is not immediately clear

e.g.:She made several oblique references to the current financial situation

A HOUSE SOMEWHERE

As we have to choose another book apart from David Monagan’s Jaywalking with the Irish, I decided to read “A House Somewhere- Tales of Life Abroad”. As some fellow students of mine recommended it strongly, I thought why not and just gave it a shot. Furthermore, it’s not just one complex story so that you can stop reading whenever you want without knowing what has happened before, because the chapters are arranged independently from different authors who have experienced something different.


In CHAPTER ONE Jan Morris, a British historian and travel author who has already been to several places throughout the world like Spain, Venice, Sydney, Manhattan etc. writes about her affection of travelling around and staying in other countries. Although she likes being away from home and learning about other cultures and customs, she from time to time she feels very homesick when being abroad. Jan describes her homesickness with a Welsh word called hiraeth, which means longing, nostalgia or sometimes plain grief.

Summing up, she has had a lot of pleasure from travelling; nevertheless she misses the sense of belonging. To make a long story short, she misses Wales “as the powerful homing instinct is inexplicable.”

Interrail - Amsterdam

As I've already mentioned our first stop of our one-month backpacking tour was Amsterdam. Stop laughing! We weren't there to get toasted. No, we wanted to explore the city and sight see different areas. So, we settled for a drive through the "Grachten" (the Dutch expression for canals), waterways which exist within the city center. The three prinicpal ones are Herengracht, Prisengracht and Keizersgracht. Since the boat was very slow, we even werer able to take some pictures of some sights, or of some "things" which seemed beautiful or important.

Not wanting to stress ourselves, we were just wandering around the shops in the main area and enjoying the grat atmosphere. Back i our youth hostel we got to know the two Americans Courtney, Sasha and Jaghoub (Italian guy), whith whom we decided to check out the anticipating "Red-Light-District". Covering a large area in the oldest part of the city it has been servicing the personal needs and desires of locals and visitors for five centuries. Well, that was an eye-opening experience. I was speechless and it still remains undescribable. You really have got to be there and check it out yourself to get it. (I'd wanted to take some pics but I didn't want to get a clob on the head by a high heel shoe or get tossed into a nearby canal, so I didn't.)

Of course, we stopped by at a Coffee shop to see what's going on in there: seeing people smoking marijuana and drinking coffee. As there were coffee shops on every other corner, we decided to continue our "nighttime-town-walk" with our friends to sit down in other coffee shop. Unfortunately, we got hold of such a coffee shop where the "waiter" told us: "No drinking, just smoking!" Could you imagine something happening in Austria? Well, I don't think so. After ambling around, we finally found a bar where we got drinks as well.

Apart from that little misunderstanding nothing terrible happened. I think Amsterdam is great: the people are very friendly, warm-hearted, helpful and hospitable. People from other countries should take a leaf out of their book.

Interrail 2005

Hey guys! It's time now to put some personal stuff into my blog such as one of the most fascinating experience I've made so far: my one-month backpacking tour through some countries of Europe with my friend Tini.

This journey involved a lot of organised planning before actually leaving like: looking for inexpensive accommodation possibilities and finding out who to contact if any problems arise.

Well, as finally the day of our departure was getting closer and closer we really excited and anxious at the same time, because we didn't know what to expect of touring around with a backpack on our shoulders in more or less foreign countries. Once we left, there was no turning back. Our first stop was in the Netherlands, to more precise in Amsterdam. :-) Then we moved on to Spain, where we visited Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid and Sevilla and last but now least we relaxed a little bit in Portugal. ...Don't worry guys, you'll get more information on every stop ...
We were really inspired by the incredibly intoxicating and breath-taking atmosphere of each of these countries or cities. Not to forget all the new friends we made during our trip. I couldn't wait to meet new interesting people and talk to them.

However, I noticed that my personal attitudes have changed towards other people, their beliefs, their culture and customs. I've definitely become more mature and independent than I was before I left my mum's apron string, because we had to deal with our problems on our own. A good example for this is probably when my friend's Interrail ticket and passport were stolen. No mommy or daddy was along, who could help us out.

It was an unforgettable experience which I wouldn't want to miss. In my opinion, a lot more people should experience such a trip to broaden their horizons, become more tolerant and broad- minded people instead of carrying on being stuck in their roots. Everybody should be encouraged to take the initiative and go for such a type of vacation, which will be an experience for a life-time.

pics will follow, but it's not working right now

The heroe's back!

Last Wednesday was reserved for watching Spiderman at the Royal English Cinema. So Hermine, Julia and Susanne made ourselves feel comfortable: loads of popcorn and pop-ups was bought, which can't be missing on a typical cinema evening.
In part three of Spiderman you can enjoy Peter Parker as the good, eager and nerdy boy, but also as the bad, cool and irresistible man. His life seems to be perfect : he wants to marry his long-time girlfriend Mary Jane and in the streets of New York Spiderman is celebrated as "the" heroe.

One night in a park, while Peter and Mary Jane are on a date,a meteroite craches down on Earth and a black slime runs out, attaching itself to Peter’s moped.

In the meantime, Flint Marko flees from jail, becoming “The Sandman” by accident. When Peter finds out that the “Sandman” isn’t only a new, challanging enemy of Spiderman, but also the murderer of Peter’s uncle, he decides to kill Flint. Furthermore, a ew photographer called Eddie is hired and Peter is made redundant.
While Peter is asleep, he is attacked by the black, dangerous slime, which transforms him into a more powerful, but also more viloent Spiderman, influencing his behaviour for the worse…

Although I’m not very into such types of movies I like Spiderman, in the end I liked it. It was awesome and fun, not having any problems at all when it comes to understanding the dialogues and jokes.Nevertheless, some scenes were predictable and at times very kitchy.Furthermore, it was another Hollywood movie with patriotic character: Spidey jumps in front of a big American flag.
All in all, even for those who aren’t keen on such movies it’s worth seeing. It was a great evening, which we should repeat as soon as possible.

Oh my goodness!

When I was searching through the world-wide-web, I came across an article which almost made me puke. First of all, at the medicine.com it is said that eating sushi (raw fish) can cause an infection by parasites from the fish. Anisakiasis, that's how the disease is called, contracted from infected seafood which is eaten raw or marinated. Symptoms are: nausea, abdominal pain or diarrhea (within 12 houra of eating infected seafood; can last weeks to months)

The second article I found was telling the story of an Japanese man, who complained about persistent headache. However, he just put it off as a migraine and stress from work. The pain in his head got worse and worse, he even started to lose his psycomotoric skills. So he seeked for help. The doctors finally found out what the reason for his terrible headache was: tiny worms were crawling around in his brain.

Here's the link, to check the story out yourselves. Watch out the pictures are shocking and disgusting: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-brainworms.htm

See also the comments by medical experts: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-brainworms4.htm

"Dear Mr. President"

This job can't be fun....

Yesterday I came across the new song "dear Mr. President" by Pink which attractes a lot of attention world-wide. It is a song containing a serie of rhetorical questions for the American President, which deals with controversial issues such as homosexuality, drug abuse, war etc.

To know what I'm talking about, here are the lyrics to have a look at the song yourselves:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/pink/dearmrpresident.html

God save the Queen...

Presidents come and go, but for more than half a century, the queen has always been the queen.

President Bush was playing host for the royal couple (Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip during their two-day visit to the capital. It's the Queen's fifth visit to the States, where George W. Bush thanked her for the support during the Iraqi War. Yesterday, the White House was decorated to perfection for a white- tie dinner for the Queen, where about 134 A-list guests were invited. Who wouldn't want to get an invitation to such a big dinner party, when the Queen is present? Well, apparently there are more important things to do than showing up at such a big event. That's probably the reason why Helen Mirren, who won an Award for the portrayal of Elizabeth II in "The Queen" turned down the invitation of Her Majesty.

Since this story is not that interesting as others, the blooper of the American President made the crowd burst out into raucous laughter: he made the Queen 200 years older than she is. Embarrassing and the queen was not amused.

(article in the The New York Times)

Styrian Springtime

Austrians yodel, Austrians wear "Dirndl and Lederhosen" etc. are just a few of tons of stereotypes people have. However, in the week of 19th to 22nd April this image had definitely come true: The Vienna City Hall was the setting of the annual “Steirischen Ftühling”(Styrian Springtime)
It has been the 11th time that the “Steirische Frühling was held, where Styria, also known as the “Grüne Mark” (Green Marches) and its hosts presented or sold their local delicacies. As far as the eye could see, delicious,traditional Styrian food like the “Verhackerbrot”, or a great selecction of different wines were proffered. Not to forget the “Kernöl” or the “Apfelstrudel” for which the area is famous for.

However, I was working there, which was a real pleasure. I got to know loads of interesting people and had also the chance to practise my English by talking to people from all over the world. When it came to the explanation of a “Verhackerbrot”, I sometimes had hard struggles,but nevertheless the foreigners were able to understand what I was trying to tell them-more or less. The product which everybody was aware of was the “Schnaps”, a clear type of fruit brandy and its different variations (plum-, pear-, apricot-Schnaps).

So, next time check it out yourself. Try all the specalities of the Styrian cuisine and regio.It's really worth going there.

See ya next year!

Brokeback Mountain

Last Tuesday I watched the movie "Brokeback Mountain" with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. I was totally surprised how good the movie was, so that I had to watch it a second time.

It tells the story of Ennis Del Mar (Heath) and Jack Twist (Jake), two young men who seek for employment. They are hired by a sheep rancher to herd sheep on the nearby Brokeback Mountain. To follow the rules, one man has to stay at the base camp for preparing meals, and the other one has to watch after the sheep. So they solely meet for meals at the base camp. As the meals turn into heavy whiskey sessions and the drunken Ennis can't return to the sheep, he decides to stay with Jack. Ennis is invited to sleep in the tent with Jack where they have their first sexual encounter. The next day they talk about what happened the night before and insisit that they both "ain't queer". However, over the following weeks their emotional, but also physical relationship deepens.

Due to a heavy snowfall at the end of August, their job is done. Both being frustrated about their parting of their ways they started a brawl. Ennis marries his long-term fianceé and they have two daughters, living in Wyoming. Jack gets stuck in Texas, where he meets the rodeo queen Lureen, with whom he has got a son.

Excatly four years later, Ennis receives a card from Jack, where he asks if he wanna meet him. When Jack arrives, they immediatley start to kiss. What they don't know is that Ennis' wife is watching them. However,they spend the night in a motel together. The next day they go camping and decide to get together more frequently.

The years are passing and the marriage of Ennis and Alma worsens, it finally ends in divorce. Ennis moves into a shabby house and has to pay child support. As Jack hears the grateful news of the divorce, he drives to Wyoming in hopes that they can live togehter now. But Ennis refuses.

On their next camping trip, they talk about their lives what has happend during the time the haven't met. When Ennis tells Jack that they can't meet for several months because of job reasons, he gets frustrated. After a short struggle they end up in embrace.

Some time later, a postcard that Ennis sent to Jack about the next meeting returned to Ennis with "deceased". At once, he calls Jack's wife to ask what has happened. She tells him that Jack died in an accident when he wants to change a tire, which exploded. Furthermore, she tells him that Jack wished that his ash is scattered at the Brokeback Mountain. In the end, Ennis gets in contact with Jack's family to make Jack's last will come true.

Finally, I don't wanna withhold you the "maybe-stars" for a "maybe-part-two" of Brokeback Mountain. So, here we go:

Almost French

For our last English class we had to read an excerpt from Sarah Turnball's "Almost French".

It describes Sarah being invited to a Cocktail party, from which she expected definitely something different...

At the party, where mainly business people or lawyers are present, she realises that partying in France has a different meaning to partying in Australia: Neither do the French comunicate with Sarah, except for the person they came with, nor do anybody offer her a drink.

So, as an Australian she tries to break the ice by introducing herself to the other "party-tigers".To get the ball rollin she starts with chitchatting questions like "what do you do?" and so on. Unfortunately, it isn't working. Handing out drinks to the others was the next hole in which she stepped, that's to say that is considered to be impolite.So, people started talking about her and looking down on her.

Seriously, how the hell could she know that it's rude? Actually, she was gutted by the French restraint and the adherence of their old rules and formalities.

I really can understand how she felt at the party since I'm a very outgoing and laid-back person too. If she had had come to Austria, she wouldn't have had such a hard time . Although Austrians are at the very first beginning a bit shy, if you give them a bottle of beer they won't stop talking. The next time you meet them, it goes without alcohol.

I don't wanna characterise the Austrians as alcohol addicts, but it's just for "the ice-breaking thing" and to become more relaxed.