The European Dream

Just finished reading a fairly fabulous book called The European Dream by Jeremy Rifkin. He's an American with v agreeable views on Europe. Anyway, thought the last few lines were worth sharing:
"Much of the world is going dark, leaving many human beings without clear direction. The European Dream is a beacon of light in a troubled world. It beckons us to a new age of inclusivity, diversity, quality of life, deep play, sustainability, universal human rights, the rights of nature, and peace on Earth. We Americans used to say that the American Dream is worth dying for. The new European Dream is worth living for."

Love to all,
xx

ps - on a slightly lighter note; if you haven't seen Pride&Pred yet then I recommend you go see it. I saw it last night and despite it being overdubbed in German, thought it was wunderbar! The only negative I could think of was the lack of Mr Darcy emerging from the lake, but you get to see him walking across a field at dawn instead, so all is not lost! Plus, Mr Bingley is über cute in this one too :-)

A Sunny Post for a Sunny Day

It's such a gorgeous day! it's the 28th October and it is so hot - 20 degrees. Just been wandering around Fulda in the sunshine, bought myself a döner kebab (they are so good here. I mean, you don't have to be drunk to enjoy them, unlike in Britain) and then sat and ate it in the Schlossgarten. The gardens were full of people chatting, sunbathing, reading, lazing around, even juggling. And they are so nice at the moment - golden leaves everywhere. It was ace :-)

Anyway, just wanted to share my current smiley state with you. Thought it might be good to have a non-alcohol related post too. Worried people might start to get the wrong idea about my activities here in Fulda and Bec's comments aren't helping...

Big hugs xx

Lust auf dem Studium

Hey Peeps,

How's life? I'm feeling a rather strange combination of contentedness and uncertainty (Unsicherheit - can't find correct translation). Content because it's the weekend - hurrah for having Fridays off :-) Uncertain because it is the weekend and I am looking at a blank canvas. I have no plans at all and I don't like it. Surely the parties can't have dried up already. I think it's just because it is the first Thursday night without a big party at the uni :-( Still, life isn't all about partying. I am here to study.

I tried really hard to make the upcoming weekend a studious one today. I went to the library with the aim of getting books out (feeling rather proud of my achievement.) I found 3 books that would have been perfect for the job, took them down to the electronic machine, and proceeded to be shown how to get them out using the new electronic machine (think the FH library is v proud of its new technology). The woman showing me how to use the machine was almost as bemused as I was when the machine refused to check them out. The reason for the machine's refusal to comply was soon discovered; apparently the 3 books I had chosen were all unausleihbar (non-get-out-able). I had found them in the Semesterapparat - the section of the library where the Professors put all the important books. Yep, the books that are of most use cannot be borrowed. I suppose it makes sense in that if one person had them for 4 weeks (the standard borrowing time) then no-one else could access them, but why not have a reserve section like Edinburgh where you can borrow books for 2hrs or even a short loan section where you have to return them after a week. It seems they do things differently here. Well I'm rather cross at the whole system and have taken it as a (probably successful) attempt by the authorities that be to prevent me from having the studious weekend that I vaguely thought about.

On the bright side, there is some work I can do. As part of our Xenology seminar we have to do group projects on an aspect of German culture that we find strange, different or intriguing. Bec and I came up with an ingenious idea, found 3 others who expressed an equally large interest in the subject and then had to positively refuse other ICEUS-Leute from joining our group. Our chosen topic to investigate is, wait for it... German Beer Culture! Pretty cool hey?! So we are going to investigate such important issues as when it is appropriate to drink (what time of day and in what situations - we are going to drink a beer or two in class and see how our fellow students and teachers react), where it is appropriate to drink (again, in class, and then, on the street, at the bus stop, etc. etc.), also how society reacts to people drinking beer and then all the different rules and norms that go with German beer drinking. So, for our research we get to drink beer, record the reactions of others to our beer drinking, and investigate various different types of pubs, bars and parties. Beer drinking in the name of uni-work. Brilliant.

Hmm, so I guess where the library failed me, my Xenology project may prove to be the saviour. I can do some research after all :-)

Love to all,
xx

Frosch im Loch

Being the kind of person who likes to try and please everyone, I have done my utmost to satisfy the photo requests. To the left you can see a photo of myself with my rather sexy bike, Augusta, and, low and behold, I am holding my homework diary, thus 'studying' :-) Hope that keeps you happy My! And I hope you all approve of my new set of wheels. I like to think that where she is lacking in functionability (lack of lights, bizarre clunking noises etc. etc.) she makes up for in style.

So it is autumn here in Fulda (and probs everywhere else actually come to think about it) and the trees are all looking stunning. For those of you who don't know, my flat is located v near to the Schlossgarten (palace gardens). Yesterday me and Bec went for a walk through the park and took a few pics. (Note the self-portrait Ruth!) Yep, Fulda is looking gorge at the mo, shame it's a sign of the impending winter. Brr, feeling cold just thinking about it. Have started preparing myself for the cold temperatures though and have invested in some highly impractical shoes that are highly unsuitable for the winter months, apart from the fact that they have sheepskin fur inside them. Excellent :-)



To the title of this post. Some of you may be wondering what crazy words I have chosen this time. Well, they literally translate as 'frog in the hole'. Can you tell what it is yet? (Rolf Harris stylee) Last night was Desperate Housewives Night. Basically a group of girls of various nationalities (we had German, Brit, Aussie, French, Swedish, Vietnamese and Belarussian last night) meet up, eat food from one of the represented countries, drink red wine, watch Desperate Housewives (overdubbed in German, grrr) and have a girly night in. Last night was my turn to cook. Me and Bec created what can only be described as a meal fit for kings (or queens perhaps). Two big toad in the holes, one giant veggie yorkshire pudding, mashed potato and swede, peas and gravy (made from Bisto's finest gravy granules). I have noticed some rather unfair stereotypes about British culinery delights, namely that all foreigners think our food is tasteless rubbish. Anyway, I saw this as my opportunity to prove everyone wrong. The pressure was high but I am pleased to announce I did not crack. The meal was a roaring success, the shock on everyone's face at tasting 'yummy' British food was priceless :-) And I got to eat yorkshire pud. Mmm mmm. Everyone was happy. The wine was good too. My 8am Europarecht (European Law) lecture wasn't...

Decademia

Hello, hello, hello. Hope everyone is fine and dandy. I'm having a day of studying (a first for me since arriving here) and I have reached the point where I need a break. George Dubya is still making his UN World Summit speech in the background (have to research summit for a 2-day long block seminar on the UN next week). Needless to say, he's being as insightful as ever. But enough about politics...

I have been in Fulda for 4 whole weeks now and it has gone so so fast. Since leaving York everything has fallen almost perfectly into place. The trip over with Paul went without a hitch (apart from one minor driving error where we almost drove the wrong way down the dual carriageway. Was quickly rectified by a handily placed sliproad that actually took us to the road we were looking for in the first place...) Our trips to Bonn and Bamberg were spot-on (was lovely being back in Bammers, visiting all the key places - Zum Weidenhof, Spezi Brewery and Biergarten, Eiscafe, COE, irish pub, steak restaurant, mmm, steak...) and Paul even got to visit Fulda's Turkish bar for some belly dancing fun with an American Professor before he left :-)

Then it was the orientation week - 7 days of sorting out the admin stuff, getting to know international students (wie heißt du? woher kommst du? was studierst du? wo wohnst du? etc. etc. etc.). It also included an overnight stay in the Rhön - a national park near Fulda. We stayed in a YH on the top of the highest mountain in Hessen (the Wasserkuppe) and had a night of silly games, alcohol and a torchlit walk in horizontal rain. All good fun.

As soon as the orientation week ended, classes began. My course is a 2 year masters in Intercultural Communication and European Studies (ICEUS). Our class has about 25 people in it and it is a pretty impressive mix of nationalities, ranging from China and Taiwan to Uzbekistan, to Indonesia, to Australia, to Spain, to Bosnia, to Slovakia and the Czech Republic, to Belarus, to Turkey, to the USA, oh and to Germany and GB. We have all our classes together (that's 24hrs a week) and so we are getting to know each other pretty well through our studies and then the social events help too. The course is a mix of politics, law, communication and cultural studies. It's pretty interesting having such a diverse group of people studying together - we are learning so much just from hanging out together.

Apart from the studies all is good. Despite Fulda being a small small town (60 000 peeps) there seems to be a lot going on. There's always a party to go to and over the past week or so I've found someone who finds it almost as hard as me to say no to a party! Yep, Bec is pretty crazy, I guess it's probs those Aussie genes. Anyway, am making the most of the start of the term and small quantities of work. This Thursday was a student party at the uni. Played drinking games and drank amaretto and apple juice at Bec's place with a group of international students then we headed to the party and met lots of ICEUS people there. Danced the night away, right to the last song, which, bizarrely was Robbie Williams' Road to Mandalay. Yep, the pictures on the right are from the party (Bec&Alberto, Seda,Ragil&Chia-Lin and Me,Bec&Ragil). The next night was Anne's 21st (Bec's french flatmate). Flat party with lots of people, lots of cool music, lots of alcohol, some more crazy dancing and an estimated time of arrival in bed of 6am. Yesterday I slept, today I am studying (kinda) and tomorrow lectures start again... No rest for the wicked!

Love to all xx

Greetings one and all!

Welcome to the unique insight into my slightly mad life and totally insane mind that is this blog.
Hmm, yes. So as I am now in foreign lands (schon wieder), I thought it would be a cracking idea to get myself one of these blog things so my various relatives and mates from home, from Ed and from Bammers can see what I am up to.
So here it is. I hope it will interest, entertain and maybe even bring a wee smile every once in a while...