10 Ways to Keep Calm while Being Frantically Busy

School and University can be extremely stressful, especially at the end of a semester, when students have to take many exams. To keep a cool head, here are some tips and tricks that should help you not to freak out while studying.

1. Get organized! Write down the dates for your exams (if your teachers are generous enough to inform you at least one weak beforehand), calculate the time you will need to learn all subjects and set up a well-structured practice plan.  And most importantly: Stick to it. Otherwise it will be useless.

2. Stay away from entertaining things! If you study on your couch, with your Playstation and your TV right in front of you, you might most likely get very frustrated. This also applies to your smartphone, or any other gadget that has facebook on it. Trust me, even if you think you are a disciplined person, your subconscious mind will hate you for any temptation that it has to fight.

3. Make sure that you have enough to drink and to eat! Either you find yourself a very nice person, who is willing to prepare 3 meals a day, or you just buy a huge amount of softdrinks, chips and sweets. It is very important that you don’t have to cook yourself. Time is money.

4. Have a break every now and then. Scientists have found that already after 30 minutes of intensive studying, concentration ceases significantly. You could for example use the time to check your Facebook messages. But keep the breaks short.  You might fail the exam if you take less time for studying than for breaks.

5. Have a positive attitude! Remember that knowledge is power and that you study for yourself. Not for your parents, not for your grandma, not for your teacher and not for your friends – just for yourself. Tell yourself that you can pass the exam easily, if you study enough. This will help you to stay motivated.

6. Practice SPA-studying. Why not apply a face mask (if you are a guy, leave that step out), jump into your bathtub and take your school books with you? Meanwhile you can also enjoy a glass of Champaign. If you don’t have a bathtub, a footbath is a great alternative.

7. Try to get some sleep during the nighttime. I know it is tempting to pull an all-nighter just before an exam, but trust me, I made some experience with that and I can tell you: Everything you study in that night is in vain. Moreover you will most likely get a blackout during the exam. You should sleep at least one or two hours per night. It will make a huge difference.

8. If you have a problem with getting up early, you can study in your bed. Just make sure that you have your books and your notes on your night table, so you don’t have to move too far to reach them in the morning.

9. Don’t waste your time trying to invent a super innovative crib sheet. You will be very annoyed if your teacher still catches you at cheating and even if you pass the exam you will fail the next one due to your lack of previous knowledge.

10. If you still fail the exams, don’t get desperate. Life goes on and you will probably get a second chance to prove your skills very soon.

I hope these tips have helped a little bit and you don’t take this post too seriously. Good luck with your exams!

Why Vegan?

When I tell people that I’m a vegan, I get many different reactions, but most of them have something to do with pity. Most commonly they tell me that I will die due to nutrient deficiency or they ask me what I have left to eat when there is no meat, dairy or eggs in my diet. But I don’t see veganism as a restriction. It’s enrichment. Here is why:

Veganism is indulgence, as long as you´re open-minded for new tastes and experimental cooking. I was overwhelmed by the variety of ingredients and spices I found in vegan cookbooks and all the cooking websites on the internet. There is much more to explore than you might think. Of course, meat can also be prepared with exotic spices but those vegan recipes triggered my interest. Facing this new horizon of cooking, you´ll see that it is not a problem but a pleasure to dispense with meat, dairy and eggs. Even if your favourite dish is non-vegan, there are many excellent vegan substitute products available, also in common supermarkets e.g. tofu, seitan, rice whip cream or soy/ rice/ almond/ hazelnut milk, which are far more delicious than dairy.  Since many years the vegan product range is growing and you´ll also find vegan oven-ready food in the frozen-food section. But watch out: Just as some non-vegan oven-ready food can taste awful and is probably unhealthy, so might be their vegan imitations, although there are some delicious ones as well. You see, even a cooking grouch can fill his or her belly. Most restaurants today have at least some vegetarian dishes in their menu and I noticed that more and more restaurants promote their new vegan repertory. My most surprising experience about vegan-food availability was in the airplane on my 2-hour flight to Greece with my boyfriend. The crew already knew that we ordered a vegan meal and they served us luscious vegan vegetable lasagna. Vegan food gets more and more present and accepted in our society. There is nothing to be afraid of. ;)

Veganism is also a very healthy lifestyle. Even though many people claim that vegans suffer from nutrient deficiency, the opposite is true. The most common causes of death in the western world are heart attacks, diabetes and cancer. These can all be triggered by the consumption of animal protein. The china study, which was published in 2004 proved that a vegan diet (containing mainly of fruits and vegetables) is much healthier than the ‘normal’ western diet. Nutrient deficiency is very unlikely to happen, as long as vegans practice a balanced diet. There are many vegetables that contain calcium, protein and all the vitamins you need for good health. Since I live vegan, I feel a lot fitter and I never feel the need to binge on chocolate and sweets.

That leads me to my next point: Vegans don’t need to count calories. Some years ago I weighed 65 kilos and I gained weight very easily. I had to restrict my calories but it didn’t even pay off.  Now that I’m vegan, I weigh 52 kilos and I can literally eat whatever I want. It doesn’t matter. Sometimes, when I visit my favorite restaurant – the Mangolds in Graz – I load my plate with 1kg food (it’s weighed at the till) and I shove it all in. But I do not gain weight. This is nearly the best part about veganism as I really love food and now I can enjoy every meal without worrying about my shape. I love it.

Moreover veganism is indulgence with clean consciousness. At the time I used to eat meat, sometimes I realized that I was actually not eating a steak or a Schnitzel but a dead animal. This happened quiet rarely as I was manipulated (just as most of the people in our society), to forget about this fact. Advertisements with laughing pigs and happy cows on green grassland have stopped me from realizing, that no animal wants to die and that they feel pain just as humans do. Once I started to inform myself about factory farming I started to eat less and less meat. But animals are also tortured and killed for eggs and dairy. Did you know that male chicks are thrown into a shredder because they don’t lay eggs? And male calves don’t have a better fortune. After being ripped away from their mothers shortly after birth, they are slaughtered. These are just two examples for the horrible conditions on modern farms. But the meat and dairy industry also destroys the planet. Water (15500 liters for 1 kg meat) and crops (10kg for 1kg meat) are wasted for factory farming while both are desperately needed in 3^rd world countries. So now that I am vegan I am proud to say that I do not pay for cruelty and profusion. Some people might think that vegans can’t change the world, but in fact (due to the law of supply and demand) they surely can.

All in all there is just no sensible reason for me to eat meat, dairy or eggs as veganism has made my life a lot happier. If you have any question regarding this lifestyle, just ask me. I would love to help anybody who is interested. 

Melting Pot vs. Salad Bowl

Should America be a Melting Pot or a Salad Bowl? This is a very controversial issue, not only in America but also in other countries all over the world. The melting Pot is a metaphor for the principle of assimilation, meaning that immigrants completely discard their own culture and adapt the new one. In America, this would lead to one big ‘melted’ culture without diversity. The salad bowl on the other hand represents the principle of integration, meaning that immigrants can still keep the culture of their home country, but they also belong to a big society and have to accept the new system. E.g. regarding language, immigrants could still speak their mother tongue at home, but at work they would have to speak English. Both principles have their advantages and disadvantages and in this blogpost I will take a look at them.

Some of the more patriotic Americans might claim that immigrants should show appreciation for being incorporated in society by assimilating to the American culture.  But what defines the culture of the US? Is not diversity the most special feature of America? In a country that was founded by immigrants it seems very hypocritical to deny ‘new’ immigrants the right to live out the culture of their home country.

On the one hand assimilation might seem like a perfect principle to grant equality for all the citizens in the USA, but upon closer inspection it becomes very clear that this is not the case. Equality can only be reached when all people are judged by the same laws and the most important ones are human rights, including self-fulfillment.  So immigrants should always have the right to live out their culture. This also means that they should be able to practice their religion and their traditions and they should be allowed to talk in their mother tongue in private life.

While it is often said that a lack of assimilation can cause problems for economy, this could not be further from the truth. Many studies have already shown ’that there is little apparent relationship between recent immigration and unemployment rates at the regional, state, or country level.’ (cf. http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/immigration-reform-and-job-growth, ll. 16 f.). Most immigrants are highly motivated to learn the English language and it is a myth that they do not want to work. It is not necessary to stop them from living out their native culture.

The loss of the American culture due to mass immigration is probably one of the most frightening thoughts to a person that was born in the USA. Of course it cannot be denied that immigrants and foreign cultures might influence the American culture. But this does not mean that it gets lost. In fact it can be a huge enrichment to give immigrants the opportunity to show us everything that belongs to their culture.

All in all integration is a great compromise between multiculturalism and assimilation. Immigrants do not have to discard the culture of their home country but anyway there are no obstacles to a working social system. Just like in a salad bowl - The different ingredients are not perfectly blended, but they still belong together to make the salad taste delicious. 

Body Modification Culture - 5 Unfamiliar and New Modification

Over the last 100 years, the body modification community has become bigger and bigger. Due to the increasing acceptance in society people who wear tattoos and piercings are no longer pigeonholed as prisoners. Furthermore, there are many new types of body modifications, which can be fascinating and a bit scary at the same time. Today I will present 5 unfamiliar body modifications that will probably surprise you. If you don’t want to see them, you should skip this post.

Ear Pointing:

Ear Pointing is a surgical procedure, in which the ear is cut, reshaped and sewed together to make it look like an elves ear. It is very common among Lord of the Rings fans, but it is still a quite unusual body modification. I don’t find that very surprising, as the procedure is done without anesthesia. The reason for this is that generally body modification artists have no allowance for it and the ‘normal’ plastic surgeons never do ear pointings. So anybody who wants elf ears has to be willing to go through a lot of pain for it. Moreover there is always the risk of failure. The ears might get infected, the stitches might burst, and during the healing process the shape can change a lot. But admittedly, I really love the look of pointed ears, provided they do NOT fail. Anyway I would never consider getting them, because of two reasons: Firstly, I am incredibly scared of the procedure and secondly, I still don’t know, which profession I will work in one day. But it is always great to look at people with elf ears. I admire them for their courage.

Corset Piercing:

Corset piercings are done multiple times. Mostly they are placed on either side of the spine and they can be connected with cords, to create the illusion of a corset laced up the body. But it is also possible to get them nearly anywhere else on the body. They belong to the category of play piercings, which means that they normally are taken out of the body after a few days. Corset piercings can also be worn permanently, but this is even more unusual, as they are obviously very irritating in everyday life. They get easily tangled with clothes and the pressure on the rings can cause infections. All in all it is very likely that corset piercings migrate and are rejected by the body over time. But it is still popular among people that appreciate alternative looks and it is often worn as a party gag. I really like how they look, especially because I like corsets in general. But I hate the idea of temporary piercings as they cost a lot of money and the pain is probably really bad. 

Watch the video (if you dare)!

Stretched Piercings:

Stretched lobes are already quite common, but it is also possible to stretch labrets (lip piercings) nostrils (nose piercings), cheek and septum piercings. The stretching is achieved by conical bars, known as ‘Expanders’. Once a month, the expander is shoved through the piercing hole to make it bigger one by one. If it’s done slowly and carefully, the procedure is not too painful, even though it might seem like that. Stretching any piercing other than lobes is very uncommon, as it reveals parts of the body that are normally hidden, e.g. the inner nose and mouth. Personally I have stretched my lobes to 1cm. As I mentioned, it wasn’t too painful for me, but it took quite a long time. I also like bigger lobes, but when they are stretched to sizes over 1cm, they will probably not shrink back, so I leave them how they are. Stretched labrets, nostrils and cheeks on the other hand are not to my taste and I think that it only suits a few people. For example the girl on the picture.

Subdermal Implants

Subdermal implants are sometimes also called ‘3D tattoos’ which is actually not correct as it is not ink but silicone which is implanted under the skin to make it look raised. Today it is possible to achieve a huge variety of shapes using subdermal implants and they can be put nearly everywhere. Some brave people also get them in their eyes! Furthermore it is possible to get little magnets implanted in your fingers to magically attract little iron pieces. That is certainly also a very funny party gag. All in all I am not a huge fan of the ‘standard’ subdermal implants, as I think they can sometimes look like skin diseases.

Bagel Head

This is probably the most uncommon body modification you have ever seen. Through a needle, sterile saline gets injected under the skin of the forehead. After a while, a little bump starts to grow on the forehead. Then the body modifier presses his finger on the middle of this bump to shape it like a bagel. It is also a temporary modification, as the saline gets absorbed by the body after about ten hours. The bagel head was first presented on a Japanese body modification convention in 1999 and it has become popular in the Japanese fetish scene.  The Bagel Head is mostly worn on parties and it is rarely performed anywhere else in the world. Fortunately the medical risks seem to be quite low, as long as the procedure is performed correctly. All in all the Bagel Head might be quite shocking to some of you, and I have to admit that it also gave me goose bumps to see the video about it. But as long as people feel confident with this modification, there is nothing wrong with it.

That is also the final message of my blogpost: Obviously, those more extreme forms of body modifications are not for everyone, but I think that our society still needs to become more tolerant towards it. Even though modified people are not pigeonholed as prisoners anymore, they are still considered antisocial, lazy and unemployed very often, which I find really sad. In the end, a person should be judged by his or her skills and not by appearance.

Language Learning Strategies

Some people claim that the most important thing for language learning is talent. In fact such statements are very far from the truth. It is most important to study a lot and to have enthusiasm for the language, in order to learn it. I developed some strategies that I feel work well for me.

Personally I think that vocabulary is most important to learn a language.  If you don’t know enough words, you won’t be able to express your thoughts. There are two ways of studying vocabulary: for long-term memory or for short-term memory. Of course it is desirable not to forget the words you learned. Therefore it is important to practice them over and over again. Even if you think that you already know a word, it is still possible to forget that term if you don’t use it on a regular basis. This regularity can be achieved by using vocabulary trainers. Phase 6 for example is a very good program that retrieves you in specific intervals. If you know a word, it is shifted to the next phase. If you fail to know it, the word is shifted to Phase 1 again. In the higher phases the words are tested less frequently than in the lower ones.  Even though this is a very effective program, I cannot use it because it is too time-consuming, when you have a huge amount of vocabulary to study. Instead I use a vocab training app on my Smartphone, which lets me decide when I want to test my knowledge. I often employ it in the tram, because my way home from university is quite long. Before a progress check I tend to focus on the words I need to know for that exam, because it’s usually very much and it’s hard to memorize them all. Vocabulary is still one of my biggest problems regarding language learning, but I think that if I optimize my time-management, I will be able to extend my word pool.

Grammar is also an important part of every language, because it ensures comprehensibility. It is not enough to understand grammar rules. To me it is important to practice a lot to explore my weaknesses. Often times I realize that I misunderstood a rule while doing gap-fill exercises. These should always come with solutions. At university we use the ‘Innovations’ books for grammar practice. The course book doesn’t contain any solutions. Therefore I don’t really like to use it. The workbook by contrast is very useful and also quite extensive, which I like. The exercises have helped me to improve my grammar skills, so I can really recommend that book.

When it comes to listening and reading comprehension there is just one thing that I can recommend: Real life practice. It is not only the most effective way to optimize your skills, but it is also a very rewarding experience. After finishing an English book, I always feel amazing, because I love to read and moreover I know that I did something to improve my language skills – without any pressure. Furthermore, in most cases the quality of the original version is much better than it is in the dubbed one. Another thing I love to do is watching English series that weren’t yet published in German language, for example Game of Thrones. I can recommend the page that starts with kinox and ends with .tv  ;) – a very good source for poor students who have no money. But keep in mind to choose a version without subtitles! Otherwise you will never practice your listening comprehension.  All in all those strategies worked out quite well so far, as I never have too many problems with listening or reading comprehension.

Text production is the supreme discipline of language learning, as you have to implement everything you studied.  This can be rather hard work. The best idea is to produce many texts and to have them corrected by an expert, preferably a native speaker. It’s important to observe the types of errors you make, to see where your weaknesses are. After that you can work on improving them. Before writing I prefer to draw a little mindmap that contains headlines for every paragraph. Otherwise I tend to flounder and my text has no structure. In the end, the message of a text is what matters the most and language is just the tool to convey that message. It’s always good to keep that in mind.

One thing that people often forget is that cultural knowledge is also very import for language learning. Depending on the culture, there are many different traditions regarding religion, food, parties, and everyday life. As a result there are also various specific expressions. If you know nothing about culture, you will not even be able to understand some words, even if they are translated into your mother tongue. As a translator you might also get confronted with historic topics. If you are not familiar with them, the job might get very hard for you as well. Admittedly I often struggle with cultural issues as I find it very hard to remember dates. Facts can easily be memorized by watching documentaries and reading articles about a topic, but the numbers are another thing. Maybe it helps to draw a timeline with little images that show what happened when. I will probably try out this strategy for the next progress check. We will see how it works out.

Thus it is proven that language learning is all about effort and good strategies. Talent might be useful but studying is still most important.

My Interpretation of 'The Lord of the Dance'

As I already mentioned in my last post, my boyfriend gave me Lord of the Dance tickets as a gift for Christmas.

Lord of the Dance is an Irish musical by Michael Flatley. You have probably already heard of it, as it is very famous. The concept goes back to an old Irish legend and deals with the fight of ‘good’ against ‘evil’.  Actually it is said that it also carries a strong religious connotation and many parts of the musical can be found in the Bible: The Lord of the Dance, who is the main figure, represents Jesus. He comes to the earth to spread Christian faith among people, but he is tempted by Satan, and betrayed by humans. He gets executed but revives and Christianity “wins”. That’s how Christians might interpret the show.

As the meaning of Lord of the Dance is mainly carried through dance, and barely has any lyrics in it, it is highly open to interpretation. I personally am not religious, but I love the musical very much. To me, the Lord of the Dance is the personification of freedom and joy whereas the dark Lord, who wants to steal his title, represents ruthlessness and the desire for power.

In Act 1 the good ones are introduced. The whole stage seems like a mystical dance school. There is the Lord of the Dance who teaches the men. Their dancing makes them look like warlords. The Irish Colleen in the golden dress teaches the girls, who look like elves. Moreover there is the Little Spirit with her flute who represents the joy of dancing. Shortly afterwards the evil figures are introduced as well. There is the Dark Lord who is the commander of a disciplined army. The men don’t seem very happy while dancing, therefore they look like slaves. Moreover there is the Temptress, who performs a sexy and passionate dance in a short red costume. After that the good ones are having a feast. Both men and women are dancing together and moreover two fiddlers enter the stage dancing while they play the violin. Later the Temptress comes into a dancing lesson and challenges the Colleen, who just answers by sending her away and pulling her dress off. Her students do the same and so they show that they have more to offer than the Temptress. Some minutes later the Lord of the Dance and his students enter the stage. He hands a rose to the Colleen and flirts with her. Afterwards he shows his teaching and dancing skills. She is of course very impressed. After the lesson the Temptress and the Colleen have a little battle again and there are four men watching. They lay at their feet in the truest sense of the word.

Act 2 starts at nighttime. The little spirit is sitting one the stage alone, playing her flute. She is raided and captured by the Dark Lord and his army, but the Lord of the Dance comes to save her. His army follows and the fight of good vs. evil begins. Suddenly the spirit appears again and banished all the soldiers from the stage. She is alone with the Lord of the Dance now and shows him that her flute is broken, but of course he manages to repair it. The spirit leaves the stage in joy. The Temptress appears and tries to flirt with the Lord of the Dance, but she fails as he leaves with the Colleen. As all went well, there is a joyful party of the good students again. The Lord of the Dance gets together with the Colleen, but they are disturbed by the Temptress again, who even manages to dance with the Lord, which is a trap. The evil dancers enter the stage and capture the Lord of the Dance. They steal his belt, which is a symbol for his title and the evil Lord executes the good one. But the good Lord of the Dance gets resuscitated by the Little Spirit and he challenges the Dark Lord, so they have an epic one-on-one fight in which the good lord wins. There is a big victory procession. The little spirit appears again and she spreads the joy of dancing everywhere, so in the end both the good and the evil figures dance together and make peace.

This interpretation might seem strange to some of you, but in my opinion there is a reason why so many people watch the show over and over again. It is probably because the musical is not just a dancing show, but also a show ABOUT dancing.

For about 10 years, I have been a huge fan of Irish music and I love to look at tap dancers, because I find it very fascinating how agile and joyful this type of dance is. I have seen the Lord of the Dance shows twice, unfortunately both times without Michael Flatley, as he quit that role in 1998. But the musical was awesome anyways. To be true, I like the evil figures of the musical as well as the good ones, because they are both presented very authentically. My favourite parts of the musical are: The Warriors (18:25), Gypsy (21:55),  The Lord of the Dance (42:15), Siamsa (1:14:30) and Victory (1:35:37). The musical as a whole is always a great experience and even though it’s quite expensive, it’s worth watching it over and over again.

From what I read on the Internet, the 2014 shows contain some alterations to the original, which sounds quite interesting. It’s said that it will even contain new songs. Anyway I hope that it still has the traditional structure and story I love. From what I read, this should be the case.  On the Lord of the Dance homepage it says: ‘With all the visceral precision and thrills of the original, Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games features new staging, new costumes and choreography. With 40 of the world’s most outstanding young performers directed by Michael, and new music by composer Gerard Fahy, this latest iteration combines the best of tradition with all the excitement of new music and dance.’ That sounds quite promising.

So all in all there is nothing to worry about. The only thing that bothers me is that it’s still 11 month till the show. I need to practice patience to survive such a long time, but I am sure it will be worth waiting.