A dog is a man's best friend

Hey guys :)

You have to know that I'm a total dog lover and this is why I'd like to write this post and tell you something about Martin Rütter, Cesar Millan and my little doggy!
I always wanted to have a dog. My mum grew up with dogs because my granny always had at least two. Unfortunately, our tiny flat has always been to small to have a pet and my dad was really happy to have this excuse. (He is the sort of man who thinks that animals belong outdoors. Or let's say, he was this sort of man ;))
Now we live in a big house and (yesss!!) he doesn't have an excuse anymore. So, after long long long discussions and different promises ("Yes, of course the children are going to take care for the dog") we finally bought a little black/brown English Cocker Spaniel puppy :D
My mum, my sister and I were so incredibly happy, we couldn't believe it.
Of course, we couldn't make it to keep our promise we made to our dad - Soon he started to take a walk with our Rembrandt (Yes, that's his name) because we were too busy :P Now he loves him at least as much as we do :)
My granny was very delighted as well because now her doggy, Sky, has a best friend he can play with. Sky's a German Shepherd, a really beautiful one.
At the beginning we regularly attended a dog grooming school with Remi but after some time my mum had to work a little bit more and I had to study for school exams. So, we decided that Remi is well-behaved enough and we stopped with dog school.
Today we regret that because there are a lot of things Remi should be able to do and there are also a lot of things he shouldn't do, but well, nobody's perfect :)
However, a friend of mine told me about this guy who is a dog expert and tells his stories on stage. I bought a DVD of his show and I have to say: He's brilliant! It's a kind of cabaret so, you have to laugh all the time. My mum and I were just sitting there in front of the television and were almost dying laughing, because he describes exactly the situations you experience at home with your dog. I can't retell you some payoffs because it wouldn't be so funny in this way but if you are a dog lover and you have a few minutes, watch this guy! www.ruetters-dogs.de/‎
Another dog expert my granny likes a lot is Cesar Millan! He is not a comedian but his tv show can be really helpful if you have some problems with your dog. I think his show is on the tv channel sixx.
www.cesarsway.com/

I hope that some of my readers are dog lovers like me :) *woof*

 Remi & Sky

Sunny side of Paris

Hello again :)

In my last post I opened my heart to you and told you about an unpleasant and negative experience in Paris.
In this post however, I want to show you that I also had great moments there, because I still love Paris. :)
I am going to add some personal photos of my highlights and tell you what really fascinated me instead of giving some boring dates or history facts. ;-)

My first plan was of course going to the Eiffel Tower. When I went there for the first time I was so excited, just because it's the Eiffel Tower :P Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera (what made me really angry^^) and so I had to go home and return the other day. Nevertheless it was great! I decided to buy a ticket to get to the highest platform of the tower. To my surprise it wasn't expensive at all. At first I had to wait a really really long time in a queue till I got to the elevator. It was extremely hot and (silly me!) I had nothing to drink with me. BUT it was definitely worth it! The view up there was incredible and I just felt happy and forgot everything around me. Back on the ground I enjoyed the beautiful day walking around and watching people. I even saw a gorgeous bride in her white dress who took pictures with her bridegroom in front of the Eiffel Tower. Maybe this could also be an option for me ;-)

I absolutely wanted to see the Louvre. Above all because of the movie "The Da Vinci Code" with Tom Hanks :P 
It was really nice that I didn't have to pay anything for my visit because of my age. When I left the museum two security guys asked me where I am from (Something must have bespoken that I am not French^^) and we had a really interesting chat. At least one opportunity to talk French for some minutes.

My favourite highlight was the Opera House. The reason behind is - again - a film. Do you know "Phantom of the Opera"? I LOVE this film, perhaps because Gerard Butler plays the phantom :P I always wanted to see the Opera House in real life and finally I did. It was amazing to climb the marvellous stairs and I was soo excited when I found the loge of the Phantom of the Opera. :D

A place which took me a lot of time to visit was La Basilique du Scaré Coeur de Montmartre. I was so amazed that I just didn't to leave. I spent my time there with sitting in the sun and enjoying the breathtaking view. There were hundreds of people climbing up the enormous stairs, hundreds of artists and musicians. And believe me, everybody was smiling at me! :)

Another very interesting and enjoyable visit was the cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris. Here I also had to wait for a long time till I was allowed to climb the stairs of the tower. But again, the view was worth it :)

By hazard I passed by the famous Red Mill > Moulin Rouge :)

These were the most amazing places I have visited and I hope I could show you that Paris is worth visiting ;-)

Hello, Paris - Bye, Paris :(

Hello guys!

A friend of mine has spent ten months as an au pair in Irleand and just came back a few days ago. She told me about her great "year", her amazing host family and beautiful Ireland. I was so jealous, to be honest. Everytime somebody tells his/her stories of staying abroad I have to think about my own try at spending a year somewhere else.
I wanna tell you the whole drama, let's go ;)
(Just to make it clear, I don't want to frighten anyone or do the au pair thing down because for many many people it was the best time of their life. I just want to share an experience with you. The experience that it can go wrong.)

After having passed the leaving certificate I decided to go to Vienna in order to study there. At first it seemed to be the perfect city and I was so happy to be independant and "alone" in Vienna. However, after one year of studying two different courses of studies, arguing with my flatmates and working here and there I had to admit that Vienna wasn't the right place for me. At least at this time of my life. Back in Styria I worried my brain. How could I shape my future? I didn't want to study something new again. So, I got over my biggest fear and went to Paris in order to spend there a year as an au pair. I had found my host family on my own, without an agency or something like that because I didn't want to pay something except my flight. There is this website where you can set up your profile and look through the family profiles. Once you have found an appropriate family you can get in contact. In this way I found this (supposedly) nice family which offered all I had dreamed of. They live in the heart of Paris (in an affluent neighbourhood), have a dog, two children AND they own a castle. It sounded like a dream. Added to this, I found out that the mother was born in Austria and has married a French guy. It sounded perfect to me.
When I arrived in Paris however, I was knocked out of the skies. As they had promised me I got my own flat, but it was really tiny, messy and the furniture was falling apart. All in all, it was totally  unhygienic and just terrible. I tried to be cool about that and said to myself that I just had to bring my little place to heel. (Wasn't that easy regarding the enormous pile of wall plaster on my floor which was growing every hour.^^ There had been a water-pipe burst prior to my arrival)
The next day I met the kids for the first time. They were so uneducated and unbehaved as I've never seen it before. The apartment of this family was an absolute mess, it was unbelievable. Not a single time I was able to eat with them as the cutlery and the plates were completely unhygienic. I couldn't believe my ears when they told me that I had to wash the kids' hair only every couple of weeks. The same with changing their clothes. I was speechless.
Every day with the two youngsters (8 and 10 years old) was a fight. I am pretty sure that I am able to handle kids because I always had to look after the children of relatives and friends. These two kids however, were terrible. They basically did the opposite of what I told them to do. They ignored me, they yelled at me and they even ran away in the middle of the street. It was a disaster!
I would have been able to stick it out if there had not been another really important fact: It was required from me to speek solely German with the kids. I decided to switch family because I was not willing to spend a year under horrible circumstances while making no progress in speaking French.
However, finding another family wasn't as easy as I had thought. Most of them already had an au pair girl and others wanted me to speak English. I was desperate. After three weeks I told the family that I wasn't happy at all and that I wanted to leave them because I didn't get enough opportunities to speak French.What happened next was like a volcanic outburst. She yelled at me how egoistic I was and that I wasn't allowed to leave and so on. The next two days she was ignoring me and set up the kids against me. She accused me of just having exploited her family. Her husband who had been in Egypt at this time was assailing me with phone calls the whole night. I really had enough.
The next day in the morning the concierge knocked on my door and told me that I had to leave the flat by midday. I really was kicked out! By the concierge! When he saw how angry I was he told me that he wasn't surprised at all because in the last two years he got to know 16 different au pair girls who wanted to work for this family and who left after some weeks.
So, I took my luggage and went to the bus station where I met the German mother who has been very nice to me for the last three weeks. I told her my story. She was so angry but told me the same story as the concierge because she knew the family as well. I wanted to spent a night at the airport and take the next flight home but this nice mum invited me to stay with her that night. I was unbelievably happy and grateful!
The next morning I took a flight home to MY FAMILY.
Of course I was incredibly happy to be at home again but nevertheless I was sad and disappointed that my wonderfully imagined year has transformed into three awful weeks, even today.

The Jellicle Choice

Hey guys :)

Last week I was in Graz to see the musical CATS with my best friend Anna and I was so enthusiastic about it that I want to tell you about that night!

I was a child when I watched Cats for the first time on TV. It was fantastic to see all the people in the guise of different cats dancing and singing. I always told my mum that one day I want to go to this muscial and watch them in real life. Finally I did and it was amazing. A breathtaking show!

Here's a short summary of the storyline:
The Jellicle Cats meet once a year at the Jellicle Ball. There they wait for their leader, the wise Old Deuteronomy, who will choose which of the Jellicle Cats will journey tonight to the Heaviside layer to be reborn into a new life. Step by step every cat shows how special he/she is, what he/she has reached in life and why he/she should be chosen to be reborn.
> I introduce the most important cats of the musical to you and I also add some photos to show you how incredible their make-up is!

Victoria: A pure white kitten gifted in dancing. The "official" Jellicle Ball begins with her solo dance.

Old Deuteronomy: The lovable patriarch of the Jellicle Tribe. He is very old and dignified.  

Grizabella: The former Glamour Cat who has lost her sparkle and now only wants to be accepted. Grizabella left the tribe when she was younger to see the world for herself; she has experienced the harshness of the world and is a pariah in the cats' society.

The Rum Tum Tugger: The ladies' tom. His temperament ranges from clownish to serious and he is always flirtatious.

Asparagus:  The theatre cat. He's one of the oldest tribe members and was once an actor.

Bustopher Jones: A fat cat, a "twenty-five pounder." Respected by all, as the upper class "St. James's Street Cat".

Jennyanydots: The old Gumbie cat. She sits all day and rules the mice and cockroaches at night, forcing them to undertake helpful functions and creative projects, to curb their naturally destructive habits.

Macavity: The show's only real villain.

Mr. Mistoffelees: A young black tom who has magical powers which he doesn't fully control.

Mungojerrie: Half of a pair of notorious cat-burglars, with Rumpleteazer. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are most commonly remembered for their featured dance number where at the end, they do a "double windmill" across the stage.
Rumpleteazer: Female half of a pair of notorious cat-burglars, with Mungojerrie.

Skimbleshanks: The railway cat. An active orange tabby cat, who lives on the train.


In the end Grizabella reappears and recalls her song "Memory"(I'm sure everybody knows it as the song is really popular!) and tells how things used to be. This time the cats accept her back into the tribe and it's her who is chosen to Journey to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn.

So, I can really recommend the musical to you as it is great fun to watch and to listen.
For any of you who are interested, here are some links for further infos :)

http://www.catsthemusical.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_%28musical%29

Paradise on earth

Today I'm going to tell you about a place which really fascinated me.

>> Legoland Windsor Resort <<

I went there some years ago when I had the chance to spend two weeks at my aunt's in  England. She has to kids, a girl and a boy, and I think I was the one who was most excited when she told us what we were going to do that day :D
My cousins were really relaxed when we arrived at the Legoland because they had already been there before but I was completely speechless.
That area - called "Legoland Windsor Resort" - was so unbelievably huge and full of colours. I will never forget this first impression.

We walked through the entrance and I saw one amazingly huge Lego figure after another. I just had to go to every single figure to touch it. I couldn't imagine that this was all built of Lego bricks. Absolutely fantastic isn't it?

When I saw the rollercoasters and the merry-go-rounds however, I was totally over the moon. At first I felt a little bit lonely because I had to try the majority of the facilities on my own. My cousins were just too young to join me :( But soon I forgot my sadness about that and explored every single rollercoaster in that resort. I had great fun :D

Later my aunt, my cousins and I went to the imagination theatre and I was speechless once again. We watched a 4-D adventure movie and were able to see, smell and feel things. I was excited like a little child because I had never been in such a cinema before :P

I was so delighted with Legoland Windsor that I did some research and I found out incredible facts!

With over 55 interactive rides, live shows, building workshops, driving schools and attractions, all set in 150 acres of beautiful parkland, LEGOLAND Windsor Resort is a unique family theme park.

Fun Facts About LEGOLAND Windsor

There are 34 LEGO pieces in an average Miniland figure
The largest model in Miniland is the Canary Wharf Tower which is 5.2 metres tall and took 3 modelmakers 850 hours to complete using 200,000 LEGO Bricks!
The smallest models are the pigeons in Trafalgar Square which contain 5 LEGO bricks each

If anybody is interested here's the link ;)
http://www.legoland.co.uk/

Grand Prix of Monaco

When I watched the Grand Prix of Malaysia last week I remembered the time when I was in Monaco because of the Grand Prix.
I got the opportunity to work there twice - two years ago and last year. I know it sounds unbelievable .. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE  =)
A good friend of mine works there almost every year and two years ago another girl wasn't able to go to Monaco and so, Julia, my good friend, told her boss that she knew someone who'd love to work with her. ME !! Her boss agreed .. and  I was almost dying of excitement ^^

I went shopping with my mum, who was as excited as me, (to my great profit!!) and bought clothes for about two months or so .. I didn't know what to take with me or what to wear .. I just knew that Monaco is the world of the beautiful and rich people and so, my suitcase was in all seriousness packed for several weeks, although my job there lasted just 5 days ^^

We went to Nice, where we had our hotel, by bus together with some other members of our team. Nice is amazing! I knew that as soon as I got out of the bus. It felt like holiday - the palms, the sea and the warm weather - it was fantastic !!

The next day we went to Monaco for the first time, again with our little bus. From our hotel to the Grand Prix circuit we needed about half an hour, but time flew because of the breathtaking view we enjoyed. The area around the speedway was full of fan shops, cafés and more. Julia and I were allowed to explore that area on our own or rather she showed me everything. We walked along the speedway, had some drinks and visited everyone of our colleagues at his/her workplace. We even got the permission to go to the Red Bull Energy Station AND THERE I met Sebastian Vettel, Christian Horner and lots of other guys I had only seen on television till now.
I even took a photo with Vettel which I added for you :DD  (He imitated my Austrian dialect ^^)

The next two days Julia and I really had to work :P There are lots of terraces from where the VIPs can watch the Formula One race. We two girls worked for McLaren Mercedes. Our job was to stand in front of the entrance to the McLaren terrace, to welcome the VIP guests and to guide them to the different elevators. We had a walkie talkie to be able to tell our colleague on the terrace that the guest was on his way. The job was really exciting because we had to talk to loooots of people who wanted to know anything because they thought we would be an information point. We needed lots of several languages but of course above all we spoke English and French. I was so glad about the earmuffs we got because the noise right next to the speedway was unbelievable.

One night (the night of saturday) we got tickets to the Red Bull party from our boss. We put on our best dresses and our best and highest shoes and the party could start!
It was an unforgetable night! The whole stay was unforgetable! 
There were so much new experiences and also new friendships .. I really hope to get further opportunities to participate in such great trips  =)

Colour Idioms

Hey guys :)
When I studied for PC3 last week my little sister was sitting aside me and she was quite amused at the new idioms I had to learn. I read them out aloud and she tried to figure out what they are supposed to mean. We had a lot to laugh because some of them aren't logical at all. :P Lots of them, however, are really useful and Sandra was excited to be able to brag about the new idioms in her class at school. ;D
Moreover, my sister had the idea to look up some videos concerning idioms on Youtube. At first I just told her to leave me be because I was quite stressed but in the end I worked up curiosity and so, we started searching together.
Actually we found a crazy video about colour idioms and how to understand them.
I think it's quite funny :D Maybe you find time to watch  :)


I also found a website which can be really useful if you are working with idioms :)
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/

 

Desert Flower

Hi :))

Today I want to tell you something about one of my favourite books.

When I read Desert Flower for the first time I was deeply shocked by the history of Waris Dirie, but I was also impressed because this woman was so amazingly strong. Later I also saw the film and I was excited once again. 

Waris Dirie was born to a nomadic family in Somalia, who is used to move through the desert with all their cattle. At the age of six, Waris - the name means desert flower - starts to guard the whole flock, which consists of seventy sheep and goats. 

When she is five years old the young girl makes the worst experience of her life – Waris is subject to female circumcision in the middle of the desert without any anesthetic or antiseptic, as it is the custom in her village. At thirteen, her father arranges a marriage for her with a sixty-year-old man for the price of five camels. Waris doesn’t know what to do and so, one night she runs away from her family. 

She runs for days through the desert without anything to eat or to drink till her feet are bloody. During her trip she has to fight several threats like a big lion or even all the men who try to rape her. Finally, she arrives in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, where she tries to live with her sister, but there Waris is not welcome. After a short stay at her uncle she at last finds a sister of her mother, who is ready to give Waris a home. One day the husband of another sister of her mother, visits them and tells her that he wants to go to London as a Somali ambassador. Waris sees her chance to leave the country and to discover a new world and asks him to take her with him to London as a maid. So the sixteen-year-old girl goes to London, where she works very hard as a servant, often till midnight. One of her tasks is it to take the little daughter of the family to school. Every day a man is waiting in front of the school, who wants to speak with Waris, but because her English is so poor she doesn’t understand him and runs back home. So one day the man follows her to the house and Waris finds out what the man is interested in: His name is Malcom Fairchild and he wants to take photos of the Somali girl and gives her his phone number.

After four years in London the ambassador decides that the whole family should return to Somalia, but Waris refuses to go back and decides to stay in London on her own. To earn some money Waris begins to work at McDonald’s and to attend a school for foreigners. One day after she has finished her work at McDonald’s she meets the photographer Malcom Fairchild again, who is still interested in her. From this moment on Waris’ life changes enormously because the young Somali girl wasn’t aware that she was a dark-skinned beauty and that she had a wonderful profile. At eighteen she lands her first job as model, a shooting for the Pirelli-calendar with the English star-photographer Terence Donovan, who is really patient with her, because it is not easy for Waris to take off her clothes and to be naked on a photo. This is how Waris’ career as a model begins. 

Later she decides to fight against genital mutilation and gives a journalist of “Marie Claire” an interview in which she speaks about her story for the first time to the whole world. The story is called "The tragedy of female mutilation". In the same year she becomes UN ambassador for the abolition of female genital mutilation.

What is FGM ?! Femalie Genital Mutilation is a destructive procedure in which the female genitals are partly or entirely removed or injured. The aim is to prevent sexual pleasure of women. The mutilation usually takes place before puberty, often on girls between four and eight years, but sometimes also on infants, who are only a few days, weeks or months old.

>> According to the estimate of the World Health Organization (WHO) at least 150 million women worldwide are affected and every year another three million girls become victims of mutilation. 500 000 girls and women in Europe have been mutilated or are at risk of FGM.

In my opinion Waris Dirie is a great woman because she fights against this horrible procedure. I can't understand why little girls or women should live under such lethal circumstances and I really hope that anytime this nightmare will find an end.