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  =)

Pancakes :D

Good evening everyone :)

I was looking for almost an hour to find a food blog which I could write about because although I really love eating, I'm a very fussy eater!
There's just one section of food of which I would eat almost everything - the sweet section :D
I don't eat every vegetable, I don't eat every salad, I don't eat every kind of meat .. BUT I eat (let's say almost) every kind of sweet dessert!

Some people, like my mum and my sister, don't like sweet meals that much because it's just a dessert for them. I could eat pancakes, potato noodles with melted butter and poppy seeds, yeast dumpling filled with plum sauce, Kaiserschmarren (sugared pancakes) every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner :D Okay, I don't want to exaggerate but I think it's clear now - I LOVE SWEET THINGS

Maybe this is also the reason why I just want to cook something sweet. I don't like cooking at all. It wastes lots of time and after some minutes everything is eaten up and you have the honor to clean up the mess. ^^
However, I love making pancakes. This is the reason why I looked for a pancake blog.
And I found a really sweet one :)

http://www.marthastewart.com/338185/basic-pancakes           

I already liked this blog when I read the first words on it:

 >>   Nothing says "weekend" like pancakes for breakfast   <<

Isn't this sweet ?! <3

Of course there are lots of different kinds of pancakes but I decided to post you a recipe of Basic Pancakes. Who knows? Maybe other recipes will follow ;)

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Assorted toppings, such as butter, maple syrup, confectioners' sugar, honey, jams, preserves, sweetened whipped cream, or chocolate syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees; have a baking sheet or heatproof platter ready to keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
   
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter (or oil), and egg. Add dry ingredients to milk mixture; whisk until just moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).
   
3. Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast-iron) or griddle over medium. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with oil; carefully rub skillet with oiled paper towel.
   
4. For each pancake, spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter onto skillet, using the back of the spoon to spread batter into a round (you should be able to fit 2 to 3 in a large skillet).
   
5. Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter; cover loosely with aluminum foil, and keep warm in oven. Continue with more oil and remaining batter. (You'll have 12 to 15 pancakes.) Serve warm, with desired toppings.
   

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.