American Christmas Dinner

Today , just like every year, we celebrated Christmas with the American part of our family. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two holidays I'm always looking forward to. My aunt always invites my brother, my cousins, granddad (he's not really my granddad- but everyone calls him granddad) and me over to her house. This feeling when I enter the living room is nearly indescribable. Everything is beautifully decorated, candles
light the room, glasses and plates are thoroughly arranged on a long table and the smell...oh god I love the way it smells. Once everyone has arrived, we all sit down and usually the older cousins serve the meal. The rest of us enjoy the American Christmas songs played by a suuuuper old radio (looks like it's from the 60s) and chat a bit. Usually we start dinner with soup (today it was pumpkin cream soup), then continue to the main course (usually Turkey with stuffing and various side dishes). By then, most of us are aready full, so we stop eating for an hour or so and talk to granddad in the meanwhile. Granddad is a funny old man (he's like 96 years old). He's my aunt's dad (so he's American) and always switches between English and German. His German sounds really funny because he pronounces our German "r" in this funny American way -> my little cousin likes to make fun of that and imitates his accent : D. Since he's not the youngest anymore, his memory deserts him from time to time. So being asked for your name 3 to 4 times everytime he sees you is nothing unusual. Today he asked me what I do, and I told him that I'm studying Russian and English. He was like: "oh..you're studying English?" and I was like.. "yes" ...then he said: "oh.. *thinking pause*  wait, we're speaking in English right now, right?" So we all started laughing and my aunt said: "yeah, dad, you are speaking English, but that's ok" And so he smiled as well. He always gets really confused with so many people in the room...so sometimes he even asks if my cousin is my boyfriend, or if my cousins girlfriend is his sister *haha*
Granddad makes those already great evenings even better. After chatting for some time, we usually eat ice cream or cookies or some kind of pie (today it was apple pie : D ).
After this awesome dinner we help cleaning up and then everyone is so tired from eating so much that we all go home and straight to bed.

GOTTA LOVE MY AUNT! (and her cooking skills : P)

Assignment 4: US culture

What is "US culture"? Is there even something like ONE US culture? Isn't there just too much of a variety in such a huge country like the US?

In my US culture class, we had to read about US culture. The author of a very interesting article said that the US is something like a cultural melting pot. Since most of the citizens are actually not Native Americans but Irish, Spanish, French, German, Chinese people etc. it's hard to define the national character of the US. There are some features though, that fit to the majority of US citizens. However, one should keep in mind that this might not fit for all Americans and that sometimes it's a bit of a stereotypical view on US culture.


Patriotism
Patriotism- one of the key words that comes to mind when you think of the US. Americans are proud to be Americans and they love to show that they are Americans. This is why the American flag has such a high value in the States. You can see flags on almost every government or business building, and some citizens even have the American flag in front of their houses. On most national occassions (like Super Bowl) they sing the national anthem and raise their flag. In school, children have to "pledge allegience to the flag of the United States of America...". This is something we would never do in Austria....especially not after our "dark history".

Competition
Competition is another very American feature. Nothing is about being good- it's all about being the best. Even their economy and politics reflect the American desire for competition. This is why especially the Republicans don't want the government to interfere in economy and want to allow free competition.

The American Dream
People who came to the US in the past, mainly came with one single goal: achieve everything you want to achieve. America...the country without limits, where you can be whoever you want to be, where a poor farmer can become president. Americans believe that if you work hard enough you can achieve anything. This is why Republicans don't want the government to help the poor. They think everyone deserves what he gets- and if someone is poor it's probably his own fault.

Prestige
Salary and profession define who you are. This is why people talk about blue and white collar workers (blue => manual labor; white => managers etc.). Women are said to be especially class-conscious. The way you dress (and especially the money you spent buying your clothes) should show others what class you are in. Usually women are in the same class as their husbands unless they earn more than their husbands. It's always about owning the newest, biggest and most expensive. Also, in contrary to other cultures, Americans love their rich and famous. They don't judge them or want them to give their money to the poor. They hold them in high esteem... the rich and famous are like role models.

XXXL
In the USA, everything is big. No not big - it's huge!! I saw this with my own eyes when I was in Houston. Shopping malls are so big that it's actually pretty easy to lose orientation (happened to us :D ). The cars in the States are nothing compared to European cars. Big trucks are especially popular. The bigger the better. This is why not so long ago one could buy "supersize" menues in McDonalds (for those who don't know the movie "Super Size Me" -> a must-see!).

As you have probably realized, most of those American features are negative ones. I want to emphasize that a lot of them also have positive aspects. The American Dream for example made it possible for people to work their way up to a very good social position. In other countries you can never leave the class you wore born into.
Some people say that competition is the key to success. Maybe the American desire for competition is the reason why they are still the leading country in branches like technology or science.
Just like every country, America has it's positive and negative sides. But I think the cultural mix in the US makes life their sometimes very interesting, because you can meet people from all over the world.

Assignment 3: Register

Oxford Dict.: Register- a variety of a language or a level of usage, as determined by degree of formality and choice of vocabulary, pronunciation, and syntax, according to the communicative purpose, social context, and standing of the user.

In school, I didn't even know what register meant. Teachers didn't really seem to care about register, which is why we frequently used words like "hence" (extremely formal)  in the same texts as words like "and so" (less formal). In college, however, teachers focus on the correct use of formal and less formal words. I think if you want to use a language as a tool and therefore use it in a professional way, you should know the differences in formality. You should know that an email to a friend doesn't look like an email to your boss and you should know by which means you can achieve this kind of formality. Otherwise you might end up insulting people without you even knowing it.
In order to gain knowledge concerning formality, I always try to keep in mind whether a word is very formal, less formal or informal. In the glossaries we get from our teachers, words that are extremely formal or infomal are marked, which makes it way easier to remember which category a word belongs to. However, words don't always belong clearly to one category. Sometimes a word can be somewhere between two categories, and sometimes this even varies from country to country. "Fancy" for example, is considered as neutral in British English, whereas  in American English it's pretty formal.
Eventhough it is sometimes difficult to remember the different degrees of formality, I think it's something every student who wants to work with languages should get a feeling for.

Assignment 2:Travelling shapes character

Task: Write another travel-related post.

This quote by St. Agustine reflects my feelings and thoughts about travelling. I've always felt this strong wish to explore the world. Go to places you've never been before. See things you've never seen before. And meet people you've never met before. I think that travelling truly broadens your mind because you automatically get in touch with various cultures.
I see myself not only as a citizen of Austria, but also as a citizen of the world. Therefore, I need to get to know my neighbors and their customs and traditions. As far as I can remember, I've already been to Egypt, Italy, Germany, England, USA, the Netherlands and to the Balearic Islands. As a child, I travelled within Austria with my family (mostly to Styria). But as I grew older, I felt this desire to travel to places further away.
I think there is a difference between travelling as a typical tourist and travelling as someone who wants to dive deeper into different cultures. If you really want to get to know a culture, it's best if you know someone from this culture. As a total stranger you most likely just get to see what tourist agencies want you to see. As someone who has connections to a country, on the other hand, you get a deeper insight. When I was in Houston, TX, I got the deepest insight you can probably get when you don't actually live in the country. My friends showed me the different neighborhoods (from very poor to very rich, from white to black ones etc.). They showed me the places tourists most likely won't see (because they reflect the truth every government wants to hide). But you don't only see the bad places. You also get to see the truly beautiful places...those you also can't see as a tourist. You get to see families living together, people helping each other...you get to see love and joy.
If you do it right, you can learn a lot by meeting different people from different countries.You hear different stories, different perspectives and opinions.When I was in Houston, I got to meet people from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Spain etc. It was so interesting to hear their stories (sad ones as well as happy ones). And I think travelling really shapes your personality as well. It's not only about visiting sights or spending money...I think it's also about inner growth.
After visiting Russia and seeing the poverty there, I felt like the richest person on earth when I came back. The tiniest things made me happy (like warm water, or even just water you can actually drink without getting sick). You start to appreciate the things you have and you start to realize how lucky you actually are.
This is why I think especially in this century of prosperity (atleast in most parts of Europe) travelling is very important. It shapes not only your opinions and views on various matters but it also shapes your character. It teaches people modesty, which can sometimes be hard to find these days.

Assignment 1: Planning a trip to the USA

Task:

Plan a ten-day trip to either Ireland or the US for the Easter break.  You have a budget of €2000, including flights, accommodation, spending money, transport, food, entry fees for sites etc.  Post a plan for your trip on your blog, explaining briefly where you have chosen to go and why.

Soo...
In the Easter break my friend Angi and I are gonna fly from Munich to NYC *yaay*. Since we only got to see Houston the last time we were in the States, this trip is surely gonna be aaaawesome!

Since we are gonna meet Cherry and Siggi (friends of my family) in Houston, we'll buy them presents before we leave for the US. Maybe we'll bring them Tyrolean bacon, wine, and some other cute things that represent Austria (will probably cost us around 20 Euros).

On April, 16 at 11.25 am our flight goes from Munich to Dublin and then from Dublin to NYC. We'll be in NYC at 6.00 pm, which means that we will be in the plane for 12 hours and 35 minutes *yay* *sarcasm off*. Just like two years ago, my dad will take us to the Airport in Munich, and Angi's family are going to pick us up once we get back. The flight will cost us 348 Euros....-> not too expensive :) Finally arrived, we will take a cab to the "Jazz on the Park" hostel, which is at the Central Park. Three days staying there will cost us 292.62 Euros. The trip from the JFK airport to our Hostel will cost 45.69 Euros. Since we share the costs though, this means that the stay in the Hostel will cost me actually 146.31 Euros and the Taxi ride 22.845 Euros.
In the "Jazz on the Park" hostel, Angi and I are gonna share the bedroom as well as the bathroom. We will arrive there in the evening on the 16th of April, so we are probably gonna be dead tired. Which means we will maybe just look through the rooms of the hostel and then go straight to bed. On April 17th, we are gonna get up early (seize the day  :P ). I think most of the time we will buy food and something to drink in the morning in a grosery shop (meal+ breakfast) or so and have dinner in a restaurant (will probably cost 10 Euros or so). So approximately we will spend 20-25 Euros a day on food and drinks (75 Euros for 3 days).

Day 1:
On April 17th our sightseeing tour will start in the morning. We will mostly use the subways to get from place A to place B (2.75 Euros per ride). So in the morning we will take a subway train from Central Park to the Rockefeller Center. Afterwards, we will take a subway train to the 9/11 Memorial. Near the memorial we will sit down and have lunch. After that, we will take a subway train to Brooklyn Bridge. Then, we will take a subway train back to Central Park and walk to the St. Patrick's Cathedral. Looking at the St.Patrick's Cathedral will surely take some time (1-2 hours). I think this will be enough sights for one day. I bet we will be tired and our feet will hurt like hell, so we can go back to Central Park, sit or lie down and relaaaaax (maybe take a walk through the park or so). In the evening, we will have dinner in Chinatown. Again, we will have to take a subway train to get there and back to our hostel again.
Subway costs:  11 Euros

Day 2: 

On April 18th we  will again get up as early as possible. We'll go buy some food and drinks and then we'll start our day. We'll take a subway train to Lincoln Center and look at this huge area. Then, we'll take a subway to the famous Empire State Building, get on the top of it and enjoy the great view over Midtown. There we will also have our lunch. Then we will take a subway to Times Square (crazy doing this in the afternoon but.. well.. :D). There we will go shooooopping (or just walk through the streets). I'm probably not gonna buy anything there since it's sooo expensive. But we can't spend too much time there, because we also want to see Fifth Avenue and go shopping there as well. (aaand again we will have to take a subway train to get there). In the evening we'll have lunch in Little Italy (take a subway train to get there and one to get back to our hostel).
Subway costs: 16.5 Euros

Day 3-5

April 19th -> time to leave NYC. We'll go by Amtrak to our friends in Houston, TX. At 10.05 our tain leaves to Washington DC (arrival: 1.30 pm). At 4.05 pm we'll continue our ride to Chicago, IL. We'll arrive there on April 20th at 8.45 am. At 1.45 our train will continue its journey to Longview, TX. On April 21, at 8.28 am, we'll arrive in Longview. *yaay, soon we'll see our friends again*
All in all this journey will take 39 hours, which is gonna be sooo exhausting. But for the most part we'll have beds and our own room, so it's not gonna be too bad. Also, we'll get to see a looot of different places in the US and always when we have to get out and wait for the next train to come, we have the chance to walk around and see some things. The trip to Longview will cost 710 Euros. Plus, the money we need for meals and drinks (about 30 -35 Euros). In Longview we'll be picked up by our friends and then we drive for another 3 hours or so to Houston. In Houston, we'll stay at our friends' place for free =).
So our journey to Houston will come to an end on April 21 at about 11.28 am. We are probably gonna be soo tired that we'll do nothing but play with the cute little dog  at our friends' house all day and then go to bed early.

Day 6 (April 22)

Cherry and Siggi (our friends) will take us to our Chinese friends in Houston. There we will play singstar (just like the last time we were there), have lunch, and enjoy being together. In the evening, Angi and I are probably just gonna relax with Cherry and the dog and Cherry will probably cook for us =). In the evening, we're gonna go to the Movie theater with Angi (another Angi..she's from Houston). (20 Euros)

Day 7 (April 23)

yaaayyy... Splaaaashtown with EJ, Dereq and Emmanuel =). Just like the last time they will take us to this awesome waterpark. We'll be there the entire day and we'll have sooo much fun together! Last time the ticket cost like 15 Euros, so this will probably be the same. And we'll need another 10 Euros for something to eat and drink. In the evening Cherry is probably going to cook for us again.

Day 8 (April 24)

 Cherry will take us to one of her anti-racism classes, where she teaches children how bad racism is. We will help her get the room ready for her presentation and then we'll watch her do her job :). For lunch we'll be invited to one of Cherry's friend's house. Hopefully there will be all those awesome ladies we met last time. In the afternoon we will go to Dereq and Em's house and play video games. In the evening, they'll take us out to paaartyyyyy (20 Euros for drinks).

Day 9 (April 25)

Cherry will take us to the biggest shopping mall in Dallas (NorthPark Center). There I'll buy little presents for my family and maybe also something not too expensive for myself (50 Euros). We'll go to a restaurant with Cherry and Siggi (and we'll pay for them -> 30 Euros [I'll pay for Cherry and myself + Angi will pay for Siggi and herself]). In the afternoon Cherry will show us the different neighborhoods in Houston and then we'll drive to downtown. There we'll just walk around and look at the different buildings. In the evening EJ, Dereq and Em will take us to the movie theater (20 Euros) and afterwards we'll go and have a Pizza (15 Euros).

Day 10 (April 26)

We'll sleep long, pack our things, enjoy the last day with Siggi, Cherry and the dog. We will cook together and at 19.50  we'll take the plane homewards. On April 27 at 15.55 we'll arrive in Istanbul. There we'll have to wait until 19.40. (We'll probably buy food and something to drink there --15 Euros---). Then we'll go get our plane and fly back home. At 21.30 our plane will arrive in Munich,where Angi's parents will already be waiting for us. The flight back home costs 400 Euros. So I'll have 48 Euros left =). Angi's parents will take me home, where I'll meet my parents and then instantly go to bed.

This trip will be sooo exhausting, but definitely worth it. In Houston, we'll have more time to relax, while in NYC we'll run from one sight to another.
I'm already so excited!! - meeting our friends again will be great!