RE: Homecoming

When I saw Leonie's post about Homecoming Day I decided to write about it. It was a great experience and I never saw something like this before! Everyone wore the colors of his/her grade and the assembly in the new gym was awesome. :D I didn't get all what was said, but it was fun and I was screaming like half an hour. It was pretty cool that everyone accided. The whole week was fun, I particulary liked the monday and wednesday motto. It is a pity that we don't have something like that in Germany! And even if we had a motto, I'm pretty sure that not everyone would join in. The coolest thing we had at my school was the "Abistreich". It's a day where the seniors play a trick on the teachers. It's mostly not that special, but one time they filled the atrium (it's a schoolyard, built like an amphitheater) with water and we all went with clothes into it. It was fun! Back to homecoming. It's so cool that I was able to experience like a real american homecoming, I felt like I was in a movie or something. :D The homecoming game was nice too.

FREE: Yosemite National Park

Last weekend I went to Yosemite National Park with my family. It was gorgeous! I haven't been to any national park before. The air is so fresh and clean there and it was kinda weird to get out of the car and put on a winter jacket while before you wore a T-shirt. On some spots there was even a rest of snow.  The whole area was so huge and the landscapes reminded me of different countries. In the forests I felt like beeing in Sweden and the bare, red plain with the white moon above looked like I imagine Africa. (I've never been there). On our first day we went to the Hetch Hetchy reservoir and saw a beautiful sunset. We stayed in a house at something like a little village. On Saturday we took a walk in the sequoia woods. Afterwards we drove into Yosemite Valley. We went to a waterfall (there are quite a lot, so I can't remember which one it was, but it wasn't the Yosemite fall), the Ansel Adams gallery and the hotel "Ahwne". It's so pretty and the hall with the chimney looks like Hogwarts. The next day we hiked to the Yosemite fall. Because it was so hot we wanted to swim in the "Merced River", but the water was too cold. It was so peaceful!

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

CE: Occupy Protests

I was looking for something to write about when I found this post: Occupy protests continue across the globe
I never heard about Occupy before we watched a video in class and I wasn't sure if I really get what it is about so I looked it up on the internet.
So as far as I know now it started on Septmeber 19 this year with a demonstration in New York City initiated by the Canadian avtivist group Adbusters. The protest was inspired by the Arab Spring movement and it was mainly against social and ecnonomic inequality, cooperate greed and the influence of corporate money. By October 9, similar demonstrations had been held in many major cities in the US and on October 15, the Global Day of Protest, demonstrated about 100,000 people all over the world. Other Occupy protests have modeled themselves after Occupy Wall Street in over 900 cities worldwide.
"Occupy" protests commonly use the slogan We are the 99% and organize through websites such as "Occupy Together".
Now around 250 demonstrators set up a camp in London outside St. Paul's Cathedral.
Jane McIntyre, one of the protestants said: "People are saying enough is enough, we want a real democracy, not one that is based on the interests of big business and the banking system."
I saw the demonstration in San Francisco on Saturday and I think it's good to do something.
I'm impressed that so many people worldwide protesting!

FREE: Chocolate

I loooove chocolate!
But at the moment two friends and I make a chocolate diet. We try to not eat chocolate for three weeks and then we make a chocolate party, where we eat everything on which we passed on before.
It's the 4. day without any chocolate now and I miss it so bad! I didn't thought before that I eat that much chocolate so it won't be so hard, but now I realized what all contains chocolate! :'D
No Brownies, Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccinos, Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Ice Cream, Nutella...
Awww, it's so terrible and I don't even know why we do this to us. :D
At worst it is always at Starbucks. It seems like everything contains chocolate and I even can't get a coffee mocha! And then, rigth next to me, there sits someone with a fat brownie.
But I managed it till now so I'll also manage it the remaining days. Hopefully.
I console myself with the thought that we'll go to Starbucks on 29 october (of course I know the date ;D)  and get a grande Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino. I'm so excited!
It's good to live without chocolate a few days, because you realize what other yummy & healthy things you can eat instead.
It's not like I ate chocolate all the time before, but now that I have to abdicate it, it makes me want it even more! But the 29 october will be awesome. :)

CE: Trouble in Germany

The discovery of a firebomb on rail tracks in Berlin has increased fears of renewed attacks by left-wing groups in Germany. Security at railway stations has been stepped up following the discovery of the sixteenth explosive device in nine locations in less than a week. Hundreds of trains have been delayed because of partial shutdowns, but there have been no injuries. A previously unknown leftist group claimed responsibility for the bomb, saying they were protesting against Germany's military involvement in Afghanistan and the country's role as an arms exporter.

When I discovered this video I was a bit scared, because it happened in my homecountry and there's my family and my friends. But I'm glad to here that nobody's hurt (yet). Often newspapers just write about stuff like that to cause a sensation and there's more panic than actually has to be, but I think the situation itself (maybe even more the reason behind it, the military involvement in Afghanistan) is serious.
At school in Germany we had a lecture about Afghanistan from an organisation that is against sending troops there. They are committed to help them but without arms. I was really impressed by the organisation, because it was started by a family and they went to Afghanistan themselves during war and with their children. The man helped as a doctor with a secret practice under the earth and the woman as a teacher. One time they lived next to Osama bin Laden. They lived in peace with everyone, also the Taliban, and nobody ever tried to hurt them. Far from it, they welcomed them. And so, like the woman who gives the lecture, they got to know the culture of the Afghans. And even if I don't think that everything's that good what they think and do, everyone should deal with it. And it's of course a better way to go to Afghanistan and help the people build up their country again by vet and teach them and doning just the help they want and not by sending armed troops!

Well, this was mostly about the backround and not the actual situation in Germany, but it's better to deal with a subject than just running scared.

BC: Live Each Day As If It Is Your Last

 "If you life each day as if it was your last, someday you'll certainly be right."

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to losa, You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Steve Jobs

I agree with Jobs' advice in so far that I think you should always follow your heart. You should not do anything just because you don't want to hurt someone, when you don't feel good with it. Because your life is about you and it's only yourself who can make you happy.
But I also disagree with "live each day as if it is your last", because if you would do just what you want every day you couldn't build up something. But that's one of the humans special characters, that we can plan. We can look on our future and decide to do something we don't like for a goal we want to reach. So this wouldn't make us happy today but in the future. Well, of course we don't know what will happen, maybe we are dead the next day. But we don't know and I think it's fine as it is. When I would know my last day I would just be in panic all the time. I would think: I want to do this and this and this and what if I can't accomplish it anymore? I couldn't enjoy my life;  I would be scared and under time pressure.
But I think this isn't what Jobs wants to say with this quote.
So if  I started following his advice tomorrow I would learn about myself what I really want. I often think about my situation, if I do everything right and what I really want to achieve in my life. And then I mostly start working for it. But I have some days, like probably everyone, where I can't pick myself up. I just want to sleep and I tell myself tomorrow's another day, another start. Today is one of those days... And I know it would be better to work for the things you want right now, but there are so many things that try to hold us back.
Self-doubt, incertitude, fear of embarrasment or failure...
So to say "live now, tomorrow you can be dead" is one way to help you think of what you really want and then work for it, but it's not my favourite quote. It's kind of negative. I need to be able to look forward to something. That helps me, but it's probably different from person to person.
But I would definitely give the advice "follow your heart" to people about how to make the big choices in life, because like I already said, it's your life and you are responsible for you to make you happy.

RE: Always Look At The Bright Side Of Life

"Do not let unnecessary problems ruin your day. Keeping a positive attitude creates a healthy mind. The real difference between happy positive people and unhappy negative people is their willingness to change and adjust their attitudes in any and every situation. Life goes on. Keep it moving."


What Cassandra wrote in her post is absolutely true. This is the second time that I write the post, because when I had finished it the first time I forgot to save it and everything was gone. Urgh. But then I remembered about what I had written and so I stayed calm and wrote it again. :)
One of the reasons why I wanted to go to California was that my life in Germany was kind of routine. Nothing really changed. I don't want to say that my life was bad or boring, it was just...general.
I'm thankful to be here now, because I found my groove again and I rediscovered my home new.
At the moment I am full of new ideas and plans and I hope I can keep this. It is good to get out sometime. Here in California the people have another, but great attitude. Just chill and enjoy your life. I hope I can take this back to Germany. I've learned again how sunny and beautiful life is, also the weather. :)
But back to the quote. You shouldn't hold yourself up just because of little problems or accidents.
The joy is not in the things, it's in us! You can discover something new everywhere and sometimes you just have to get out of your habits and the daily routine. Also when something didn't turn out like you wanted it, you musn't stay in a bad mood but look forward. It helps me when I tell myself again and again: Every day is a new beginning!

CE: Undocumented

Should "illegal immigrants" acquire citizenship? That's a difficult topic, but it is clear that something has to change. It can't last like it is at the moment, that's not good for anybody. I'm not well versed in this, but as far as I know some people in the US want to leave the immegrants, who are mostly Mexicans, for various reasons. Firstly because they think that there are already too many unemployed persons in the United States and that the immigrants take away the work from them. Other Americans say that the immigrants should stay because they do the work they don't want to do. And framers want the immigrants to stay, because they work harder for less money. That's particularly because of the different life circumstances: when you work for 5 dollars a day, you're rich in their eyes, but in the US that's worth nothing. And that's it! You can not live on five dollars a day! So the situation now (as far as I know, maybe I'm wrong) is that the immigrants work hard, apparently do the work others don't want to do, and get nothing but a more than unfair fee for it. So as long as they are needed here they can stay and work, but are not allowed to live and then suddenly they have to go back to the country they came from. And that's of course not okay.
And it is right that "we are all immigrants" like protastans said, because the people who actually lived in America are less than 1% of the current population. But, however the situation looks really like at the moment, the youth must not have to pay for it!

FREE: Augsburg

There are lots of places I love in my hometown. In summer everybody's sitting on the "Rathausplatz", it's a square in front of the city hall. You just chill with your friends and cold drinks from Pow Wow and sometimes there's a stage with local  bands or dancegroups or other special events. In winter there is the "Augsburger Christkindls Markt". My favourite café is Henrys. It's usually crowded and especially in autum it's difficult to get a table, because it is too cold or rainy to sit outside then. It is also a bit expensive, but the coffee & food is excellent and it has a nice flair. Another coffeehouse and also a good place to eat breakfast is "aran". Aran means bread in a different language and the name is up to the range. They offer slices with various spreads, sweet and savory. The location is special, because the café is placed in an huge, historic hall with high walls and a big, wooden table in the middle. But because of the dimension it is often noisy there. Who looks for a calmer place should go to the Baguette Company on "Moritzplatz". Upstairs they have some nice seats. If you want to go to a typical cafe of Augsburg "Dichtl" is the best. They have a offer of a variety of cakes. My favourite restaurants are Vapiano (an Italian chain with various noodles and delicious desserts), Anna (it is conveniently located in the main shopping street but in a quiet and usually sunny backyard) and the "Milchbar" on the marketplace (they have soo delicious milkproducts like rice pudding, yeast dumpling and "Kaiserschmarrn"). For brunching "Thalia" is the best place. It's an old, beautiful theater and every sunday they have a great buffet in a large, bright room next to it where you can eat everything from sweet pancakes to eggs with bacon. Thereafter you can watch a movie for little money.
The best places for shopping are downtown or for rainy days, the City Gallery where you have all popular chains side by side. Famous buildings are the "Perlachturm", it's a tower next to the city hall from which you have a great view over Augsburg, the Golden Hall in the city hall and, of course, the "Augsburger Puppenkiste" the only place in the world where you can watch a show of the puppets on strings. I was there often as a child with my grandma, but not anymore since then. That's it so far about my hometown.






Panoramic view from the Perlachturm on the Rathausplatz




Augsburger Christmast Market




The Golden Hall in the city hall


 

Augsburger Puppenkiste