what a relief...

...I've chosen a book which is perfect for me (after the first chapters of jaywalking I'm a bit frustrated). Almost French is funny, not too hard to read and yet it contains a lots of nice phrases and idioms I can use for my own writing. I just like the way the author is writing.

I've already read the first chapters. Sarah (27) is travelling around Europe and meets a Frenchman who invites her to come to Paris for a couple of days. Well, and I guess that's were she ends up forever. So, obviously it's a love story, but not a typical one. It's a lot about cultural clashes and and the struggle to adapt to her new home.

Ok, I keep you posted.

sound of music

Finally I've watched "sound of music". The movie which shows how the rest of the world sees Austria. That's at least what I experienced when I was in Australia. They couldn't believe that I've never seen this movie. Now I know why in Austria this movie is widly unknown. It is an exaggerated "Heimatfilm"with a lot of kitschy scenes and simply too much singing and also too lengthy (3 hours!). It was a very funny evening though, because we fast-forward at the musical scenes and the dancing part looked very funny then.

"Sound of music" was a very successful Broadway musical in the 1960s. The plot is about the singing Trapp family. I've heard that it's based on a true story but lots of details are made up.

Nevertheless, I think you should've once watched it to know what it's about. The movie not only depicts the beautiful countryside but also the situation before the 2nd world war in Austria. Certainly there are a lot of stereotypes shown in this movie, but everybody who is a bit open-minded will realise that this is just an overstated hollywood movie and not real Austria.

Nerd's eye view

I just had a glimpse at nerd's eye view. wow, this is nothing you can compare with my miserable blog. I need more time to check out the entire (ok, maybe not entire, entire) blog. I've already read the info in our script and so I already know who she is and what it's about and I will not tell you again.

more about it when I find some interesting entries.

Almost French

Finally I've decides which second book to read besides Jaywalking: Almost French by Sarah Turnbull.

I've already read "a year in the merde" by Stephen Clark and it was really fun. I liked the way he portrayed the stereotypes of France. I know that you can't take this serious because you should never generalize and yet it's funny.
If somebody likes that kind of books too, I have to reccomend this one:

"Keiner ist so toll wie wir" Blöde Briten, frustrierte Franzosen und 36 weitere hoffnungslose Fälle (die schönsten Vorurteile Österreichs auf einen Blick) von Markus Huber/Robert Treischler

I know it's in German (sorry Lisa) but sometimes you need to read a German book again AND it's simply sooooo hilarious but only if you don't take it serious.

Anyway, I've ordered "Almost French" at the English bookshop and hope it's fun to read and not so challenging like Jaywalking.

Oh, by the way, I've also read "round irland with a fridge" by Tony Hawks and can reccomend this one too, if you're into strange, yet funny books.

You want to win the lottery?

I found this "odd" statistic in the NYT today:

What are the Odds?

Lottery officials put the odds of winning the next Mega Millions jackpot at
1 in 175,711,536

The odds of someone in the U.S. being hit by lightning during a year are much better. Experts put them at about
1 in 280,000

The odds of dying in a lightning strike are about
1 in 3,000,000


So what does this tell us? Don't spend your money on buying lottery tickets, watch out instead for lightnings (the odds here are much bigger)

For nostalgic Irish, soil is available by the bag

This is the headline of an article I've just read in the NYT. There is a company in Irland which ships Irish dirt to the States. It's crazy, but the business is growing. I have to quote some statements of this article:
"If only I had a bit of dirt, just to have the feel of the old country, just a little bit of Ireland to throw on the casket.
casket (AE) = Sarg
The founder of the company said that the soil was often tossed atop coffins or sprinkled on grass over graves. wow
The customers are also attracted by the legend of Irish luck. And there are a few unbelievable stories, like a native of Country Cork spent $148.000 on Irish soil to spread it under his ous in Massachusetts.
Isn't this ridiculous. Well, some people don't know what to do with their money, I guess.

Here is the link in case you don't believe me. I've already checked it out: 4 bags of Irish dirt cost about $20. Not too bad, hm?

Rom-Trip

Yippieh, I'm going to Rom during the easter break for a couple of days.

I know this has nothing to do with studying English in particular, but I thought it's a good idea to write about my short trip (only 4 days) and use it as an opportunity to improve my written English. Grex and I are going by train, since this is the cheapest possibility. Since Italian is my second language and I've never been to Rome before, I can't wait to explore this ancient city.

Well, more about it when we're back, that means after the easter break, with a lot of new, wonderful and unforgettable impressions that I'd like to share with you.