Still Here!

Howdy Folks!

So, I haven't updated in a while; life has been crazy! Spring break was spent writing my thesis "Germany and the Bologna Process: The Effects of European Integration on German Higher Education", and May was finals. I am now, however, free! And awaiting my degree results. Scary times. I should find out in a couple weeks.
But I am still here, and I haven't deserted the blog. I hope you're still reading!
I've been working on a few things for it, so look out for them coming soon!

xxx

So Rubbish

I am so bad at writing in here. I must try harder.

I just had a flash of inspiration and creativity, and sat down to work on my novel. I now have five chapters completed (until the final edit of course), which is 10,500 words.
I am aiming for 80-100,000 words in total, so although it 10,500 sounds like a lot, it's really not. Hopefully I will be finished by the fall. I would like to say before then, but it's senior year, final semester, I have a thesis to write, as well as four presentations and three papers, two written exams and an oral exam, so novel writing is on the back burner until summer, but maybe some miracle will happen and I will get to write a lot before summer.

In other news ... graduation is 10.30 am, Tuesday July 7. I cannot wait.

And I got new glasses. They are plastic, colored frames, very different from the plain boring, wirey ones I have been wearing since like 1998. They feel kinda weird, like they don't quite fit. But they do fit. I hate glasses. :(



Anyway, I need to sleep. Night night.

Blwyddwyn Newydd Dda

In 2009 I will:

1. Graduate,
2. Read at least 30 books (for pleasure),
3. Drive again,
4. Own a Nikon D40,
5. Visit Wales,
6. Lose weight,
7. Dye my hair brown,
8. Turn 24,
9. Write something,
10. Make an impact.


Happy New Year xxx

I cannot convey in words how much you walking out of my life hurts.

I wish you cared. I wish you were sorry. I wish you would stay.

Woaaaaaaah, I haven't written in here for two months! Things have been crrrrrazzzzzzy lately, I never seem to have time for anything anymore, and Ibiza definitely seems more like two years ago that two months.
It's almost November, England has suddenly in the last week turned unbelievably cold, and I am swamped with work ... the joys of being a finalist. I am hoping things will settle down soon and I will be able to write in here again.

Ibiza

Hello, devoted readers!

I'm soooo sorry for being so rubbish at this blogging malarky; I am sure you are all eagerly awaiting the next installment of my oh-so-thrilling life.

Well, right now, I am writing this from Ibiza! It is hot, and I am a little bit sunburnt. I am home next Wednesday, so I will update then. Promise!

Lots of Ibiza Love


Elenita xxxxx

Week One:

Shopaholic Ties The Knot - Sophie Kinsella

Shopaholic and Sister - Sophie Kinsella

Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella



Week Two:

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides



Week Three:

Alphabet Weekends - Elizabeth Noble



Weeks Four - Fifteen:

Mr. Maybe - Jane Green

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov



Weeks Sixteen - Twenty:

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson

Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella

The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory

(College Books: 20)



Weeks Twenty-One - Twenty-Six:

The Double Life of Anna Day - Louise Candlish

Thanks For The Memories - Cecelia Ahern



Week Twenty-Seven:

Breakast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote

Chocolat - Joanne Harris



Week Twenty-Eight:

Notting Hell - Rachel Johnson

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult







Total (including college books): 38

Finding My Feet

So, I am really bad at keeping up with this blog sometimes. I just don't feel like writing at times. But now I'm back, all ready to update.

I'm back in England. I can't believe that tomorrow morning, I will have been back an entire month.

My last week was a lot of fun, very busy and very sad too. My leaving party was on the Monday. Around 20 people had been invited, but in the end only nine people including myself were there. That was ok though, it was more than I expected. I was a bit disappointed though; the food didn't seem to taste as great as the first time I went to the restaurant with Cara in January, and somehow hardly anyone really spoke to me, despite it being my party. I'm not all that good at being in the spotlight, and tend to focus on others rather than myself, so I guess I did that. And it probably helped that the only people who turned up are ones I'm not all that close to and some very loud people who like to be the center of attention came, and stole the show. It was a good night, but not really what I hoped for.

I did get to have a great evening with Sandy to say goodbye though on the Thursday. We went to Sausalitos, a Mexican restaurant on the same street as the restaurant the leaving party was held at. It was a lot of fun; Cara and Maria Fe (new girl in the Ascent Office beore Cara arrived, friends with Sandy) came too, and Juan, Sandy's boyfriend of course. The food was awesome, and beforehand Sandy, Juan and I went shopping a little. I haven't seen Sandy since though, and I really miss her. :(

She hates this picture. It makes me laugh (in a good way):

The days at work were a bit rubbish, because I pretty much handed everything over to Cara on the Monday/Tuesday. There wasn't really anything for me to, so Wednesday was spent at home packing my boxes and sending them off with DHL. And on Thursday and Friday, there was a big move in the office, so there was nothing to do anyway. On my very last day, Claudia and Maria gave me a leaving present - a 2GB Mp4 player! I was VERY surprised. And after work, Siri took me out to dinner at Gasteig, which was lovely of her.

I adore this girl:

And then Cara came over to mine, and helped me pack. I ended up having a mini breakdown. I had like twice my luggage allowance and I was so stressed that I would end up paying hundreds of Euros to get it all home. Cara helped me pack, and booked a taxi for me. I cried so much I gave myself a migraine and worried so much I made myself sick. I couldn't sleep all night, and could barely breathe when I was waiting for my taxi.
The driver was great though, he carried all my heavy luggage for me and helped me load it onto a trolley at the airport, and when I got to check in, the lady told me the plane was virtually empty and asked if I had been studying in Germany and was going back home, and I got to take all my luggage for free. :) That took a load of my mind! Because I was of course taking my laptop home, I got to use my new wheely laptop bag for the fir st time. At Siemens, employees can get Siemens and other Siemens related stuff - like Bosch for example - (computers, washing machines, laptop bags, mice, USBs, irons, freezers, etc.) at a discounted price . I got the laptop bag because they are soooo much easier for traveling with, and it only cost me 45€. I looked them up online, and they cost like £175. So, bargain. But anyway, it was the first time I actually used it because when I went home at Easter and in May, I left my computer behind. So I was pulling it along, with my America bag looped over the pully bit. That was fun.
When it came to boarding though, I was really sad. I cried a bit.


Now I am trying to find my feet again at home. I am trying to reorganize my room, so it feels like it's mine again. I have put up postcards of Munich, Paris and Portugal (I was on vacation there for two weeks at the beginning of July) as well as my US license plate collection. I just bought a few more plates to add to it too. :) I have my little American flags in a glass on my dresser, along with a little German one too. I need to find some photos to put on the walls.

1. Go through all my clothes and decide what needs to be replaced and thrown out.

2. Throw out offending items.

3. Reorganize wardrobe and drawers. Make a list of new things I need, and things I have already bought for winter.

4. Reorganize bookcase and bookshelf. Find somewhere for growing collection of college books. Work out what needs selling, and for how much.

5. Get frame for Premonition poster. Put on wall.

6. Tody/clear out bedside table. Organize medicine box. Stock up on meds if necessary (paracetemol, ibuprofen, etc. - i'm not a drug addict!!!)

7. Budget!! Decide what to ask for for birthday. Start thinking about Christmas (people always ask what I want and I never know. I need to think about these things early, as well as plan what to give other people - my favorite part! I love giving gifts!)

8. Reply to letters from Elina, Chelsea, Karie and Amy. Organize envelopes of things I am supposed to be sending to people. Order stamps.

I feel very strange at home. Like I don't really belong anymore. I didn't realize quite how much Munich had changed me until I came back here.

I don't have a car here anymore, and even though I didn't have one in Munich, I was in a huge city and there was great, inexpensive public transport. Now I am in a tiny rural village in the provinces and I really rely on my mum to drive me places, or expensive buses. :( I feel quite trapped I guess, like my independence has been taken away from me. I suppose in a way it has. My parents just kinda disregard what I have been doing for the past year, and treat me like I am 14 again.

I never thought I would want to move away from here permanently; now I can't wait.

I'm still waiting to hear whether I passed this year or not. I have no idea when I will find out, but I hope it's soon. It's driving me crazy not knowing. I hope I have passed. More than that though, I hope I have done well.

I'm excited about the future. I can't wait for the challenges I will be faced with from now on.

:) I may not fit in here right now, but there's stuff to look forward to, plans to make. I'm happy.

What a load of drivvel that was. I'm not even drunk :s

Just a Quickie

Hmm, here's a thought ... is it "quickie" or "quicky"? Either way, the more I say it in my head, I hate that word.

Anyways, this is just going to be a quick post, because I need to update - i will write properly tomorrow. So much is going on in my head right now; I have only 10 days left in Germany and I am trying to prepare myself for the massive change of being back at home, I have a splitting headache and sore feet, colleagues are irritating me to within an inch of my sanity (seriously), my apartment (too nice a word for this disgusting ghetto that is never cleaned), need sleep .... that kinda thing. I'm eating bread and honey, it's delicious. I'm about to start reading a new book. Geek girl is back. Ha.

But I thought I would say hola seeing as I was online.

17 Days ...

... is how many days I have left in Germany!!!!! 13 working days and two weekends. So right now, my room is full of large moving boxes because I have soooo much stuff here and I need to pack it all up to ship home. I have seven, all full, a large suitcase (not yet full), a large holdall (empty) and a room full of things. I sure hope I'm gonna get it all packed, because I am rubbish at throwing stuff out.

I'm also trying to organize a goodbye party. :D We're going to this really nice restaurant chain called Maredo. It does Latin Americany/Spanishy food and is soooooo delicious, and not expensive. I'm so excited. I love going out to eat, but I only really get the chance at home (when my parents are paying haha) and sometimes with friends in Liverpool, but here not at all, so I am really looking forward to it.

My replacement Cara is coming out in about a week and a half too, so I'm excited to get to see her again. We only have one week here together, but I think that there will be lots of funny stories, and funny pictures that week.

This is what we got up to last time she was here:




(We were dressing up as caterpillars!).

Last week my college work for this year was due in. I had to write a 2000 word log book chronicaling my experiences here, as well as a 3000 word research paper (I wrote about the White Rose Movement and the memory culture that has developed in Germany since the end of
the war) in German. I mailed it off on Wednesday, two days before the deadline, and by the end of it, I was quite proud. :) All through May I was stressing about it, but once I had done all my research and started writing it up, it flowed quite nicely.
So much so that I decided to apply for the new dissertation module which has been added to our module choices for senior year. You have to apply because your academic grades count towards whether you are allowed to do it or not, and I am allowed to do it!! I was so happy, because I really enjoyed doing independent research and writing up an essay on what I had found out.
My dissertation is going to be on the European Union and whether it is beneficial for Germany or not, and whether expansion will be advantageous or not. I don't know yet whether I have to write in English or German; English would obviously be easier (it's 10-12,000 word) but I am prepared to accept the challenge if it's in German. I have no idea yet whether I have got places on the other modules I selected, but I hope so. I will be doing two electives, core language and the dissertation module each semester. I'm so excited about next year!!

Well, that's about all for now, I have no idea what else to write right now.
I'm listening to some really cool Cajun music by Blind Uncle Gaspard and Ann Savoy. I love it! You should go check it out!!


Lots of Love xx

Back By Popular Demand

Ok, not really, but I haven't written in here for aaaaaaaages, so I figured I'd better start again.

I also have a super fun questionnaire to fill out, thanks to Katie who is sooooooo right when she says I love to fill them out. It's kinda sad, but I actually really do. Ha, I'm such an eight year old!!
But here goes:


Here are the rules:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.


What were you doing 5 years ago?

That's a pretty tough question actually, five years is a long time ago!!
1. I went on my first ever trip to Germany on the school exchange program to Schwäbisch Hall (near Stuttgart).
2. I was waiting for my AS results and thinking about college options.
3. I was excited about going on vacation to Greece. (I LOVE Greece)
4. I was preparing for my 18th birthday that September and looking for a dress for the charity ball my parents took me to.
5. I was falling in love for the very first time (at least, I thought I was at the time).


What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?

1 Take a shower before bed.
2. Tidy up my room a little.
3. Read some of my book.
4. Plan what I want to wear tomorrow.
5. Go to bed.
(it's like 10pm now, there aren't that many thing I have left to do today!!)


What are 5 snacks you enjoy?

1. Cookies. :) Yummy.
2. Dried Apricots.
3. Bread (Ciabatta or Baguette especially) and Olive Oil with little bits of red pepper and random spices mixed with a splash of vinegar.
4. Ben and Jerry's Bohemian Raspberry or Chunky Monkey ice cream with fresh raspberries and chopped up banana (also doubles as dessert = two for the price of one!!).
5. Carrot Sticks with Tzatziki.


What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Invest in properties all over the place.
2. Give a load to my parents, because they have supported me so much (financially and otherwise) throughout my whole entire life.
3. Go on a massive shopping trip. Shallow, but I would; no point in lying. *lol*
4. Give a load to cancer research charities, as well as children's charities, and other needy causes like schools and hospitals in disaster areas like New Orleans.
5. I would go traveling; firstly with my dream road trip across every state in the Union.


What are 5 of your bad habits?

1. I talk too much, and usually drivvel.
2. I have rubbish concentration and get bored too easily.
3. I can be quite flighty, and selfish. :(
4. I'm quite lazy.
5. I still bite my nails


What are 5 places you have lived?

1. Nottingham, England (home)
2. Winnenden, Germany (approx. 20km north east of Stuttgart - gap year)
3. Liverpool, England (college)
4. Munich, Germany (junior year internship :D)
5. Sunset Beach, CA (just as soon as i get my green card, publish my novels and enough funds to buy my beach huse :) )


What are 5 jobs you've had?

1. Babysitter to some super kids (Olivia and Miles, now very much grown up :) ) and some not so super kids (Michael and Anna - Anna was cute, especially when she was a toddler, but Michael was devil spawn), and some kids with crazy health freak parents (Emma and Daniel, though I never actually met the kids cos they were always asleep when I arrived) who never had anything fun to eat (cos that's what babysitting is all about) and didn't own a TV.
2. Sales Assistant at the local gas station. Where I met The Boy. :s
3. Intern at Siemens, once in Stuttgart, once in Munich.
4. Novelist (ongoing, not yet a real job because I don't get paid for it but whatever).
5. General Dogsbody around my house. I will do pretty much anything in exchange for cash. (That sounds wrong, but you know what I mean).


What 5 people do you want to tag?

I can't tag anyone because Katie is the only person I know who has a blog, and she tagged me already!


Well that's all for now folks. Gotta get to bed!

xxx

Psalm 119:28

I weep with sorrow; encourage me with your word.

This Is Me

creative; a writer, a photographer, an actress, a singer, a producer? .. maybe someday .. . sensitive, passionate, tortured. an artist. a dreamer.

ambitious, determined, driven. adventurous.

political, a capitalist, opinionated.

anti-european.

spiritual. a fatalist.

patriotically british. a little american at heart. a linguist. a traveler.

paradoxical, contradictory, multi-faceted.

a student. taking the wrong program. at the wrong institution.

a businesswoman. a PR girl.

a daughter. a sister. a mom .. one day. the love of someone’s life?

a country girl in the city, sometimes. a city girl in the country, sometimes.

a superstar.

i believe that the things you are afraid of are the things that are the most worthwhile.

i like to challenge myself.

i believe in love and that there is good in everyone. except me.

i forgive too easily, but if you push me too far, it’s game over.

if i inspire just one person, i will die happy.

Thoughts, Mulling Around In My Head

There's a dad outside my window, looking after his baby, who is sitting a nice dark blue stroller, and playing with his toddler on the grass. She (the toddler) is wearing a cute pink coat and a little white hat.

I'm thinking about what you said. But I just can't see it. It's going round and round in my head, I just can't see you doing what that guy is doing.

Productivity

So, I kinda gave up on my book a week thing, which I feel very rubbish about. In eleven weeks, I have read three books and started one which I subsequently have given up on.

Weeks Four - Fifteen:

Mr Maybe - Jane Green

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

And I started and gave up on:
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

I'm sorry, I know I was supposed to love that book, but I really didn't get into it at all.
I will try and read it again sometime, but for now I want to focus on reading all the other books I have! I didn't bring so many back with me after Easter, because I already have so much stuff to be shipped back and my dad is already freaking out about it. I have maybe three boxes of books alone, including my huge German dictionary, so I only brought back a few of the ones I ordered from Amazon in January/February. But airports always have great offers on books, so I picked up a few on my way back. Two were on Buy One Get One Half Price, and one hasn't been released as paperback in regular bookstores yet, but it has at airports and I really don't want to wait a whole year for it, so I got it there. So I have loads to be cracking on with.

I also finally started my Year Abroad Essay this week. My lecturer suggested a title for me (he didn't like the one I came up with), but it was a bit dry I thought, so I spent literally weeks mulling over what I could use instead, then finally at like 3.30 a.m. one night, the best one came to me out of the blue. I was so happy, and finally felt like I could start to write, although I was planning to start anyway and then go back and change the title as and when genius struck, because I was starting to freak out about time running out (it has to be handed in June 7th).
So I finally started this week, and I now have a complete introduction! It has to be 3000 words in total, so I still have a lot to do, obviously, but now I at least feel like I am getting somewhere. I like that feeling!

Ok, I'm gonna go read my new book!!!

xxxx

One in a Million

"You're one in a million, you're once in a lifetime, you made me discover one of the stars above us."

I have that song stuck in my head. If you don't know it, it's called One in a Million by Bisson, and was used in the dance of the final pageant scene in Miss Congeniality (yes, that is the poster, just in case you have no idea what I am talking about). I love that song. It's cheesy Europop at it's best. But now it's stuck in my head, and starting to grate.

Actually, speaking of Miss Congeniality ... I recently read that Sandra Bullock was in New York on 9/11 and saw the whole thing, and immediately went to a hospital to volunteer help and spent the whole day emailing people on behalf of patients who wanted to let their families know they were safe. What a nice lady!

Sooo, my Americanness is coming along nicely! Haha. Just a quick explanation of why we use American English here, because I too expected it to be British English: we are organizing an international conference and the international English is American English (apparently). And also, I am working with people from Latin America and other places where they have learnt American English in school or wherever, and most people watch American TV shows and movies, so everything they say is pretty much American, or some bizarre mixture of British and American. And so many people have trouble understanding me when I speak British. Grr.

I figured though, Americans spell more logically ... take neighborhood for example. In British, there is a "u" between the "o" and the "r". WHY?!! It doesn't make any sense!! You don't need it!!

The weather here is awesome right now. It's pretty cold still, but the sky is a clear, deep blue and there are only tiny fluffy clouds dotted about, and we have the most spectactular view of the Austrian mountains from the office. I feel like I am on vacation whenever I look out the window! :o)

xxx

Walking In Heels

Pre-GSCEs, I generally wore shoes to school which had something of a heel.

Post-GSCEs, in the Sixth Form, I frequently broke the rules and wore stilettos with a six inch heels to school.

Then I moved to Stuttgart, where it was winter. And snowy. And icy. Stilettos on ice are a really bad idea. So, I wore trainers, and haven't really stopped since. Now my feet (and my slightly too long trousers and jeans) are suffering, so I have started to wear proper leather footwear most of the time. I am "training" myself to wear heels again, but my God it's hard.

I have also started speaking/writing like an American. :s I know, after years and years of saying American is not English, I am morphing into one. But here hardly anyone understands my accent or my British vocabulary, plus all documents and things have to be written in American English, so it's kinda better if I am more "fluent" in American. I think everyone is getting annoyed when I say "noooooooo, it's not organiZed, it's organiSed". Haha.
Maybe I should change my blog from 'Parisian Wannabe' to 'American Wannabe'. Ha.

Until soon my lovelies,

The Wannabe American xx

Congratulations:

Congratulations: I officially hate you.

You may have managed to alienate everyone else around you, but I can see through your act.

And I don't like what I find.

This Morning, I Discovered ...

This morning, I discovered that my toothbrush had been moved from its usual home in the bathroom, to a pile of around 3 inches of DUST.

Yes, that's right. DUST.

I was suitably disgusted.