My Life In A Nutshell

Merel

[sameyeblue]

The one day a year you can reblog this…

[sameyeblue]

The one day a year you can reblog this…

[hazeldomain]

Poll: if your mom remarries when you’re 26 years old is that guy still your stepdad or is he just your mom’s husband.

[hazeldomain]

The poll winner seems to be “depends on whether you like him” which is super valid.

Mine watches fox news so “mom’s husband” it is!

[brainsforbabyjesus]

My family has a great way of distinguishing between a new spouse you like and new spouse you disdain!

Your mom/aunt/grandma/etc remarries and they are actually a cool person, you use their first name. So if you were to introduce them they would be: Aunt Jane and Bob.

If your mom/aunt/grandma/etc remarries and they are a fuckwad you introduce them as: this is Aunt Jane and her second husband. The implication being that they are very replaceable and that we’re all just waiting for her to wise up to the situation and serve you divorce papers, she did it once, she can do it again.

[hazeldomain]

MAGNIFICENT

[readysetyeet]

Alright, but what if my mom on her third marriage found a decent man, but my mother herself is shitty

[devilboyblues]

"my stepdad's wife"

[just-youknow-mythoughts]

Daily routine challenge: day 3

Okayy, I did set my alarm this morning at 6, butttttt I turned it off and I didn’t even notice i did. So no early morning today. I got out of bed at 8 and started studying at 9. I was not productive at all the whole day. So yeah, those days can happen. tomorrow will be better :)

[just-youknow-mythoughts]

Daily routine challenge: day 2

I woke up rested!! It's a miracle. I worked a little worse than yesterday, but I still find it very relaxing to have worked a few hours before noon. And to not do anything in the evening. I am curious to see whether I'll collapse from tiredness later this week, but for now I'm doing okay!

[just-youknow-mythoughts]

daily routine challenge: day 1

I was very very tired for the first half of the day, but I did a lot of studying!

I am finding it very nice that I have done very much already when it’s not even noon. When it was time for dinner I had already studied much, so i didn’t have to do anything in the evening. I also got less tired as the day went on. All in all a good day. 

[just-youknow-mythoughts]

daily routine challenge

Every once in a while, my daily routine gets all messed up (very often actually :/). Tthen I find myself on studytube again, watching perfect videos about perfect lives of perfect people who wake up at 6am (or earlier o_o) and have a perfect breakfast and all other kinds of perfect things. Now I know that that’s just a projection of someones life, and those kind of videos are not entirely like how their days are normally. I still get motivated to wake up at 6am after watching them. 

So I set my alarm and guess what happens the next day? I snooze or turn it off and turn around to sleep a little more. Now I am really intrigued by those early schedules. Will it become a habit after a while? is it really relaxing, because you’re done early? 

Well, I decided I am going to test it. I’ve found a daily routine video that looked doable (https://youtu.be/HpDfUeqCrDw this video), and this is the schedule:

6am-7am me time + checking to do list

7am-11am studying

11am-2pm exercise/walk/lunch

2pm-4:30pm studying

4:30pm-6:00pm walking

6:30pm-8pm dinner/kitchen/tea

8pm-10pm hygiene routine/music/bujo/read/chilllll

a little disclaimer: I am not going to be able to replicate it perfectly. First of all, walking for that long is not fun in my neighbourhood, it just gets boring. Second, I have classes to attend outside those planned studying moments. And third, I have a test on thursday so I may have to study a little bit more. 

But this is the plan. I would do this without sharing it on tumblr, but I thought why not if I am going to do it anyway. It’s even a little more motivation. Also it might be fun to look back on it later on. 

[pansoph]

for chinese new year they get all these famous actors and comedians together and they do a lil show and one of the comedians was like “i was in a hotel in america once and there was a mouse in my room so i called reception except i forgot the english word for mouse so instead i said ‘you know tom and jerry? jerry is here’

[beefmilkthings]

jerry is here

[eruriholic]

my chinese teacher once shared this story in class about someone who went to the grocery to buy chicken, but they forgot the english word for it, so they grabbed an egg, went to the nearest sales lady and said “where’s the mother”

[cuddlyaxe-deactivated20190218]

When I was a teenager, we went to Italy for the summer holidays. We are German, neither of us speaks more than a few words of Italian. That didn’t keep my family from always referring to me when they wanted something translated because “You’re so good with languages and you took Latin”. (I told them a hundred times I couldn’t order ice cream in Latin, they ignored that.) Anyway, my dad really loved a certain cheese there, made from sheep’s milk. He knew the Italian word for ‘cheese’ – formaggio – and he knew how to say ‘please’. And he had already spotted a little shop that sold the cheese. He asked me what ‘sheep’ was in Italian, and of course, I had no idea. So he just shrugged and said “I’ll manage” and went into the shop. 5 mins later, he comes out with a little bag, obviously very pleased with himself. How did he manage it? He had gone in and said “'Baaaah’ formaggio, prego.”

I was done for the day.

[ravenpuffheadcanons]

This makes me feel better about every conversation I had in both Rome and Ghent.

[elodieunderglass]

I once lost my husband in the ruins of a French castle on a mountain, and trotted around looking for him in increasing desperation. “Have you seen my husband?” I asked some French people, having forgotten all descriptive words. “He is small, and English. His hair is the color of bread.”

I did not find my husband in this way.

In rural France it is apparently Known that one brings one’s own shopping bags to the grocery store. I was a visitor and had not been briefed and had no shopping bag. I saw that other people were able to conduct negotiations to purchase shopping bags, but I could not remember the word for “bag.”

“Can I have a box that is not a box,” I said.

The checkout lady looked extremely tired and said, “Un sac?” (A sack?)

Of course. A fucking sack. And so I did get a sack.

[kat2107]

I once was at a German-American Church youth camp for two weeks and predictably, we spoke a whole lot of English. 

When I phoned my mom during week two I tried to tell her that it was a bit cold in the sleeping bag at night. I stumbled around the word in German because for the love of god, I could remember the Germwn word for sleeping bag.

“Yeah so, it’s like a bag you sleep in at night?”

“And my mother must probably have thought I lost my mind. She just sighed and was like ‘So, a Schlafsack, yes?”

Which is LITERALLY Sleeping sac … The German word is a basically a one on one translation of the English word and I just… I failed it. At my mother tongue. BIG

[eridaniepsilon]

My former boss is Italian and she ended up working in a lab where the common language was English. She once saw an insect running through the lab and she went to tell her colleagues. She remembered it was the name of a famous English band so she barged in the office yelling there was a rolling stone in the lab…

[backonrepeat]

I’m Spanish and have been living in the UK for a while now. I recently changed jobs and moved to a new office which is lost somewhere in the Midlands’ countryside. It’s a pretty quaint location, surrounded by forest on pretty much all sides, and with nice grounds… full of pheasants. I was pretty shocked when I drove in and saw a fucking pheasant strolling across the road. Calm as you please.

That afternoon I met up with some friends and was talking about the new job, and the new office, and for the life of me I couldn’t remember the English word for pheasants. So I basically ended up bragging to my friends about “the very fancy chickens” we had outside the office.

Best thing is, everyone understood what I meant.

[eridaniepsilon]

I love those stories so much…

[acleverforgery]

Picture a Jewish American girl whose grasp of the Hebrew language comes from 10+ years of immersion in Biblical and liturgical Hebrew, not the modern language. Some words are identical, while others have significantly evolved.

She gets to Israel and is riding a bus for the very first time.

American: כמה ממון זה? (”How much money?” but in rather archaic language)

Bus Driver: שתי זוזים. (”Two zuzim” – a currency that’s been out of circulation for millenia)

[learningftw]

that’s hilarious

[shiraglassman]

I am officially screamlaughing at my desk from that last one OH MY 

[speakertoyesterday]

Does everyone know the prime minister who promised to fuck the country?

So in Biblical Hebrew the word for penis and weapon are the same. There is a verb meaning to arm, which modern Hebrew semanticly drifted into “fuck”: i.e. give someone your dick.

The minister was making a speech while a candidate, bemoning the state of the world. “The Soviet Union is fucking Egypt. Germany is fucking Syria. The Americans are fucking everyone. But who is fucking us? When I am prime minister, I will ensure we are fucked!”

[andhishorse]

What the hell Biblical Hebrew.

[moral-autism]

Just guessing: The path from something like “give someone a blade” to “give someone a blade, if you know what I mean ;)” is probably not that difficult or unlikely.

[liminalreader]

^Given that the Latin word for sheath (like, for a sword) is literally “vagina”, I can verify that this metaphor is a time-honored one. 

[liminalreader]

Oh yeah and one time my Latin professor was at this conference in Greece and his flight was canceled, so he needed to extend his hotel stay by one more night.

Except he doesn’t speak a lick of modern Greek, and the receptionist couldn’t speak English.  Or French.  Or German.  Or Italian.  (He tried all of them.)

Finally, in a fit of inspiration, he went upstairs and got his copy of Medea in the original Greek (you know, the stuff separated from modern Greek by two and a half thousand years).  He found the passage where Medea begs Jason to let her stay for one more day, went downstairs, and read it to the receptionist.

She laughed her head off, but she gave him the extra night.  

[fatterdragon]

All of these *chef’s kiss* but the Medea one is hands down the best

[whatshouldwecallhomer]

s/o to my classics professor who managed to get a tire changed on his rental car while doing research in Greece by telling them his chariot had broken down

[jems-history]

31.01.2021

New semester = tidy desk!

I finally finished my first semester on Friday with the submission of an exam and I am so glad to be done for a couple of weeks! I loved my first semester of second year but I'd be lying if I said it didn't stress me out a lot.

My second semester will also be ramping up the pressure but again it should be super interesting so I am excited for it. I will have a module on material objects and be looking into conservation, heratige sites, curation (the field I want to work in) and more! I will also get the opportunity to go into the labs and observe the process of conserving material objects close up which is really exciting! My second module is on decolonisation of the education system which will be really interesting and is super relevant, especially in the field of history where unfortunately education is lacking and the ratio of white proffesors to black and ethnic minority proffesors is staggering. I'm hoping to learn a lot see how this course will challenge the status quo when it comes to the teaching of history. My third module is a compulsory one and it is one to prepare us for our dissertations next year, super helpful but also slightly terrifying!

Right now I'm just looking forward to giving the house a spring clean and having a few days to relax before I start preparing for the upcoming semester.

[jems-history]

24.11.2020

Gonna try and keep writing, maybe not every day but still enough that I stay motivated. If I dip I will kick start another 7 days of productivity again!

Today was a nice one, I pottered around the house in the morning, made some miso soup with tofu and buckwheat soba for lunch. A relaxed start.

I then had a study session with some people on my course and submitted a piece of seminar work on the values of cultural history. Unfortunately this took longer than anticipated due to my page refreshing midway through and loosing all of my responses! Still after that was done I went over to the library with my housemate and we sat and worked together for a bit. I got some more of my comparative essay done and hopefully that will be finished quickly do I can devote all of my time to a 2500 word primary source essay on Armenian migration in the late 1800s.

Gbbo final was tonight (and what a final it was!) so that was a nice end to a pretty good day.

[just-youknow-mythoughts]

no picture again hahahha, I did think of it, but was too lazy to grab my phone. Maybe tomorrow, it will remain a mystery. Until tomorrow evening in any case.

day 15/30 of productivity.

I'm going to continue this for one month, then it's wintervacation.

Today was really productive, spent from 9-16 in the library. I read half of a chapter, then watched the lecture that goes with it. Then I found out that I have to read two chapters for the lecture on thursday, so I read one and a half of those. the remaining half I'll read tomorrow.

[just-youknow-mythoughts]

I warned you about giving up on photos.

Day 14/14 of productivity.

This morning was fairly productive. I finished a lecture and did some reading. I had lunch with my mom and we went on a walk for one and a half hours.

Then the afternoon was a bit of a downer. I sat at my desk, barely doing anything. I think I’ve read 3 pages. What have I done, you may ask. I have no clue. It’s a blur.

This evening I just gave up and started a new book for fun. Even though I’ve already started 4, but I just didn’t want to read those.

Tomorrow a productive day in the library!

[jems-history]

23.11.2020

14/14 days of productivity

No picture today because I feel like I'm just taking the same photos over and over haha!

Today I got up early and after a few odd jobs in the house my housemate and I nipped into the city and went to the Chinese supermarket to get more spices and other things and then we came back home and had lunch together. We then sat together in the living room to study, both not wanting to walk back to the library!

During this time I got on with listening to and creating a rough transcript of a piece of oral history that I am using in one of my assessments. After that I put it to use and now I think I have the beghinings of a strong second argument in my comparative essay evaluating both newspapers and oral testimonials in response to the battle of cable street.

After that I did more reading (there's always more reading in a history degree!) and also discussed a piece of seminar work both my housemate and I are working on.

All In all a productive afternoon! I may go more tonight but even if I don't, I think I have done quite well today!

[jems-history]

22.11.2020

13/14 days of productivity

I really like Sundays. They have become the day I give my room a good clean and tidy. It sets me up for the day and to see a clean, clear desk really makes me feel motivated.

I watched another lecture today, this time on the history of Italian migration to the US and have started the reading on this topic so that I can answer the questions and submit them later in the week for my online seminar.

I was also able to watch the football today with a friend, over facetime of course! It was a frustrating game for both of us but really good to be able to watch it together, despite not actually being together.

After that I took a break and now I am currently back on the reading and questions I started earlier today.

[just-youknow-mythoughts]

Day 13/14 of productivity (ft. a picture taken on Thursday).

Not too productive today, but it’s alright again. I had worked hard Thursday, so I already had read the chapter I had to read for tomorrow (Monday). I watched half of the lecture for tomorrow, I’ll have to watch the other half tomorrow morning. I also did a tiny bit for a project.

[jems-history]

21.11.2020

12/14 days of productivity

Not the most productive day today but I was able to get some reading done which was good. One of my lectures was also released early so I got on with that. It was looking into the development of women's history which was interesting. A nice surprise in the lecture was the mention of Clementina Black, the trade unionist I looked into to create a presentation. The amount of research I have done on that woman in the last few weeks is probably bordering on mad, so to actually see her in my module content (I wasn't expecting that) was a real treat.

This evening my housemate and I made pizza and watched a film. A nice relaxing end to the day.

[jems-history]

20.11.2020

11/14 days of productivity

Haven't done much today but did work on an essay and had a very interesting meeting that I had to prepare for by finding a Marxist analysis on the lgbt issues. I wish I had done more but it's better than nothing. This week has been really up and down in terms of work so I'm just trying to be positive about what I am doing.