Get amongst it

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It’s exam time so I’m not going to post for a while

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Beb

I feel like now’s also an appropriate time to mention I’ve managed to convince a guy to date me and we’ve been together for just over 9 months now. One of those things it feels weird to state but also like at some point you have to clarify.

Anyway I’m totally smitten and here are some photos of him/us. Feel free to ask questions cause I could talk about him all day.

We’re very happy. 

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Christmas/New Year

Yeah I’m just going to throw everything in all at once.

I’ve been so busy lately. I say ‘lately’ but I really mean since about week 3 of 1st Semester. I had to study for a Political Science exam that I needed to pass in order to be allowed to write an essay. They called it ‘Die Klausur zur Erbringung der Prüfungsvorleistung’ which more or less means it was a test to see that I was capable of writing the essay for my Semester grade. A few days later some friends from home visited me and we had a great time. Looked at the Christmas markets and the ‘fairytale village’ where every year the city sets up this selection of scenes from various fairytales and you have to identify what’s wrong/out of place (aside from how really kind of terrifying they are. I suppose it is German).

After my friends left I then went to spend Christmas with Christian and his family. He gave me this fantastic jumper.

We did a lot of eating and resting so we could eat more. They also had a seemingly endless supply of fairytales to watch on TV. Germans [obviously] love fairytales and they film them all the time. And then they film different versions. And they film obscure fairytales. Ever heard of Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel? It’s like Cinderella but features hazelnuts. Cult classic here. Turns out the Grimm brothers wrote down more fairytales than anyone really needed and the English speaking world only got like... 4 of them translated.

I spent the last two days of the year in Berlin with another friend from Australia and came back to Leipzig to welcome in the new year with Christian and some of his friends. It was one of my better new year’s eves, to be honest. Anyone who knows me well (and I guess now those who don’t), knows I don’t really like it as a celebration. People make such a big deal of it being SUPER SPECIAL AND MAGICAL™ which often ends up in a frustrating let down. Fortunately we spent it just chilling at this guy Simeon’s house. There were 7 of us and we just played games and snacked. One person there was a 16 year old dude, which was frustrating. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d talked to a 16 year old guy. Probably when I was 16. We were playing Taboo and he was very openly annoyed/exasperated every time I got a turn because of course my German wasn’t as good as the 6 native speakers’ German, and he didn’t want to lose points. I accidentally referred to him as a child and his indignant response made me feel a lot better about not knowing how to communicate ‘Thomas Gottschalk’. 

At 00:00 we had a toast and then went out to the balcony to watch fireworks and light sparklers and set off mini-crackers. I shed a bit of a tear and felt a bit homesick but it didn’t bother anyone and Christian was really good about it. If you’re going to be homesick it’s good to do it when you’re in good company. 

And that was the end of 2017. Looking back it was actually a great year for me. 

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Someone here in Leipzig recently pepper sprayed their neighbour for blasting music at 3am. They basically burst into this guy’s house, pepper sprayed him, and took his speakers.  I don’t think that was necessarily the right response but my neighbours are blasting music right now and I’m starting to see where they were coming from.

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Lucia di Lammermoor

I really need to post these things when they’re time relevant.

I went to the opera at the end of November last year. Went and saw Lucia di Lammermoor which is kind of like a Scottish Highlands Romeo and Juliet but not amazing? Lucia of the house Ashton nearly gets killed by a stag but gets saved by a guy called Edgardo (of the house... I want to say Ravenswood?) who is apparently mega enemies with Lucia’s brother, Enrico. Lucia and Edgardo fall in love but he has to go fight in France so they promise themselves to each other before he leaves and send letters in the meantime. Enrico finds out about it and is obviously not pleased but also wants Lucia to marry Arturo Bucklaw because it would be very profitable to be related to the guy. 

Enrico tells Lucia that Edgardo has abandoned her and shows her a fake letter from Edgardo that he wrote in which it says Edgardo has found another woman and won’t be coming back for Lucia. Dang. In her despair she agrees to marry Arturo, but Edgardo shows up at the wedding (wild). Some guy shows him the marriage certificate signed by Lucia so he curses her and leaves. Enrico goes and challenges him to a duel and also goads him saying Lucia is already enjoying her marriage bed, and Edgardo accepts the duel. 

Back in the castle all the people of Ashton are celebrating the wedding when the priest comes out of a different room and says Lucia had gone mad and murdered her new husband, Arturo. Then Lucia comes out, covered in blood and holding a knife and super out of it and sings about how she can be with Edgardo now. This scene was particularly well done because her aria is very impressive and also she sings it so happily, covered in blood, surrounded by horrified people. She eventually starts to die because... I dunno... distress.

When Edgardo goes to duel Enrico, he’s told that she’s dying/dead and stabs himself to be with her in heaven. 

It wasn’t my favourite opera but it was still a good time. I had asked upward of 20 different people if they wanted to come see it with me but nobody had time/interest/money so I ended up asking in a First Years facebook group if anyone wanted to go and I went with this girl, Juliane. We haven’t talked since but it was still cool getting to know her. 

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If onions were a TV show, I think their opening credits would be Cry Me A River

Beb (Christian)

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This is actually from Studienkolleg but remains true and relevant.

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Mushroom picking is such A Thing™ in Germany

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Snowed the other day. Finally.

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The official opening of the Leipzig Christmas Market and lighting of the Christmas tree

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My first day of Uni started at 7:30am on a Monday. Mum asked for a ‘first day of Uni’ photo.

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My friend needed to take photos for a portfolio to get a job as an assistant photographer and I thought these ones weren’t bad.

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The other night I was standing at a tram stop and some guy asked if I had any tissues (regrettably did not). When my tram arrived he ran up to me and gave me this little doodle he’d done of me. It made my night. 

I was facing away from him. The yellow is my hair and the black is my jacket - had my hands in my pockets.

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A rant about changing your mind

It’s fine to change your mind. I do it on the regular and it’s a normal thing to do. What gets me absolutely incensed is when people cut contact instead of saying they’ve changed their mind. 

I had a ticket to party available to give away. Someone said they were interested and organised to come collect it on their way to the party at 10:30pm. They didn’t show and at 11pm I asked if they were still coming. Wasn’t until 11:30pm that they messaged back saying they’d changed their mind and that’s why they didn’t collect the ticket, costing me an hour of sleep cause they decided it was easier to just blank me.

I registered to participate in a medical study that would have taken up a very large portion of my time over the course of a week. My contact at the institute doing the research had always answered my emails within half a day. I had a telephone interview and the interviewer said he’d contact me shortly. Also received an email from my contact confirming this. Several days went by so I sent a follow-up email to ask whether they were closer to deciding on an in-clinic visit but I received no reply. An extra week went by without hearing nothing. I sent an extra email just asking for a confirmation that I was no longer needed for the study, and am likely to be waiting indefinitely for an answer. 

The problem here is not that the person did not collect the ticket or that I am not wanted for the study anymore. The problem is that it takes less than two minutes to say “Changed my mind, no thanks.” and stops you being a rude person wasting someone’s time. It is literally so easy. 

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That one time I visited the Bundestag. It was pretty cool.

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“We don’t have to look like this!” “Women can’t be limited by 90-60-90!”

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Art

So a friend I met through my Rotary Youth Exchange does mini paintings. I saw her posting a few photos on facebook and asked her whether she’d possibly do a commission for me. I’ve never had the pleasure of requesting art exactly as I want it, but I’m so glad I did. Look at this little masterpiece! It’s exactly what I wanted! Definitely also check out her instagram @LittleBlueDotStudio or her website HERE. I don’t know if she does commissions on the regular but I’ve seen her paint some Converse Shoes too so it could be worth the time asking if you’re interested.