This time of the year...

It’s 8.30 and I try to get out of my bed. The sun is shining and it’s rays dazzle me, unusual for this special day of the year. Normally the country resembles a Winter Wonderland but not this year. My thoughts are wandering. What will this day be like? Hopefully not like last year where I was lying in bed with a cold. Oh no, I forgot to wrap the presents. Well, I have some hours left. Finally I get up and see a beautiful laid breakfast table. Of course, it’s my brother’s-in-law birthday. Must be odd to have your birthday today. He seems quit okay with the fact that he gets tons of presents on one day. Who wouldn’t? After the breakfast I start decorating the tree. Gold or Red, that’s the question. I go with red and put all the delicious sweets on the tree. My mouth is watering. Unfortunately I can’t enjoy one of them due to my huge amount of intolerances but there is worth in the world. In the corner of my eye I recognize my dad sitting in front of the TV. Needless to say that he is watching “Licht ins Dunkel”. This programme lasts the whole day, where famous Austrians are raising money for a good cause. Occasionally I watch some minutes of it, but I can’t deny that it is to long-winded for me. Now it’s time for my surprise. Hopefully my family likes the thing I have prepared for them. You should have seen their faces when I started the diascope.  For one hour we enjoy old pictures of us and scoff at our style missteps. In the background I can hear my sister’s stomach growling. I guess it’s time for some food. My whole family starts to prepare our typical dish – Raclette.  After some time everyone is eating except me. Why is my cheese not melting? I get upset but then I realize that you shouldn’t be angry about food at this day of the year. Shortly after I have enjoyed my cheese we gather around the tree and start to sing some traditional songs like “Silent Night” and my mother read out the story of Jesus birth. I already heard it like thirty times but I always get tears in my eyes whenever I hear it. After some minutes of silence my dad says: “It’s time for presents!” Oh no! I forgot to wrap them. I should have done it in the morning. As fast as I can I run up the stairs, grab the presents and wrap them with the newspaper. You probably wonder why I used newspaper. The answer is that we decided to wrap all our presents with newspaper years ago, to avoid wasting wrapping paper. My parents are shouting my name and I run down to them with my beautifully wrapped presents. My mum has a smile on her face and says: “Every year the same.” That is quit embarrassing I have to admit. Now it’s time for our traditional movie. We gather around it the living room and start to watch “Love actually” like we did last year and the years before. It became something like a rite for us. In my opinion this movie is a masterpiece. Whenever I watch it I feel happy and satisfied. Beside “Love actually” we have another tradition. At nine o’clock we meet relatives and people from the village and go to the Christmas Mass by foot. After a one hour walk we reach the church. The priest holds a beautiful mass like every year. At home I go to bed straightaway and reflect the day. I feel satisfaction and happiness. This has been a really emotional, peaceful and tender Christmas, with these thoughts and with a smile on my face I fall asleep.

Swedish tradition

 GLAD MIDSOMMAR

During my exchange year in Stockholm I got to know some amazing Swedish traditions and this is the perfect occasion to talk about the most famous festivity, Midsummer. Believe it or not, but all the things you may have heard about it are true. For instance, it is always celebrated on a Friday between the 19th and 25th of June, women ,especially young girls, pick flowers to make their own collars, men raise a huge maypole and of course there is a lot of drinking.

If you visit one of the the bigger cities of Sweden for Midsummer you may have a hard time finding one of this famous celebrations. There is actually one at the oldest open-air museum called Skanen in Stockholm but it's more like a tourist attraction. The reason why cities like Stockholm seems extincted at this time of the year is that all the Sweeds celebrate Midsummer in the countryside. For me it appeared that Midsummer is the only festivity where Swedish people really want to meet their relatvies and friends. Normally the like to tend to celebrate other festivities with their own little family. This special day is also the only opportunity, beside the national day, where Sweeds can wear their traditional clothing. In my oppinion they look a little bit awkward but you can decide on your own. Anyway, let's get to the actually celebration now. When the maypole is raisen people in traditional clothing dance around it, sing traditional songs, ty their flower collars and enjoy  the delicious food, well only  part of it tastes actually great! The main dish is pickled herring, which I personally find disgusting, boiled or smashed potatoes with dill, soured cream and chives. Then man course often contains grilled meat or fish and as a desert you get cream with berries. After dinner the whole community meets up beside the sea or a lake where they celebrate until the sun is raising. Legend has it that young women have to pick seven different flowers on their way home and have to lay them under their pillow. Later on, their future husband will appear in their dreams. Funnily a lot of young girls still try that every year. I tried it myself. Unfortunately, not a handsome young Swedish guy appeared in my dreams, instead I dreamed of all the disgusting herrings. What a pitty! You should try it too next year, maybe you have more luck than I had.

 

raising of the maypole

At the end of my blogpost I want to have a look at the reason why Misummer is celebrated and its evolutionary history. Since the 6th century Swedish people, mostly from the South, celebrate Misdummer to welcome the summertime and the season of fertility with a huge bonfire. In addition Midsummer Night is the lightest of the year and was long considered as magical. Later on, in the early 1500s, people started to decorate their houses and farm tools with foliage and raised maypoles to dance around. Subsequently in central areas employees were given a fest of pickled herring, beer and schnapps. Years later Midsummer became the most famous festivity and was celebrated in the whole country. To sum up, in my eyes Midsummer is one of the best and most comfy festivities on this planet. I enjoyed every minute of both I went to, the one in Skansen and the one in the countryside. It is rare that you find so much happiness, gratefullness and especially great people in the same place. I was overwhelmed by all the impressions. Midsummer is definitely something you should have on your Bucket List!

flower collar Nr. 2

flower collar Nr. 1

How I became a VSV fan

Fan Culture and Fandom

Today I want to talk about a fascination that you can find in each culture of the planet – patriotism or fandom. Where even the hardest guys get emotional and hated enemies become friends or the other way round.

Last Friday I went to my first Icehockey match with one of my fellows from English class. There was nothing to prevent a great hockey night, except the fact that Simi and I were cheering for different teams. Before the game I was sure that my team, the 99ers, would win and said with a confident voice: “If the 99ers lose, I will be a VSV fan from now on!” What a mistake. While the players were fighting for the puck, I was observing the different fan groups behind us. Funnily enough strangers became friends within the first minute of the game, on condition that the wore the same colour or merchandise. In contrast even your best friends could become a stranger or in the worst case, your enemy if he/she supported the other team. I often ask myself why people can be extremely patriotic about sports or even be obsessed. Now it’s the time to get to the bottom of this question.

Unity

The biggest advantage of fandom is that you are part of a community. Nobody is left out and all members have the same aim, to support their favourite team.( Well, there are always some troublemakers within a fan group but that’s another topic. ) In other words you are surrounded by people who understand you and your passion for sports, not like your family at home, which thinks you are a lazy-bones because every weekend you sit in front of the TV and watch your team playing. In addition you can build a network within the fan group and easier get friends in the case that you have a shy and reserved personality.

The adrenaline

Have you ever been to the stadium when your team scores the winning goal within the last minutes? It is impossible to describe that feeling rushing through your body and when the adrenaline even reaches your little toe.  You feel happiness and the time stands still for  seconds or even minutes. Whenever you feel down or sad and your team wins, the sadness seems to be blown away.  Unfortunately it is hard to get this adrenaline kick outside the arena and that’s probably one of the reasons why so many people stream to the stadiums every weekend. 

Emotions

In my opinion the stadium is the only public place where you can give vent to your feelings and don’t have to be ashamed. For instance, you can scream, cry, swear and show your pleasure without being given strange looks or feeling despite. It’s the only place where society accepts that  man get emotional and in some cases start to cry without being called sissy. At some point of the game even the hardest fans get infected by the emotion of thousands of others fans in the stadium. This is kind of a domino effect.

All in all I would say that being a part of a fan group has a lot of advantages and even if your team loses, like mine did on Friday, you know that there will be another chance to win on the next weekend. In my case I was probably to patriotic and didn’t even think about losing this game. Now the fat’s in the fire and I have to call myself a VSV fan from now on, but there is worse.

What I find interesting about Irish Culture - Part 2 food and drinks

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

In my last blogpost I talked about the advantages of Irish Sports. Now I want talk about something we all need and love -- Food. When you ask Irish inhabitants about their traditional meals the get sparkling eyes while explaining all the different dishes to you. First you may be confused but after you tried it on your own, you know what they were talking about. In addition I will shortly inform you about Ireland's most famous beer. You all may now it and might even have tried the famous black heavy drink, but let's take one thing at time and begin with the first dish of the day.

When you talk about Irish Breakfast never use the words healthy or light. They don't exist in connection with Irish breakfast because it is a fully cooked meal and fills you up for several hours. The main part is called "fry up" and consists of fried bacon, meat, eggs, mushrooms, vegetables and Black & White Pudding. Don't confuse the Irish Pudding with our desert "Pudding", there is a huge  difference. When you want to know what it looks like, check out this link: http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/news/what-is-white-pudding/. Commonly you eat the "fry up" with potato bread and Baked Beans and enjoy a pot of tea. I can only recommend you the Irish Breakfast. IT IS DELICIOUS!

Speaking of deliciousness, the Irish stew is as good as the Breakfast. You only need four ingredients to cook this perfect family meal. The core ingredients are potatoes, which were the main source of food for hundreds of years, onions, meat and carrots. As you can see it is a quite cheap meal and lots of Irish families have their own method of making it. If you want to cook your own Irish stew, check out this link: http://www.yourirish.com/how-to-make-traditional-irish-stew

Lastly there is the famous Irish apple pie. Every Irish woman has her own secret recipe and protects it like the crown jewelries. Maybe you want to try one on your own? http://www.yourirish.com/irish-home-made-apple-pie Usually the Irish enjoy the apple pie with custard or cream on top.

Now let's have a look at the drinks!

We all know that one drinking stereotype about Ireland right? Where does it really come from? Probably from the fact that Ireland produces the finest whiskey and really tasty beer, like the famous black stout Guiness. Since I tried my first Guiness in Cork I have been a fan of its special taste and enjoy every sip of it. The stout consists of Barley, Hops, Water and Guiness Yeast and was first brewed in the 18th century by Arthur Guiness. Nowadays Guiness is produced in Dublin but also all around the world with a different recipe in each country. Might be a adventurous challenge to try all of them, right? 

Is your stomach rumbling or your mouth dry? Then go and try out some recipes I mentioned above while you are sipping at a tasty Guiness and enjoy the delicious world of traditional Irish food and drinks.

What I find interesting about Irish culture - Part 1

Part 1 - Sports

 “Look at that screen, there you can see Irish culture at its finest.” My family and I were sitting at a pub in Ireland when an old bearded man mumbled these words towards us. On the screen you could see men passing around a ball. “So you play a lot of soccer in Ireland?”, my mum asked. The auburn-haired man turned around and couldn’t believe what he just heard. “Young lady, that isn’t soccer, its Gaelic football.”, and with a smile on his face he tried to explain the difference. So what makes Gaelic football so special?

Gaelic football is a mixture of soccer, football and basketball, so there is something for everyone. It is played with a round ball and both hands and feet are used to play. There are 15 players in each team and the aim of the game is to score by kicking the ball through or over the goals. 

Have a look at this video where you can watch a Gaelic football match, it is really worth it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyY7UswkHas

Another Sports Irish people are passionate about is Hurling. It is one of the oldest games with its traditions set 3000 years ago. The grass pitch and the bars are the same as the ones used for the Gaelic football game. Equality is the number of players and the primary object. The only difference is that you play it with a stick and a much smaller ball. It is a mixture of lacrosse, field hockey, and baseball and one of the fastest games in world and definitely nothing for
sissies.

If you want to see what I have been talking about check out this video! You will enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv9FGy9MqOY

Hopefully I have captured your interest and whenever you have the opportunity to visit Ireland, I recommend you to visit one of these fascinating games. I definitely will! :)

This is Verena :)

Hello fellows!


Today I want to introduce you to the fabulous life of Verena, one of my fellow students. When she is not busy with learning for university, Verena spends most of her time taking care of her horse. You heard right, she has a horse! Both are even participating in competitions. And as if that was not enough, Verena spent a semester in New York City, working at a printer company for artists and taking care of a little boy. If you want to hear about her adventures, don’t hesitate do ask her in class. It’s really worth it!