`Before and after´ The Crisis of Credit Visualized

When I finished updating my summary, I started listing some mistakes I need to avoid and some useful information I should consider the next time I write a summary. So I thought I might share my brilliant findings with you.

- I forgot to write the title in capital letters.
So for the next time, I need to remember: the first sentence should be about what is the title (in capital letters and in quotation marks), who is the author, where the text was published (providing that this information is given), ideally followed by a sentence that summarizes what the text is about, without mentioning details. Important: the last sentence of the summary should always refer to the beginning of the summary!

- I have problems with register. When my teacher tells me to summarize a long, complicated article into an easy-to-understand 200 words text, I automatically assume I need to use lower register (easy= simple words).
To be prepare myself for the next summary/for the exam, I started reading articles of newspapers such as "The Economist", "The New Yorker" or "The Aeon Magazine" to get used to formal English. I need to remind myself that I CAN write a summary which is easy to understand by using higher register at the same time.

- I obviously hate paragraphs. They just don't exist for me. I don't even think about them until somebody tells me how weird my text looks, and why there aren't any paragraphs.
Next time I will make sure to take paragraphs into consideration. Maybe they are not so bad after all.

- Proofreading. It's not like I don't proofread my texts before I submit them. I always proofread them - once, twice...but apparently with my brain switched off because I am sometimes not able to find the most obvious mistakes.
Note to myself: to proofread effectively, brain must be switched on.

- I always write too many words. Last time I started writing without looking at my word count, I just wanted to see how many words I would write if there was no limit. I was quite satisfied with my summary and the information I put in it when I finally had a look at the word count. I had about 235 words, 35 too much. So I started shortening my text to the word count I needed, not at all satisfied with my text anymore.
So what is the best way to write a summary? Would my text have been any better with the word count always in mind? I know that we are allowed to write 250 words, so 50 words more, in the exam, which makes it easier for me. However, I still have problems with extracting the most important information without being too general, nor too specific.

Have you ever tried Laughter Yoga?

I have never been a big fan of yoga, I have to admit. I would consider myself a rather sporty person but when it comes to yoga, the only thing I think is: "ugh, how did you do that? This is suppose to go...up here? I...I need to stay in this position? I can't even..." No, just no. For all the people who enjoy it: good for you, I don't hate you (I guess).
Anyway, my opinion changed a little since my best friend introduced me to Laughter Yoga. When she told me about it, I immediatly thought of laughing people doing yoga. Haha, damn that's funny! My friend gave me a strange look and convinced me to attend a lesson. It was a little bit different than I had imagined. Just a little more laughter and a little less yoga.
Friends (a lovley woman in her 40ies and a very entertaining man in his 30ies) of my best friends run the course, you just pay voluntary donation. At first it was a little awkward. You feel weird to laugh if there's no actual reason to do so. We sat down in a circle and did some laughing exercises to get into it. Little games followed where you had to laugh with each other, at each other, create your own language without using words, just sounds. At some stage it doesn't matter what you do or what you say, everything is. absolutely. hilarious. and a reason to laugh. You just can't stop and you don't feel weird or embarressed anymore because everyone in the room is laughing and it feels so good!! After one hour or so we reached a point where we had to take a break because it was getting really exhausting. Have you ever laughed one hour straight? It's just a very...funny feeling!
Surprisingly, we didn't do much yoga. Even more surprisingly, we were so done like we did yoga for the last one and a half hours. You've no idea how tired you can get from laughing until you've tried out yourself!
It was an unbelievably awesome experience, I have to admit! I can recommend everyone giving it a try! :)

Poetry Slam? - Diary Slam!

Admit it - when you were younger, you always wanted to read your brother's, your sister's or your friend's diary. Or maybe still want to read it? If you weren't successful so far, there is another way to gain insight in those little locked books full of secrets. Maybe not in your sister's, but in diarys of those few people who dare to read out their intimate hopes, dreams and thoughts they once wrote down as a teenager to a large audience. The advantage: rather than desperatly turning side over side to find an interesting diary entry when your friend's on the toilet, you just sit there and listen what those people are going to tell you. Because they will always read out the best to you!
So, what am I talking about the whole time?  A long time it has just been popular in Germany, but it finally arrived in Austria as well: the Diary Slam!
Some of you might have heard of or already seen a Poetry slam. Poets "battling" each other verbally, the best poem wins. You think that's boring? Then you've never been there! Some of them make you laugh yourself to tears, it's absolutely hilarious! Usually those are the ones who win.
A diary Slam is a little bit different. As a participant, you won't sit for hours to create a good piece of writing because you have written it already years ago! As the thoughts and interests you had back then not always match with the ones you have now, it makes the "Slammer" him-/herself laugh once in a while or shake their heads in disbelief. No matter what, the audience will love you!
The next Diary Slam is in Vienna, I really hope it makes it to Graz as well!
Poetry slam takes place in Graz regularly, so if you wanna have a good laugh...:)

Here are some videos I found from the last Diary Slam, in German unfortunately.


here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGkJWNrmG2U


or here: http://derstandard.at/1395362971434/Was-ich-letztes-Mal-geschrieben-habe-ist-perverser-Bloedsinn

Become a better blogger

What does it take to be a good blogger?
Good question, but good answers would be more helpful.
 I had a look at some blogs and I think I came up with some useful answers that will help me (and maybe some of you as well) to become a better blogger.

• It's nice when people write about things they're passionate about and really put a lot of time in it to make it perfect, but if it takes the reader half an hour to read ONE post, you've failed as a good blogger. The reader neither wants to get bored when reading nor to drown in information. Especially when writing about a trip, keep it short, but interesting. The reader's eye will be more thankful for short paragraphs than long text passages. 
• When you now think: "But hey, they're so many things I want to say about this topic because I'm an expert and have so much experience in blabla I need to share with the world so they know how much I like it and maybe like it too.." Don't. If you want to share your experience, knowledge or thoughts in a good way, the length is not important. What really matters is HOW you write about it. The reader can tell by the words you use if you know a lot about about it, if you like or hate the topic you're writing about.
• So that's how you write: Grab the reader's attention with rhetorical questions, catchy titles, write in a witty, humorous way that makes the reader laugh and don't write too general, let them know your opinion. Create your own unique style that everyone makes reading YOUR blog, not anyone else's.
• Highlight certain words or sentences! Not only I likes to skim through a text to decide if it's worth reading or not.
• Don't use too many technical terms, at least not without explaining what you mean. You might want to show off with your knowledge to be cool, but your readers will hate you for googling everything. If they even make an effort to google, they might also stop reading.
• Add a lot of pictures, readers LOVE pictures.

          And cats. Because we all know that cats have won the internet.

I'm not sure if I can use all those helpful tips, but will at least try maintain a humorous style that make my readers laugh and keep reading.
I won't write too short and too long and I will try to write good blog post without spending hours of rewriting to make it perfect.
Maybe I'll leave out the cat thing...

Assignment 4: Pocahontas - fiction and reality

Due to the fact that I am a huge Disney fan, I always like to do research on the story behind the movies, because sometimes it turns out to be really interesting! This time I want to present you - in connection with American history - the story, fiction and reality, of Pocahontas!
I think almost everyone of you has seen the Disney movie Pocahontas, the lovely told story based on the folktales around the Native American woman who fell in love with the Enlgish settler John Smith in the 17th century. I don't know anyone who wasn't enchanted after seeing the movie, who wasn't amazed by her beauty and intelligence.
But how much of this film is actually true? I tried to find out.

The true parts about the movie are that Pocahontas was the favourite and beloved daughter of the chief of the Powhatan tribe in Jamestown, Virginia. Her nature was playful, curious and non-judgemental. She may not have been that beautiful as the film shows (neither was John), on the contrary, she was described as rather stocky and short, which was typical for the Powhatan tribe. Also, she was only 11-13 years old when the events happened, but the movie made her look like 17-20.
The sad truth for Disney movie lovers like me is that John Smith and Pocahontas never fell in love or had some sort of romance, she actually married John Rolfe who arrived together with John Smith 1607 in Jamestown (in the movie, he doesn't appear until the second movie)
In the movie, John Smith was shot by the bad guy, the governor, but in reality, there was no governor at that time.
The ture story is that John Smith's crew experienced a very cold and harsh winter. Running out of supplies, they started searching for food. One day in 1608, John smith and some of his crewmembers were captured by the Native Americans. His men were killed immediately and he was brought to Chief Powhatan who ordered to kill him as well. In the last second, little Pocahontas, not more than 13 years old, asked her father to spare Smith's life. So he did. That's where fiction and realty match.

I hope you enjoyed reading my post and now know a little bit more about the mysterious Native American woman! :)

Assignent 1: My roadtrip through Ireland

Since the fourteen days in Dublin in 7th grade were some of the best days I've ever had abroad, it didn't take me a long time to choose my holiday destination for Easter Break. It was a pleasure to visit such a vivid and compact city like Dublin, where every place was frought with music and vitality. But if you take a closer look, you will see that Ireland has far more to offer than just a vivid nightlife and bars on every corner. This time, the aim of my trip will be Ireland's beautiful green landscape.
I clearly remember the one day we went to the coast of Howth when I was looking down the cliffs, watching the waves collide with the huge walls of stone. I breathed in the salty sea air, the wind blew through my hair, no annoying crowds of tourists, no noise but the waves and the seagulls, just nature and me. I'm longing for a moment like this.

I know that ten days are a short period of time, but I don't want to stay at one place. Why staying in one city or town when so many others are waiting for you, maybe even more beautiful than the last one? I only want to avoid popular tourist spots and rather stay off the beaten track, getting in touch with the locals and so on. My plan is to fly to Dublin, spend some time there to revive old memories and afterwards rent a car and drive through Ireland. Without a certain destination, just a list full of bulletpoints with nice places to see. Of course I'm not in a hurry, I will stay as long at a place as I want to, you never know what can happen. I'm a very spontaneaous human being, even the idea of having a final and unchangeable plan makes me shiver. Maybe there is time for two cities, maybe for ten. The nights I will spend in hostels because I can't afford sleeping every night in an expensive hotel. I'm also thinking of taking a friend with me, this would be much more fun than travelling alone.
I already started writing the list:

• Cliffs of Moher
• Glendalough
• Howth
• The Giant's Causeway
• Aran Islands
• Glenveagh National Park
• Connemara National Park
• the Burren
• Cooley Peninsula
• Belfast
• Galway
• Cork 

Can't wait for the Easter Break!! :)

Homework correction: The most fascinating aspect of Irish culture

The most fascinating aspect of Irish culture that I learned about by watching the Story of Ireland was the fact that the famous rebel Michael Collins was able to negotiate a settlement with Great Britain, the Anglo- Irish Treaty, after a long war. Although this treaty seemed for many Irish people like a defeat against the British Empire, they had far more won than lost. In exchange for the six mainly Protestant counties in the North, the southern part of Ireland, 26 counties, became the Irish Free State. This state now had the opportunity to separate from the Britsh and had the freedom to achieve freedom. Beside the fact that they were able to set up their own government, they also were not confronted with religious discrimination anymore. On the other hand, the treaty also caused severe struggles on the Irish side, which finally led to a ruthless and cruel Civil War between the ones who approved, and the ones who opposed the treaty. In brief, the Anglo- Irish Treaty has both a positive and a negative side: It gave Ireland - in the longer term - the independence it always wanted but also turned comrades into bitter enemies.