Culture Days

As part of our Culture Project, all students from SUK2 arranged the annual Culture Days which lasted two days, the 19th and 20th of June. Everybody had to present his own Culture Topic and could listen to at least ten other presentations, three of them from the "foreign" culture. I went to about 15 presentations and there were plenty I really liked a lot. I will now tell you something about ten of them:

On the first day I went to see all of the Irish presentations that took place in the afternoon, because I was one of the last one's to conduct their presentations. I can't remember in which order they performed, so I will start with the ones I liked.

“Abortion Law in Ireland – A Pro-Choice View” was one of the most compelling topics. It was really interesting to learn, that Ireland has one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe and the experiences of the three women which suffered great consequences because they were not allowed to get an abortion, were just shocking. “How the World sees Bobby Sands” was a topic that was new to me because I had never heard of Bobby Sands and his hunger strike before but now I am definitely going to watch the recent movie about his life, which is called “Hunger”.

Those interesting presentations were followed by a few really boring ones, not because they were not well made but because of the fact that the topics just did not arouse my interest like “The Gaelic Athletic Association outside Ireland”, although it was funny to hear that Fiona played in a Gaelic football match. “The Dublin Horse Show” neither evoked my interest simply because I don’t like horses. However Birgit made an excellent powerpoint presentation. Blandine told us something about the Cliffs of Moher – a topic that I liked because I definitely want to go there one day, but she seemed a bit bored by her own topic, so it wasn’t the ideal presentation. Quite at the end Natalie invited us into a lovely story – the story of Willie Daly, a matchmaker who is introducing lonely and old farmers to one another so that they don’t have to be alone anymore. He does it for free and so for me this man is a hero.

After my presentation Jenny was next, sadly I had to catch my train, so I could not listen to her but she presented it to me a few times before, so I know that it was a really good presentation, perfectly summarized, maybe a little bit too long but in general very interesting.

The next day I went to see three more presentations and one of them was my favourite one from all. The presentation I definitely liked most was from the USA group. The guy who conducted the presentation, I think his name was Max, was very funny and you could really see that he enjoys telling people about this topic. It was about the history of Mickey Mouse and the Disney World in the USA. He started his presentation with a short video and ended it with one, that was what I like most, but I also appreciated that he spoke 100% free and that he interacted with the audience. 

The next day I went to two more USA-presentations, the first one was, to be honest, really boring, although it was actually a topic that I am interested in. It was called "Comic books and Superheroes", which sounded very interesting but sadly I could hardly understand a thing because she was speaking in such a low voice and inarticulate. I decided to stay for the next presentation, which was called "Two Heroines of American Aviation: Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman". The girl who presented this topic created the most amazing Prezi I had ever seen before, which perfectly supported her speech and the content. It was really fun to look at it and to listen to her. 

My personal statement to the Culture Days is that it is a nice event but it should definitely not take place during the end of the exam, where I should definitely spend my time studying and not sitting in a hot and sweaty room. And I am definitely not the only one who really was stressed because of two exams on the next day.

What to do when all of your friends are at Nova Rock!?

You know what? This weekend was one of the most boring ones in my whole life!
Although I had to learn a lot (which I did not really do but anyways) I had no idea how to spend my freetime! I came home from Graz on Friday, 6 p.m. and for the first time in years I did not go out but passed my time with my mother sitting in front of the TV. Eventually I was about to go crazy so my mother suggested me to bake a cake or cupcakes. I was so grateful for this idea that I hugged her hard. Fortunately it was not yet too late to go and buy the ingredients I still needed. At 8 p.m. I finally started baking my special Fanta-cake - a stirred cake with Fanta in it and a topping of mascarpone, canned peaches and a lot of vanilla sugar. It took me about 1 and a half hour to finish my cake and tasted delicious.
So I went to bad at 12 p.m. but still, those 6 hours appeared to me like infinity. The next day, yesterday, passed quite fast, as Saturdays always do, but I was not really in the best mood because I always had to think about sitting in a camping chair and drinking beer with all of my friends at Nova Rock. I studied a bit but i could not really concentrate and finally I gave up and decided to visit my aunt and uncle, just to bridge some time. Then the clock stroke 7 p.m. (usually that's the time when I go out at nights) and I was busily trying to figure out if there was anybody - and I really mean ANYBODY, I know who is not at Nova Rock. Blessedly a friend of mine came to my mind so I immediately called her. She has not been in the mood to go to a bar but after a few minutes of begging I had her at the point where she said yes just to make me stop.
So we met at 8 p.m. in our local cocktail-bar and, yes we had a good time but after only one hour she said that she would be tired and like to go now. I was shocked but I hided it and just agreed. Now it was 9 p.m. and I was at home again. I read a few pages of a book, watched one episode of The Big Bang Theory but I was not really happy with the course of my evening, so I went to bed, angry and for the first time in years I slept about 12 hours and for the first time in my whole life I wished the weekend to end as soon as possible; but there was still the Sunday to survive. The morning passed quite fast, as I slept until about 11, then we had lunch and afterwards I decided to have a little afternoon nap. Since I woke up I am sitting in my boyfriend's apartment (of course he is also at Nova Rock) and stuying. Yep, that was definitely one of the most tiring and boring weekends in my life (except for that one, when I went on vacation with my dad, but that's another story).

Music and lyrics that produce irreversible goosebumps!

Your life is ending one minute at a time
Check the clock and stand in line.
Hibernate 'til your life's passed you by.
Please stop living like you're waiting to die.

Keep up, keep up,
Don't get left behind
Don't slip up, slip up
Chase that finish line
They don't want you believing
That your life deserves a meaning.

Weary souls trying to forget.
That we're all puppets with a lifetime debt.

What a feeling built to break,
Happiness with an expire date.
Please stop living like you're waiting to die.

Please stop living like you're waiting to die.

Stitched into our lives
Drained until we expire.

Weary souls trying to forget
That we're all puppets with a lifetime debt.
We're all weary souls trying to forget.

Keep two eyes on that intangible finish line.
In this race we're all reduced to vermin.
Keep two eyes on that intangible finish line.
In this race we're all reduced, we're all reduced to vermin.

Stitched into our lives.
Drained until we expire.
Your life is ending one minute at a time.

Weary souls trying to forget
That we're puppets with a lifetime debt.

           

The sick get sicker while the rich get richer.
Capital greed paired with vestigial superstition.
The sick get sicker while the rich get richer.
Angels and demons, money and munitions.
Your left wing clipped,
buy a gun for jesus.
Opportunities for all those willing to pay.
Out of sight, out of mind,
too afraid of the horror that you might find.
Out of sight, out of mind.
How much does your faith cost?
Celestial shepherd watches over his flock.
What about those black sheep that he forgot?
Unanswered faith is everything that they’ve got.
I’d like to think you’re everything that I’m not.
Something here doesn’t add up.
Your charity starts and ends at home.
Your conscience called but you hung up the phone.

Architects are a British metalcore band from Brighton, England. At the moment they are my most favorite band - I did not really like them before they released their latest album "Daybreaker", at that time it was not the music I liked and for me, lyrics are an important component, and their lyrics never really made me keel over, but now I am just stunned, how critical and honest their new album is. The lyrics can really open one's eyes but sadly, I guess that I am one of the few who really care about the background of a song.