Recap of 2015

Ahhh 2015. You know that feeling when you already know that a year is going to be special? For the past 4 years I knew that this was gonna be the year I graduate from university. I knew that I also had to make a decision about what to do after I graduate. Scary! If this year wasn't about making big changes, I don't know what year was!

So let's see:

• I wrote my dissertation!
• I graduated from University
• I got accepted into my dream master programme at BCU
• Spent the most amazing week on a yacht in Croatia
• I worked at the Fringe, this time as a supervisor
• Moved to Birmingham

THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE 

 

That day, all I wanted to do was cry of happiness. The ceremony was beautiful, the Scottish weather was at its freaking BEST, all my people, THE ATMOSPHERE- this day was the reason I wanted to study in Scotland. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. 

THE HOLIDAY

Croatia man! For one week we were island hopping and loving life on a yacht with six Aussies (who could easily be in a boyband, I mean look at them!). Truly the most beautiful, peaceful and fun week I have ever (?!) had. 

THE MOVE

Now the move to Birmingham is a big part of this year. Not the happiest time and definately not the easiest. I miss Scotland all the time and I didn't think it was gonna be this hard to get used to another city on the same island. However, what ultimately counts is that I am studying my dream MA, which was the best decision, and I don't regret moving here. 

And now 2016- I think this is scarier than all the years before. I am going to be done with my MA, and actually starting the real life in the real world. Where people have jobs and stuff. BLURGH!

Happy new year guys!

 

Hello, it's me. (+reader survey!)

Well here we are, I am back! I never intended to take a break but I guess it just happened. After my last post I flew to Edinburgh and worked at the Edinburgh Fringe as a box office supervisor. You might remember that I worked there for the past two years as an assistant and this year I actually had my own team. It was the funnest year of Fringe so far- I had the loveliest people on my team, my co-supervsisor was a friend from last year, and all the staff in our venue was amazing. Very little sleep, so much socialising and having fun, I kinda wish it never ended.

my amazing Fringe team

My real adventure started after the Fringe though. In September, I moved down to Birmingham in England. My friend and flatmate from Edinburgh moved down there with me and after weeks of homelessness, we moved in to a typical English house. We now live there with five other people and we finally have double-gazed windows (for non UK peepz- this is a big deal)! 

I started my MA in Film Distribution and Marketing at Birmingham City University and I am really happy with it. After learning about the course about two years ago, I was obssessed with getting my MA and to think that it's finally here is insane. And now we already broke off for Christmas. Time just flies by! The program includes a visit to the Cannes Film Festival in May (or should I say placement, we actually get to work there!) and a three month internship in the summer while we write our dissertation. I am so excited for those two things, finally some real experience in the film industry!

my Uni in Birmingham

Now enough talking about the past, I want to talk about what is going to happen to this lovely online space. For this, I would love to hear your opinion! I have inserted a little survey below, and I would be ever so grateful if you could leave some answers. None of them are required, so you can only answer the ones you like (or only leave a comment at the last one). All answers are anonymous, so don't worry about admitting your secretest secrets. Other than that I want to start this blog properly in the New Year. Personally I want to write a few column-like posts and a few "opinion"-pieces. My general aim for the blog hasn't changed though. I always wanted to write this blog for people that want to do similar things- live abroad, travel, study in the UK etc... to give advice and show people how life is like in the UK (or wherever). And that is still where I am heading I think. SO yes, enough chitchat.

Create your own user feedback survey

Thanks for reading,thanks for sticking with me... and bring on the new year!

post holiday blues

the crew

I wanted to write a whole post about our week on the yacht, but I don't think I can - yet. It has only been about a week that I am back and the carefree holiday time already seems ages away. The idea that -about one and a half weeks ago- my life consisted of nothing but salt water and laughter is so strange to me.
I was completely and utterly in love with life that week- I forgot about every worry I ever had, completely ignored my emails and the prospect of living in bloody cold England really soon.
The only thing I worried about in the morning was finding a toilet that was not on a boat (the boat toilet was smelly and gross, and we only used it in emergencies haha).
The skipper would serve breakfast every morning, and often we would have it surrounded by the most beautiful crystal clear water, which also meant we could jump right in after to swim with little blue fish. With wind in your hair, salt on your skin and the sun in your face we would sail to the next island. If you wanted it badly enough, dolphins would come up for air close to the boat. The first few hours of sailing actually had me speechless, that's how blissful it was. Being on the boat every day has a certain magic to it- every song sounds better and every beer tastes better than in real life.

The evenings might even be my favorite (what am I saying, every time was my favorite)- it would cool down just a little bit, so you could still have dinner outside. All our dinners that week were so good- seafood so fresh, meat so good and wine so tasty you just don't want to stop.
At night, we sometimes lay on deck to star gaze. The shooting stars were so impressive they give you goose bumps while you lie there next to your new best friends. 

These memories are so precious to me but painful at the same time.

We had such a good time with these boys, and the fact that they live in Australia is reason enough for a daily heartbreak. Add this to the lack of sunshine and yachts in Edinburgh... ..there is nothing more you need for a real and painful post holiday blues.

GRADUATION

GRADUATION

Oh my, I guess I took a proper summer break here.

Let's catch up then- At the end of June, I moved out of my flat in Edinburgh (horrible and sad) and flew home. I spent some time at home (during the heat wave, yay!), which was actually really nice and felt more relaxed than usual. In July, I flew back to Edinburgh with my mum and my sister and GRADUATED! I loved the whole day but also felt like crying most of the time (happy tears of course). Seeing everyone together, taking fun pictures in the glorious sunshine, drinking champagne and eating strawberry tarts... best day ever.

I am glued to my screen...

Edinburgh just experienced a major heat wave that lasted maybe 4 days. Now that's over, temperatures are back to normal (a summery 12 degrees) and everyone is back inside.

The good ol' internet is my best friend again. Here is what got me glued to my screen this week.

I am sure every already knows Emma and Elsie from A Beautiful Mess, and are probably the most successful bloggers around. One of them is moving to Nashville and recently bought a house there and this video shows Elsie giving a tour of it. Maybe it's because I am currently putting my life in boxes and getting rid of all the pretty things in the flat, but I just got so excited for a new flat/house (and also to see what Elsie is gonna do with that space)!

This just came to Netflix. I am not as excited as I was last year about season 2, but still- a really good show.

Aaaah Netflix again. Sense8 is created by the Matrix-brothers and even though I am not necessarily a massive fan of their work, so far I think this show is just incredible. It took me a few episodes to really get into it and Max Riemelt's presence definitely helped with that (even though I still dislike the way they deal with other languages and just pretend everyone in the world magically speaks English). I really like most of the characters and some parts of the dialogue are so smart that I have to stop the show and just process what they just said. Summer is always a bit of a slump in terms of shows so I am happy I have a lot more hours of this show ahead of me.

One line a day...

On my birthday, I bought myself this little book. It's like a diary, but every day you only write a few lines (or one line, see the title, haha). The book has room for five years, so I thought it might be cool to start now and finish when I am thirty (or maybe not a good idea, even writing this makes me anxious). I still have some sort of hope that 30 will be this magical age with job and maybe some savings, but who knows. This book will certainly be documenting that weird journey.

BIRTHDAY shenanigans #3

Last but not least, the final part of my birthday- the parteeeey. I made dinner, we had drinks and continued drinking and eventually went to a club. The flat looks pathetic at the moment, most of our stuff is gone or in boxes and  everything just looks really plain. So sad!

 

all of the peeepzzz

      

unwrapping all the boxes that Julia gave me

BIRTHDAY shenanigans #2

Part 2 of my birthday is afternoon tea.
In the UK afternoon tea is a thing you do on special occasions. It includes tea, small sandwiches, cakes and biscuits, crumpets or scones and other sweet things. Usually served on a tiered stand and looking super cute and NOMMY.

I never had afternoon tea here in Edinburgh, so I thought my birthday was a good excuse to go. I was being cheap (usually it's about 15quid pp) and bought a Groupon for 2 which also includes Pimms (I am obsessed at the moment).

We went to Cafe Grande in Bruntsfield and the waitress was SO sweet, she realised it was my birthday and brought a little brownie with a candle over.

the sweet stuff

nommi salmon sandwiches!

Pimms (and Julia)

BIRTHDAY shenanigans #1

I guess I am officially 25 now.
So let's see what happened on my birthday. Obviously, we had to start with breakfast. Not just any, but a really naughty one at The Pantry in Stockbridge. I highly recommend it, the food is super good. 

one friend

two friends :D

ma nommy breakfast

ain't no breakfast without Haggis!

beautiful part of town

super cute tea cups

and then someone brought this over! WHAT?! haha

LIFE- turning 25 and so on

flatmates doesn't cover it

I had this post drafted for a few days now and the first draft of this post was actually really depressing, haha. So I never posted it and I feel now is a better time to write this.

What's my life like now then? Well.

Let's start around two weeks back. Me and my flatmates were sorting through three years of stuff, getting rid of last years Halloween decorations, figuring out how to get all of that stuff home and other places. URGH! Moving is not that easy, people. Every time you turn, there is another pile that needs packing.

After all of that, they left me. Both of them have completely moved out, their rooms are all empty except for mine. Our flat contract runs until the end of June, so that's how long I am staying here. Aaaalll by myself. With nothing to do but pack and clean. Blurgh.

Fast forward to now, after some really boring days, a friend of mine came over and is staying with me. Life is fuuun again! We had some really good days, nice food, fun times with friends, and just hanging in Edinburgh.

It is also my birthday on Thursday, which I am looking forward to (I think). I have never celebrated my birthday in Edinburgh before, because it always falls in to the uni-free summer time and while I always loved my summer birthday,  now it is simply annoying. So here we go, last year in Edinburgh, first birthday. I think about six of my friends are here haha, so it'll be a small party but hopefully a fun one. 

I already bought my birthday outfit (one for the day and one for the night), so I am all set for the day. I also feel I have treated myself to a million unofficial birthday treats already (I love buying 'gifts' for myself haha) but whatever, you only turn 25 once.

Yes that's right, the big scary mid-twenty crisis age. For this occasion I read all of these articles about things you need to know when you are 25 and bucket lists kind of things... they are frrrreaky.

I have known for a while now that I will finish my undergrad when I am 25 and that I probably won't have a car, or savings, or my own flat .. or anything 'grown up'. And I am so fine with that. No one know what that means anyway- being a grown up. 

I think what's scary for me is that this seems like a cut off day for many things. I need to pay for my own health insurance, a lot of funding and discounts stop when you turn 25 ...aaah, I don't feel like I am ready for that! In that respect, I am glad for my MA course. I hope that this is my niche, my thing, my career. If not, then... mh I don't know. I guess we have to see.

AND to end this weird stream of consciousness, another picture of my flat babes.

Getting into new things: Podcasts

A while ago I finally got on the podcast train. My flatmate listens to them regularly and even in class we have been discussing them, so there is no escaping now. I really wanted to see what the fuss was about, but I was also a bit indifferent to them. Storytelling via simple audio has never really interested me that much, and on the bus I often listen to music or just play around on my phone. But there is one thing that really becomes so much less boring- walking somewhere. Yes, you might look a little weird just staring into oblivion, being in your own bubble while walking around town, but listening to an exciting podcast gets you places really fast haha. I find walking to the gym really annoying, so this really helps with that.

So here are a few of my current listening choices.


 Serial

Serial has been so popular and seriously hyped, but for a reason. Sarah Koenig has a really nice voice (so important for these things) and tells the story in a great way.  and has been my favorite podcast so far.She retells and explores the case of Hae Min Lee's murder in 1999. Adnan Syed, her ex boyfriend, has been in jail ever since being charged with first-degree murder. He claims and has done so for the past 15 years, so Koenig explores both the evidence and also Adnan's side of things. I don't wanna tell more, just go ahead and check it out!

Stuff Mom Never Told You

The next podcast is completely different. It's called 'Stuff Mom Never Told You'. Hosts Caroline and Cristen explore topical things surrounding gender roles, feminism and other issues. I like the two hosts, their podcasts are flawless, they never trip over their tongues or talk over each other. Their ideas are inspiring and their topics are quite fun. I really enjoyed their podcast about the word bitch, character crushes and Taylor Swift. You can listen to it here: x

Criminal

After I finished Serial, I was looking for something just as good. I stumbled upon this and I am still not sure what this podcast really is about, but I like it. The Internet describes it as 'Stories of people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle.' Some of them are not so interesting, but some of them are quite good. For example, there was an episode about animal trials: There was a time when animals were being given trials, whenever they did something illegal. The idea of a pig being charged with murder still makes me giggle, and that episode convinced me that 'Criminal' was definitely worth listening to.

If you already know Serial, then you should go and check out 'Undisclosed'. It explores the case of Adnan Syed even more and this time it is attorneys who are doing it. I love it, it is different than Serial but still pretty good in it's own way. It's weird how you can get so interested in a kind of hopeless murder investigation...Anyways, check it out!

If you want to listen to these podcasts, you can either listen to them on the websites, if you have an Iphone you can download them through the iTunes store, and I listen to them via the app 'Podcast Addict'.


 

YouTube catch up

In these past weeks, I have watched all five seasons of Pretty Little Liars. Now I have to wait 9 days for the next season to start and I am not looking forward to waiting a whole week for the next episode. Urgh. In the meanwhile, I am exploring all the fun things that YouTube has to offer and that I have missed during my PLL binge watching (cause I seriously did nothing else).

Here are my favorites:

Everyone has probably already seen this, but I just can't get over how funny the editing is. I love it.

I mean really anything out of this series (guys acting like...) is hilarious and so awkward cause its true. There, I said it.

I know this film came out ages ago, but it really was bad (sorry Channing) and these honest trailers just nail it. Also I finally understand the plot, thanks to this video.

Aaaah I love the original and this cover is amazing too. 

Croatia dreaming

Aw summer. I have mentioned a few months ago that my friend and I are gonna go to Croatia this summer and spend a week on a yacht. Excited doesn't cover it, and I can't stop looking at cute summer clothes and fun things to take with me. Also we need waterproof everything, nice towels, boat shoes and all of that stuff. Ah!

 Anyway, here are some things I already bought on Ebay- you gotta love it all those bargains! How beautiful is this two piece? I love the porcelain look!

two piece x, sunglasses x, tattoos x

I cannot wait to be tanned and feel the sun on my skin. Scotland really makes you forget what real summer feels like.

Why I am excited to move to Birmingham

Now that I got in to BCU and will actually seriously move to Birmingham in the fall, it is terrifying to think about all the things I need to do. Figure out storage over the summer, finding a new flat (!!!!!!), getting all my stuff there, settling down once again. Every new place obviously also has its perks, and here are some about Birmingham. First of all, the train to London only takes about two hours, so that is really exciting! Seeing some of my English friends on a more regular basis is something I really look forward to.

A big part is obviously discovering fun new restaurants, bars and pubs. Buzzfeed is a surprisingly good guide for new and exciting things, such as 18 Cocktails Every Brummie Must Try, 19 Birmingham Brunches You Must Try Before You Die and this one about street food.

How yummy does all of this look? I wanna eat everything.right.meow.

And as much as I will be missing the Highlands and the beautiful Scottish landscape, there are other pretty places in the UK. Birmingham is not really that close to a coast, but not too far away from beautiful Welsh beaches.

And one of my favorite areas that is quite close to Birmingham is the Cotswolds. I mean, look at this! Cannot wait to go and see this for myself.

How beautiful is this?

So yes, I am also a little excited to move there.

Favorite Documentaries

It's a bit strange, I would not consider myself an avid documentary watcher, but whenever I do come across a (good) film, I tell myself that I need to watch more of them. When I was in Texas, I took a media communication class in which we had to watch quite a lot of documentaries, that were all really fascinating. Since then I have watched quite a few, so here are some of my favorites.

1. Blackfish

This film has actually inspired me to write this post. I watched this just recently after hearing so much about it. This documentary is looking in to the whales and their lives at SeaWorld. The situation with these animals is really heartbreaking and I have had mixed feelings about SeaWorld for a long time, but now I will definitely never visit any of their parks ever again. 

2. Misrepresentation

This is a documentary that is similar to one I have watched in class. Talking about representation of gender (and race etc etc) in the media has been a fundamental part of almost every class I have taken at university, and this documentary sums a lot of things up quite nicely. Terrifying and depressing, but really informative.

3. Dreamworlds

Phew, this film is a really tough watch. I have watched this over a year ago and it feels like it was yesterday, that's how much the film has stayed with me. It just shows how messed up parts of our culture really are.  

4. The September Issue

This is one I have recently watched on Netflix and I was surprised by how interesting it was! Sure, fashion is interesting and everyone needs to wear something, but designers were never my thing and I never read Vogue either. Nevertheless, it was fun and interesting to watch.

Current obsessions

1. Snapchat

I have always been slightly confused by Snapchat, but I guess it just takes some tutorials by obsessed friends and some fun people to follow, and I cannot stop using it. Not so much creating stories, but stalking others and following the live city stories and events!


2. Zoella

This girl is seriously everywhere in the UK- she's a YouTube vlogger that has over  8 (EIGHT!!!) million (MILLION!!!) followers, released her first novel, has her own beauty line, and she was in the Band Aid 30 track of this year..- oh and she is going to be made in to a wax figure at Madame Tussaud!!! She has two channels and I really prefer her 'More Zoella' one, where she just films her days and you follow her along.. One Sunday not too long ago I got stuck and watched almost every video. She has been quite open about her anxiety and her flaws and of course she still has a lot of haters (cause the internet is also full of mean people), but really it is hard to dislike her. She seems to give a lot of people inspiration and support, which is nice.

3.  Pretty Little Liars

I have been following Lucy Hale on Instagram for a while now, mostly because of her amazing hair- so I couldn't escape the PLL references. I started watching it just to see what it was like,and afterwards I skimmed through wikis to find out who A is and read a ton of spoilers. And guess what, I still couldn't stop watching. So here I am, 40hours later and halfway in to season 3.

4. Honey roasted chickpeas 

via x

 This is a staple that one of us makes almost every day. Ridiculously easy and SO GOOD.

Why I don't plan on going back to Germany (at the moment)

At the moment, with Uni coming to a close and all of that, so many people ask me if I am going back home to Germany. Um, no.

I think people don't realise how much studying abroad changes you. And I don't mean just a semester abroad but a whole degree. I have been living here for four years- it has been the first place I have stayed for such a long time other than Germany and it feels like my home. The guy from the shop next door knows me too well, I don't even wanna mention my eyebrow lady, I know all the short cuts and bus routes, tourists think you are a local and ask you for directions, you always meet people you know on the street... it doesn't just feel like my home, it truly is.

Germany obviously still feels like home, too: My small home town is the place where I will always know people, where the bank employees recognize me, and I have made lifelong memories here. It feels good to be home once in a while, and it feels special. My mum makes a fuss, everyone I meet is asking me about my plans for my life and you have that weird status of being that cool kid back in town. But I guess that only works if you leave again at one point, and that is fine with me. I also don't have the urge to move to a bigger German city either, because.. there is no one that I fancy living in. I dislike Berlin, Hamburg and Munich are too posh and all the other places... meh, I am not convinced.

I feel out of synch with German culture at times, because I have learned to love Scottish and American culture so much. I love greeting everyone with 'how r u', having nice talks with shop assistants, making friends at the bus stop with random strangers and ordering tap water for free. In my mind, all of these things seem impossible in Germany. It probably really isn't that impossible, but my heart just wouldn't be all there if I moved back to Germany.

And if I have learned one thing, then it is that one: Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

So I guess that's what I'm doing. For now.

And maybe one day, my heart will lead me back to Germany.

ROAD TRIP// Glen Etive & Kilchurn Castle

So I have been living the life of freedom this past week and as I said, it feels awesome. To top it off, a lovely friend from home came over to visit me. I knew I wanted to go to the highlands with her, which is why we rented a car and took a few other Germans with us (haha) (also I didn't drive the car, the left side driving thing is still too scary for me).

This was our route I think- we drove to Kilchurn Castle, and then along the beautiful and weirdly deserted B8074 we stopped to have a picnic- we picked a beautiful day and it didn't rain AT ALL. It was already afternoon when we drove to Glen Etive and drove all the way until we got to Loch Etive. On the way home, we stopped in Callander and had dinner.

It was an amazing day, I just love the highlands and having your own car means you can pull over whenever you want- which we did like a million times.

Alright, brace yourselves for a picture heavy post.

One of the lochs we stopped at just to take a picture.. and I already forgot which one this was...

This beauty was so still, the mirror image is perfect.

Obviously we couldn't pass on the photo op.

I defff wanna have a jeep one day. They just look too cool and seem really practical haha

Kilchurn Castle!

View from Kilchurn Castle

We are photo obsessed.

View from the castle.

Denise is a very skillful photographer

Yes yes, there she is.

I think this is already Glen Etive

It has the most beautiful river with shiny glittering water that you just wanna swim in.

At the very end, Loch Etive.

Alright I will end it here, I am super tired and I have a lot more pictures coming of other stuff... who is ready for some more Edinburgh?