Amazing how quickly time flies by these days. It's barely a few days to Christmas, and I used to think it would take forever. Now it seems really, that life is but a fleeting moment in the whole scheme of things and I ask myself..is the whole point in life just to live a life without regrets so that you can come to terms with death when your time comes? Is there ever a "right" time to die? Part of these thoughts were sparked off by watching "Meet Joe Black". I mean the movie is not exactly easy to understand, but it made me think...how do you live a life like the Anthony Hopkins character? A life which is so meaningful that dying seems nothing more than walking over a bridge (sorry, I just thought that scene was super euphemistic). I'm fully aware of human mortality. But some of the tragic circumstances in which life is taken away disturbs me. This part I attribute to terrorist attacks, car accidents, wars, natural disasters, murders etc. This is why I hate watching the news. I'm sick of hearing about all this tragedy. I know when your time is up, there's no way to change anything. So how do you ensure that if your life is taken away from you at any moment, you will not be filled with regret, or afraid to die. Of course, people are generally at least a little afraid of death, since it's unknown territory...more unknown to people than anything else. Which makes me wonder...what makes people so desperate that they can risk their lives for it? This question was sparked off by the Stasi exhibition in Berlin, as well as the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, where you see photos of East Germans who tried all ways and means to escape into West Berlin. Some attempts ended tragically and dramatically. But I guess, there really are no answers to these questions. Instead of spending your whole life trying to find the meaning of life, I think you should just live it. Even if none of the stuff you do in this life will be remembered in the next.
Ok, that was an unusually philosophical piece. Anyway, I will be working on my Lit paper for the whole of today, once I've completed this entry. I'm going out on Monday and I haven't done anything the rest of this weekend, and I have to have it ready by 9am on Wednesday morning. It will be quite a challenge, but I'll have to do it, by hook or by crook, because I have a ton of other stuff to do over the next few weeks. I'm gonna have to be disciplined and determined. I'm trying to spend less time online too...not just during this Hausarbeit, but in general. I don't wanna be a net addict.
As I said, this week flew by. I don't remember where Monday went...and on Tuesday, I remember having the most boring-est (pardon the double superlative) seminar ever..I don't understand how someone so pretty can be so *yawn* BORING *yawn*. And she really gives us a ton of homework...apart from the other stuff we have to do at the end of the class. We sang Christmas songs during Swedish...and even danced...and walked down a corridor singing...everyone thought it was kinda dumb at first, but we all participated and I think everyone enjoyed themselves in the end..though I still have no idea how the words go.
Oh, then I had to teach on Wednesday...it was a revision lesson, which was quite cool. I enjoyed myself, though the stuff we were covering was basically nothing new. I gave them tips on how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet and we played Hangman too. There were some slip ups, but nothing too bad.
Yuhan came on Thursday...I ponned Czech class, partly cos her train was delayed, but mostly cos I was too lazy to go anyway. We went to the usual sights, like Kunsthof Passage and the Weihnachtsmarkt and the Altstadt. But the weather was awful! The wind was so strong that we felt like we were being blown away, literally! And it kept raining intermittenly. Still, we got a lot of good food and it was great! We came back home earlier, cos of the weather and also cos we were tired. We baked chocolate and raisin cookies! And ate them as we watched "Meet Joe Black". We also planned our trip to Berlin.
The next morning, we woke up pretty early and went to Berlin. We went to the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) and the Reichstag first...the sky was gorgeous over there!
Then we decided to look for something to eat, cos we had breakfast very early. I had Currywurst mit Pommes...it's a very Berlin thing. :) The wind was so strong that we decided to eat inside a shopping mall. After that, we went in search of the Stasi exhibition. It wasn't a very big one, but it definitely kept us occupied for quite long. There was a lot of stuff to read, so our eyes got very tired. In any case, the exhibition was quite amazing...it's awesome where they put their hidden cameras and listening devices.
But our eyes and brains needed a break, so we went to Ku'damm and went shopping. Ok, I went shopping..haha. I didn't buy anything except in Orsay and C&A though. I'm beginning to like Orsay clothes. There was this skirt I tried on..it was so gorgeous! I fell in love with it immediately...but it costs 39,90 Euro...so it's way too expensive! I guess I'll wait for a sale. I also really liked a pair of boots in H&M, but they also cost 39,90, so I didn't buy them either. :( I did buy 2 tops from Orsay..one black and one purple. The saleslady in Orsay was giving fashion advice...it was quite interesting. In any case, I am happy with what I bought. :) I bought a t-shirt from C&A and that was it.
Then we went to the Weihnachtsmarkt around the Kaiser Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. I ate a Fleischspieß, which tasted a bit like otar for a while :). I miss otar!! It started snowing there..but it was light snow, so it was pretty! I bought a new hat on Yuhan's advice, cos it looked like it was going to get colder.
We were really tired by then, so we decided to go look for our hotel pension. We had to walk quite far from the U-Bahn Station, but it was ok...it looked kinda foreboding though, because the light infront of the "display" window was neon green. What a colour to complete the dodgy look of the place! But in the end, it was quite like the place Rachel and I stay in in Leipzig. The room was huge! The toilets were pretty modern too. The guy at the reception was funny. He asked us what time we wanted breakfast..we said 7.30am and he said, breakfast starts at 8..haha..he could've told us first man...aiyoh.
The next day's breakfast wasn't too bad, even though it wasn't a buffet. We ate all 8 slices of bread, 3 portions of jam, 3 pieces of cheese, 1 piece of butter, 2 eggs, 2 yoghurts and tea. Haha...had to make it worth our while.
We walked to Checkpoint Charlie after that, cos we wanted to save on the ticket. But anyway, it seems the museum has grown bigger since i was there in 2001. We spent at least 2 1/2 hours there...then we had to rush to catch our train. While sitting in the train, it began to snow...and as we travelled closer and closer to Dresden, the snow got thicker and thicker! It was a really THICK blanket of snow. I told Yuhan that it probably wouldn't be snowing in Dresden, cos big cities usually get less snow. But, the snow was THICK and the wind was blowing snow into our faces. But at this point, the snow was still thick and fluffy, which was quite nice and I got pretty excited. But it was practically a snow storm!
We quickly started packing my room and cooking, because Yuhan's friend was coming over for dinner. I made vegetable couscous and Yuhan helped me a lot of cutting everything. We managed to get the food ready just as Pavlina arrived. It was pretty good! And we finished all of it. We had cake for dessert. We wanted to make it from scratch, but we just didn't have the time to do it...so we got some from the bakery.
After dinner, we went to the Weihnachtsmarkt, to see what it was like in the snow. By then though, the snow was black and mushy...and most of it had turned to ice...it was so slippery!! Nightmarish man! I am so not going out anymore...not if I can help it. I had to wait more than 30 min for my Straßenbahn! The stupid signboard showed "10 min" for more than 20 minutes...or was it 25? Anyway, it was very very long! Sigh. I hate winter.
Ok, time to have breakfast now, then write the paper.
Ok, that was an unusually philosophical piece. Anyway, I will be working on my Lit paper for the whole of today, once I've completed this entry. I'm going out on Monday and I haven't done anything the rest of this weekend, and I have to have it ready by 9am on Wednesday morning. It will be quite a challenge, but I'll have to do it, by hook or by crook, because I have a ton of other stuff to do over the next few weeks. I'm gonna have to be disciplined and determined. I'm trying to spend less time online too...not just during this Hausarbeit, but in general. I don't wanna be a net addict.
As I said, this week flew by. I don't remember where Monday went...and on Tuesday, I remember having the most boring-est (pardon the double superlative) seminar ever..I don't understand how someone so pretty can be so *yawn* BORING *yawn*. And she really gives us a ton of homework...apart from the other stuff we have to do at the end of the class. We sang Christmas songs during Swedish...and even danced...and walked down a corridor singing...everyone thought it was kinda dumb at first, but we all participated and I think everyone enjoyed themselves in the end..though I still have no idea how the words go.
Oh, then I had to teach on Wednesday...it was a revision lesson, which was quite cool. I enjoyed myself, though the stuff we were covering was basically nothing new. I gave them tips on how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet and we played Hangman too. There were some slip ups, but nothing too bad.
Yuhan came on Thursday...I ponned Czech class, partly cos her train was delayed, but mostly cos I was too lazy to go anyway. We went to the usual sights, like Kunsthof Passage and the Weihnachtsmarkt and the Altstadt. But the weather was awful! The wind was so strong that we felt like we were being blown away, literally! And it kept raining intermittenly. Still, we got a lot of good food and it was great! We came back home earlier, cos of the weather and also cos we were tired. We baked chocolate and raisin cookies! And ate them as we watched "Meet Joe Black". We also planned our trip to Berlin.
The next morning, we woke up pretty early and went to Berlin. We went to the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) and the Reichstag first...the sky was gorgeous over there!
Then we decided to look for something to eat, cos we had breakfast very early. I had Currywurst mit Pommes...it's a very Berlin thing. :) The wind was so strong that we decided to eat inside a shopping mall. After that, we went in search of the Stasi exhibition. It wasn't a very big one, but it definitely kept us occupied for quite long. There was a lot of stuff to read, so our eyes got very tired. In any case, the exhibition was quite amazing...it's awesome where they put their hidden cameras and listening devices.
But our eyes and brains needed a break, so we went to Ku'damm and went shopping. Ok, I went shopping..haha. I didn't buy anything except in Orsay and C&A though. I'm beginning to like Orsay clothes. There was this skirt I tried on..it was so gorgeous! I fell in love with it immediately...but it costs 39,90 Euro...so it's way too expensive! I guess I'll wait for a sale. I also really liked a pair of boots in H&M, but they also cost 39,90, so I didn't buy them either. :( I did buy 2 tops from Orsay..one black and one purple. The saleslady in Orsay was giving fashion advice...it was quite interesting. In any case, I am happy with what I bought. :) I bought a t-shirt from C&A and that was it.
Then we went to the Weihnachtsmarkt around the Kaiser Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. I ate a Fleischspieß, which tasted a bit like otar for a while :). I miss otar!! It started snowing there..but it was light snow, so it was pretty! I bought a new hat on Yuhan's advice, cos it looked like it was going to get colder.
We were really tired by then, so we decided to go look for our hotel pension. We had to walk quite far from the U-Bahn Station, but it was ok...it looked kinda foreboding though, because the light infront of the "display" window was neon green. What a colour to complete the dodgy look of the place! But in the end, it was quite like the place Rachel and I stay in in Leipzig. The room was huge! The toilets were pretty modern too. The guy at the reception was funny. He asked us what time we wanted breakfast..we said 7.30am and he said, breakfast starts at 8..haha..he could've told us first man...aiyoh.
The next day's breakfast wasn't too bad, even though it wasn't a buffet. We ate all 8 slices of bread, 3 portions of jam, 3 pieces of cheese, 1 piece of butter, 2 eggs, 2 yoghurts and tea. Haha...had to make it worth our while.
We walked to Checkpoint Charlie after that, cos we wanted to save on the ticket. But anyway, it seems the museum has grown bigger since i was there in 2001. We spent at least 2 1/2 hours there...then we had to rush to catch our train. While sitting in the train, it began to snow...and as we travelled closer and closer to Dresden, the snow got thicker and thicker! It was a really THICK blanket of snow. I told Yuhan that it probably wouldn't be snowing in Dresden, cos big cities usually get less snow. But, the snow was THICK and the wind was blowing snow into our faces. But at this point, the snow was still thick and fluffy, which was quite nice and I got pretty excited. But it was practically a snow storm!
We quickly started packing my room and cooking, because Yuhan's friend was coming over for dinner. I made vegetable couscous and Yuhan helped me a lot of cutting everything. We managed to get the food ready just as Pavlina arrived. It was pretty good! And we finished all of it. We had cake for dessert. We wanted to make it from scratch, but we just didn't have the time to do it...so we got some from the bakery.
After dinner, we went to the Weihnachtsmarkt, to see what it was like in the snow. By then though, the snow was black and mushy...and most of it had turned to ice...it was so slippery!! Nightmarish man! I am so not going out anymore...not if I can help it. I had to wait more than 30 min for my Straßenbahn! The stupid signboard showed "10 min" for more than 20 minutes...or was it 25? Anyway, it was very very long! Sigh. I hate winter.
Ok, time to have breakfast now, then write the paper.
posted by Samantha @ 7:56 am
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