Correction: The best cook I know

ORIGINAL

The best cook I know

My brother Philipp is such an amazing cook that anyone who tries one of his dishes immediately falls in love with their taste. Eating one of his creations can be compared with a culinary roller coaster ride for two reasons. Firstly, once you have finished the plate you want to have the next one. Secondly, as Philipp combines the techniques and ingredients of diverse cuisines, your taste buds experience sensations they never met before. Impressing with exotic ingredients and enviable cooking skills, not even the most convinced meat lover would miss animal products in these vegan dishes. However, there is one secret ingredient that probably is most important: Fun. Philipp loves to prepare dishes and this, together with his know-how, is what makes him a superb, I dare to say the best cook I know.

[135 words]

CORRECTION

The best cook I know

My brother Philipp is such an amazing cook that anyone who tries one of his dishes immediately falls in love. Eating one of his creations can be compared with a culinary roller coaster ride for two reasons. Firstly, once you have finished the plate, you immediately want to have the next one. Secondly, as Philipp combines techniques and ingredients from different parts of the world, your taste buds experience sensations they have never encountered before. With such exotic ingredients and his enviable cooking skills, not even the most convinced meat lover would miss animal products in these vegan dishes. Apart from using unusual ingredients, there is a secret one that probably leads to success in cooking: Fun. Philipp loves to prepare dishes and this, together with his know-how, is what makes him a superb, I dare to say the best cook I know.

[143 words]

Correction: House Swap Letter

ORIGINAL

Dear Hamish¹,

Thank you for your letter with all the details about your home and life. By now, I do not have any more questions, so I would like to introduce you to my world.

Arrival

The first and probably most important step after your arrival is, of course, getting to my flat. That should not be that difficult because both the airport and Graz itself are fairly small. After disembarking, take bus number 630 to “Graz Jakominiplatz”. Regarding the bus fare, you are probably best taking a day ticket, in case you want to explore Graz by tram and bus on your first day here. However, at “Graz Jakominiplatz” change to tram number 6 and go on until “Plüddemanngasse”. Alight the bus and walk approximately fifty meters uphill, then turn left into the courtyard of a big housing complex. You cannot miss it. My/Your house is the second on the left. Ring the bell of apartment three and one of my flatmates will let you in.

Flatmates

There are two of them and their names are Benjamin and Bianca. I asked them to give you your keys by the time you arrive and as I know them, they will surely help you through the first days.

Apartment

I assume my flatmates will tell you everything that is not self-explanatory. In case they do not, there are only two things worth mentioning. Firstly, the oven is not working properly, so I would recommend using the microwave if you want to heat something. Secondly, the washing machine is a bit temperamental. I would keep an eye on it when doing your laundry.

What to do in Graz

As you already know, the tram stop is near our apartment but also the bus stop is just across the street. Additionally, almost every attraction Graz has to offer is within walking distance. You can also borrow my bike, if you want to. The only thing I should warn you about is that police is very strict here when it comes to riding the bicycle without the lights on.

As you are into sports, I would recommend going up the “Schlossberg” on a sunny day or for a run along the river “Mur”. If the weather gets the better of you, though, you may want to have a look at “Schloss Eggenberg” in the North-West of Graz. I will leave a few brochures on my desk that may give you inspiration on leisure time activities.

Shops

You will soon discover that our apartment is surrounded by various supermarkets and drugstores. You will not have any problems concerning shopping facilities.

Other than that, it seems everything is said. Obviously, if there is anything else you need to know, just get in touch.

Linda

1 What I know about Hamish: He is an athletic, young Scot who loves to explore new places. Living in a cottage located in a remote Scottish village, Graz is a nice change of scene for him. Hamish looks forward to absorbing and analyzing the Austrian culture.

CORRECTION

Dear Hamish¹,

Thank you for your letter with all the details about your home. By now, I think you've answered all my questions, so I would like to introduce you to my world.

Arrival

The first and probably most important step after your arrival is, of course, getting to my flat. That should not be too difficult because both the airport and Graz itself are fairly small.

After disembarking, take bus number 630 to Jakominiplatz. Regarding the bus fare, you are probably best buying a day ticket from the bus driver, in case you want to explore Graz by tram and bus on your first day here. However, at Jakominiplatz change to tram number 6 and go until “Plüddemanngasse”. Get off the bus and walk approximately fifty meters uphill, then walk towards the big housing complex that comes up on your left side. You cannot miss it. Once you enter the courtyard you will find my/your home is the second on the left. Ring the bell for apartment three and one of my flatmates will let you in.

Flatmates

There are two of them and their names are Benjamin and Bianca. I asked them to give you your keys when you arrive. I am sure that you will get on well with them.

Apartment

My flatmates will explain everything that is not self-explanatory. In case they do not, there is only one thing worth mentioning. The oven is not working properly, so I would recommend using the microwave if you want to heat something.

What to do in Graz

As you already know, the tram stop is near our apartment but there is also a bus stop just across the street. Additionally, almost every attraction Graz has to offer is within walking distance, or you can borrow my bike if you want to. The only thing I should warn you about is that police are very strict here when it comes to riding a bicycle at night without the lights on.

As you are into sports, I would recommend going up the “Schlossberg” on a sunny day or for a run along the river “Mur”. If the weather gets the better of you, though, you may want to have a look at “Eggenberg Palace” in the North-West of Graz. I will leave a few brochures on my desk to give you inspiration on leisure time activities.

You will soon discover that our apartment is surrounded by various supermarkets and drugstores, so you shouldn't have any problems concerning shopping facilities.

Other than that, it seems there is nothing left to say for me. Obviously, if there is anything else you need to know, just get in touch.

Linda

1 What I know about Hamish: He is an athletic, young Scot who loves to explore new places. Living in a cottage located in a remote Scottish village, Graz is a nice change of scene for him. Hamish looks forward to absorbing and analyzing the Austrian culture.

Traveling: Into The Wild

There are different types of travelers, among them:


1) The We-rather-stay-at-a-resort-than-getting-to-know-the-local-people-ones. They go on vacation, simply to eat, drink and sleep all day. Mostly, these people do not even leave the hotel area and I actually don't understand why they drive or fly far away just to relax at the pool or the beach because there are a lot of beautiful lakes in Austria where you can sleep all day.

2) The crazy sightseeing city-tourers. These people love museums, art galleries, old towns, walls, cathedrals and so on. At least they are interested in the history and culture of the country they visit.

3) The travelers. They go by bike, they hitchhike or rent a car to explore the whole country. They travel alone or with a partner and try to absorb the culture and the landscape. My prefered way of traveling.

4) The survivor. Who needs friends? Who needs family or any other social bonds? This type of traveler seeks for adventure that never ends. I have to say that it sometimes is an attracting thought to just live in the nature and distance from everyday life and routine, to show that you can survive without a smartphone, a laptop, money, a roof above one's head and other luxury. On the one hand, this way of traveling is incredibly interesting, on the other, simply stupid.





I recently watched a movie based on a true story, the story of Christopher McCandless, a true survivor. The film is called Into The Wild. Christopher was an intelligent young man who decided to leave everything behind him after his graduation. He went away and eventually ended up in the Alaskan wilderness, seeking to survive.
I don't want to tell you much about the plot, the inspiring people he met or the deep sadness of his family when he went away without saying a word. I want you and myself to understand his decision to donate his money, take his gear and set out into the wild. He had everything, from a caring family to great friends, even good grades and therefore opportunities for a reasonable future profession. The reason for his adventure was that he was sick of people, of rules, of capitalism and everything that comes with communities and social relationships. Going to extremes, he decided to live where he was sure to find the complete opposite situation than the one at home. In the Alaskan wilderness he had no one but himself and was content at first. That is what he always wanted: Living on his own, proving himself that he can survive, no one to argue with, no one to love and hurt him.
After months Christopher discovered that there is no one to laugh with either, no one to help, no one to talk with, no one who can see him surviving and be proud of him. He made the decision to go back home but the river he crossed in fall, is now way too big and raging to swim through it. He was stuck.

Although life in a community based on capitalism is harsh, everyone, without an exception, needs contact with another person at some point in their life. What is a joke worth when you are the only one who laughs? Why should you even laugh when there is no one to see and hear that you are happy? And eventually: Can you be happy when you are alone?
I don't think so.

Funny songs that cheer me up - or just stupid sense of humor?

Nobody is happy and motivated all the time. There are days on which you lay on your bed, thinking about all the stuff you need to get going with. The huge amount of homework, all the projects, the BLOG POSTS you have to write, studying for the upcoming exams.
A reasonable solution for these worries may be to actually do something but sometimes I prefer to do the exact opposite. That means listening to ridiculous, stupid but definitely funny songs. If you also want to escape daily life for a few minutes and have a good laugh (provided that we share the same sense of humor), go on and check out this post! :)

Let's start with a very dramatic song, sung by Ylvis who are two Norwegian comedians, already known for their song "What does the fox say?". I don't want to say much, you have to create your own opinion on it, but is Stonehenge now "a giant granite birthday cake or a prison far too easy to escape"? We'll never know...

The next one is made by Tobuscus, a quite successful youtube star. I simply love this song because I always have to smile at some point, no matter how often I already listened to it. "Did you know that cashews come from a fruit?"? Frankly, I didn't.

It's legitimate to be confused and irritated by the next video. Four 50-year-old men standing on stage wearing leggings, bandanas, wigs (except the singer) and make-up, singing about "The Burden of Being Wonderful". You will definitely change your opinion about Steel Panther, though, when you see them live on stage. Besides being a real good live act, all of the songs written by them are full of self-mockery and jokes about everything and everyone. They don't take themselves seriously and that's what makes them likeable.

Here they are. I guess everyone of you has heard of them: Tenacious D. Jack Black and Kyle Gass are two chubby, middle-aged men who still rock every stage mainly with their songs but a great part of their show is their enthusiasm and humor. The following video is an excerpt of their second of three albums "The Pick of Destiny" that was even made a film of. A fun fact about their albums is that there are short humorous skits in-between the songs.

"Die Ärzte", in English "The Doctors" are a German band playing an undefined genre.Their band history is quite long, so they crossed almost every existing genre by now. Nobody can say for sure what they actually play, but there is one sure thing: They have a lot of funny songs. "Elke" is one of them, you'll have the pleasure to listen to it. In this song Die Ärzte make fun of an overweight girl who stalked the band over months. According to reliable sources, Elke was positively surprised when she found out that a song was written "for" her by her gods.
Other songtitles such as "Meine explodierte Freundin" (My exploded girlfriend), "Geschwisterliebe" (Sibling love), "Ich bin reich" (I am rich) and "Männer sind Schweine" (Men are pigs) speak for themselves. Die Ärzte even wrote a whole album about hair - yes, about hair. It is called "Le Frisur".

I hope you enjoyed this little journey through the world I enter when I am bored and do not want to study. I am still looking for similar Russian songs, but my Russian is not that good yet, so it takes time to understand the lyrics.
By the way, listening to these songs and reading my text you spend about quarter an hour without doing anything productive, so you'd better start studying. ;) No seriously, you probably have to find something else to do now. To all the students out there, I wish you good luck for the exam season.

Easter Tradition

Still stuffed with the filling food Carinthians traditionally eat at Easter, I tiredly look back at a typical Easter weekend full of relatives visiting, drinking and eating. My mother prepared the "Osterjause", a cold dinner, for all of us, which means that there were up to twenty one persons eating at a time. Luckily, we've got a large balcony with a huge dining table that creaked under the weight of the many plates.

The traditional Carinthian Easter meal consists of ham, sausages, lots of freshly ground horseradish (even the strongest and proudest men have to cry), eggs, egg cream, red beet sauce and white, sweet bread with raisins, cinnamon and sugar in it. This bread is called “Kärntner Reindling” or in my regional dialect “Woazas”.

As Easter is the most important Catholic holiday, Catholics traditionally keep to a diet for forty days before eating as much as possible of the Easter meal. Traditions go further and so we usually eat  veggies on Maundy Thursday and fish on Good Friday. On Saturday morning there is a mass where you bless the food you are going to eat. Midday indicates the end of Lent in our family (despite the fact that we are not that strict that we would give something up for Lent) and the whole family, many relatives from all over Austria included, eat as if there was no tomorrow. In the afternoon, everyone stays for cake and coffee and in the evening we all eat the Easter meal once again, for the last time this year.
We then sit together, drink and have fun until dawn breaks. On Sunday morning all the kids, still including me ;), search for the sweets, eggs and little presents that were hidden by the parents. We all - guess what - eat and continue to drink. A cheer for Austria!

That's our family's tradition. Of course I know that it differs from family to family, village to village, from valley to valley, whatever. I definitely like it the way it is....

The endless debate: Tea versus Coffee

Are there two different kinds of people on earth? The ones who drink tea and the others who drink coffee? Does that fact actually divide whole continents?
Yes. Well, maybe I exaggerated a bit, but all in all, yes.

I bet everyone has already had a discussion on whether tea is better than coffee or the other way round. In order to inform myself and you, I did some research on both beverages and prepared a table for you with the most important and disparating factors.

	COFFEE	TEA
Origin	Legend has it that coffee was drunk for the first time in the 9th century in the Ethiopian highlands, Africa.	Tea, however, is much older. Its history dates back to 2737 BC, China.
Culture	Coffee culture can be fast paced and frantic. Just think of people waiting in lines at the drive-through talking into microphones and driving around buildings to pick up huge paper cups of the daily special.	Tea is a rather genteel beverage requiring preparation and time to sip. Tea drinkers are referred to as being calm, tranquil and balanced in general. Tea is said to be soothing.
Caffeine	A regular cup of coffee contains the double amount of caffeine found in a cup of black tea. Therefore, it's best not to drink more than one or two cups of coffee a day because of the high blood pressure and heart disease risk. Unless, of course, the coffee is decaffeinated.	There is caffeine in tea, especially in green and black tea. But: In comparison to coffee-caffeine, the one that occurrs in tea takes longer to enter the blood stream and therefore is gentler to our system. On the other hand, the effect is not that powerful.
Other important ingredients	Antioxidants: They are chemicals found in plants. In our body, they protect our healthy tissues from oxidants that try to damage our cells.	Nutrients that naturally occur in the plants the tea is made of Antioxidants Fluoride, which is good for your teeth Tea may contain pesticides. Tanin, which reduces the absorption of iron and can lead to anemia
Impact on our body	Tooth discoloration Studies have shown that drinking a reasonable amount of coffee prevents Type 2 Diabetes and reduces the risk of developing gout.	Drinking up to four cups of tea per day prevents cancer and heart diseases. Tea hydrates the body. Green and black tea can be used as an antidepressant. It is also proven that drinking tea can prevent Type 1 Diabetes.
Varieties	Coffee with a lot of beans Coffee with less beans Coffee with milk and sugar Coffee without milk but with sugar Coffee without sugar but with milk No, let's be serious: There are various types of beans that taste differently. Adding much cream and sugar, though, like coffee is sold at coffee shop chains, kills the healthy aspect.	Green Tea: made of the non-fermented leaves of the tea plant White Tea: the leaves are fermented for about quarter an hour Black Tea:the leaves are fermented for approximately two hours Oolong Tea (30 minutes fermentation), Herbal Tea, Fruit Tea and many more My favorite: Matcha! Matcha is a traditional japanese tea type, made of green tea powder and together with milk gives a delicious beverage.
Taste	Obviously a rather subjective question. For me, black coffee tastes bitter and is not drinkable without milk and sugar.	Tea's flavor isn't as strong and dominant as the one of coffee, but more watery. In the end you'll have to decide on your own about which beverage is the right one for you.

Sources: https://www.cbn.com/health/nutrition/reinke_coffeetea.aspx
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/healthy-breakfast-coffee-vs-tea.html
http://visual.ly/health-benefits-coffee-vs-tea 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coffee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea

Hello, I am Linda and I would like to stay at your house for a couple of days.

I guess almost everyone of you has already heard of couchsurfing. For those who have not: It is a social network which enables travellers to find a place to stay, people to meet, activities to join in and all that in every country of the world. No cultural borders, no mistrust or prejudices.

Anyway, the aim of this post is not to introduce you to the network from an informative and statistical point of view, but with my own experience.

I couchsurfed around New Zealand and Australia and want to share some stories and memories with you that I will never forget.

Trust

I arrived in Sydney but didn't tell my host the exact time or even the day. On the off-chance, I showed up at his place, he wasn't there, so I phoned him. He told me that he was still working but I could meet him at a certain corner in the inner city. I went there, talked to him for not even five minutes, he gave me the keys to his apartment and said: “Here you go. One last thing: Could you be at home at about five p.m. and open my door for me? I don't have a second key.”

Not a place where you would give a stranger your only key, is it?

Inspiration

Thinking about the range of people I met, there is one couple that fascinated me. A Luxembourger and his thirty years younger Chinese girlfriend. Not just the cultural combination took my interest, but also their stories, especially the one's of him. He is one of the few people who climbed every one of the seven summits, only failing on the third of four camps of Mount Everest. He rode his motorcycle along the Panamericana, crossed China on a bicycle, travelled on camels through the Taklamakan Desert, was in a Syrian prison for spying, skied to the South Pole, dog sled to the North Pole, walked from Luxembourg to Santiago, ran the Iron Man on Hawaii and so on. I think I could continue with this list for a long time and it won't get boring. His girlfriend escaped China and its strict regime and found a new home in New Zealand. Despite being passionate travellers, they are both pleasant people to talk to. I did one of the Great New Zealand Walks with them and while hiking, I learned much about life, travelling and taking risks.

Couchsurfing as medicine

J. is autistic, so she struggles to let people near her, even to talk to them in a proper way. That's why she started hosting. She isn't interested in travelling; for her letting all those people stay at her apartment means a new challenge every time someone arrives. For me, it was very interesting to communicate with her because she was straightforward, without being considerate towards me at all. She couldn't tell at any point of my stay at her house how I felt.

Crazy flats

The Marlborough Sounds - nothing left to say

You meet a lot of different characters on a journey, but the list of people I met who live in crazy flats is definitely my longest one. It is hard to decide which story may be better than another but I'll give it a try: We are in the North of the South Island of New Zealand, to be more precise, in Nelson. It is six in the morning, I am, as always, trying to find places. Eventually, I arrive at my host's house, ring the bell and an about forty-year-old man opens the door with only a towel around his hip. Great first impression... His name is Pete and he invites me to a spontaneous kajak trip in the Marlborough Sounds which are a beautiful group of islands in the Cook Strait. Of course I say yes to this unique offer and paddle around a breathtaking scenery for two days. We sleep in a hut that is located in one of the many bays and at midnight get our kajaks out on the sea again, paddling along with penguins, dolphins and all kind of fish. Every animal in the sea and the sea itself glow in the light of the full moon.
Back home again, Pete's flatmate throws a party. We join in and I get to learn some fire dancing skills.

Family feeling

At some point of a long journey, a girl needs a family and there are a few people that gave me the opportunity to rest for a few days. David, for instance, is a dairy farmer and priest who lives outside a small town called Wanganui. He didn't mind at all that I am not a religious person, introduced me to his family and friends, gave me his spare house to live in for as long as I wanted to stay.
I had a lot of fun playing cricket and sliding along the river on a water tub. His family even invited me to a family party. All in all, I felt welcome.

Bad experiences?
The most frequently asked question I get to hear is: "Didn't you experience something you would like to not have happened?" No. There are things that weren't pleasant at all but they are, in my opinion, important for a good journey. I once got off a bus in the middle of nowhere, which means on the West Coast of the South Island, in order to meet my host family who lived in a village that consisted of three houses. The family of five I was confronted with, was - well, let's say different. For instance: I don't want to know how often they take a shower but I simply couldn't because entering their shower would have resulted in coming out dirtier than before. I slept in the "living room" where I had a small path to my mattress on the floor, surrounded by trash.
I actually intended to stay there for three days but hitchhiked away after two because I haven't had an opportunity to buy food that doesn't need cooking and rarely ate dishes from their unwashed plates.

I could probably fill a book with people I met through couchsurfing but there has to be an end at some point. By the way, I started hosting as soon as I returned home. Maybe I'll write a post about all those restless travellers that slept/sleep/will sleep at my place. :)