...and a happy new year!

How was Christmas for everybody? Did you all get amazing presents? I got a new camera - Sony Cybershot DSC WX500 - as well as tickets to Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, to Disney in concert and some books.

My boyfriend Marc and I at "The Nutcracker"

I flew home from Spain to spend Christmas with my family. At the moment I am in Munich with my boyfriend, who is currently living and working there, where we will also spend New Year's Eve. We will spend the night at "The Big Easy", a New Orleans style restaurant. I am not really into going out and partying for New Year's. I personally prefer a relaxed night at home, having a good dinner, watching the famous German "Dinner for one" and of course the fireworks at midnight. And happily starting a new year. In which everything will be better, I will be putting more effort into studying, I will do more sports and of course eat healthier. Sounds familiar to you? Well, then let's have a look at how to plan.

Step 1:

Buy a pretty little notebook, this year you're going to have a kind of diary. You don't have to write in it on a daily basis and you don't have to put down all your feelings, thoughts, crushes, etc. Which of course, feel free, if you want to. This book is rather a mixture between a diary and a calendar. You're going to make lists of achievements, disappointments, plans, and so on. At the end of this year, you will either have achieved what you wanted (or at least taken a step in the right direction) or be disappointed with yourself, in which case you can take a look at the notebook and check what went wrong. Also, it can be nice to look at all those memories and photos.

 

                      

 

This is the one I made for this year (2015)

Step 2:

Start with a New Year's Resolution List. What do you want to achieve in 2016? What kind of person do you want to become? What are you dreaming of? This can be a really rough list. This is mine:

·         Finish my Bachelor

·         Get a job or internship

·         Move house

·         Live healthy

As I said, it's really rough and short.

Step 3: 

For every single month make a more detailed list. A realistic one, that you actually have a chance to achieve. Again, have a look at mine for January 2016:

·         Be prepared for all exams

·         Do sit-ups and yoga every day

·         Go swimming three times a week

·         Eat salad + vegetables + a piece of fruit every single day

·         Start searching for jobs after my Bachelor

Step 4: 

At the end of each month you tick the ones you achieved and copy the remaining ones onto the next month's list. In between you can write down if you're really proud or happy about achievements, describe your disappointments, analyse what went wrong or reminisce.

Are you ready for the new year? What are your resolutions? I will be spending the next couple of days in Munich, because, you know, I'm a tourist. On the 23rd I flew from Jerez de la Frontera via Palma de Mallorca to Cologne, to spend Christmas with my family. Then my boyfriend and I drove all day down to Munich, Bavaria. And next week I will be flying from Munich via Madrid back to Jerez de la Frontera. I don't know, travelling just feels normal for me. It's the wanderlust. I've been a tourist all my life. Germany just wasn't enough for me. That's why I moved to England. And I will tell you all about it in my next entry.

See you next year ;)
Jen

Christmas in Germany

Hellooo :)

So, since we're getting really close to Christmas, let's talk a bit about it. As I already told you, I'm a fanatic. I start listening to Christmas songs before Halloween and kind of annoy everybody with it. But don't you just love Christmas, carols, decorations, basically everything about it? My all-time favourite is the Disney Christmas sing-along. Or as I should say, one of them. They have several ones, and this particular one I've been listening on tape (yees, it's that old) since I was a little kid. I just googled it, it's from August 1995. Does anybody else find it strange that they publish a Christmas sing-along in August? Or maybe that just supports the early Christmas fanatics like me. It has a bunch of songs sung by Mickey and his friends. My favourite one is The twelve days of Christmas. Even more annoying for everybody around me, as it is a veeery long song. Apart from this tape I love Carol of the bells, All I want for Christmas and Rockin' around the Christmas tree (Obviously the Winnie the Pooh version!).  As I told you all about my city last time, I thought I'll give you a brief overview about Christmas and Winter in Germany.

 

Check out this short slideshow about Christmas in Germany

Germany is famous for its Christmas markets and Glühwein. And not just for tourists. We all love them. Usually one month before Christmas, on the 24th of November, the Christmas markets open. Most people go there in the afternoon or evening when it's already dark. You can have typical German snacks for dinner, buy the cutest mostly handmade gifts and decorations, listen to carols and drink Glühwein, Kinderpunsch (the non-alcoholic version for kids), hot spiced apple juice, hot chocolate, Lumumba (chocolate with rum) and eggnog. Most of them also have a nativity set and some even have an ice rink. It's typical that you visit all the different markets in your city or area, that you go once with your friends, family, work colleagues, etc.

So, how do I celebrate Christmas and prepare?
In November my Mum or Dad and I usually prepare the Advent wreath, because we prefer it to be homemade. My mum also prepares an Advent calendar with sweets or little gifts. In December we then decorate the house and visit the Christmas markets. We also start discussing what to have for Christmas dinner. In Germany we don't have a traditional dish, so we just like to find something that makes everybody happy. And you wouldn't believe how difficult that is. Scrolling through several cookbooks there's usually just one menu we can all agree on. In the night before the 6th of December we put a boot or bag outside our door for Nikolaus (St Nicholas) to fill it with sweets and little gifts. And then comes the 24th of December, the day we celebrate Christmas in Germany. I usually spend all day on the sofa watching movies such as Home Alone, Rudolph or We're No Angels, while my parents prepare everything. At around 5pm we start by playing some carols on our instruments. It's typical to play music or read poems and go to church at this time. We then unpack our presents and have the family dinner. Only close family, like me and my parents. On Christmas Day we will then meet the whole big family. And since my parents are divorced I usually have a third or even fourth Christmas celebration on Boxing Day. I really, really love Christmas and all about it, but I think it's also the most exhausting three days of the year.
What else is different in Germany? I for example never believed in Santa Claus. In Germany it is (or was, now we're becoming more Americanised) traditional to believe that Christ Child / Baby Jesus brings the presents. In Germany we don't have Christmas carollers, but on the 6th of January, children dressed up as the Three Wise Men will come to our houses, sing, renew the blessing on our doors and receive money for charity.

How do you celebrate Christmas? What do you love most about the season?
Tell me all about it!!

Merry Christmas to all of you,

Jen

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 22.12.2015

Cologne

Hey guys,

this time I'll tell you more about my city. But first you must understand, that I absolutely love my city. For obvious reasons Germans can't really be proud of their country, but in Cologne, there's something called local patriotism. If you're from Cologne, you're in love with it. And there is soo much to love about it.

It is a beautiful city with a bit more than one million inhabitants, famous for its Cathedral. What else is there to visit? There's the river Rhine, many parks, forests and recreation areas, a very interesting Roman history, many Romanesque churches and the chocolate museum.

Nearby we have the low mountain regions "Bergisches Land" and "Eifel" which are really nice for nature excursions.

Cologne has 86 districts, which are further divided into "Veedel". Us people from Cologne, often identify with those like you usually do in small villages. I am from Sürth, which remained its atmosphere of a village in the countryside, although part of this big city.

Here you can see Cologne's coat of arms.

We are also famous for our beer. I know, the first thing most people think of when they hear Germany is beer. But it's not just beer. You have different kinds of beer in Bavaria, northern Germany and so on. And ours, Kölsch, is brewed in maaaany many different breweries. The biggest just 5 minutes from my house. Cologne has its own dialect, called Kölsch as well,  which is used especially during Karneval (carnival). It's what we call the 5th season of the year. We celebrate it, we love it, we live it. Unlike in most parts of the world, we don't just celebrate it the week before Ash Wednesday, but already start on November 11th, at 11:11 o'clock. We celebrate, sing, drink Kölsch and everybody dresses up. There are the typical costumes in red and white representing Cologne, clowns and any other costume you can imagine. So here are some pictures of my costumes:

Flower girl Karneval 2013

  In a traditional Bavarian dress "Dirndl" Karneval 2014

 Ladybird Karneval 2015

 

Okay, I hope you enjoyed my little summary of Cologne and can't wait to visit and celebrate ;)

Now, as promised my favourite books:

Standalones

1. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
2. Sister by Rosamund Lupton
3. House Rules by Jodi Picoult 
4. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
5. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Series

1.  Jette Thriller by Monika Feth (German series)
2. Grant County series by Karin Slaughter
3. Detective D.D. Warren series by Lisa Gardner

At the moment I am reading The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult and really enjoying it. I love how she always covers very difficult topics. In general there's two types of books I enjoy reading. (Psycho) Thrillers and novels about really serious, maybe even depressing topics, like those of Jodi Picoult or Morton Rhue. I also already picked out my next read. It's going to be The Art of War by SunTzu. I'm really curious how that's going to be. If you'd like me to go into detail for any of those or give you my opinion about a book you really enjoy, please tell me. What's your favourite book?
But now excuse me, I have to get back to bed and finish my book.

See you next time!!

Jen

P.S. Starting on January 1^st I will write down every single book I have read. So at the end of next year I can tell you exactly what I read. I think this will be really interesting, even for myself. I mean, I don't have a clue what I read at the beginning of this year.

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15.12.2015