Dubai

Hello!

So last week I promised you to tell you about my study trip to Dubai. It was organised by our university and we got a special deal with Emirates. We stayed right next to the Mall of the Emirates with its big indoor ski resort "Ski Dubai", where they have real penguins. We went to a mosque, where we had to take off our shoes and as a girl wear a headscarf. A female university student as representative from the cultural centre explained a lot about the Muslim and Arab culture, about the history of the emirates and some very interesting and surprising facts about the hijab and burqa. This leaves no room for any prejudices or false statements about the Muslim and Arab world, about Dubai being old-fashioned and oppressive against women. On the contrary there are compartments reserved for women on the tram and taxis driven by women for women in order to offer more security and comfort, just like those more illuminated parking lots we know in Europe. We also went to have a traditional Arab dinner at the cultural centre and got a tour through the historic city centre. Specially organised for us were lectures by the chamber of foreign trade, the Bank of Sharja, and Emirates itself. We had a guided tour and presentation of the Ingram Micro Warehouse and an info session of the American University in Dubai. So we learned a lot during this trip and got to understand life in Dubai. Of course we also did some fun, touristy things, like visiting the Burj Khalifa and a tour through the desert. In jeeps we had a really adventurous fun ride through the dunes of the desert, saw a falcon show and belly dancing, went camel riding and had an amazing nomad barbecue in the desert. Just five days, but so many great experiences!

 

 This is what the first class in the new Emirates A380 looks like

 On top of the Burj Khalifa from where we could see Palm Jumeirah (the island)

 Camel riding in the desert (where it gets really cold as soon as the sun disappears)

 Watching the falcon show (sunny and warm 1h earlier)

And of course we also had to go on a little shopping spree

Next to the glass window of Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates

If you have any questions or want to share your Dubai / Emirates / Arabian Peninsula experiences, please feel free.

Now, let's talk about Disney!
I am an absolute Disney fan. I love the movies, the soundtracks, the characters and the toys. As I already mentioned in my post about Christmas, every year I listen to the Disney Christmas songs. Combining those two things I love is just perfect. And from last week you know my favourite movie of all time is Mulan. I know both the German and the English version by heart. Let's have a look at my favourite Disney movies:

1.    Mulan

2.    Frozen (And I have to say, although I always prefer movies in their original version, i.e. English most of the times, the German version is so much better! Hape Kerkeling as Olaf has done such a great job, it's actually the only reason why this is so high up my list!)

3.    The Little Mermaid

4.    Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas

5.    Tarzan

I also love all of their soundtracks. As I told you, for Christmas I got tickets to Disney in concert and it was wonderful! They have a live orchestra and singers. If you are thinking about seeing it, I really recommend it, it is so worth it! This year there is also going to be a Disney on ice which I would just adore to see, but since I have no clue what I'll be doing after summer and where I'll be living, there is absolutely no chance I would buy the tickets right now. But I want to go so badly!!! The Disney soundtracks are great! Especially Phil Collins, who is not only singing the English version, but also German and Spanish and probably more. But it's not just the movies and their soundtracks I adore. I love everything about Disney. I have been to Disneyland Paris twice and once to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, where I stayed at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. An amazing experience. I don't have the words to describe how great it was. Epcot is the most amazing theme park in the world. It is so fascinating how they "copy" cities or countries of the world. Morocco, Venice, Norway... I liked Mexico the most. In fact on one particular ride my Mum and I just stayed for three or four times without getting up. The parks, the Disney stores and all their products are amazing. Did you know they also design beautiful wedding dresses? They really ensure that when the day comes you're gonna be a princess and live happily ever after.
Now let me tell you my favourite Disney characters:

1.    Eeyore (I have one small and one really big soft toy Eeyore and one beautiful Winter themed mug)

2.    Olaf (Again, due to Hape Kerkeling's voice. But I mean, he's cute as hell)

3.    Winnie the Pooh

4.    Tinkerbell

5.    Piglet, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl (I just love the whole Winnie the Pooh family)

 

Are you as much in love with Disney as I am? Who do you love the most? Actually, there is one character I love so much more, but he's not from Disney. It's Babar. Another time I will tell you more about Babar and my obsession with elephants. But that's it for now.

Love you

Jen

Home sweet home

It really feels great to be back home! As much as I love to travel and explore the world, as much as I can't stand to live in the same place too long, it is just so great to come home to your family! I spent some really nice time with my family, cooking together, playing board games, enjoying a walk outside and going to the restaurant. Unfortunately I was sick so I couldn't celebrate Karneval at all, but I enjoyed catching up with my family and now it is time to get back to the routine and start university in Germany again.
But back to Life as a "tourist". We already covered me moving to England and the experiences I made at Boarding. This time I want to tell you about my next step of becoming a "tourist" and my favourite movies.

In June 2012 I finished school and with this had to make further decisions. So first of all I moved back to Germany. That wasn't really a decision, at least not a conscious one, because for some reason I never seriously considered going to university somewhere else. Since I moved to England being only 16 years old, I thought this was a little bit too young to leave my home forever. So I moved back home to my Mum and stepdad and went to a business school in Cologne. Where I chose to study International Tourism Management. In English. I don't know, I'm just really attracted to everything that's presenting this international, touristy, multilingual, cultural, making new experiences atmosphere. I think the word that describes it the most is wanderlust. Basically the English language uses German words to have an English expression for the German word "Fernweh" which is the opposite of being homesick. Walt Disney once said: "I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment."* I feel like this describes me pretty well. I love travelling, getting to know new places, cultures, cuisines. I love learning languages. So far I speak German, obviously, English, Spanish, French at an intermediate level, and I started Russian and really want to get back to it as soon as I find the time. So I really understand this wanderlust. But, as Jodi Picoult points out in her novel Mercy: "Travelling is all very well and good as long as you knew there was a place or person you can call home."*
But back to the topic. I obviously learned a lot about tourism, but I also made some practical experiences. Last year in January my friend Patty and I - actually let me tell you a funny fact first: On the very first day at my university I overheard this girl talking about her Boarding School experiences in England. So I entered the conversation and it sounded a bit like this:

Where?

In the North West.

 Cool, where?

In the Lake District.

 What was the school called?

Uhm why do you ask so many questions? You're not gonna know it anyway. Dallam School. Aaaah, me too!!

And that's how our friendship began. Where was I? Oh yes, one year ago we went on a study trip to Dubai that our uni had organised. It was sooo interesting! I will tell you more about this little trip next time, but here's a first impression.

 

At my uni our little course didn't always get taken very serious compared to all those International Business students with their career promising specialisations in finance or trade, so we often got nicknamed "the tourists". But who cares? I quite like to identify myself as a tourist. I made so many experiences travelling around the world. Exploring Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia as an 18 year old girl, trekking through Cuba, going on a safari in Kenya... This summer I will actually make a completely new experience! My boyfriend and I are going on a cloister retreat. We will spend three weeks in an ashram in Nepal, taking part in the meditation and yoga sessions, finding our inner balance. Doesn't that sound exciting?! I am really excited!!! And don't worry, of course I will tell you all about it when the time comes.

 

Let's have a look at my favourite movies. Apart from my absolute favourite movie, it is really hard to pick for me. There are so many movies I really love. Some I have watched a million times, some I purposely only watched two or three times so that they wouldn't become boring. So really hard to say. But let's see.

Movies

1.    Mulan clearly

2.    Dirty Dancing I went through a phase in which I watched it weekly, although I don't know if I still love it

3.    Remember me I love it so much that I only watched it a couple of times

4.    Bridget Jones's Diary

5.    Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Series

1.    Türkisch für Anfänger (It's a German series and only got translated into a couple of languages, for example in Italian it's called Kebab for breakfast. I actually watched the complete series FOURTEEN times. I know every joke and laugh about them before they're even told.)

2.    Grey's Anatomy

3.    Gossip Girl

4.    Desperate Housewives

5.    Doctor's Diary (Another German series)

I probably forgot half of the films I really like. It's just so hard to pick. What are your favourite movies? At home I have a big collection of movies starring Johnny Depp. I really like those. Generally I have a lot of DVDs. I don't really like watching movies online. I prefer to own them. I like really serious and maybe even sad or depressing movies. Like I already mentioned in the post about my favourite books. But I also love thrillers, rom-coms (I think the ones with Jennifer Aniston or Hugh Grant are the best) and those 90ies - 2000s teenage love stories. So you can see, I either like it very deep and heavy, or really trashy. I absolutely do not like anything really unrealistic, so I don't like fantasy, science fiction or comedy. But wait, there's one genre I didn't mention. Of course I adore Disney movies. I could even make a list of my most favourite Disney movies. Let's talk a bit more about Disney next time.

I'll see you then. Bye bye.

Jen

* I got those from the Disney Interns' facebook page and Jodi Picoult's facebook page.

Karneval

Alaaf everybody! Today at 11:11 AM Central European Time is the beginning of Karneval. Carnival is celebrated all around the world, always during the week before Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent. In Germany it is typical to start exactly seven days earlier, on the Thursday called "Weiberfastnacht" or "Altweiber". On this special day women are allowed to cut off men's ties to end the boring and serious work days and start the joyful celebrations. In my city, Cologne, the number 11 is very important and that is why we start the celebrations at 11:11 AM. Apart from the million different costumes there are, in Cologne it is also typical to wear red and white stripes, the colours of our city. So we all get up early in the morning, dress up, start singing and meet up on the streets. The biggest celebration with an open air stage and live music from the local bands (FOR FREE, it's Karneval!!!) takes place at Haymarket. Because we have thousands of tourists visiting Cologne especially during this week and because we're all outside celebrating, it can get very crowded. To prevent accidents there are police controls at every entrance of the square to check you don't take anything made from glass. Glass is prohibited during those days. Everything, drinks, cups, etc has to be plastic. And don't worry. Cologne is prepared, everything that is usually sold in glass bottles will have a plastic alternative just for those days. So we have to meet up really early to actually see something and to be ready at 11:11 AM. Afterwards, when it's officially Karneval you can either celebrate on the streets all day or go to one of the million bars. During this week, every single bar, restaurant, bakery, cafe,..... takes out all tables and chairs to make space for the people. There is music and beer everywhere and all we do is celebrate and sing! Thursday we spend all day from morning till morning celebrating, but the other days, Friday till Tuesday are a bit less excessive. Every single day during the day, usually at some point between 10 AM and 4 PM, there are parades in certain districts. Those parade floats aren't just pretty and decorated like in any other parade. The people on top, the people walking, all are throwing sweets for us to collect. And in between the different floats are marching bands. Basically the whole point of Karneval is that everybody is happy! After those parades we get ready to go out and celebrate some more. So in contrast to the early Thursday we start to party those days in the afternoon. On Monday, instead of those small district parades we have one massive parade through the city that lasts all day. And afterwards we obviously go celebrate some more. During the last night, Tuesday night, we burn the "Nubbel", a dressed straw doll that represents the scapegoat. This tradition symbolises the end of the joyful time and the following day, Ash Wednesday is the begin of Lent.

I am afraid you can watch this video anywhere in the world you want, just not in Germany due to difficulties with the GEMA. I hope you understand. I guess if you're German you know enough about Karneval / Fasching, so it doesn't really bother you. I am sorry for the inconvenience...

Now you got a little insight into the world of Karneval. In the video you could see, we don't just celebrate it during the week before Ash Wednesday, but also on November 11^th. This week 40 days before Easter is the Karneval week, but in Cologne we have a whole Karneval season, starting exactly on November 11^th at 11:11 AM. That specific day we celebrate in the streets and pubs like during the actual Karneval week. And in between those two events the different clubs and marching bands and dancing groups prepare, the new songs are published and presented, and there are Karneval shows on stage, like in a theatre or stand-up comedy. In the video you also saw that we have to wait outside to get in. In the really popular pubs you have to wait around two to four hours to get in. So while half of the group waits in line, the other half organises beer and the typical food such as Bratwurst, "Mettbrötchen", etc. It might seem really weird to somebody who has never experienced it, but Karneval is so much fun, it is just worth it!
 

So if you plan to visit Cologne and Karneval, there are a few words you need to learn before:

Kölsch                       Deutsch                                            English

Alaaf!                         Karnevalsgruß                                Salutation and
                                                                                          expression of joy
                                                                                          during Karneval

Kölle                          Köln                                                 Cologne

Kölsch                       Bier und Dialekt                               Beer and dialect
                                                                                          from Cologne

Kamelle                     Süßigkeiten                                     Sweets
                                  (Ruf während des Umzugs)            (During the

                                                                                          parade)

Strüssjer                    Blumensträuße                               Bouquets of

                                                                                         flowers
                                  (Ruf während des Umzugs)            (During the

                                                                                          parade)

Bütze                         Küssen                                            To kiss

During Karneval we give a lot of kisses (mostly on the cheek). Many women as part of their costume and make up have the phrase "Bütz mich" (Kiss me) on their cheek, and typically when you receive a bouquet of flowers during the parade you exchange kisses on the cheek.

So I hope Karneval is a bit clearer to you now and you really want to visit Cologne. As you might have noticed, after Christmas this is my second most favourite time of the year. Which is why I am incredibly happy that tomorrow it's time for my last exam. On Saturday I am flying back home and join the Karneval celebrations!

Alaaaaf!!!

Jen