It's all very 90's

Remember the game "Never have I ever?"
I have a brilliant one...
"Never have I ever drank red wine while playing cards with a group of German people in a room next to a 90's eurodance disco, all inside a church after a day of studying feminism in the form of Riot Grrrls!"
*DRINK*

Yes, these last few days have been fantastic and so incredibly random!

From Monday until Wednesday (today), I went with a group of people from my "Pop Culture of the 1990's" class to a three-day workshop in Meinerzhagen. We were mixed with lots of other students and professors from other Universities in order to learn more about the subject than we normally would with just our own professor. 

We stayed in a Church but it was really strange because it was also a hotel! I shared a room with Conny but all of us were on the same floor, in neighbouring rooms. The first day was more or less an introduction, so we were sat listening to presentations and finding out about the next couple of days. In the evening, there was a film showing but we all decided to sit in a little common room, Conny would play guitar and sing and we would all sing along with her to the best of our abilities. We were there for something like three hours, all choosing favourite songs and singing and laughing. It was such good fun! 

The next day was pretty intense. I spent the whole day learning about 90's feminism in the form of the punk movement Riot Grrrls. As I was born in the 90's, for me that decade is dominated by the Spice Girls and I'm a massive fan and I don't care who knows it! However, for more cultured people, the Riot Grrrls provided a political alternative of Girl Power and although my brain was completely fried in feminist juices, I really enjoyed the day. That evening, we sat in the food hall playing cards, drinking wine and just generally having a good time. The techno/eurodance music got too loud so we decided to go and sit down in the corridor by our rooms and listen to Conny on guitar again. We played some amazing songs; Super Trooper complete with *sup-pa-pa troo-pa-pa*, Hallelujah and 500 Miles! Amazing times!

Our final day went quite quickly; we were all too tired and our brains were fried so we didn't really take in much but we had our last lunch together before all making our own way home. 

Me and Conny stopped for McDonalds on the way home so I finally got my McNugget fix. Just in case anyone was interested ;) 

So now I have an idea for my essay! I just have to write it! 
Such a good couple of days - YES to making YA Kassel memories! Finally :D

Happy Days!

For anyone who reads all of my blog posts, I'm sorry you spend your time this way! One minute I'm complaining about everything and anything and the next I'm having such a good time! It must really hurt your head listening to me...

This post is a happy one :)

A friend from Cardiff Uni messaged me a few days ago and suggested we run the Race for Life in Swansea on July 21st in honour of our Italian Professor, Giuseppe Vatalaro. Of course, I jumped at the chance and this is now happening! If you haven't already, please please please sponsor us. It would make us both so happy and it really does mean a lot!
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/beckyandtassia2013

Also, after waiting 10 days for my parcel, my Converse, Viva Forever shirt and face creams finally arrived in the post and I haven't yet taken my Converse off my feet. I can't wait to be wandering around Venice and Parma in the summer with them :D Yeaaahhh! 

I'm actually really enjoying how I'm spending my time here in Kassel. I have completed my first draft of my Year Abroad Essay and in between blogging and cooking mashed potato, I'm going through and checking it. That will be one less thing on my mind! I'm on the ball with translation and I just have to work out what the hell I'm going to do for my Pop Culture course? Help! But I'm spending almost every waking moment (and many sleepovers!) with Conny. I haven't got a picture but I actually have a cup with my name on and my own toothbrush in her bathroom. Moving in or what? ;) We're reading Der Kleine Prinz together and I'm being educated in film and music by her and her house mates! So far, I've watched Love Actually (yes, despite the fact it's on ITV every Christmas, I hadn't seen it!) How to train your dragon (Epic!) Stardust (Also epic) Eat Pray Love (Brilliant) and Spring Breakers ;) Okay that last one is a joke and was a mistake but was REALLY funny to watch and take the piss out of in the cinema! 

And on top of all of this, I am constantly reminded how amazing my boyfriend is. If you have no interest in this part of my life, then I suggest you skip this paragraph. However, me and Joel had a lovely conversation today and he came out with something that brought a happy tear to my eye 

"I can’t even think about my life after we break up, because that life doesn't exist. There's an infinite universe theory which proves that there exists an infinite number of universes that each have their own version of the current universe that we live in, each displaying a different story where different outcomes occur for each moment in life. This means in every universe our relationship will have started in a different way, or hair colour could be different, we could have won that award we came second in. But in every single one of those universes, we exist and we are together, there isn’t one where we aren't together because we were destiny. Get me?"

How brilliant is that? I'm so excited to get back to Britain and start sorting my life out with him. Can our forever start now please? :D 

So to recap, everything with me is pretty dandy!

With regards to my last post, I shall still be doing my PGCE and I will be the best Italian teacher there ever was! Well, second best, nobody can compare to Dr. Vatalaro and it would be stupid for anyone to try. PLEASE DONATE!

Also, it's 70 days until I leave for Venice. And counting. Bring. It. On!

What is my life?

So the last week has been a bit of a rollercoaster. I knew my German was rubbish, in fact a lot worse than it should be considering I've been learning it for 12 years, but this notion was confirmed during a horrible, horrible seminar which I have since left. 

My dream was to teach German but I can't even learn it correctly so I don't have a hope in hell of teaching it. 
My new dream was to teach Italian, but I've trawled through website after website after website after website...

                                                      You searched for "Italian Jobs" in South Wales

                                                                     0 results found
                                  Related searches: Teach French or Spanish or Punjabi 
                                              or Urdu or Polish or Romanian or Mandarin or Chinese
                                             or just give up on the whole damn thing because you don't 
                                                                      stand a chance really.

So clearly, nobody wants Italian teachers and the only other jobs on these websites are for waitresses in an Italian restaurant. 

I think it's time for me to look for a new dream. More importantly, I need to look for a new career. 
So now, there shall be no more PGCE. I shall complete my degree, teach Italian in adults classes or something just so I can do something I love, and I shall start looking for any other job in Cardiff that will have me...

Big issue anyone?

A Perfect Weekend!

I went home on Thursday; it was a really long day. I left Kassel at 5.30am and got back into my bed in Cardiff at 2.30am on Friday morning! But a lot happened between those hours, and it was all magical! 

I travelled across Germany, flew to London to pick up my sister and to spend the day with her in the capital! We went for lunch in an Italian restaurant and despite the fact the staff weren't very friendly, we had a nice chat and some yummy food! We checked out the prices and then decided we'd have a go on the London Eye. The weather was amazing, the queue didn't take long and the view was totally worth it! We even got the souvenir picture printed and we were really the only ones enthusiastic about it - oh well! 

We managed to squeeze in some touristy stuff too; Buckingham Palace and the gardens around it for example! Our pictures were good and we had a laugh and a chat wandering around. Before the show, we went for some food and a coffee to get us through! The show was incredible! Me and my sister were up singing and dancing along with the rest of the audience and we weren't the only ones who knew the dance moves either! We talked each other into buying a Viva Forever T-shirt and we're glad we did now; the show is closing in June :( Anyone who likes/loves Spice Girls, I demand you go and see it before it closes in June!
All in all, it was a perfect day and it was magical to get to spend some quality time with my sister. 

The next few days, I spent with Joely. Every day was just perfect and I can't think of anyway that it could've been better! Maybe if I didn't have to leave...

The whole weekend, we spent having picnics in various parks basically! On Saturday, May 4th, we went to Bute Park. Exactly 4 years ago, in that exact spot, amongst all the drama, is where we got together. So we played music, took pictures, ate picnic food, played games, laughed, smiled and kissed and it was wonderful. 

When our time was up on the car park, we decided to go home and walk the Taff Trail to Asda to get an ice cream :) We sat down by the weir on the rocks and took some more pictures! 3 years ago, we sat down there for Joels birthday I think, and he wrote JA 4 TA on a rock and it took us ages to work out that it was wrong! Who's TA I wonder? ;) We skimmed stones, well Joel did - I just threw them, and listened to the sound of the river for a bit. 

Eventually, we went home and got ready to go down the bay to our favourite steakhouse. We ordered Chateaubriand to share and it was DELICIOUS. There is no better steak <3 We'd intended to then walk along the bay but we were both unable to move and it had started to get cold so instead, we went home and watched rubbish TV with his parents. It was nice to see them too.

On Sunday, we decided to go and spend the day in Cefn Onn Park. Joel's mum kept telling us about this beautiful place where they used to go when they were 'courting'. The park was stunning, full of lush green fields and stunning flowers. The day was perfect; yet another picnic went down nicely. We played music and generally messed around. We took it in turns doing handstands and cartwheels and you know it's bad when your boyfriend is better at them than you are! I ended up getting sunburnt after taking the piss out of Joel for getting burnt the day before! Karma eh? Once all the food was gone and we'd been all cartwheeled out, we got an ice cream and headed home. 

We had the house to ourselves for the night which was wonderful. We relaxed, watched Lilo & Stitch, ate nuggets and chips and then watched Ice Age 4 until it was time for bed. 

                         

 

 

 It truly was a perfect weekend! 

I was really sad to leave on Monday morning but I travelled down to London where Aimz met me at Paddington. We went for a picnic in Hyde Park which consisted of coffee and cookies; perfect! Sitting in the sun, we sat and truly put the world to rights. As always, I was crying with laughter within minutes and it was a wonderful feeling. I think on that day Aim came out with one of her best lines to date. We were talking about the fact that my student halls are essentially a brothel and how I can hear all the Germans shouting 'Ja' and such, Aimz said something along the lines of "I can't imagine using words or sentences. Yes! Pleasant!" hahaha! Such a legend that girl <3 

She took me to Heathrow and we bid farewell until she comes out here to see me in July. We shall then be going home together and packing for Venice! It all seems so close yet so far away! I can't wait for the summer holidays <3 

For now, we have exams, stress, reading, essays, stress, two hour lectures and stress.
& Conny - my saviour! Sherlock, Disney, Peppermint Tea, Pop Culture trip, cinema trips, coffee afternoons, musical education and learning German! <3