Pancake Day

Today's the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, called Pancake Day in Britain.

In Ireland, Australia, and Canada, Shrove Tuesday is known as Pancake Tuesday, while in Britain it is popularly known as Pancake Day. In both regions the traditional pancake is a very thin one (like a French crêpe) which is served immediately sprinkled with castor sugar (superfine or powdered sugar in the United States) and a dash of fresh lemon juice or alternatively drizzled with Golden syrup.

Pancakes are eaten to use up milk and eggs, which are not eaten during Lent and would otherwise spoil during this period. Pancakes first appeared in English cookbooks in the 15th century. In Britain and Ireland in particular, a number of traditions have grown up around the eating of pancakes. Some people in Britain know the day only by the name "Pancake Day" and some are even unaware of the day's connection to Lent. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credits to Bex for reminding me!

In Austria, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is known as "Faschingsdienstag" - Carnival Tuesday. Traditionally on that day and on the Monday before (the "Rosenmontag" - Rose Monday) numerous carnival processions take place and in the evening people go to comedy performances or watch them on TV. Like in many other countries too, carnival is the traditional time for frolic, alcohol and self-indulgence.

Happy Birthday, dear Laura...

Last night we were celebrating the 22nd birthday of Laura from the Japan Society.
At around seven I went to her flat for the birthday party and when I stood in front of the small, slightly dodgy, backdoor-like entrance (without even a security guy to talk to) I didn't have a clue how the hell to open it. And even worse, I realised that I didn't have Laura's phone number to ring her up. So I wandered around like a burglar thinking just how I could get in there. Finally I decided to go back to the door and give it another try, when I saw the little display saying "Please enter room number". So I punched in the number and was put through to Laura's flat. That's how I got in then.
When I entered the room I was surprised to see that all the other party guests were girls. Had I mistakenly managed to make my way into an all-girls party? Highly unlikely.
Ah yeah, and there was this pink-clothes-theme to the party, hence the hat.
Well, I worried no longer and soon we were sitting round in a circle on the floor playing a drinking game. I enjoyed myself greatly and the punch was yummy.
The time went by and around ten we were setting out for the student union bar where I stayed another hour or so but then I felt so tired that I went home for some kip.
All in all a great evening!

Me with the birthday girl

In the middle of a drinking game

Happy birthday to you...

No mountains in Britain?

To have sufficient data to back my thoughts for this semester's Japan essay I read my way through this mountain of books this week. Yesterday I also checked several websites and today I typed up the first rough draft of the essay. 1200 words, that means I'll have to struggle to shorten it down again... But never mind, I'll manage somehow.
So the clichee that Britain has no mountains has been disproven, peeps...

Bernie is British!

Now that I have a regular job and income, my application for British citizenship has been approved at last. So, today I went to the Liverpool town hall where I was issued my UK NIC. Given the fact that I had only applied last Wednesday it was pretty quick... The passport will probably take longer though...
Well, Bernie is British now!

Kaiserschmarrn

Although being really quite busy today I took some time for cooking. I really like it, first making a list of ingredients you need, then going out for some shopping, then the preparation itself and afterwards relishing it...
The dish I cooked this time is Kaiserschmarrn, a traditional Austrian pancake dish which is scrambled pancake sprinkled with icing sugar and served with some compote. And, believe it or not, the first person to have ever eaten Kaiserschmarrn was the emperor of Austria...
See my website's (http://uk.geocities.com/global_bernie_e) Cooking - Recipes section for the recipe...

The hunt ends - status: room secured

On Monday I finally signed my tenancy agreement - and paid the 250 Pounds deposit.
The house hunt is over and I've got a place to live for the next year now - and maybe even with Japanese flatmates (as might be arranged for me). So from June on I'll have "St. Andrew's Gardens" in my address...

To work!

Although I woke up with a slight feeling of sickness and an urge to throw up this morning I still went to work. Once found, I won't this job slip again, especially not for a ridiculously little indigestion that occurs once every few months! After all, that's what medication is there for...
So, I took that drops and went to work where I was introduced to a new colleague who apparently had absolutely no idea of how to operate a computer and I was left to explain everything to him (since Mick is not really a computer person and Claire was busy). It was really a valuable chance of acting as a teacher and, above all, to test my patience. I don't know how come but he didn't even know that you carry out a double click by clicking the left mouse button twice...
So, although I got him to perform all the steps involved in the manufacturing process I don't think he'll be employed... which means that I'm going to be introduced to yet another new colleague next time - and maybe I can play teacher again! For me that's gathering valuable experience...

Before Liverpool became my town

When I looked through some photos on my computer today I came across this photo which I took two years ago. It shows a part of Linz, the city where I used to go to everyday for five years and which I consider, due to the impact it had on me, as my hometown. Easy to figure that I have many memories linked to that place. What you see here is the Danube, one of the most prominent features of the city. If you turned to the left from where the photographer stands, you'd see the university of Linz in the distance. More to the right you'd see the city centre and the school I attended for five years. And if you turned even further to the right you'd see the place where Miyuki lives, my friend and Japanese teacher in Austria. So many memories...

It all depends...

On the "Herro flom Japan" voiceblog I heard a quite interesting thought yesterday.
First you have to ask yourself the question "When you squeeze an orange, what comes out?"
Orange juice of course. No matter if you stomp it with your feet, smash it to the ground, squeeze it with your hands or whatever, it will always be orange juice. And in the case of a lemon naturally it will be lemon juice. What comes out is what has been inside before.
So when someone squeezes you and and you get angry, the anger that comes out is the anger that has been inside you. When someone squeezes you and you become sad, it's sadness you're carrying around.
So it is not the person that, for example, cuts out in front of you in traffic that makes you angry, you get angry because you're carrying anger around with you all the time. And you have a choice of getting angry or not. And the less often you get angry the less anger it will be that you're carrying around with you...
Could be really useful thinking about whenever one gets angry for whatever reason...

Question

There is one question I'd like to ask the readers of my blog:

"Do you find the new links useful?"

a) very useful
b) useful
c) not very useful
d) not useful at all
e) haven't tried it out yet but will do so
f) can't be bothered

Please give me your answers as comments. Thank you!

Messengers of spring

Yesterday, on my way to work, I took this photo of a tree blossoming in the middle of February. In Austria that would be unthinkable...
Also today was a really nice day, sunny and even quite warm, with a gentle breeze blowing and birds singing: messengers of spring.

Today I took some time to check a few links I had in my email inbox and to add them to my links section on the blog (you might have noticed that it has grown bigger). At the moment I'm addicted to the 'Herro Flom Japan' voiceblog about that guy's life in Japan. Really gives you interesting insights in Japanese culture and everyday life somtimes. Credits to Charlie who sent the link to JS.

Weekend is here. No plan whatsoever thus far. Maybe going to the pool for a little swim again. Busy anyway...

No

No photo. No entry tonight. No tourists in the Scream. No problem.

One of my fondest memories...

Although I had the inclination before already, today I decided on the topic I'm gonna do for the next Japan essay: the religion one. So I started with some basic reading in the Reischauer and came across a little paragraph about street shrine festivals which made me recall one of the best days in my life: 29th August 2004 when I participated in one of those festivals myself. Carrying that shrine together with about 30 Japanese was such an overwhelming feeling of belonging, integration and mutual acceptance! Nationality didn't matter on that day, we all were the same human beings, we all were drenched by the same rain, we all were carrying the same shrine, we all were drunk on the same sake and shochu and we all were happy...
It is one of my fondest memories ever!
I was really looking forward to go to Japan again after two years this summer but since I've got a job now that's not so certain anymore. Depends on whether I can get holidays...
But anyways, in 2007 I'll go to Japan, no matter what. And then for a whole year, plenty of time to immerse myself in the culture! Yeah!!

1/8 ～ one eighth ～ ein Achtel ～ ８分の１ ～ 八分之一

Yeah! In today's Japanese lecture J.C. told us that our transcripts are finally ready and that we can get them from our personal tutors. So of course I rushed to Sue Hill's room as fast as I could and got it. While handing it over to me she smiled and told me that 'I'm a star'. What exactly she wanted to convey to me or whether she was joking I don't know but I was simply happy.
So here it is, one eighth of my degree, and so far with more than satisfying results...
Sure, there's still octopuses, mountains of books and all kinds of other obstacles ahead but I shall march on like this and get my degree, first class! Yes!

The hunt is coming to an end

At lunchbreak today I went to St. Andrew's Gardens to request my tenancy agreement for next year. It should come through this or next week. When the caretaker who I gave my request form to looked at its 'special requests' section and saw my 'would like to live with Japanese if possible' he told me that it probably could be arranged. Wouldn't that just be cool?!
Anyway, I can hardly wait to get my tenancy agreement signed as it seems to be a really nice place!

14.2. St.Valentine's Day

Today's 14th February, St. Valentine's Day. While in Austria and Britain it's traditionally flowers to the ladies, in Japan it's chocolate to the boys...
Until not so long ago, Valentine's Day was completely unknown in Japan, only in the last century the Japanese chocolate industry got this brilliant idea to boost their sales. So, in a typical post-seclusion-Japanese-style way they took a Western idea and modified it to their needs, promoting the idea that women should give chocolate on the 14th to their beloved men in massive advertisement campaigns. And to make things perfect for them, they introduced the so-called "White Day" one month later on the 14th March, when the guys have to give chocolate to the ladies... clever, isn't it? Typically Japanese.
Anyway, happy Valentine, everyone!!

First day... バイト頑張った！

Today I had my first day at my new job, so I rode my bicycle down to the docks where the company is and found the building alright. As always I wanted to be punctual so I allowed for a lot of time to find the place and therefore I was hopelessly early. As always. But no problem, I just used the time for a little walk along the Mersey while repeating some Phonetics stuff. Then I walked into the office at 10:30 and my workday began. I got the hang of it soon and it's no problem at all - and the best thing is that the people there are really friendly and easy to talk to, the atmosphere is soo much better than in the office I used to work in before! And the hours fit into my university schedule quite well...
So I think that I'm pretty well off with it and I'm gonna give my best and work full energy!!

我叫麦本鹤。

Since I got my little self-learner Chinese course sent over from Austria and got it yesterday, today I started with lesson 1 which also deals with the task of introducing oneself. Unlike Japanese, Chinese has no syllabic characters with which one could transcribe one's own name, so foreigners need to choose a name in Chinese characters, usually a name that's as similar as possible to one's original name and follows the Chinese rule of one character for the surname and two for the name.
I chose a name today. It's 麦本鹤。

A night at the Scream

Yesterday Jamie came back to Liverpool for one day so in the evening we went to the Scream for some beverages. We also had a birthday to celebrate at the Japanese Society. So many members, so many birthdays...
Anyways, it was pints, talk and photos. A night at the Scream.

The hunt goes on

Today I made a couple of phone calls and had a look at two more interesting places: Unite's Larch House and St. Andrew's Gardens.
Both places are actually clean, are in no dodgy neighbourhood and not miles away from university. Though they are a bit expensive, compared to Cathedral Campus.

1) Larch House
Really nicely situated in the Unite Student Village directly next to JMU and the Catholic cathedral.
Clean rooms, 4 room apartments.
55 Pounds a week though no broadband internet connection is provided, so it's either not using the internet at all and going to the library for it - and paying 55 Pounds a week; or using it and seeing the bill adding up to around 65 Pounds a week and that with a slow connection. Not a very nice thought.

2) St. Andrew's Gardens
Situation not so ideal but still within 10 min. walking distance from university. Also some green around and rather quiet.
Clean rooms here too, 6 bed apartments
Around 60-61 Pounds per week but with the big advantage that broadband is provided in the rooms so therefore no ridiculously high internet bills.
All in all sounds like the better deal.

So I've got a week to decide now, that's the time the manacher (J.C. pronunciation) gave me. That one week he'll hold a room back for me. So it's time for thinking it over now...

Of populism and propaganda

This week I came across a jewel of film history. It's called 'Der Fuehrer's Face' and is a short film that was published in 1943 in the USA to show the people how poor life in Nazi Germany was and how glad everyone should be to be Americans. As a Disney production it features Donald Duck who dreams that he's living in Nazi Germany (which is called 'Nutzi Land' in the film) and has to work in an ammunition factory to make shells for his Fuehrer. And whenever a picture of him comes along on the assembly line he has to salute. Again and again. Until he goes mad. Wakes up in his bed in the USA. Hugs his little figurine of the Statue of Liberty and ends the film with the line "I'm glad to be a citizen of the United States of America!"
It is just grotesque what image is given of that 'Nutzi Land' where even the trees are swastika-shaped and the roosters greet the new morning with a loud and disciplined 'Heil!'
I wet myself when I saw it for the first time...

This is what Wikipedia's got to say about it:
Several of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films, most notably Der Fuehrer's Face, released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land" (Nazi Germany). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Fuehrer (Adolf Hitler). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey till he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare. At the end of the short Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1943 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

And here the masterpiece itself:

House hunting

Now that LSH has published the housing adverts for the academic year 2006/07, the time for house hunting has come. Today I had a look at two houses in Kensington, the houses themselves weren't bad and the rent okay but there are some really annoying points: Most landlords only welcome groups of 3 when they've got a property for 3 (shifting the task of finding flatmates on the tenants), mostly utility bills are not included and it seems like in none of those rooms internet access is provided, which would be the biggest problem for me.
So I came to realise, what good deal I actually have with Cathedral Campus and what a pity it is that it closes down next year.
It's so hard to find acceptable properties for less than 55 quid a week and it's soo tiring...
Okay, I'm going to repeat Chinese now to cheer me up...

One finds the most interesting things...

This evening I was using Google to track my internet movements from the past and on one of the forums I had been using most frequently I found this: A picture of me on a ski trip in fourth grade of upper secondary school, one year before finishing. Must have been around 2002. Wasn't I well chubby? ^^

A fellow Austrian

Today I saw an Austrian in Liverpool. Not actually, physically, but on the huge television screen on Clayton Square in front of Tesco. The bloke's called Rainer Schoenfelder and is a professional skier. And like so many Austrians he's good.
First they had downhill skiing and then I watched some slalom - seeing lads dashing down the slope, it was so reminiscent of the old days...
And in April I shall finally ski myself again - in another league though^^

Subs forever!

Today I watched a Jackie Chan movie. In Chinese. I wouldn't have understood a word through the whole thing if there hadn't been those nice Japanese subtitles... lol
Having to rely solely on Japanese subs to understand dialogues in a film was an absolute first for me but actually it worked quite well... at least to get pretty much of an idea what's going on...
No wonder that I got an overall of 96% in Japanese in the first semester... *brag* ^^

新年好！

So yesterday I had another two hours of Chinese and it was really good again: this time we learned how to count from one to 100. It's quite confusing to have so many new numbers at one time but fortunately it's pretty similar to the Japanese counting system (like 31 is made up by 'three', 'ten' and 'one', 三十一). We also learned how to say 'Happy new year!', it's 新年好 (xin nian hao)！I can also tell people my birthday now: 我的生日是十二月三号 (wo de sheng ri shi shi er yue san hao). It's really hard to say tho...
Man, I love Chinese! 汉语是很好！

盆踊り (Bon-odori)

I had a good evening in Japan on the 27th August 2004.
I danced traditional Japanese dances, met new friends and went to a Japanese-style bar.

And the next day I met a couple of penfriends in Chiba and saw the sea again after a long time...

7th entry - 28th August 2004