ERASMUS TIMES: Zurich

I couple of weeks ago I was in Zurich and I have since neglected to write about it. Despite having flown into Zurich when coming here first, I had never visited the city proper. A couple of Sundays ago the opportunity presented itself, so off I went.

I got the day off to a flying start, by sleeping in and consequently having to run for my bus. Fortunately I caught it and avoided being left at the bus stop sobbing with my companions, who I had also caused to be late. Zurich was only an hour-long coach trip away, which makes it ever the more surprising that it took me 3 months to pay it a proper visit.

Having chosen to visit the fair city of Zurich on a Sunday, most businesses and shops were closed with only a few exceptions. Aware of this, our first stop was the Christmas market at the Bahnhof. If I'm honest, it was a little disappointing, but one fairly awe-worthy element was a Swarovski Christmas tree in the middle of the market.

Leaving the slightly anti-climactic Christmas market behind, we headed onto Bahnhofstraße, which happens to be the second most expensive shopping street in Europe, only being surpassed by the Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris. Being the classy bunch that we are, our only port of call was McDonalds.

After the life-giving sustenance of McDonalds we were ready to go on a little city tour. We started at the University, which is unfortunately at the top of a seemingly never-ending series of steps. Once we reached the top, we were met with an amazing panoramic view of the city, charmingly paired with coronary failure. At this point my camera battery spontaneously died, which is exactly what you want when wandering the streets of one of Europe's most beautiful cities.

We then went into the older part of the city, which was absolutely stunning. While making our way around this area, I spied the Kunsthalle in the distance, which would warrant another visit to the city. Then we made our way down to the area of the lake, where we spent a solid ten minutes staring at a woman who appeared to be spraying the swans with one of those little misters for watering plants. If my camera hadn't forsaken me I would have certainly made some photographic record of this.

We then went to have a look at some of the festive events around the city. A bandstand had been fashioned into a Christmas tree form, with a choir nestled therein. We marvelled at this trippy sight for a while before heading to get some coffee.

It was growing dark at this point and the Christmas lights of Bahnhofstraße caught our attention. We marvelled not only the lights, but at the windows of shops like Louis Vuitton and Chanel, the contents of which were as intangible as the twinkling Christmas lights above us.

As I said already, I'd like to pay the city another visit, to give the Kunsthalle a go as well as trying to seek out Joyce's grave. It certainly is a beautiful, albeit expensive city.

ERASMUS TIMES: Stuttgart

Last Thursday I went on a lovely adventure to Stuttgart. I had been to Stuttgart before, while I was at secondary school, but tis a nice auld spot, so I went again. And it didn't do any harm. In order to get the most out of our day we left at 7am. I'm not the most coordinated early in the morning, so this mean I had to be awake for 5am. I think it's safe to assume my flatmates hate me, as I was thundering around the flat at 5am.

"Aaaah don't kill me, Daisy!" - Myrtle Wilson

We walked to our meeting point where we got on our private coach (wooooOOOOoooo) and headed north. When I got on the bus, I was disappointed to find that people wanted to do things other than sleep. namely take photos and talk loudly. This displeased me. They soon came around though, falling asleep like the rest of us. That or there was a fumes leak.

Our first port of call was the Mercedes Benz museum (wooooOOOOoooo). I had heard many good things about it, so I was looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint. I wouldn't be the world's biggest motoring enthusiast, but I enjoyed it immensely. There was a pope-mobile, vintage Mercedes Roadsters and delightful cars from the 1920s, which one could imagine Daisy Buchanan mowing someone down in.

Judging Schiller is judging you. 

After a little picnic and another short bus journey, we went into the city centre and did a little tour. We got a look at the new and old palaces, the Konigsbau, Schillerplatz, among a few other bits and pieces. It's certainly a very pretty city. We then were left to wander about for an hour or two, which I spent looking for a Starbucks and then having a Starbucks. They wonderfully got my name right and to put an end to the suspense, I had a hot chocolate. And it was nom.

In order to get some learnings in, we visited the Landtag, which is the parliament for the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. We got to listen to and observe the parliament in session (they were discussing the provision of care for the elderly) and we got to speak to a nice man from the Green Party. One of our guides decided to take it upon herself to translate everything he was saying for us, even though we understood 90% of it. Bless her for making the effort, but it was as if we had put what the man was saying through Google translate. They were indeed English words, but were in very "creative" contexts. At that point we headed home and we got McDonalds when we got back. Winner.

I can highly recommend Stuttgart. It was nice to be in a relatively large urban centre again and there was a nice atmosphere around the city, which was probably owing to the preparations for Christmas markets among other things. I think I should like to go back there again before the year is out.

ERASMUS TIMES: I read a book.

Note the Milka wrapper in the backround.
One of a number of fallen comrades.

So, in an attempt to enhance my German learnings, I decided to try and read a book entirely in German. You'd think that after 8 years of learning German, this kind of an activity would be a regular part of my routine. Well it wasn't. And just because I've read one book in German, doesn't mean I can say that it is. I'd want to be doing it fair regular if it was to be a routine.

 The book I chose to read? 'Nick and Norah: Soundtrack einer Nacht' by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. And before you ask, yes that is a translation of 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist'. I wasn't going to start with 'Vor dem Gesetz,' now was I? And before you tell me that it was written for teenage girls, I already know. There was a general consensus of 'is that all it is?' from anyone I told I was reading it, but I never claimed to be any kind of literary sophisticate.

 It was a pretty enjoyable read, from what I understood and in my defence that was about 80% of it. I'll own up now and admit that I have seen the film version starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, but the plot of the book and the plot of the film differ quite a bit. For those who don't know, 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist' tells the story of two young'uns who are both emerging from weird relationships. Nick had recently been dumped by his girlfriend Tris and Norah is in the midst of an on/off relationship with Tal. In an attempt to win an argument, Norah asks Nick to be her 5 minute boyfriend and following from this encounter, the two spend the evening together. That's about the bones of the plot, if I'm not to give too much away.

 As you will have observed above, the novel was co-authored. What Cohn and Levithan did was split the narrative: Cohn did every second chapter, writing from the perspective of Norah and Levithan did the remaining chapters, writing from the perspective of Nick. This was the element of the novel I liked best. It was quite sweet that there was an increasing overlap of shared ideas and feelings between the two characters as the novel progressed. I thought the translation was pretty solid too. References were made through English in parts, to retain the youth-culture-centric core of the novel. I think it was worthwhile reading, because there was a more youthful, casual register of German used in the narrative.

 So all in all, 'Nick and Norah: Soundtrack einer Nacht' was a pretty enjoyable read and a suitable first assay into reading German-language literature. I highly recommend. Now it's just a case of deciding what to read next, which is likely to be more in the vein of young adult fiction. If I come out of this without developing a Peter Pan Complex, I'll be doing well.

Soundtrack der Woche (yes, I did steal this general idea from the title of the book):
In keeping with the literary theme and simultaneously professing my love for Kate Bush, my song for the week is 'Wuthering Heights'. 'Cos I'm cool like that.

ERASMUS TIMES: Update- Everything is as it was.

Being the neglectful blogger that I am, it has been over a month since my last post. It is with the guilt of a catholic school-child at confession that I admit this. I was once that catholic school-child, so I am speaking from experience. Since my last post I have put in two weeks of lectures and university work. Most of these two weeks were spent dicking about, trying to ignore the inevitable course work, etc. This week classes have really started proper. As a result I have been faced with the challenge of the copy rooms, the library, registering for classes and other such dreadful things. Incidentally these hellish situations seemed to fall around the same time as Halloween. Coincidence? Yes.

Classes seem to be good so far. My understanding isn't quite what it should be at, but I'm hoping this will improve. Ideally quite quickly. From what I understand of the content, it's pretty interesting stuff! I've taken on introductory classes for German film and German linguistics which have proven quite engaging so far. Though, I may just be massively confused. I'm taking quite a few language classes too, which are enlightening.  Enlightening in the sense I didn't realise I was such a thicko.

The week was punctuated nicely by a bank holiday on Thursday. It was All Souls Day, so everyone got the day off to busy themselves being holy. Or to busy themselves lying in bed with a horrific hangover from Halloween. I spent mine being a domestic goddess... and then dicking about with Phoebe and Claire. It's thrilling bits of information like that, are why I write this blog.

LG,
Orla

Soundtrack der Woche:
It is for no particular reason that I have been listening to 'William, it was reallly nothing' by The Smiths. Said I'd make ye privy to that tantalising part of my week.

ERASMUS TIMES: Oktoberfest 2012

Munich's Oktoberfest lives in a sort of infamy, which is understandable considering it is a 16-day celebration of beer held in what is fundamentally a giant fairground. In an attempt at cultural integration, myself and a number of other Erasmus students decided to make the pilgrimage to Theresienwiese.

Munich being a considerable trip from where I'm currently studying, it meant an early rise on Monday, followed by journey by plane, train and auto-mobile... well, by bus and ferry, but I'm prone to exaggeration. Following a thrilling bus trip along the grey, rainy autobahn, we arrived in Munich.

Only those with a troublingly poor sense of direction would fail to find die Wiesn at this point. If you failed to take initiative and follow the heaving mass of lederhosen and dirndl-clad geriatrics, you should take a moment out to reassess your life choices.

 We admirably avoided getting distracted by the enormous Toys'R'Us on our route and made it to Theresienwiese. Upon first impressions Oktoberfest defies any preconceived notions you would have had about a beer festival. How I would best describe it is as a particularly camp, christmassy agricultural show, where the dress-code is Bavarian folk. Strikingly, the site is full of funfair rides, which I would consider counter-intuitive as the beer is served in litres. Litres. Think about that one for a minute.


The most sensible thing to do upon arrival is seek out a seat in one of the tents. We headed to the Paulander tent first. 'Tent' isn't a very apt name for what is in reality a TARDIS-like alpine cabin on the inside. You're immediately met with a cosy jolly atmosphere, owing to the festive decorations and cheerful din of the brass band.

 Once settled in this pastoral pantomime setting, I was served my first mass of radler. Brace yourself for the price tag on this one kids, cause on average it's around €9.50. On first looks, a mass of beer looks like crippling renal damage in a glass, but that acts as a deterrent for nobody. Once in a giddy state of insobriety, the festival atmosphere is intensified. Then on to the next tent, where another mass of bier makes a €6 portion of chips seem like a good idea.

Around 5.30pm is when the tables get taken over by those who pre-booked and the likes of ourselves are moves pitifully along. Releasing tipsy 20-something year-olds upon the souvenir and catering vendors is an act of calculating, Machiavellian cunning. Suddenly the act of buying a fridge magnet and chips moves speedily up the list of priorities. The idea of going on the fairground rides doesn't seem as foreboding as it did before 3 mass of beer. Competing with a child for the last pink balloon suddenly becomes acceptable behaviour.

Soon after this came the point to go home, so we waddled in tipsy mournfulness back to the bus station and after a moment of clarity, where you buy yourself a litre of water for the trip back, we got back on the bus. And it's sad. Until you realise how funny a tipsy bus journey can be.

My trip to Munich was quite hurriedly planned and impulsively booked, but it was a day well spent. Three days beforehand it didn't even occur to me to go to Munich. The Theresienwiese is a happy place and if yo ever get the chance to pay it a visit, I say grab it with both hands.

ERASMUS TIMES

Faced with the fear of impending adulthood and having to behave in a manner befitting of a real grown-up, I have decided to undertake a year abroad in my degree programme. That is I have decided to delay the inevitable.

Considering that 50% of my degree programme is supposed to be German language and literature, I'd probably want to be getting my language level above that of being able to explain that I live in a dormer bungalow and that I think recycling is a very topical theme. So here I am in southern Germany, under the guise of improving my language skills, but in reality making daily linguistic and cultural blunders.

I've been here a month already and I have managed to avoid causing any major diplomatic crises. It's a story for another day, but I genuinely thought that I wouldn't be able to settle here or indeed cope with living abroad. Rather that having a complete meltdown, I've spent the past month meeting people from countries that I thought I'd never meet, visiting places I thought I'd never visit and experiencing things I thought I'd never experience. With that glut of clichés, I'll bid you adieu.

LG,
Orla

Why Did they Have to Go and Cancel... 'Bored to Death'?

I'm bothered. Extremely bothered. Even though it has been a few months since HBO cancelled 'Bored to Death' I'm still rather annoyed about it. For those who don't know, 'Bored to Death' was a clever little comedy about a novelist who takes jobs as a private detective on the side. The programme stars... I mean starred (sigh), Jason Schwartzman, with Ted Danson as his mentor and Zach Galifaianakis as his best friend. I bloody love Jason Schwartzman. It has long been my intent to start a short people club and I shall be petitioning him to join. Everything he's in is brilliant. His many collaborations with Wes Anderson, 'Marie Antoinette', as well as 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' are all among my favourite films, and he was again brilliant in 'Bored to Death' as white wine-drinking, love-lorn writer of varying success, Jonathan Ames.

The show was a whimsical mix of gum-shoe detection and farcical comedy. It was so good. I looked forward to their misadventures, like the time they performed a rescue mission from an Asian spa, or when they defended their honour in a grudge-match against their rivals from GQ magazine. Episodes of 'Bored to Death' had a refreshing unpredictability. Oh how I'll miss their zany adventures. Series writer, Jonathan Ames, who gives his name to Schwartzman's character is apparently noted for this kind of anecdotal, biographical style of writing, where he recounts events of significance and humour in his life. Ames' stories are coloured not only by the events of the narrative but the neuroses of his characters and their concerns. And the fact they were often quite stoned on the job. That also had some pretty excellent results.

The characters were well formed and we grew to care dearly about the bromance of Jonathan, George and Ray. There was a continuity in story-lines, with certain plot lines being revisited, most significantly that of Ray's sperm donation. It moved from being just a brief story arc to becoming a major plot device in Ray's battle for visitation rights. Jonathan's, George's and Ray's friendship had depth. It's fairly commonplace in TV today to have complete inconsistency and shallow characterisations, but not in 'Bored to Death'. George is portrayed as a loveable old stoner rogue, who acts as a father figure/ mentor to Jonathan. A sort of a bon viveur, he is excellently played by Ted Danson. Zach Galifianakis fills his typical role of 'the lone wolf', a characterisation more deeply explored in that famous monologue from 'The Hangover'. We don't understand his actions, he operates using a type of logic none of us are familiar with, but he is held with special fondness  in all of our hearts. The dynamics were brilliant, especially the introduction of a nemesis and rival to Jonathan in the form of Louis Green.

Curse you, HBO, for commissioning fine, well produced programming! You sucked me in with your relatable, funny characters and humorous, absurd plot-lines, then you took it away! So rarely do we come across characters that are so endearing and modern, without falling into the dreaded pitfall of 'quirkiness'. I love the little details in everything, like Jonathan's penchant for white wine and the inclusion of a goodly number of Ray's works. Le sigh, HBO, you've made this little nerd immensely happy and tragically sad in equal measures.

Review: 'Stardust' by Neil Gaiman

I was slow to come to the work of Neil Gaiman. For a long time I felt like I was missing out on something, or that his books were something that I should have read. Niggled by this feeling that I was missing out on something good, I marched myself into Waterstones and joined the legions of existing Gaiman fans. ‘Stardust’ follows Gaiman’s belief in the necessicityof fairy-tales, bringing together questing and adventure, with a deeper meaning. He dots the quest narrative with darker elements, not too far removed from the Grimms’ Märchen. Witches, murder, false imprisonment, and ruthless lords all appear. Gaiman himself classed ‘Stardust’ as “a fairy-tale for adults.” All this brought together, ‘Stardust’ presents an strange, sometimes threatening, but ultimately engaging fairy-tale world. 

‘Stardust’ tells the tale of young Tristran Thorn, an ordinary youth, who is of less than ordinary parentage. Raised in the small village of Wall, Tristran spent his childhood preoccupied with stories of far-flung lands and longs for adventure. Tristran pines after local beauty, Victoria Forrester, but with little success. One night, as the two see as shooting star fall, Victoria promises Tristran whatever he desires if he retrieves it for her. On this promise, Tristran crosses the wall into Faerie and in the traditional way of romance fiction, he undertakes a quest to win his lady’s favour. Tristran will encounter living forests, lions, unicorns and he will unearth important information about his own lineage and status in the world. 

Despite only reaching about 200 pages, ‘Stardust’ has an astoundingly intricate plot and structure. Subplots are carefully introduced and incorporated. As a sort of a bildungsroman, the novel starts at Tristran’s very earliest origins. As in ‘twinkle in his father’s eye’ early. The novel opens with the story of young Dunstan Thorn and the coming of the fair to Wall, a fair which only occurred once in every nine years. Anything that Gaiman mentions has some import and significance. He writes in the register of traditional fantasy fiction in the vein of C.S. Lewis and others, with intermittent witty, modern dialogue. It’s for this reason that ‘Stardust’ doesn’t get too antiquated. Gaiman is careful not to cast aside tradition either, bringing in nursery rhymes and folklore that we’re all familiar with.

While ‘Stardust’ shares the simple narrative form of classic fantasy fiction, it would be a grave injustice to dismiss it as basic or lacking that something that we can engage with. While it follows a classic romance narrative of the young hero, seeking to win the favour of a fair lady, it also provides the something with a little more meat. Tristan’s story shows us how we pursue certain plans and ideals, but these can be radically changed. While we hang on to these ideals, they can lead us down drastically different paths and sometimes they are for the best. I quite like that idea. Tristran’s journey also works well as a kind of analogy for reaching adulthood. The idea of the wall as threshold into another world is both reminiscent of Lewis’ 

Narnia, but also could stand for Tristran’s crossing into the world of adulthood.

Overall, ‘Stardust’ is an excellent re-configuring of the fairy-tale form. It has all the key elements, he just twists them and turns them into something a little more modern. I feel the main strengths are Gaiman’s carefully wrought plot and his sharp, funny plot. Nobody realised it until they read it, but Gaiman knew that everyone wanted to hear a fallen star shout ‘fuck.’ He knows what’s good for us, that Gaiman.

9/10. 

An insight into being uninsightful...

Ciao,

Here I am, venturing into the time-monopolizing world of web-blogging. It's quite possible that I will be a most lackadaisical and inconsistent blogger. It's almost a certainty that my posts will be of a very questionable quality and taste. Yet I'm still typing. Don't say you weren't warned.

LG,
Orla