Eep!

I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!

Oh my! What is this strange feeling of euphoria?

Eating ice-cream and pretending we're back on holiday holiday.

Yesterday, despite having a lovely raging temperature the day before, I sat my final exam of German and walked out into the world of (temporary) liberty. Due to the lucky fact that most of 'my' German group finished the exam at the same time we decided to have a celebratory drink (of iced tea... pushing the boat out!). I've been incredibly lucky with my German class and with my teacher as both have been so supportive and lovely. While I may not like the intensive period very much, I can safely say that this has been one of my favourite classes in a lot of ways.

Of course, I've also finished my first year at university which is weird as anything. In some ways I'm glad it's summer... in others it's strange. My friends are going to be jetting all over the place, or they're staying here but I'm not.

Dania steals Leonoor's phone to take a photo of me cleaning dirt off
Leonoor. Mothering the world as always ;-)

Dania, Leonoor and I, as the only ones who are here right now, managed to get into town for the day which was nice although, to be quite honest, I'm still fighting off illness and have managed to injure my foot so I'm both in pain and out of it. In fact, I think I'm going to say that this post is not for facebook and saved just for my 'loyal fans' because heaven only knows it's rambling!

Oh, and even better - I'm going to pick the mother up from the airport in a few. So excited!

A quick checking in post about next to nothing!

Dragging myself out of bed last Sunday was simply agonising. Most people classify me as a morning person. Personally, I disagree but I have to admit that I don't struggle with getting up most of the time. However, I guess that phoning my mother late the night before was a bad idea - we don't seem to be able to have a short conversation - and it ended up with me getting under five hours sleep. 

Oops. 

However, it was well worth the pain as I dragged myself around the room, attempting to get dressed without bumping into every piece of furniture. I was off to Utrecht to see someone who I have not seen in way too long, the lovely Annelies.

We had planned on climbing the Dom (Cathedral) tower but it was kinda miserable weather so we decided to leave that for a nicer day and mooch generally. She kindly showed me some of her favourite shops (and she has great taste) and we explored a little. It was great to see her after so long and a truly welcome break from all the studying even if it wasn't sensible to take aforementioned break!

I also managed to go out briefly with the fearsome Leonoor and Dania-duo on Tuesday. We all ate out, despite none of us really being able to afford it, were joined by Fietje and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening!

Other than that, I continued my fight with German. I don't know if I'm winning the fight but it's not taken won yet. As I've said, I love my teacher, I love the syllabus, I love my class - it's the intensive period speed that I cannot manage. That said, I think I did well in my exam today.

I also had an group examined presentation which generally went well. I had a flare up with my heart problem in the middle of the presentation which sucked because you try speaking a language you're quite new to speaking while your heart is doing a jolly good impression of a bee and you're aware that if it doesn't stop in a few you're likely to collapse! Anyway, that's something that's been flaring up more over the last few months so it sounds like someone's going to have another cardiologist appointment soon (urgh!!!) It's also not a big deal so I'm not overly bothered. Just hope the grade hasn't suffered!

I do feel that, in the six months (plus) between this German course and the next it will have time to sink in and I will actually be able to process what I've learned. I get it. I love it. My brain's just saturated!

And now I am spending the evening doing nothing that requires any thought at all. A bit of Wyldwood Radio, perhaps some painting... a lot of sleep!

Two weeks until freedom!

I write this in a state of post exam, mid intensive period lassitude. It's going to be one of those posts where, more so than normal, we are going to be lucky if anything makes sense. I'll be honest with you, I am counting down the days until the end of term and until, firstly, my mother comes out and then until I go back home to England for a few weeks.

So, why the change of tone from my last post about my German A1 classes?

It's not that I  don't love German. I do. It's just that it is a language with many grammatical rules and linguistic quirks. It's not that I don't have a good teacher. I do. It's just that we are going at such a speed, as dictated by the schedule, that I feel that I'm being hit over the head with each new piece of information, unable to absorb any of it. It's simply not how my brain works and, in fact, I wonder if anyone can really learn a language under these conditions in such a way as it is practical and not simply academic.

I feel that someones understanding of a language is something that really does have to develop rather organically. I'm a big supporter of the idea that we best learn languages as children do although I'm also well aware that the mistakes children make when they're learning are decidedly less adorable coming from the mouth of a young adult. So, it seems that, while lessons are desirable for those of use who are no longer in the first few years of life, there should be some element of slower absorption whereby the language becomes natural as opposed to a stinted and formulaic production.

Okay, I'm also really frustrated that I understand such complex things in the language but can hardly string a sentence together for myself. Actually, frustrated does not begin to cover it.

That aside, I have a great little group in the class who are supportive and generally great fun so I am managing to maintain some semblance of sanity. I have the lovely Jacopo putting up with my moaning and reminding me that I actually do like the subject (as well as competing with me by setting up his own blog!) And, I am going to finally meet up with Annelies once again on Sunday which I am so looking forward to.

I'm afraid I've been living and breathing German recently so that's all I have to say. Oh, I do have a blog post in the making regarding the wonderful gig I went to last weekend but I have such little time (and such few free brain cells) that I'm struggling to describe the evening in anything like an eloquent fashion... Soon!

Celt-n-Folk

I've been rather spoiled when it comes to good music, recently. 

Last weekend saw the usual group of Thijs, Hester and myself joined by Leonoor, Dania and Hester's boyfriend heading off to Almere once more for one of the Celt-N-Folk events. The sound was a bit off for most of the evening which was a shame but says nothing about the musicians involved and their skill, combined with an energetic (to say the least!) crowd made for a delightful evening.

First up was Sowulo. It was quite funny to watch Leonoor during this set as she looked around her like a rabbit caught in headlights at times. However, luckily, this was apparently because she was "fascinated" both by the band and the general atmosphere. And, of course, atmosphere is something that Sowulo do incredibly well. Their set doesn't play through as a group of songs but rather as a singular progressive entity which encompasses all the senses. Dania and Leonoor were thoroughly impressed with one song which was accompanied by a storm complete with thunder, lightening, and wind (thanks to some conveniently placed fans). It was pretty impressive.

We then relocated to the small stage and sat on the floor to listen to Tipsy Gypsy who plays, to quote his facebook, "ambient ethnic world fusion" using multiple instruments, the most predominant being handpans in various forms. I think Thijs was the only one who had heard Tipsy Gypsy before and I have a feeling that was only because he googled prior to the event (I'm sure he'll correct me if not). Anyway, we were all rather pleasantly surprised, to say the least. It's quite amazing how one gentleman can sit on stage and create such intricate layered sounds that hold an audience entranced but he managed it. I would hazard a guess that this was Dania's favourite part of the evening if her cry of "that was so cool!" when asked about it later was anything to go by! Certainly, we were all left wanting to hear more and, if we're completely honest, wanting to have a go!

Back to the main stage for Rastaban who I've not seen since last year's Castlefest but who always manage to deliver a high energy set. They played a mixture of older and newer tunes and, performed a rather rounded set. Add to this the fact that they're a group of really talented people with a "crazy awesome violinist", to quote Thijs directly, and you can be sure that you're going to watch something quite special each time you see them, even if external conditions aren't quite favourable. I'm sure I've said this before but Rastaban manage to transfer energy to the audience via their stage performance and, if anything, this is their greatest talent. It was means that there was the opportunity for some rather vigorous dancing - although, personally, I stuck to my usual bobbing along - despite the heat in the venue which was quite intense. Indeed, Dania and Leonoor had to withdraw from the front, in search of cooler areas (and ice-cream) before the end of the set.

In fact, it was only Hester and Christiaan who braved the small room for Robert den Hartigh with the rest of us choosing to sit out in the main hall where it seemed a bit cooler and where we could kinda hear, partially. I believe the music went down well with Hester, at least, because, unless I'm mistaken, she decided to purchase one of his CDs. I can't really comment for myself. I've heard Robert den Hartigh from a distance and partially a few times now and keep meaning to catch one of his sets properly. One day!

Finally it was time for Cesair and they really did go down well with everyone, no surprise. Both Dania and Leonoor said that their set was "really fun" and agreed that they would like to see the band again. I even think they kinda danced along a little bit. You know, as much as they do! 

When I asked Dania if my plans to convert her to this kind of music had finally worked she replied with her trade mark "I'm not sure" which simply means I'll have to arrange for her to go to another show with me to continue the process ;-)



This post was finished quite a while after seeing the show hence why it gets a bit more rushed towards the end - I cannot remember vividly enough to write properly and did not take enough notes straight after the event.

Not for facebook

Well look, I'm studying German now.

Well, at last I'm here. The past week has seen my German lessons begin which has been rather a momentous occasion as I literally only applied to places where I could learn German as a complete beginner as, despite some knowledge, I am aware that I am exceptionally weak with regard to the grammar and foundation of the language. I was limited somewhat when my first choice of university took German off the syllabus just as I was applying but anyway, that was a lifetime ago!

My relationship with German has been a funny one over the years. It's a language that I encountered quite by chance and, in my attempts to make media more accessible to my friends and family, who were not happy to just watch something with a summary, I ended up accidentally teaching myself to understand the language, more or less. I'd sit down with a dictionary, really listen to what was being said and attempt to find the English. It was pitiable to start with. Perhaps my favourite story is that of when I could only hear "der Strauß Mutter" when the real thing was "die stoltze Mutter" which gives the sentence a whole new meaning. Anyway, going off on a tangent. After a few years of doing this I suddenly realised that I understood stuff generally and quite consistently. For someone who was told that she was bad at learning languages by teachers this came as quite a shock to me... I started to wonder if I wasn't a bad linguist after all.

I was actually terrified before my first class. This is something that has led me for some time now and really influenced my life path. I don't think my friends understood why I was so nervous but, for me, I felt that the first few classes were going to either going to make me realise that I could really do this or reaffirm those words of my teachers, that I should just give up on languages. To go into a class and wonder if you are going to sink or swim in reality, that's a scary thing. 

And now I've had a couple of classes? I'm loving it.

The teacher is an exceptionally skilled lady. She has a way of engaging everyone in the class. Each person is called upon to speak multiple times a class but there is no pressure, no judgement and, in that sense, she seems to be managing to bring the best out of her students. Already she has shown that she is able to be endlessly patient when people just can't get their tongues (or minds!) around certain words. She's an enabler and, in that sense, she's a teacher in the truest sense of the word. I'm also really lucky to have spent the last couple of classes working with a lovely, good fun group of people. 

Now I can only work hard and hope that I will succeed!