A typical wedding in Faistenau! :)

Hello! :)

As my sister got married last weekend I decided to blog about her wedding and the traditions in Faistenau.
Considering the fact that my sister once said: "I will never ever marry a man from Faistenau, and I will definitely never have one of those typical weddings in Faistenau." it's pretty funny that finally she married one of the sons of the oldest inn in my hometown.
In his speech the employee of the registry office who performed the ceremony said that this marriage actually is a fusion as it joins two very important families of our village together.

Usually all the weddings in Faistenau proceed as follows:
Almost the entire village is invited, especially if two inhabitants of the village marry each other, so those weddings are pretty big.
The wedding ceremony takes place in the church and afterwards the whole wedding party moves on to Grill, the only restaurant with a big banquet hall. It comes in handy that this restaurant is right across the town square- so luckily the party can begin immediately. :)
Some time later the bride gets stolen, usually by a friend of the groom, and the groom has to find her again and do something to redeem his bride. As there's only one other inn in the center of the village, Krämerwirt, the bride is rather easy to find, but nevertheless the robbery of the bride always is a really funny event. Many people join the bride and her thief and then there's a lot to drink and they sing songs all the time until the groom comes to get back his bride. The whole party is supposed to return to Grill after some time, but there already have been many weddings where a part of the bride-thieves did not return and just stayed in the inn.
Around midnight the newly-weds are "sung out" so that they can enjoy the rest of the night alone.
In general weddings in Faistenau are big, loud, funny, drunk events, and everyone loves to be there. :)

My sister, as I already mentioned, did not want that at all, but it turned out to be harder than expected to avoid it.
They looked for another restaurant for the party all over the surrounding area but just couldn't find one that was cheap enough and that had a hall big enough for 140 people. My sister wanted to keep the wedding small and personal, but as our family is already rather big, and her husband's is even bigger, it became quite huge in the end. When they couldn't find a restaurant that suited their needs they finally decided to have the wedding in Faistenau, simply because it was the best solution.
As Jakob (the groom) was absolutely against a chruch wedding they skipped the religious part and had their civil wedding ceremony out on a field instead. Luckily, the weather was amazing this day and everything worked out exactly the way they wanted it.

^^ after the ceremony there were drinks and snacks for everyone 

^^all the guests wrote small personal vouchers for the couple which were tied to the balloons; we released the balloons and if someone finds one and is kind enough to send it the couples' address (which is on the vouchers as well) they'll have some additional wedding gifts :)

After the balloons were released the wedding party walked to the restaurant for dinner. When everyone finished their meal the newly-weds had their first dance together, and when other couples mingled with them my brother asked the bride for a dance and stole her. ;) 

Even though she was not particularly happy about it because she's pregnant and isn't allowed to drink, she resigned herself to her fate. Many of the guests joined them and we had a lot of fun singing traditional songs. It wasn't long until the groom came to claim his bride, and after two short games everyone returend to the restaurant. The party went on and we kept dancing for a good part of the night. At midnight the band stopped playing and most of the guests left after we sung the couple out. A few of us stayed, however, until 3 o'clock-to celebrate the wedding properly, you know. ;)

Even though the wedding was pretty traditional in the end, it was still an amazing celebration with a perosnal touch to everything. 

The next day my sister said that, even though she knows this sounds hackneyed, it really was the most beautiful day in her life. 

^^on the way to the altar

^^the newly-weds right after the ceremony

^^my two sisters and me :)

Just a penguin...

Hi guys! :)

How's it going? Already done with all your homework? I'm not...and that is incredible because guess what: I have been doing homework today for at least six hours!!!!
I really hope that the homework gets a little less in the upcoming weeks because otherwise I'm not sure for how long I will be able to cope with that...especially when things like PCs add up to it. Where's the relaxing part of studying?

Do you guys ever feel like simply backing out of your lives? I certainly do. ^^ The ability of transforming myself into a penguin would be really handy sometimes! ;) 

The worst weeks are those when an awful lot of uni work and personal things come together! Like at the moment, because my sister's getting married next weekend and as her siblings the others and me have to prepare a lot and think of presents and all that. That's really exhausting and the main reason why I had to do all the homework in one day. 

What's keeping you up when it's just too much? For me right now it's my two flatmates. They're just awesome and always make me smile, even when everything else is failing. :)

That, and the hope that maybe, maybe I will get used to this crazy amount of homework and life will settle a little bit in the next few weeks. 

EU individual paragraph: Travelling in the EU!

It is undeniable that the EU facilitates our international lives by far thanks to the open boarders. First of all, you do not need your passport with you all the time anymore. When crossing boarders nobody controls you, you can simply enter the new country without any inconvenience. A small drawback about this is, however, that you do not get those cool stamps anymore. Secondly, the import of goods became really simple and cheap as the EU repealed the laws concerning duty. Many people make use of this by going shopping in the neighbouring country if they live close to the boarder, because often it is cheaper than in their home country. On top of that, EU-citizens now have the possibility to work and live in any of the EU-countries without much difficulty. They do not need to get a visa, for example, or a working permit. To sum it up, we really do benefit from our EU-membership, especially in terms of travelling and working abroad.

-166 words


FEEDBACK:
by far -> much
with you all the time anymore -> when you are travelling anymore
the new country -> another EU-member state
get those cool stamps -> can not add the individual stamps of the countries to your passport anymore
possibility -> opportunity

It is undeniable that the EU facilitates our international lives much thanks to the open boarders. First of all, you do not need your passport when you are travelling anymore. When crossing boarders nobody controls you, you can simply enter another EU-member state without any inconvenience. A small drawback about this is, however, that you can not add the individual stamps of the countries you visited to your passport anymore. Secondly, the import of goods became really simple and cheap as the EU repealed the laws concerning duty. Many people make use of this by shopping in the neighbouring country if they live close to the boarder, because often it is cheaper than in their home country. On top of that, EU-citizens now have the opportunity to work and live in any of the EU-countries without much difficulty. They do not need to get a visa, for example, or a working permit. To sum it up, we really do benefit from our EU-membership, especially in terms of travelling and working abroad.

-171 words


FEEDBACK II:

try to avoid using "you" all the time
EU-member state/citizen/membership... -> no hyphen
passport synonym -> could not really find one
try to use more high-register words

FINAL PARAGRAPH:

It is undeniable that the European Union facilitates the international lives of the EU citizens much thanks to the open boarders. First of all, the formerly indespensable passports are no longer required for travelling in most European countries. The entry into another EU member state usually proceeds without the inconvenience of having your passport or luggage controlled. A small drawback about this is, however, that you can not enclose the individual stamps of the countries you visited to your passport anymore. Secondly, the import of goods, which may be cheaper in a neighbouring country, became really simple and inexpensive as the EU repealed the individual laws concerning duty. Many people make use of this by shopping abroad if they live close to the boarder. On top of that, EU citizens now have the opportunity to work and live in any of the EU countries without much difficulty. A visa, for example, or a working permit is not necessary any more. To sum it up, the inhibitants of the European countries really profit from the European Union, especially in terms of travelling and working abroad.

-187 words


FINAL, FINAL VERSION:

It is undeniable that the European Union facilitates our international lives much thanks to the open borders. First of all, passports used to be indispensable, but nowadays they are no longer required for travelling throughout the European continent. The inconvenience of having your passport or luggage inspected is no longer existent when travelling in the EU. A minor drawback of this is, however, that  you can no longer add the individual stamps of the countries you visited to your passport anymore. Secondly, goods which might be cheaper in a neighbouring country can be imported easily nowadays as the national laws concerning duty became invalid when the countries joined the EU. Many people take advantage of this by buying products in other member states if they live close to the border. On top of that, EU citizens now have the opportunity to work and live in any of the EU countries without much difficulty. A visa, for example, or a work permit is not necessary anymore. To sum up, the inhabitants of the European countries undoubtedly profit from the European Union, especially in terms of travelling and working. 

-184 words

Possible EU-topics!

So i started to think about the possible topics for my paper and will now tell you which ones I chose. Or at least which ones came to my mind first:

1.) The Irish Abortion Law and how/why it works inside of the EU:
Personnally, I think that the Abortion Law violates the Human Rights. Therfore I'm wondering how/why it is even possible that it still exists as the Human Rights are an important part of the EU.

2.) Laws throughout the EU and in the different member states:
I've always been wondering how it is decided which laws become international and which ones don't. Also I would like to know which ones are more important, the national or the international laws. And what happens if a national law contradicts an international law?

3.) The NATO:
How is it related to the EU? Which one has more power? How do they influence each other?

4.) What global influence does the EU really have?
Is the EU as important as they try to make us think? How did the influenvce of European countries change when the EU was built?

5.) What does a country need to enter into the EU?
What are the exact conditions? Why are there conditions? Did all the countries really fulfill them or were the rules bent a little?

Basically all my topics came to my mind because of how little I know about the EU. These are some things I already was wondering about, so why not make one of them my topic?

So, what do you guys think? :)

Find your Paradise...!?

Hi Hello!!

How's everyone doing after the summer break? Good? That's great!
So, I kept thinking, what am I gonna blog about, what am I gonna blog about...?
And just now, I saw something amazing I would like to share with you guys. It's an article by Joe Barnes called:

The 3 Things You absolutely Must Do With Your Time On Earth.

According to the article these three things are:
1.) Achieve the Impossible
2.) Free Yourself from Economic Servitude
3.) Find Your Paradise

Even though I don't agree on everything the author says in the article, he still makes many points I think are true.
Find your Paradise. That's the point I consider the most important one. Joe Barnes says that everyone has to find his Paradise, and also, that there is not only one. He splits paradise into two parts: the physical and the internal Paradise.

The physical Paradise is something completely different for every single one of us. While person A says "Paradise is being out on a walk with my dog." person B says "Paradise is having a barbecue with my friends." and person B might say "Paradise is that small island in the Atlantic Sea I once visited." The point is that you have to find your own Paradise. And it does not necessarily have to be one single spot on earth, it can be a hundred places. I already found many Paradises, and maybe even just for a day. When I came back the next day I couldn't find the magic anymore. But there are some places/actions I almost always consider Paradise. One of them is being out with my dog on a beautiful day, be it summer or winter. As I love water, another one is swimming. This can be in the Mediterranean Sea or in the lake close to my hometown and sometimes even in a swimming pool-I prefer natural waters, however. I also found Paradise in getting drunk with my friends on a beautiful day somewhere outdoors.
These are just temporary Paradises, but nevertheless they are Paradises and they help me to find my balance. The important thing is that you don't let moments like those pass unrecognised but experience and appreciate them.

The internal Paradise is harder to find. It's all about the energy and motivation you live your day with. Honestly, I have not succeeded in finding the right energy and keeping it. I have been touched by it, yes, and it was amazing. But then it disappeared again and left me all miserable. Do you know that feeling? The feeling that you're strong and nothing can destroy you and you'll find a way no matter what and you're utterly happy and content? It's amazing, but as I said, I could not yet find a way to keep it when it pays me a visit. I guess the internal Paradise is far harder to find than the physical one because you really have to do something for it. It's not something you once do and it stays with you all your life, you have to work on it. You have to change your attitude. And that's really hard. But it's worth it.

How far have you come with your search for Paradise?