Ass. 1: Trip to the US

Hey guys!


As our teacher asked us to write a post about travelling to the US/Ireland, I decided to write about the US. It will be a 10-day-trip with a budget of €2000.


The flight:

I looked up flights to San Francisco and found one for € 679.32 with the German airline "Lufthansa". 

I think the journey might be exhausting because it will take me nearly thirteen hours to finally be in San Francisco. The first flight is from Linz in Austria to Frankfurt in Germany. The second flight is from Frankfurt in Germany to San Francisco.

My flight back home will also start from San Francisco in the US to Toronto. The second flight is from Tronto to Frankfurt in Germany and the third one is from Frankfurt in Germany to Linz in Austria. 


Arriving in San Francisco

I'll rent a car to be able to drive along the coast. I found a (in my view) cheap offer.

It's possible for me to hire it the moment I arrive on the airport. I have to book it online and the car will be ready for me at the airport when I arrive. I'll hire it for 10 days.


I don't think that I'm going to do very much during the first night because I'm pretty sure that I'll be very exhausted. This is why I decided to stay at a hotel for the first two nights. 

Which sights I want to visit? Well, of course the Golden Gate Bridge and the Golden Gate Park. But this is the plan for the 14th when I'll be on my way to Los Angeles. On the 13th of May I will do a tour to Yosemite Nationalpark and to the giant sequoias. I want to do this because I heard that a tour through the park is a real highlight. Moreover I've wanted to see a real sequoia since ... I don't even know. For a long time :) The tour will cost me €108. 




The next day I already told you that I want to visit the Golden Gate Park and the Golden Gate Bridge. Afterwards I'm going to jump right into my car and head to Los Angeles!



Los Angeles

I'm not going to pay very much for accommodation in Los Angeles because I plan to sleep in my car. Maybe I'll search for a chep hostel or motel when I'm there if I don't want to sleep in my car anymore. We'll see :)


What I definitely want to see in Los Angeles is the Walk Of Fame. I'm going to search the star of Johnny Cash and I want to take my own personal photo of it. You might not know but I totally adore Johnny Cash! :)

AND. I definitely want to attend a guided tour at Universal Studios. I'm pretty sure that this is going to be awesome! It will cost me $139. That's € 102.30

 Of course I'm going to do some shopping even though I'm not sure if I'll have enough money for shopping in Los Angeles :)

As I told you I think I'm going to spend the nights in my car at a camp site. Camping at "Castaic Lake State Recreation Area" will cost me €18 per day. 




The second day in Los Angeles I'm planning to do a tour that's called "Los Angeles City Tour & Movie Stars Homes".

The tour includes:

The tour will cost me €39.70!

I think I'll spend the rest of the day discovering the city of Los Angeles all by myself :)


Next stop: Las Vegas!

In the morning of the 18th of May I'm going to drive to Las Vegas. I plan to be there at around 1 p.m. I think it's pretty obvious what I want to do there, right?
I want to see all those famous casinos! I want to see the desert! I want to see a show of a star! 



The chosen casino: The Bellagio! Well, right now I'm not quite sure how much money I'm going to spend there - I hope not too much. OR: I hope I'll win!! ;)

I'll stay two nights at a small hotel called "Arizona Charlie's Boulder". One night will cost me €25. In total: €75.





Another thing I want to do in Las Vegas is that I want to see the show of Celine Dion at the Caesars Palace Casino. I'm sure this will be great. I think she has a great voice! A ticket for her show will cost me €110. 


The next morning I'm going to drive to the Grand Canyon because I've always wanted to see it. The first time I saw a picture of the Grand Canyon I was very impressed. 

When I'm there I'm going to do a guided tour with a helicopter. This will cost me €172 but I'll be able to see the famous Ghost Town & Techatticup Goldmine. I'll also see the Hoover-Dam!

I think I'm only going to spend 1 full day there because the heat is very exhausting for someone like me who is not used to it. That's why I'm going back to San Francisco by car in the evening. The drive back might take 11 hours. This is why I plan to drive a few hours and then sleep in my car. In the morning I'll drive the last miles back to San Francisco. 

Back there I'm going to walk down the beautiful beach for the last time and get all my things together - I hopefully won't leave anything important in the car. I'll sleep in the car the last night because I don't want to spend more money for accommodation. 

The next morning I have to get up early because the flight back to Austria leaves at 11:35. I have to return the car and maybe buy a book at the airport, that's why I want to get up at 9 o'clock, get ready and then head to the airport. 



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S U P E R N A T U R A L - Scary just got sexy!

Hey guys!


When I was thinking about what I could tell you or what I could generally write about I had actually a few ideas. But the last idea was the best one. I want to introduce to you the very special TV series  S U P E R N A T U R A L . My favourite TV series!

The story

The story of "Supernatural" is all about the two "hunters" Sam & Dean. The hunt monsters, ghosts ... usually everything that is supernatural. They lost their mother in a fire when Sam was 6 months old. This event play a major role through a few seasons because it also caused their father to become a hunter. They were raised with guns and fighting. 

The actors

• Jensen Ackles

He plays the character of Dean Winchester, the older brother. He is very protective. Good looking, charismatic - on the TV series he is a real womanizer.

• Jared Padalecki

He plays the character of the younger brother Sam. He want's to live a normal live but he can't manage to. When his girlfriend gets killed he wants revenge and turns into family business again. 

• Misha Collins

Do not underestimate a guy just because his name is Misha - Misha Collins is a gorgeous actor! He became part of the cast in season 4 and plays the character of Castiel - an angel. (My favourite Character by the way!) I won't tell you much more about him because that would be a spoiler if you decide to watch the series :)

By now there exist 8 seasons but they are about to shoot another one - the official last ninth season. In my view they should've stopped shooting sooner because the story should end by now. Watch the series and you know what I'm talking about ;)

All the actors are very funny and tend to do funny stuff during the shoot of a scene. 

And what I like most: Their funny promos! :D

This brings me to a character I almost forgot. My second favourite character: Crowley.

 Crowley is played by the one and only Mark Sheppard. He is a great actor from Britain and his accent is lovely! I love listening to him talking. Crowley is btw the king of hell. A very evil demon. I think there is no one who could play him in a better or more evil way! Mark Sheppard is a really great actor :)

It's my favourite promo of season 9 because my two favourite characters are in it. 

Today I want to end my post with something funny so here's a video of the "Dean scream" 

It's funny because Dean - the one who is screaming - is normally the rough guy. In this episode he is suffering from an illness that causes fear. This is why he is afraid - of everything.


I hope you are now interested in the TV series "Supernatural" :)



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PC 2 Writing Task

Hey guys!

Today we got back our writing task of PC2. I'm so happy to tell you that I achieved 70% !!

The following part is what I wrote on PC2. We had to choose from 3 sets. I decided to write about set 2: The Great Famine & The Black Death. Here is what I wrote (already corrected):


While there is an obvious connection between those two items, there are also a nuber of significant differences. First of all, both the Black Death and the Great Famine lowered Ireland's population. During the period of the Black Death nearly a third of Europe's population died. The Great Famine also caused a huge number of victims - approximately a third of Ireland's population died. Comparing the Black Death and the Great Famine, I am also able to recognize a number of differences. The Great Famine was caused by a disease called the potato blight which caused the crops to fail. The Black Death, however, was caused by the low hygiene standards of the people. Further differences are that - in contrast to the Black Death - thousands of people started to emigrate to the United States during the period of the Great Famine. Additionally, the Famine would "only" last five years. The Black Death, however, killed millions of people throughout centuries! In conclusion, both the Black Death and the Great Famine killed thousands of people and therefore lowered the European population but they were caused by different reasons.

While writing this piece of text I was absolutely not sure if I would reach a percentage high enough to be positive. After leaving the classrom where the exam had taken place, I actually was pretty sure that I had absolutely failed. Miraculously I reached 70%! For me it's great.



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Ass. 4: D-Day

"You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you...I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle."

- General Dwight D. Eisenhower 


Hey guys!

Maybe I'm "overposting" right now, but my teacher told us to write a post about American culture. I was thinking and thinking about what I could write. Trail of Tears? Nah, heard of it too many times. Then it came to my mind: D-Day! 

What the hell is "D-Day"?

D-Day is associated to the 6th June in 1944. You may ask, why is it called D-Day? Actually, I have no idea. In France they call it "Jour J" so that's why I think maybe they took the first letter of "Day" (or in France "Jour").

It was the largest air, land and sea operation of the US during the Second World War. 3 million soldiers landed in Normandy (France) at Omaha Beach to free Europe from Hitler and the Nazi occupation. 

German troops were bombarded along the coastline by the Americans. D-Day was a major success for the US. Northern France ended up being under control by the US army. Then they started the invasion of Germany which lead to the end of the Second World War in 1945. American and Soviet soldiers reached Berlin at the same time. This influenced the division of Germany into East and West. 

What might also be interesting for you is the fact that General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Quote at the beginning of my post) was in charge of planning the whole invasion. And YES, it is THAT Dwight D. Eisenhower. The man who later on became president of the US.

I like Ike! ;)

Once again - a movie!

There is a movie which is called "Saving Private Ryan". The story plays at Omaha Beach. The battle is in full swing, many soldiers are dying. In the middle of all this is Captain John H. Miller who has to find Private Ryan who is the fourth of four sons of an American family. His 3 brothers died in battle so the government decided to send him home. The movie is about finding him and the historical events at Omaha Beach.

Trailer

I hope you now know more about D-Day and maybe you want to watch the movie! I for myself found it very interesting and I see it as one of the "good" movies :)

Have a nice evening and:

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Yo Yo Yo! - Ass. 3

"Yo, 148, 3-to-the-6-to-the-9! Representin' the ABQ!What up, biatch? Leave it at the tone!" 

Hey Guys!

Ever heard of something called "register"? No? Well, bad for you! Because register is something you should really know about!

But – why do we need register? Isn’t that a crappy piece of shit, yo?

Well, not exactly. Register is important because the English language has a wide range of vocabulary. Words often actually mean the same thing but you might not use "shit" in front of your child. You're more likely to say "poo". Bad language - bitch, yo, shit... - is a form of low register. Even everyday langauge - like nice, forms of abbreviations (you're instead of "you are", don't instead of "do not" - counts as low register language. You can talk like that - if you want to - to your friends. But you might not talk like this to your boss, am I right? 

Some situations require higher register. You know some words which are higher register words?

• indeed
• hence
• one (referring to a person)
• fluctuate
• a great amount of

Yo, you got that, bro? No?

Here is a video that might help you!

Yo Yo Yo! Representin' the TBG! 
I hope you now understand what's he difference between high and low register!
A last information for you: the quote at the beginning of my post was Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman. He spoke that on his answering machine. You don't believe me? Watch it!

The answering machine

keep reading (:

Simon & Garfunkel

Hey guys!

Today I want to tell you about two great musicians who I really like: Simon & Garfunkel!

Simon & Garfunkel were an American music duo. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel decided to sing together in 1957. Back then they were students and wanted to form the group "Tom & Jerry". They gained international fame in 1965 as "Simon & Garfunkel" when they released their hit single "The Sound of Silence". 

My favourite songs are:

• The Sound Of Silence
• Mrs. Robinson
• El Condor Pasa
• The Boxer
• Dust In The Wind

I'm pretty sure you know all these songs!

Simon & Garfunkel had two breakups, had reunions and I think one could write a soap opera about them. It is said that they were quarrelling very much. If you ask me - like two little bitchy girls. But their music was memorable. And even if they had differences throughout their career I think they work good as a duo. 

The photo on the right hand side was taken at one of their concerts. In 2009 they performed live at Madison Square Garden.

The first time I saw the following video it really touched me. The voice of Art Garfunkel is so soft, Paul Simon plays the guitar in such a smooth and elegant way... it is really an absolutely great performance! It's their perfomance of "The Sound of Silence" at Madison Square Garden! Go ahead, watch it :)

Never heard of them? Then, what are you waiting for? Go to YouTube and check them out! I promise it will be worth your while! :)



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Ass. 2: These Romans are crazy!

Hey guys!

I want to tell you about my trip to Rome in 2010!
My godmother and me went there by plane. For me it was the first flight in my life so I was pretty excited and took around 100 photos. 93 photos to be exact.

Most of them looked like this   >>>>> 


When we arrived at "Aeroporto di Fiumicino - Leonardo da Vinci" - one of the airports of Rome - we had problems to find the exit. There were many signs and arrows saying "Exit" but it took us like half an hour to get outside. Today I can laugh about it but back then I thought "These Romans are crazy!".


Finally having found the way outside we took the shuttle to the center of Rome. Driving through the old city was very exciting for me because I have never been in Italy before. Therefore the Italian road signs were very interesting - I took 20 photos. 




 Our hotel was very beautiful. The rooms were beautifully furnished and the staff was very nice! I really can recommend that hotel!



We stayed at Rome for 3 days. As this is not a very long time and Rome is a big city with many things to see we were a bit stressed to see everything we wanted to. I don't remember anymore the exact order of the sites, but I think I can remember them all. We saw:

• Castel Sant'Angelo
• The Colosseum
• Piazza Navona
• The Fountain of the Four Rivers
• The Trevi Fountain
• The Spanish Steps
• St. Peter's Basilica
• The Vatican
• The Pantheon
• Piazza del Popolo

We also did a sight seeing tour with a bus full of tourists, that was pretty exhausting. The sun burnt down on us and we had nothing to drink with us.
My favourite sites were Castel Sant'Angelo and the two fountains. I sure liked all of the sights, but I liked the ones mentioned best! :)

I hope you liked my post! :)

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Second book review! "Into The Wild"

Hey guys!

I actually didn't read the following book recently. I bought it in Nizza, France, two years ago and I was overwhelmed. It is based on a true story written by Jon Krakauer. This is why I decided to write my second book review about this particular book - I want you to know the story of Christopher McCandless. I want you to know the story of "Into the Wild"!

Before you start reading, I again want you to first click on the following link: Hard Sun
This is the song called "Hard Sun" by the artist Eddie Vedder. He is the singer of the popular band "Pearl Jam" and he recorded the whole soundtrack for the movie "Into The Wild". 

The story

Christopher McCandless is a young american student. His parents are wealthy, he has a good life. But the young man is thirsting for an adventure, thirsting for him being himself, being alone and being independent. He is sick of the snobbish life of his family covering all their problems. This is why he starts a journey through the US. His goal: to reach Alaska.

Again, I do not want to tell you too much. Read the book or watch the movie if you want to know what happens and what he experiences. 

The movie

The movie of "Into The Wild" was brought to american cinemas in 2008. Emile Hirsch played the leading role of Christopher McCandless. If you look through the cast - please ignore that Kristen Stewart is part of it. Emile Hirsch did an absolutely great job! The director of the movie, Sean Penn, couldn't have picked another actor as great as Emile Hirsch!

This is the link to the official trailer of the movie:

I also love the soundtrack of the movie. As I already told you it was recorded by the one and only Eddie Vedder. If you click on the following word - Soundtrack - you will be linked to the official soundtrack of the movie. Personally, I think that Eddie Vedder did an absolutely great job in singing all the songs. No one could have done that like him!

I hope you are now interested in both book and movie of "Into The Wild" and again I want to end my post with a quote from the book:

The seas’s only gifts are harsh blows, and occasionally the chance to feel strong. Now I don’t know much about the sea, but I do know that that’s the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.

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One more time! Correcting a piece of homework :)

Hey guys!
In November we had to hand in a piece of homework with information about a documentary called "The Story Of Ireland". This is what I handed in:
The most fascinating aspects of Irish culture that I learned about by watching the Story of Ireland were all the facts about the Irish language. The Irish language was considered the language of the poor by the Englishmen and it was banned from public and educational use. When the Penal Laws - a series of laws which imposed English rules and Enlish language - were introduced, English became the official spoken language of Ireland, was taught in school and nobody was allowed to use the Irish language in public. After a ban lasting for 200 years the Irish language was reinstated as the first language of the Irish country in 1922. Personally, I think that banning a nation's language from public use is a cruel act because people talk how they were taught to by their parents. I would not change the language I speak just because another country wants me to do so! For me the fact that the language of the Irish people was banned was the most fascinating aspect of the documentary the Story of Ireland because I now understand why they are so proud of their language.
This is the corrected version:

The most fascinating aspect of Irish culture that I learned about by watching the Story of Ireland was the Irish language. The Irish language was considered the language of the poor by the British and it was banned from public and educational use when the Penal Laws were introduced. This was a series of laws which imposed English rules and English language. English became the official spoken language of Ireland and was taught in school. Nobody was allowed to use the Irish language in public. After a ban lasting for 200 years the Irish language was reinstated as the first language of Ireland in 1922. Personally, I think that banning a nation's language from public use is a cruel act because the language is part of its culture. Destroying the culture of a people is part of destroying the people itself. I would not change the language I speak just because another country wants me to do so! For me the fact that the language of the Irish people was banned was the most fascinating aspect of the documenty the Story of Ireland because I now understand why they are so proud of their language.

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