Ja, dieses Schunkeln kann ich nicht ausstehn

Oh Lord. OK. This is probably my very last post. I'm scared. The city is under siege, shops are closing down and the enemies are about to attack. It will start. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, the end begins. I shake in my boots, and fill jute-bags with sand, I stopped showering with water three weeks ago and use Früh beer instead, hoping against hope that they might not smell me, yet I cannot but shiver at the mere evocation of the word :

Carneval

Carneval is upon us, my friends, and we'll need all the support we can get. My sister's coming over with her husband V, and if that cannot trump the odds and help me have a cool week-end nonetheless, then I'm sure that nothing can.

I do not understand carneval. I am scared of the drunken packs roaming the streets. I do not like to dress up, and have a (I believe very healthy) severe dislike to Volksmusik. I do not understand it, and I do not mean that in a metaphorical way. I asked my roommates the other day about the posters that you can see all over the city, with "Kölle Alaaf" written on them. Roommate 1 said : "I don't think it means anything, I think it's just an exclamation, kinda like "yay" or something". To which roommate 2 answered "Yeah, arschloch is an exclamation too, it still means something". I feel very close to roommate 2's Carneval-spiritedness, these days.

But I'm sure we can overcome. I'm sure we can manage to avoid the worst part of it and just enjoy the fun. Because I've heard of a few sane people who actually enjoy Carneval. A few cool bars, and a few parades are supposed to be quite pretty and colorful, and even, on occasions, fun. I'm scared because when I ask people how to avoid the worst parts, I'm generally laughed at. I don't get any anwer. Just ominous giggles, and, when I'm real lucky, a look of amused pity. But I'm sure we can manage.

If we don't, well, we'll just go home and hide under my bed, all three of us. Whatever happens, I'm pretty sure we'll have a laugh!

Over the hillside, and over the sea

My big sisters are sad today.

Sometimes, there's just nothing you can say that will make things any better, because everything is just plain unfair and terrible. But when there's that much love around someone, I really believe that things are bound to turn out all right in the end.


Please, please know I'm here if you need me, like you always are.

Sense and...

Well reader, there we are, I am back to France for a little while before going to Belgium on brand new adventures! Wonder what will happen when I come back from there, I tell you... I have so no plans at all, I am starting to make some to move to New Zealand and become a sheep farmer.

So, yeah. Over and done with Stuttgart, where I actually spent about three days over the two and a half months I was in Germany, since I actually lived nearer Böblingen. Still, I'll say Stuttgart, it's bigger and more well known.

I hate leaving. I hate packing, I hate saying goodbye, I know it's not very original, but it's true. I've kind of had enough saying "see you soon" to people while knowing I won't, actually. I've had enough of leaving, but I've not had enough of going places, and I still am always happy to come home, so I guess I'll have to deal with some more of that sooner or later...

Still, as you say goodbye, you like to look back on the good things that happened while you were away, so here are 5 things I loved about living in Germany over the past two and a half months.

1. My roommate. Now it would be a long post if I had to go over the details, but my roommate was great. He enlightened me about Bärchenwurst (sausage shaped as a little smiling bear. Would you agree to say it's a little wrong?), Dosenwurst (tinned sausage --very wrong, no argument there), Schweinskopfsülze (you don't even want to know), powdered little bugs swimming in vitamin-flour (still not over this one), death metal underground punk dark clubs, how to use my blinker, cinema from modern-time eastern Germany, quite a lot of music, the difference between Abend and Nacht, Nacktschnecken (a slug, in German, is actually officially called "a naked snail". Is it not great, reader?) the difference between a star and a faraway plane and many, many other things. For all this thanks, very sincerely. And if you hear me, which you don't, mach's gut. Please.

2. The cool people I met. An incredible quantity of cool people. A special mention to H. our really great "nearly-neighbour", fun and interesting and welcoming, and his friends B and G with whom I had many great evenings, to B, my roommate's best friend, who is quite simply amazing and whom I wish I had had time to know better, here's to V, also, who was very drunk and said, "I am full wie die Badewanne" the night I met him (in so many words, half English, half German. A Badewanne is a bathtub. I suspect it was close to reality). Won me over. And to R, as well, who had, weirdly, an é in his first name, and who made me feel at home even though I was not, and to all those who were patient and OK with repeating things when I had to ask them to. I appreciate it very much. Once again, thanks go to M, my roommate, for helping me meet them all.

3. Much less important, but Subway. We don't have Subways in France (at least, not in my region). We should.

4. The culture of Barbecue. How great is that? I love barbecue as it is, but in Germany, they take it to a whole new level. Marinated meat, amazing sauces, incredible amounts of so called "baguettes", salads and potatoes and potato salads and hanging around in gardens with your friends... What's not to love, I ask you? Ok, maybe smoke and bug bites and smelling like bacon for days, but even smelling like bacon for days can be seen as an advantage. Who doesn't love bacon, honestly?

5. The faraway-so close aspect of Germany. Germany's abroad, there's not denying it, however close the Alsacian culture may be to that of our neighbors to the East, and yet I feel weirdly at ease over there. Also the fact that I could go home and see my friends and my family whenever I wanted was nice. Maybe I'll go back there soon, and visit some other part of the country... More preparation for the European tests in April might still be a very good plan... I heard Hamburg was wonderful... Any advice?

But my heart told my head

Pour une fois, un post en Français. Pour ma grand mère Jeannine, à qui j'ai loupé l'occasion de le dire. Je ne sais pas exactement pourquoi je suis en train d'écrire ça, probablement que c'est parce que j'ai trop peur pour le lire à l'église. Mais : C'est important quand même donc : Voilà, une petite liste de ce qu'elle m'aura apporté, personnellement, et aussi peut-être à ses 18 autres petits enfants.

- Un goût pour l'art et les belles choses, et l'expression en général. Un goût tellement prononcé qu'il aura même créé de vraies vocations chez certain(e)s d'entre nous.

-Un goût prononcé pour mettre les mains dans la patasse, dû aux séances de malaxage de glaise quand j'étais petite.

-Un goût prononcé pour les "beaux mecs", et pour les solides, aussi, parce qu'elle n'avait pas choisi n'importe quel grand-père.

-Un amour inconditionnel des "BN tout nus" + beurre et miel

-Des tas de souvenirs de vacances d'été, sous le cerisier, (généralement les mains dans la patasse)

-Une critique positive de Jane Eyre, qui m'a aussi encouragée à le lire.

-Tous ces livres d'art, dans la bibliothèque, et plus particulièrement ceux sur les créatures fantastiques. Qui font peur, mais qui sont tellement romantiques.

-Des Noëls, des rencontres chez elle avec des cousins et des cousines qu'on ne voit pas si souvent finalement, et que du coup, on considère comme une vraie famille. Un sens du QG. Qui restera là longtemps, longtemps après son départ, parce qu'on ne va pas laisser tomber ça comme ça.

-Des éclats de rires qu'on pouvait entendre depuis le premier étage. Et probablement depuis la maison d'en face.

-Un certain amour des animaux et des gens. Et la conclusion que "plus on les observe, et plus on les observe de près, moins on en a peur". Dans sa bouche, ça parlait d'une araignée dans sa cave, mais je pense que ça s'applique assez bien à l'alsacien d'à côté, en fait.

-Du coup, des voisins qui l'aiment, et ça, on ne peut pas en dire autant de tout le monde. Cheannine, elle a su s'intégrer.

-Ma maman, et des oncles et tantes, qui seraient autrement si elle avait été autrement, mais autrement, ça ne seraient pas eux, et eux, c'est mieux.

Il en manque, il en manque des tonnes, mais il va falloir faire avec. Les gens qui partent, ça donne toujours l'impression qu'on n'en a pas fait assez. Mille mercis, donc, et désolée.

It's not easy...

Well, I've written a post some time ago about songs in movies and series, and then I wrote another one about movies that make you cry, and after being (once again) reduced to a pathetic soup after listening, in a row, to all the great, great songs my friend H gave me (they always have that soupifying effect on me, but I've had a sad, sad week this week too, so it kind of soupified me ²), I decided to tell you about one particular song, which is kind of part of the soundtrack of my life, and always makes me feel better.

The song, reader (yeah, that suspense was killing you I know, it's about to end, pretty soon. By the way, did you know that it snowed in Colmar this week ? Amazing, innit ?) is called "Superman". Hence the "soundtrack of my life" comment, since you know by now that I have superpowers, an amazing strength, and a thing for capes. Nah, just kidding (about the superpower thing, I do think capes are the ultimate classy accessory, and they should be made compulsory from the age of 20 onwards). The only superpower I have is that of helping old ladies reach the can of peas on the top shelf in grocery stores. And I often demand to get paid.

Anyway. "Superman, It's not easy" is a song by the Five for Fighting, which, as soon as I steal the secret of the deezer.com widget from M, I will link here, for you to listen to. It was used in many soundtracks, because it's so beautiful and cool, and it's about Superman and how it's not easy to be great. It makes me feel better for two main reasons :

-It goes "It's not easy to be me" and "even heroes have the right to bleed" and stuff, and it's a bit like someone going "now now, darling, you're just great, it's OK to crack down once in a while" like that. Handy to have someone like that in your MP3 player for nights of desperation...

-After listening to it a little while, it makes me laugh, because as I stated earlier, I have no superpowers, and my life is pretty easy. So I exaggerate the drama queen aspect of crying to a song, laugh a little at myself, think about why my life's so easy, and then I always feel much better. I had to change the next track on said MP3 player though, because it was a song by Francis Cabrel, whom you probably don't know if you're not French, but who is a disease which can only be cured by two lexomils and a triple vodka. Now the next track is Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca". Thank God for Ricky Martin.

Anyway. A song I wanted to share with you, so that maybe it works on you too. Have a nice day !!

Hello hello... I don't know why you say good bye, I say hello...

Ah, reader! How weird! It's still my blog, but it's not my blog anymore! The adress has changed! (you might have noticed, I suppose...) Yeah, I figured, after a while, it would be a good idea to be a little more anonymous, so now, in case you don't know me personally, you're not allowed to know my surname.

I'm sure you're broken-hearted, imaginary reader who doesn't know me personnally. My huge fan club is going to be really sad. I hope the suicide wave induced by the sudden disappearance of my previous adress won't be too terrible. I'm already feeling guilty...

Anyway. So here we are, now, on bloodyblunder.blogspot.com. I thought it would be a good idea, as it is a reference to something silly but not too much, and still has to do with my learning English and hunting all these Bloody Blunders...

Well, that's pretty much all I have to say today, so I'm just going to stop writing now, and start working, for a change...
:D Here you go. Something I could not really write on my previous adress...

Have a nice day!

We will rock you

Well, reader, yesterday was my second day back at the university! Nice to be active again, nice to have to wake up for a purpose!

Well, I'm not going to lie, of course, I curse my alarm clock in the morning, and I'm sick as well, which did not help, but well, still, it's nice to get back to some work! I went to the university by car by the way! I'm so glad I got my driver's licence, really! It's weird, driving when you're sick... I don't quite hear things in the same way as usual... and trying to blow my nose on the highway ended up to be pretty... well, OK, that's gross, let's change the subject...

I had a little accident coming today, by the way... I drove into the sidewalk, lost a wheel-cover, and drove on it, so as to be REALLY sure we could never use it again. Then I felt really silly. Anyway. So much for my very interesting adventures...

I'm writing this post today, because, big news, I am going to change the adress of this blog, in order to be a little more discreet about who I am (even though I am aware of the fact that NO ONE cares about who I am...) The only problem is, I have ridiculous ideas about what to choose, before the .blogspot.com. And yes, I am also aware of the fact that NO ONE cares what the exact adress is. But still.

I thought about "muchadoaboutme.blogspot.com", which is a little magalomaniac, and already taken anyway. So I tried muchado.blogspot.com, but it doesn't sound to good, and it's already taken too. I guess I must have an un-original mind...

So I'm writing this post today, reader, so that maybe you can give me some ideas! I'm at a loss, really, so if you have any, feel free to comment. Besides, it might happen that I absolutely don't ever change my blog's name, because it's MY blog, and I don't want it to change, but well, you never know, I'm always stressed out about someone googling my name and ending up on my post about how I can't get to work because I'm lazy and things... You never know. (I always day-dream about people googling my name, it's weird... Maybe it's because I looove googling people's names myself...)

Have a nice day!!

PS: This post was originally suposed to be about A Knight's Tale, but I got the news of Heath Ledger's death this morning, and it all suddenly seemed ironic. I don't feel entitled to speak about it, but I feel bad about not mentionning it, so I settled for these few lines: I feel really sorry, and wish I could have seen plenty of other movies with this very good actor.

Long Ride Home...

Well, well, well...

It's June 30th, and tomorrow, I'm going back to France! I guess I have to stop pretending the semester is not over and stop writing this blog... But I thought I would say good bye to you reader!


I just wanted to thank the whole SUK4 class and its teacher, for helping me make the most of my stay in Graz, I just loved my semester here, I learnt so much, and met so many great people!! I kept complaining all year through about the amount of work, and lack of inspiration, and stuff, but it was one of the most exciting tasks I ever have had to do for a university course. Maybe I'll keep it up, who knows...

My point is, I loved going to the English classes, I loved blogging, and it was both a pleasure and a chance to get to meet you guys.


My parents have come to get me, and we're hitting the road at 9, so I guess I'd better keep packing all my stuff! Well, stuffing everything into big Billa plastic bags is a more accurate description of what I am doing. (I knew there was a reason why I kept buying new ones instead of bringing the old ones with me!) I can't wait to be back in France and see my friends again, I've missed them so much, but leaving is going to be so sad! Well, all things must come to an end, I guess that's what they say!


I hate packing, it makes me feel so blue, and writing a good bye post is not helping much I have to say. Maybe I'll keep blogging. Maybe I'll feel too sad at home, not able to write about the latest TV show I discovered, or what I ate for lunch... I don't know! Que sera sera!


I also wanted to tell you, my door got unhinged again today! I think it (should I say she? she's so much like a real person to me now. I talk to her, I even gave her a pet name (Dorothy -get the joke? Door-othy!! Ha hahaha! No? Well. Ok.). Anyway, were was I? Oh, yeah. I think she would like to come with me back to France tomorrow! I'd take you Dottie, but I'd like my deposit back too...


Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say, I'll miss you a lot, I'll miss Graz a lot, and I just hope we'll meet again!!! Thanks for everything!! All the best ot all of you! And if ANY of you comes to Strasbourg EVER, please (really) contact me!!!