Goodbye 2013!

Christmas is barely over and the next reason to celebrate is already here: New Year’s Eve. Or at least for a big part of the world it is. There are, however, countries where New Year is celebrated on different dates.

The probably most well-known example is China where the Lunar New Year is celebrated on the first new moon of the first lunar month, which falls between January 21 and February 21. This year the Chinese year started on February 10, 2013 and it will end on January 30, 2014. The next year will last from January 31, 2014 to February 18, 2015. Chinese New Year is celebrated in a number of countries with significant Chinese population, including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. In China New Year’s Eve and the first two days after are public holidays, but most people take more days off and instead work on Saturday before and Sunday after New Year’s. There are many traditions that precede the actual holiday which then lasts for another fifteen days again filled with many traditions. 

Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashanah, is a two days celebration 163 days after the first day of Pesach, which means the earliest date on which it can fall is September 5 and the latest is October 5. In 2013 it was celebrated on September 5 and September 6. For Jews the holiday is the Judgment Day and the day to take a look at their religious and moral behavior of the past year and pray for a good future. It’s also a day to celebrate. 

Islamic New Year takes place on the first day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is based on twelve lunar months and has only 354 days, New Year occurs about eleven days earlier every year in relation to the Gregorian calendar. In 2008 there were even two Muslim New Year’s. In 2013 it was celebrated on November 4.

Many countries were the Eastern Orthodox Church predominates celebrate New Year not only on January 1, but also on January 14 which is the first day of the Julian calendar. It is called Old New Year and celebrated as a religious feast. 

These were just a few examples, there are many more countries that celebrate New Year on a different date than the western world. And even though most countries of the western world might agree on the same date to celebrate, the way how New Year’s Eve and Day are celebrated varies from country to country. 

Here in Austria people usually celebrate in bigger groups with friends and family. A common custom is Molybdomancy, where molten lead or tin is dropped into cold water where it hardens. The forms are often interpreted symbolically. Another tradition is watching the English TV-sketch Dinner for One which is broadcasted every year. At midnight the sound of the Pummerin, the bell of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, is broadcasted by all radio and television programs and then the Donauwalzer (The Blue Danube) is played. Family and friends wish each other “Einen guten Rutsch”, drink to the New Year and fireworks are set off. 

In England the celebrations in London around the Big Ben are televised by the BBC. At midnight people sing Auld Lang Syne and there is a firework. On January 1 celebrations continue with a New Year’s Day Parade.

In Italy wearing red underwear is a tradition. Another one – though it is rarely followed these days – is to get rid of old items by throwing them out of the window. Fireworks are also set off. 

Wearing new red underwear is also a tradition in Spain. The countdown at midnight on New Year's Eve is followed by twelve chimes from the clock on top of the Casa de Correos building on the Puerta del Sol Square in Madrid. It’s traditional to eat a grape on every chime of the clock. After family dinner and eating the grapes many young people attend cotillones de nochevieja parties in pubs or clubs. 

In the US there are also parties on New Year’s Eve and the famous “ball drop” is held on Times Square in New York City. At 11:59 pm ET a Waterford Crystal ball located on the roof of One Times Square is lowered down a 70 feet (that’s about 21 meters) high pole. This tradition comes from time balls that were used as time signalling devices in earlier times.

I personally don’t have a real New Year’s Eve tradition. I usually celebrate with my family or friends, eat and drink a lot and watch the fireworks. 

Wherever or however you are celebrating, I wish you a happy New Year and good luck for 2014! 

Saving people, hunting things, the family business

One of my favorite TV-series of all times is the American The CW-show Supernatural. Like the name already suggests it mainly belongs to the fantasy genre though it also contains much action, horror and humor from time to time. Supernatural first aired on September 13, 2005 and The CW currently shows the ninth season. It focuses on two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester (played by actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), who are hunters of supernatural creatures, such as demons, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, and many other monsters. Their mother, Mary, was killed by a demon when both of them were young children causing their father, John, to start hunting. While Dean always followed John’s guidelines and rules and took up hunting at an early age, his younger brother Sam refused to do so and went to university to study law instead. At the beginning of the first season John disappears and Sam’s girlfriend Jess dies the same way their mother did, so Sam rejoins Dean in order to hunt down the demon that killed Jess and their mother and find their father. 

For every season there is a different main story arc, such as finding their father in the first one, but there are always smaller subplots. Though the brothers are the only constant main characters, there are a handful of others who play major roles throughout the series and there is a number of constantly changing supporting cast members. Next to Sam and Dean the most important figures are Castiel (played by Misha Collins), a fallen angel who joins them in the fourth season when they fight the apocalypse, and Bobby (played by Jim Beaver), a hunter who was friends with the father of the brothers and helps them whenever they are in trouble. The most consistent bad guy is a demon called Crowley (played by Mark Sheppard) who also thinks of himself as King of Hell. The brothers are sometimes forced to work with him to fight common enemies which is always very troublesome.

Dean, Sam and Castiel (from left to right)

While monster stories predominated the first three seasons, most storylines now involve religious themes, starting off with the approaching apocalypse and the introduction of angels and the devil in the fourth season. Still, Supernatural always tries to work in new legends and creatures to keep it original and fit in some humorous episodes between the dark and serious ones, which is a reason why I love the series so much. They manage the perfect balance between horror, drama and comedy. Although some episodes are shocking or sad, there are always others that make you laugh. It’s sometimes really comedic, but without being silly or unrealistic. But my favorite aspect overall is the relationship between Sam and Dean. It’s enjoyable to watch, because they have an authentic sibling relationship and bicker about little things, but they always have each other’s back when something bad happens. And it’s also refreshing that the series doesn’t focus on romance and the main characters love lives unlike many other TV-series. 

After the ninth season of Supernatural, show-runner Jeremy Carver has a tenth and final one planned. In summer 2013 The CW announced that there was a spin-off of the series in the works with the 20^th episode of season nine being the back-door pilot for it. 

All in all I would recommend Supernatural for everyone who likes fantasy and horror movies or TV-series, because it has likeable characters, thrilling storylines and a tad of humor that makes it very fun to watch.

YOUPOST 3

One of my biggest dreams is to travel the world. Sadly until now the farthest I’ve been away from home was Egypt – it was a great holiday, exotic and very different from anything I had ever seen before, but I still want to see more countries and get to know more cultures. If I could travel anywhere in the world right now I would probably choose the US. Why? Well, for one it’s one of the biggest countries in the world with a number of interesting places to visit. Cities such as New York, L.A., Chicago, San Francisco, etc. are very well-known over here and locations for many movies and TV-series I love – which is another reason to visit: I’d love to compare TV and reality. Because sometimes when I watch my favorite TV-series I find myself wondering how close the way of living that is portrayed on TV is to reality and how much of it is only exaggerated. And of course, since I’m studying English now and learned so much about the most important events in American history in the last month, I became even more curious and interested in traveling there.

  

 

Choosing where to go to isn’t the easiest decision, because – as I mentioned before – it’s a really big country with countless intriguing places. I decided to plan a trip to New York, which is one of the most well-known cities of the world with a lot of famous sights, so it’s probably a great destination for my very first trip to the US. The next decision is when to go. After putting some thought into that question, I decided to plan my trip for February, when I have my five weeks semester break. I decided against going in summer, because I normally work in the summer holidays and I’ll need the money, as a trip to the US is expensive.

Money is actually my biggest problem when it comes to traveling in general and the reason why I don’t travel as much as I would like to. Being a student I get support from my parents, but they won’t pay all my travel costs just because I want to see the world. And only working in the summer holidays doesn’t earn me enough money to go to fascinating places all the time. But if I plan carefully and don’t expect the highest standard everywhere I go, I can get by fine. If I want to fly for under €500, I’ll have to prepare myself for a long and uncomfortable flight. The same goes for accommodation: I certainly won’t stay in a luxurious five-star hotel. 

When I’m finally in NYC I intent to make the most of it and see many of the famous sights and places. I’ll try to walk as much as possible, because you often find yourself in more interesting situations if you go by foot. You meet more people and maybe get ideas from occurrences in your surroundings you wouldn’t get from sitting in a car or train. And of course it’s also free. If I can’t reach a destination by foot, I’ll go by train or subway, but I’ll try to avoid taxis, as they are more expensive. 

I definitely want to visit the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero and take a walk through Central Park. Then I’d like to take a trip with the Staten Island Ferry and see the Brooklyn Bridge. I’d also like to see Madison Square Garden, because it’s one of the most famous arenas of the world. If I end up going to New York with my sisters and my father we’d definitely want to go to a hockey game in MSG as we are all big hockey fans and it would be an amazing experience for sure. I also want to see the Time Square and Broadway and maybe even watch a musical there, because I love musicals. 

 

In addition to all these things there’s another important element for me in traveling: food. I don’t need expensive restaurants with fancy dishes, but I always want to try typical food for the region I’m in. America is a melting pot, it unites many cultures in one country and that is also very noticeable in New York. The cuisine of New York City is influenced by the many ethnic groups that call the city their home now. I want to try as much international dishes as possible, starting with a trip to Chinatown, trying some New York-style plain pizza, having tacos, bagels and burgers, eating Vietnamese, Pakistani, Korean, Russian, and more. I’m generally very open when it comes to food and I like to try new things, so I think I’ll love that side of my journey.

I know that my bank account won’t be very happy about all my plans, but I’m generally quite good in spending the least money as possible. I’m aware that I’ll still spend a lot, but I’m sure that I will have some great experiences and much fun in return!

Love Actually

Yes, this is going to be another post related to Christmas, but I can’t help it, I really love the holiday season. And I have to start blogging more often, so I figured I’ll post about anything that comes to my mind. This time it’s going to be about one of my favorite Christmas movies: Love Actually. It’s a British love comedy from 2003 and it stars many famous British actors and actresses such as Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman and many more. It tells ten different love stories which are all connected somehow and it is set mainly in London. The film starts five weeks before Christmas and counts down the time until the holidays week by week. 

One of my favorite scenes of the whole movie is the very first one. It shows people welcoming their arriving family members or friends at Heathrow Airport. They are hugging, kissing and laughing. A voiceover by Hugh Grant (who plays the Prime Minister of Great Britain in the movie) talks about how he always thinks of this happiness and love in the arrival hall of Heathrow Airport when he “gets gloomy with the state of the world”. He goes on talking about different kinds of love – between parents and children, old friends or lovers – and says that if you look for it “love actually is all around”. 

This intro leads to the main part of the film, which consists of ten different love stories. For example David, who just became Prime Minister, falls in love with his secretary. His sister Karen is afraid her husband Harry is having an affair. Karen’s best friend Daniel recently lost his wife and on top of that his stepson is in love for the first time and needs a plan to charm his girl. Then there is Mark, who is in love with his best friend’s wife Juliet. Or Jamie who discovers his girlfriend has been cheating on him with his brother and goes to France, where he ends up falling in love with his housekeeper Aurelia, who only speaks Portuguese and doesn’t understand him. 

Well, I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I admit, if you read my short summary it sounds like a ridiculously cheesy romantic movie, but it’s actually not as bad as I made it seem. Sure, the main topic of the movie is definitely love and I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anybody who can’t stand romantic comedies in general, but I think everybody who likes to relax while watching a not so serious movie from time to time would enjoy it. It contains a lot of humor and the various different stories help keeping the movie dynamic and entertaining, so it doesn’t become boring. The characters are also very likeable, so you keep hoping for a happy end for all of them. But – and this is also one of the things I really like about the film – not all of them get their happy end. I like that, because as we know in life we don’t always get what we want and not every love story ends well. 

Another reason to love the movie is that it also has a great soundtrack with some slow songs, some faster tunes and some Christmas hits, which set the mood for the holiday season. One of the “best” Christmas songs ever came out of Love Actually, namely a song called Christmas Is All Around sung by the unsuccessful singer Billy Mack in the movie. And if you think the title sounds vaguely familiar, then you are right: It’s a (very bad) cover of the song Love Is All Around by The Troggs, later covered by Wet Wet Wet. If you want to have a listen, here it is: 

In conclusion, I love the movie because it always makes me happy and puts me in a Christmas mood, so if you happen to be not happy or in a Christmas mood you might give it a try!

My Christmas Tradition

Since we talked about Christmas in class today I thought I could share my “Christmas tradition” with you. As an Austrian I celebrate it on Christmas Eve, which is December 24^th, rather than Christmas Day, December 25^th, like Americans and some other countries do. For my family Christmas is a reason to come together and see each other again after some while, because everybody has some time off. 

In the morning of December 24^th, usually around 10 am, my parents, my sisters and I go to my grandparents’ house, where we meet all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. We normally spend the day chatting, playing cards or board games, eating much good food and we always take a walk together in the woods next to my grandparents’ house – which is especially great when it snows. Around 3 pm we say our goodbyes, exchange presents with all the others and drive home again. 

There my mother starts preparing dinner, while my father, my sisters and I pick up my other grandparents, who always spend the evening with us. When we come back home, dinner is usually ready and we sit down in the living room – next to the Christmas tree and all the presents – and eat. When my sisters and I were younger we used to get very impatient and couldn’t wait for dinner to be over to finally open our presents, but now we are a lot calmer and enjoy the meal more. My sister always plays some Christmas songs on the guitar after we finish eating and I read the Christmas story of the Gospel of Luke and we say a prayer. Then it’s finally time for the presents! After giving and receiving our presents, we continue sitting together for a bit, eat some Christmas cookies and sometimes we attend Christmas mass.  

In general Christmas is a family holiday for me. It’s the one time of the year everybody has some time off to relax and we come together and spend time with each other, which I always enjoy very much.

I wish all of you Merry Christmas - or Happy Holidays (whichever you prefer)!