Culture days (:

Hey guys (:

On our culture days I went to see even more than the ten presentations we were asked to see and I've to say that it was really interesting and I learned a lot of new things about the culture of Ireland and America. The three American culture presentations I listened to were about three very different topics but I liked all of them: the presentations "Comic books and superheroes", "Two Heroines of American Aviation: Amelia Earheart and Bessie Coleman" and "Huricane Preparedness" were all well prepared and well presented topics.

As much as I liked the American presentations - the Irish ones appealed even more to me. I listened to the presentations "Languages of Irish Travellers", "This is Friz!", "Witchcraft of Ireland", "Abortion Law in Ireland - A Pro-Choice View", "The history of ISL", "Hill of Tara - Historical and spiritual at the same time", "Poetry in Irish schools", "Hero or Enemy? How the World sees Bobby Sands", "The Integration of Islam in Ireland", "Homophobic Bullying in Irish schools", "The St. Magdalene Laundries in Ireland". When I say that I liked all of them I really mean that because they had all interesting aspects and I learned things I hadn't known before. One thing I really liked was to see how different the topics were presented and how well everyone hid their nervousness. Let's admit it - we were all really nervous ;)

Altough I liked all of the presentations about Ireland I managed to decide on the five which I liked most and chose these five for my KGP:

My first topic is "Homophobic Bullying in Irish schools" because I liked Shirin's presentations and I'm generally interested in this topic because I think every kind of bullying is awful and to tyrannise someone because of his or her sexual orientation is gruesome and abhorrent. This is why I chose this presentations because I think it is important to talk about topics like that.

The second presentation is "The St. Magdalene Laundries in Ireland". At first, I didn't think that this was a topic I would choose but Theresa's presentation awoke my interest. The topic was touching and the injustice which happened to these women didn't leave me cold.

"Hero or Enemy? How the world sees Bobby Sands" is the next topic I decided to choose. The main reason is because we already heard about Bobby Sands in the CLI's and I found it that interesting that I wanted to choose him myself for my culture presentation. In addition to that, I liked the way Alex organised her presentation.

The fourth topic that really appealed to me was "Witchcraft of Ireland". Sabrina's way of presenting really appealed to me and the topic is also very interesting and exciting. When she told me the idea of choosing this topic it was immediately clear that I would choose it for my KGP.

Last but not least, the last topic I decided on was "Abortion Law in Ireland - A Pro-Choice View". I wasn't able to see the presentation on the culture day but Andrina told me a lot about her topic and therefore I am sure that I've all the details I've to know about. This topic is probably one that interesets every woman and it is always a current topic and which is worth knowing about.

These are the topics I chose for my KGP and whichever I'll have to talk about I'm sure if there are any problems it won't be because of the topics I chose since I'm looking forward to learning them ;)

Save your planet!

Hey guys (:

I'm sure that everyone of you knows this organisation and their aim to save our environment. But what comes to mind if you hear the word GREENPEACE? For some of you it sure is the situation when you're walking through the city and someone bothers you and want to persuade you to listen to them and then even spend your money that you've earned on your own. As all students you probably don't have an abundance of money and you sure can imagine better ways to spend it than to donate it to an random organisation especially since there are a lot of these. I totally unterstand this attitude but nevertheless I strongly believe that  Greenpeace is an organisation worth supporting. The organisation was founded in 1971 by peace activists in Vancouver and evolved from the peace movement and anti-nuclear protests. Since then Greenpeace has prevented a lot of things that without doubt would have harmed our environment. Apart from their campaign against nuclear weapons they also fought against the pollution of the ocean and were jointly responsible for a ban on burning poisonous waste. If you want to look deeper and know more facts there are some links that could interest you:

http://www.greenpeace.de/
http://gruppen.greenpeace.de/wuppertal/ueber_uns_files/greenpeace_chronik_und_erfolge_info.pdf
http://www.greenpeace.de/ueber_uns/jahresrueckblick/

What might be interesting for those of you who like fast food - thanks to Greenpeace McDonald's signed in 2001 to not use any genetically modified animal feed.

Violence as far as the eye can see ...

Today I want to talk about a topic that I get really angry about. Has anyone of you seen the film "Cloud Atlas"? I don't know if you noticed but the television rating for this film is 12 years. In case you haven't seen the film and you don't know what I'm talking about ... in this film you can see how one man shoots another in the head, how cannibals eat people, how a man is thrown from the roof-deck of a skyscraper (and you see his landing) and a lot of other really brutal scenes. I don't want to criticise the film itself - quite the contrary, I found it really extraordinary and interesting but I think that it's just awful what kids are allowed to see. This is not the only film where the television rating isn't age-based. Once I started to pay attention I realised that 12 year old kids are allowed to see nearly everthing. I'm not telling you this because I want to discuss if vionlent video games and films give rise to violent behaviour by kids and teenagers I just want to say that it's shocking what kind of films you get if you want to buy a "children's film". I am sensitive when it comes to violence so I give films which are x-rated a wide berth and watch mainly ones which 12 year olds are allowed to watch but nowadays this strategy doesn't work anymore because also this film are too brutal for my liking. If you ask me, there's something going wrong!

Brown Eyed Baker

After looking at a lot of food blogs I didn't really like I came across this fabulous blog : It's called brown eyed baker and written by a woman who loves to bake. She tries out recipes and shares her experiences with her readers. What really appeales to me about this blog is that she doesn't just post the recipes but also explains why she chose it and what's so special about it. One post I particularly liked was the one about hummingbird cupcakes. It attracted my attention because of the extraordinary name and after reading the recipe I can imagine that the name isn't the only great thing about it. These cupcakes and hummingbird cakes in general are famous in the South of the United states. The ingredients include pineapple chunks, banana, coconut and either walnuts or pecans. The dot on the i is the topping, made of cream cheese frosting. The hummingbird cupcake is comparable to a carrot cake. You can imagine it like a tropical version of it. Since carrot cake is my favourite cake I'll definitely try out this recipe - as soon as I've found out what the right austrian measurement for "cup" is ;))

One last thing that I found really interessting is how the hummingbird cake/cupcake got its name. It is said that that the cake got its name because it makes you hum with delight (which it does according to the writer of the blog). Others say that it's because it's as sweet as the sugared water which hummingbirds love.

In case some of you also want to try the recipe:

HUMMINGBIRD CUPCAKES

yield: 22 to 24 cupcakes prep time: 20 minutes cook time: 20 minutes total time: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

Dried Pineapple Flowers (garnish):

1 whole fresh pineapple

Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 & 1/3 cups mashed banana (2 to 3 large bananas)

2/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained (about half of a 20-ounce can)

2/3 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

2/3 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened will work)

1 & 1/3 cups granulated sugar

11 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

Frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the Dried Pineapple Flowers: Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper. Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple, and slice off the outer rind. Using a small melon baller or measuring spoon, remove and discard the pineapple "eyes". Use a sharp knife to cut the pineapple crosswise into very thin slices. Place the slices on the baking sheets. Bake until the tops look dried, about 30 minutes. Flip slices; bake until completely dried, 25 to 30 minutes more (or longer, depending on their thickness). Pinch the center of each pineapple slice to shape into a cone; let cool in a clean muffin tin to form flowers. Let sit overnight so that they retain their shape. Once completely dried and shaped, the flowers can be stored (stacked) up to 3 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

2. Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard-size muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In another bowl, stir together the banana, pineapple, walnuts, and coconut; set aside.

4. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue beating until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the banana mixture to the egg mixture, beating until combined. Stir in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. (Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.)

6. Make the Frosting: Using the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and mix to incorporate. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar, until it has all been incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

7. Assemble the Cupcakes: To finish, pipe frosting onto the top of each cupcake (or use an offset spatula to spread the frosting) and top with a dried pineapple flower. (Note: I used an Ateco #806 decorating tip to frost these cupcakes.)

Gaelic football and Hurling

hey guys (: 
I've been studying the culture topics and while reading the handout about Gaelic football and Hurling I realised that I didn't really get the rules while reading them so I decided to watch a youtube video to get a better insight. You should know that I've never been a fan of watching sport. I like to it but I never enjoyed watching it. I don't know why but I just think it's boring. But these two videos are really hilarious and I definetly enjoyed watching them. I know that both, Gaelic football and Hurling, shows elements of different kinds of sports but seeing it is way more fun than just reading about is and I think it's fascinating how well the different elements are combined (:
For them who haven't looked up this topic yet and don't know what I'm talking about: Gaelic football shows skills of soccer and rugby and is played with a round leather football which is comparable to a hard volleyball. Hurling shows elements of Lacrosse, Baseball and Hockey and is played with an axe-shaped stick similar to a hockey stick.
But I really recommend you just watch these videos yourself and see what I'm talking about ;)

Martin Luther King Day - 21st of january

One of the american CLI's we have to study is the one about Martin Luther King and his famous speech "I have a dream". Since you're all very well informed about this topic I don't have to fill you in but I just want to say that I think it's really great what Martin Luther King achieved and, most important, how he achieved it. I wanted to post about this already yesterday but since I had been busy all day long I didn't get a chance ;) but know I have time to share my opinion with you. Like I wrote before, I am really fascinated by MLK's achievements and I think we all should follow his lead and accept each other as we are, no matter where we're from and what we look like. In my opinion it's awful that there are still people who discriminate African Americans due to their skin colour and as long as it's that way there's still room for improvement. What I also really admired about him was that he fought for his dreams in a nonviolent way. More people should try this way ...