Beiträge von Serenissima

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all


    Hmm...for a first time visit I would suggest a ride with the Staten Island Ferry. It's for free and lots of fun...and you'll see the boroughs...at least Staten Island. ;)
    Greenwich Village is also worth a visit and Washington Square Park...hmm...then, of course, Central Park. Oh and in the evening when the Empire State Building is already closed, you have to go to the Top of the Rock Observation Platform. It's on top of the Rockefeller Center and there are no rails and bars around but glass walls. Best view of Manhattan you can buy with money! Even better than the ESB since you actually see the ESB. ;) Loved it!
    And for the day time again: Maybe you're lucky and you run into a street fair on some of the streets. They are amazing and you can buy and eat local food as well as, depending on the area you're in, exotic food like Jamaican, Cuban, etc. Chinatown is also an option. But beware of buying anything from anyone on the street or out of cars or back doors. :lachen: The police is closer than you think. :D


    Anything else...? Not sure. Maybe I'll remember some stuff...sooner or later. ;)




    DUI is always a problem but fortunately there are also smart people and those manage to do the exact thing you described. Getting a driver. ;)


    Yeah, I got what you meant. I totally agree with you on it. Just sometimes it's hard to keep the cool and not to insult local people on their cultural ignorance on visiting cultures. Nevermind though. :lachen:

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Zitat von Fabi


    Yeah, I know, but that's ok.
    I'm so happy that I get to spend my 18th birthday in this city, I'm just going to enjoy the atmosphere in Manhattan and on the next day I'm gonna sit on a plane to Germany, where I can party and do whatever I want. :D
    Well, the age 21 thing is exaggerated compared to the age where you can sign up to fight abroad in the U.S. army - risking your life - which is 17 or 18....However, if you visit another country you have to either accept its laws, manners and attitudes...or don't visit it. That's what I tell people when they complain about the patriotism of the Americans. :lachen:


    Yeah, Manhattan is great. I hate Time Square, though. Way too many tourists for my taste and pretty boring. :lachen: I'd rather visit the Village or hang around Union Square. ;)
    Well, the 21 rule hasn't changed anything about drunk driving and people drinking underaged. My host sister was 19 and she had massive parties with booze and weed at the house. No one really cared and all the guests drove home themselves. Luckily none got ever caught by the police or had an accident. :Oo:


    Hmm...when I was in the States I accepted the laws...but I never bent to attitudes or manners if I had the feeling that they were stupid or simply wrong...and I'm still not a fan of that brainless patriotism some Americans show and the arrogance they carry with it.



    @Minchen, I love vegetarian food. So many good things. Of course, some vegetables I really don't like but I don't have to eat them, do I? ;)

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all



    Australia is still on my list. So let's see. Maybe after the Staatsexamen. ;)


    Wifi at Newark...sorry, I really don't know. :D


    I've been to Baltimore. It's not really worth a visit. The city is...let's call it, "unattractive". ;) However, the harbor is quite nice. The only place worth a visit, actually.
    But remember that even when you're 18 and in NYC, you're still not allowed to party. It's quite a little dissappointing that a city like NYC is quite a desert when it comes to underaged partying. There are some clubs but there aren't really good. You should try to go to a concert, a comedy show or visit a musical. That's the best you can do. :)


    Japan is fun. Little crazy, though but not as crazy as people might think. People are the same as here just some cultural differences not really worth mentioning. But it's horribly expensive. Try buying a watermelon for under 6 euros. Or a nice peach for 4 euros. Quite insane!
    I've been to Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara and some temple and shrine places around.


    I cannot really say anthing about Singapore but my dad was there and he told me that the airport is quite amazing. Coolest airport he's ever been to. ;)


    Annina, I have to agree with you that the "traditional" Japanese breakfast is a little...weird. :D I had to get used to fried fish, rice and cole slaw in the morning but after a couple of days it was ok.


    @Minchen, allergies are usually no problem. You only have to ask what's in the food and they (most of the time) are ready to tell. :lachen: However, you shouldn't be a vegetarian maybe. As far as I know and what my brother and the Japanese I met say, there are no vegetarians in Japan and if they are, there are so few of them they're not worth mentioning. :hmm:lachen:

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Zitat von Fabi


    Thanks for the info.
    I'm going to stay near the zoo, I think it's only 3 metro stations to the Capitol. I made a reservation for a capitol tour in the morning and then we'll just continue from there.
    I will be flying into Jersey for that trip, by the way. :lachen:
    Have you ever visited the family you stayed with in NJ again?


    That'll work. You'll enjoy it. The Smithsonian's are great and you have to take a look at the Rocky Balboa "Memorial". :D


    Oh, so you're going to see lovely Newark, I guess? ;) The airport isn't that interesting, though. :lachen:
    No, this year I was actually planning on visiting them but changed plans and visited my brother in Japan instead. Was an amazing trip. :)
    However, my host family in NJ just sold the old house and so I don't know where they moved. Have to ask some time soon, though.


    How long are you going to stay in the States?

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Hey Fabi!


    I almost forgot that this thread existed. How embarrassing. :rotwerd:


    Well, depends on where you are in D.C.. If you manage to get close to the Capitol you can practically visit all major sights. They're all in walking distant. Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the White House, the Capitol, Smithsonian Museums, Washington Mall, etc. If you're fast you can manage to visit everything in one day. ;)



    Annina, I have a friend who moved to Australia and I'm so jealous of the weather right now. Enjoy spring! :)

  • Übersetzungshilfe - Translating

    SnapesAngel Gern geschehen. :*


    Annina Also, ich würde das so übersetzen, dass die Familie dich erstmal haben will und dann, nach dem halben Jahr/Jahr mit dir "verlängern" kann, dich also nochmal ein halbes Jahr/Jahr als Au-Pair behalten könnte, wenn du das möchtest. Es wäre einfach eine Verlängerung deiner Zeit bei ihnen.
    Typische Au-Pair Formulierung. :lachen:

  • Übersetzungshilfe - Translating

    Zitat von SnapesAngel

    Ich hab auch ein Anliegen. Könnte mir evtl. jemand 2 oder 3 Kapitel aus meinen FF auf Englisch übersetzen? Mein Englisch ist zwar ziemlich gut, aber an ganzes Kapitel traue ich mich nicht wirklich ran und ich hab bei FB ziemlich viele englischsprachige Mitspieler und ich würde denen das gerne zum Lesen geben. Die Kapitel sind nicht sonderlich lang


    Falls du noch niemanden hast, dann könnte ich das übernehmen. Hab gerade einiges an Zeit. :D

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Zitat von Fabi

    Every day? Ok, that's a little too much, I think. :D
    Does that happen at every school? Because I've never heard of this being carried out so frequently.


    Zitat von Fabi

    But for sports events it's ok to play the anthem, in my opinion. They also do that in Germany sometimes even if both teams are German.


    All schools (kindergarten, primary/middle/high school) I ever visited had the same procedure. They do not sing the anthem of course but the anthem exists. Same goes for alot of summer camps. There you have the flag procedure and sometimes the pledge too. That is definitely way too much for me. :) I'm fine with sports events as well, though.



    Zitat von Fabi

    Are you really sure about that?
    I don't know about the pledge, but I cannot imagine that you have to enter the U.S. every 24 months if you are a natural-born citizen of the United States. I know that people with greencards have to face problems like that. If they stay outside the U.S. for more than 6 months, immigration authorities will keep an eye on them and if they do that again they might loose the greencard because they don't live in the United States (anymore).
    But natural-born citizens? I can't imagine that.
    A friend of mine was born in Florida to German parents and is now living in Germany. I haven't asked him in detail about something like a pledge on the constitution. But we talked about his dual citizenship, e.g. that he would have to give up German citizenship (at least temporally) if he joined the U.S. army. I think he would have told me if he had to see somebody at the embassy every other year to pledge on the consitution.


    She's only born there but never really lived there. They moved back to Germany when she was about 8 months old. Maybe, that wasn't long enough to live there and so her passport is more like a greencard? :hmm Since she is only 11 now, she does not have a double citizenship but only the American. She will give that one up, though, I think. She doesn't like the English language nor does she like America very much. :lachen:

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Zitat von Fabi

    Yeah, maybe their patriotism goes a little too far sometimes.
    When are these flag ceremonies held in school? I think it's ok if they played the national anthem let's say at the end and the beginning of the school year. It might just look weird for us, because we're not used to it, but that's just the way the Americans live and as long as they do that in their own country, that's perfectly fine with me.


    The flag ceremony (+anthem) and the home room procedure is held every morning before lessons start, so every student has to attend it. The national anthem is, as you probably know, also played at all sports events in school and outside school. So, it's always a lot of anthem. :lachen:



    Zitat von Fabi

    Can you explain that a little more detailed? Why and where does she have to do that?
    I mean what are they supposed to do if she doesn't pledge on the consitution? :D
    I assume it's not that easy to remove U.S. citizenship from a natural born. :Oo:



    She is now living in Germany and to keep the American citizenship she has to go to the American embassy once a year and has to do the pledge on the constitution. Other than that, she has to visit the States at least every 24 months if I remember right. :gruebel:


    Zitat von Fabi

    So you got pulled over for speeding although you stayed just fine within the speed limit? Okay, that's weird. :lachen:


    Yup, we were all within the speed limit and still got pulled over. Happens. ;)

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    American patriotism is a pretty weird thing for me. I really didn't mind it when I was staying there for only two weeks. I really didn't care at all.
    After a year, however, things changed a little. For me, it became somehow too much. In Highschool for example, they have the flag ceremony where the flag is hoist up in front of the school while the national anthem is playing all over the school. Then there's home room where you watch commercials for the army and do the pledge on the flag. It's the same at college sometimes. That's incredibly annoying and a little crazy. My cousin is born in the states and since she lives in Germany she has to do the pledge on the constitution every other year. It was quite hard at the time she couldn't read since she's only 11 now. :gruebel:


    British patriotism is, on the other hand, something completely different. Most people from the UK are actually not proud of being British but of being either Welsh, English, Scottish or from Ulster. Sometimes even very proud of the city they come from. Totally fine with me. ;) And fortunately, the patriotism is taken rather sarcastically and refers to more than the country and its glorious deeds like it does in the US. :)


    I'm not a patriot since I don't believe in patriotism in general. I believe in being proud to be German. I'm very proud to live in a country that had so many great artists and intellectuals. I'm proud of how beautiful the country is and the area I live in but I would never call myself patriotic.


    Oh and Fabi, I know that not having a Jersey license was illegal but no one could prove how long I've been driving the car and no one actually cares since I do have a driver's license. And I got pulled over for speeding what I, or better my friend since she was driving, didn't do. Soemtimes the police just gets a little bored and so they pull someone over for random reasons. After five minutes the business was settled and we drove on. ;)

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Zitat von Fabi


    That sounds awesome.
    Yale is in New Haven? Wow, I didn't know that. I knew that Yale is a very good university and New Haven is some rather small city in CT but I couldn't connect those two things. :D


    I've been to Las Vergas when I was 13 so I could get an impression of all the things I'm gonna be able to do when I'm 21. :D But we didn't go there to gamble, we went to the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon in Utah and I've also been to New York and San Francisco.
    In Florida we're always staying in the Tampa Bay Area. But I've never been to Miami or the Everglades up to know. But when I was smaller Orlando and Cape Canaveral were probably more attractive and way closer. But I want to see Miami, the Everglades and the upper Keys this year.


    Uhh and...do you have a NJ driver license? Because you stayed there for more than six months I assume? I really love the design of american licenses, the German ones are so damn boring. :lachen:


    Yes, Yale is in New Haven. Yale is a pretty cool place, nice bars and cafés all around but New Haven itself is not such a nice place. Since the crisis hit the states there are a lot of empty houses there and lots of unemployment...So you better park your car on campus. Safer that way. :hmm


    Nice places you've been to. :) I also visited the Grand Canyon while I was in Vegas. But it was sooo hot. I'll never go there in august again. :lachen: But the best experience was riding the roller coaster (well, kind of roller coaster) on top of the stratosphere tower. It takes you over the rim and you just hang there in the air, 350m over the ground. Adrenaline rush guaranteed! :D
    Florida sounds great. Never been there but all the stories I've heard about it. Must be a gorgeous place. I'm planning a road trip with a friend this summer. 3 weeks on the road, from atlanta all the way up and down again. :)


    Haha, no I don't have a Jersey license. I never really thought about getting one and no one really asked me about it. I got pulled over just once and they didn't really care if my license was German or not. My friend got one, though. Pretty easy to get. You didn't even have to take a real driving test. Only needed to read the manual and do some multiple choice questions on a touch-screen. Done! :lachen: I have a friend from Alabama and his license is...well...pretty awesome. He has the weirdest picture ever. :rofl:




    So, you met the guys from the Army? Or their kids? The typical army brats? ;)
    Well, some of those can be quite annoying, that's true. Met those when I was about sixteen and hanging out in Karlsruhe. Those guys where always going to the same concerts as I did. You just have to have a bigger mouth than they have. They'll give up pretty quickly. :lachen:


    But there not all the same. You should meet the Americans I know. You would just love them. :)
    Bush...well, he was something. My first host family were democrates, the second family were republicans so Bush had his place on the mantelpiece. Still, they didn't mind me not liking him and they know that he wasn't the best choice for the country. And there's a golden rule with Americans everyone should follow...don't ever talk about politics. They won't get your point and you never theirs. Just that easy. :)


    Paranoid is right, though. I know some Americans that would call the cops if a car they don't know would park in front of the house for more than 10min. But this again, is just something we have to deal with. There's also some stuff I really don't like about Germans...I still accept that though. :hmm


    And you should definitely go there. Take a friend with you and take a look for yourself. Meet the people, talk to them. And maybe get a new picture. :)

  • Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Zitat von Mina Snape-Circeni

    But you lived in his neighborhood! Oh, just that would make me happy for the rest of my live!!! Ah, I always knew that he was a loving daddy! A person with such nice eyes and such a lovely smile, couldn't be all "bad". :wow::wow:


    No, I guess no one can be that bad. But he definitely raised his children in the typical American way. :lachen:


    .


    Oh...pretty strong words from someone who's never been there...
    I completely accept your opinion but don't you think that this is a bit stereo-typical? :gruebel:


    I had a very strong opinion when I went to work there. I've been there before and I didn't make the best experiences back then. However, the longer I stayed the better I understood them. Of course, some of them really are arrogant, selfish and ignorant. But I know lots of Europeans who are just the same. I have friends that work actively to raise awareness for the climate change. And of course they are a little nosy. Who isn't? ;) It's just that they are raised in a completely different way, live in a different way and therefore, have a different way of looking at things. :)
    And the food. I have to agree, there's evil stuff in America. No doubt about that. When I was there I gained about 10 kilos in the beginning. However, I lost them as fast as I gained them. I just had to look for the right food. There's fast food but at the same time they have such a wonderful diversity in dishes since influences from all over the world are fused. Jambalaya from New Orleans, special Chilis from New Mexico, Neo-Sushi from California. It's all there. ;) And alot of Americans switched to organic food a long time ago. I never met so many vegetarians and vegans before.



    Fabi, yeah, I was getting everything. Even the car was really mine and the paid for the gas and the toll. And I had no curfew and all weekends off. :D
    Your plans sound really good and I think you will figure something out to get there very easily. :) There would have still been the chance of doing Work&Travel there. Or just to be a councellor at a Camp. If not, you can always go there with an exchange program at university. I know that my university is offering tons of opportunities to go there. It's just that you should be an undergrad if you wanna go. :)
    Oh, and I visited a lot back while staying in NJ. I've been to D.C., Philly, Niagara Falls, New Haven (Yale), New York of course, Buffallo, Syracuse, Thousand Islands, Salem (so worth visiting the pseudo-witches :D ), etc. And on the west coast San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, ... :) I had quite some time to travel. :lachen:
    Where have you been to??

  • Raab und ARD suchen unseren Beitrag für Oslo 2010/ EDIT: für Baku 2012

    Ich seh dem ganzen noch nicht mal ganz so düster entgegen. :gruebel:


    Der Song hat schon was typisches für den ESC und auch zurückhaltende Art vom Sänger passt ganz gut als Konstrastprogramm zu Lena.
    Wichtig ist, dass sowie beim ersten Mal bei Lena, die Promo angeheizt wird. Die ist ja damals durch jede blöde Sendung getingelt und war mal wirklich überall zu sehen. Der Song muss kein Ohrwurm sein aber er muss so oft gespielt werden, dass die Leute ihn kennen und ihn dann beim Wettbewerb wiedererkennen.


    Annina, ich stimm dir aber zu. Ich find den auch nicht so ganz hässlich. ;) Ich hab das selbe Hemd zuhause. :lachen: