Jumping Jumpers

 

As much as I don’t like haul posts (because it often leads me to wonder how on earth girls can afford all they buy… it’s totally OK not to spend so much money all the time, girls!!) I bought three jumpers at the weekend – all from Primark – and I wanted to share them with you!

The first is this owl jumper, which I bought a few sizes too big so it would be a baggy, cuddly fit. The owl bit of it is SO soft. Someone the other day said that people usually have one main sense – and I think mine is touch. When shopping I always go round feeling things even before properly looking at things.

 

I loved the speckled colours of this one, but then I saw the sleeves. And I fell in love. If I was a jumper, this would be me. AND I can say that I wear my heart on my sleeve!!

 

This last one is very bright. I think I’ll have to wear this on a Mutiger Montag or something!

None of these jumpers were more than 15 euros. I don’t like spending more than… say, 30 euros on a jumper. I don’t think it’s needed. On the other hand, I feel guilty about child labor and so on. But even the high end brands use sweat shops, so as a consumer, there’s not a lot we can do, I think. I would love for there to be a clear list of shops that treated its factory workers well, so I could know where is good to shop…

Woah, what a sad ending to a happy jumper post! Talk to me! Talk about jumpers, Primark, cheap jumpers and sweatshops!!

 

Things I Keep Close

 

When I am at home, I spend most of my time at my desk. I eat there (like a loser), do makeup there, blog there… so I like to keep this area full of things that keep me going. Things and people that are important to me. I thought I’d share some of these things with you.

Photos – I have a lot of them. I like to have the people who have touched my life close to me. My friends from school, exchange student friends in Japan, my friends from when I worked in Japan, and my english teacher coworkers from the school I taught at. These people are all so important to me.

 

I also have a photo of myself as a maiko! The postcard to the left was actually bought after I dressed up that day, so the similarity is a coincidence. It was an amazing day that I spent with some friends dressing up, but it’s there to remind me to keep my “excited spirit” about me. It may no be cool to dress up as a maiko, and it may be “weeaboo”-like, but I don’t care. I frickin’ love geisha and maiko and all that jazz. And it was awesome being a maiko for the day.

 

The map on the right was given to me when I left Ise. I think of it as much as my hometown as I do Bury St Emunds. On the left is the wall where I have all the messages my students wrote me when I let Japan. I have one board for each class I taught. They have such wonderful comments on them, whenever I feel like I’m not doing well in general, I like to read through them and remember that I am a great person and that I made a difference in their lives. I miss my students so much.

 

This last one is also from an old student of mine. This sweet little girl who used to make a beeline for me every day drew this lovely picture of me. I used to have a necklace with a fish on it, and she’d come up and play with it, so she drew it in the picture.

What things do you keep near you in your home?

 

More German Food!

 

The other week we went out for some German food to celebrate my friend’s birthday. I LOVE German food. I’ve already done a review on the place where we went, Apfelweinklaus, so I thought I’d just do a simple post on the types of things you can expect to see in a German/Frankfurt restaurant.

First up is the sweinhaxen, which is probably my favourite food in the whole of Germany. The ones at this restaurant aren’t that good, actually, but it’s still very yummy. I’ve just been fortunate enough to have much better ones.

 

Some fish – Germany isn’t all about pork, you know! They love their cold, pickled fish. I can’t stand it – even the thought of cold pickled fish makes me shudder. If you go to a German hotel, for breakfast you will probably see pickled fish as part of the breakfast.

 

This is very Frankfurt-y. Eggs, potatoes and green sauce. I don’t get it, really. But it’s good for vegetarians!!

Recent Food Photos

 

I’ve STILL not been able to eat these at Mc Donalds. I’ve tried a fair few times now…

My colleague went to Japan and brought us back fish and chips flavoured crisps! Score!

 

My nice healthy breakfast!

 

My colleague made some Berliners!! OM NOM NOM

 

That Awkward Moment When You’re Not Fluent

Back when I was an exchange student in Japan, I went to a small gathering at a friend’s house. The people there were a few Japanese girls, my Korean friend, and myself. I’d been dating a Japanese guy for a few months, so I was pretty good at conversation (if you don’t know the correlation, you’ve never tried dating someone from a different country ) but I wasn’t fluent.

When people would aim conversations at me, I was ok and could answer. But when they spoke between themselves, I was lost and just shut off. Now this isn’t me saying my friends were bad – they weren’t. I had a lovely time, and they made a Japanese name for me (which is Sayuri), and taught me how to cook some Japanese food. But I just wasn’t quite at the level where I could be a proper member of the group. One girl next to me turned to me and said “I studied in London for a year. I can see the look on your face and I know that feeling. Don’t worry, you’ll get there.”

I mention this now, because I had the same feeling the other night. On Wednesday night, my German teacher put down the grammar book after half an hour, sat back and said “ok, let’s speak in German. Tell me about your week”. I spoke, in German, for the first time. Not just ordering a beer or some food, but actual conversation.

I don’t know if this is just me but I get a real rush from this. Speaking in another language… it’s just such a great feeling and I can’t describe it. So, naturally, I wanted more.

On Facebook I’m part of a number of Frankfurt groups, one of which is an all-German group. They had a meetup on Thursday, so I decided to go.

It’s one thing to click “I’ll join” on Facebook but it’s quite another to walk into a bar, see all these people you don’t know, speaking a language you don’t speak and just jump right in. I had a mini freak out inside, wondered what the hell I was doing, but then bought a massive beer and just stood at the side and looked awkward until two guys doing exactly the same started talking to me.

I did pretty well. I’m proud of myself. They didn’t realise I wasn’t German for quite a while, but that’s mainly because I answered with single words for a while until I got into the swing of it. But it was hard. I had to keep asking them to repeat stuff, and I got into the habit of repeating everything in English to make sure I had understood it before I answered. I didn’t initiate anything, because, quite frankly, I forgot how very tiring it was. But also because I felt so sorry for these two guys who got stuck with me. I wanted them to know they could escape at any point, so I kind of zoned out when they were talking to each other.

One guy left after a little while and the other sat down with me and we just spoke in English for the rest of the night. I’m pretty proud that I did such a long time in German. But it’s not a nice feeling to be a burden on someone in a conversation. I want to keep going to these meetups and trying again and again until I can speak German for real.

Language Findings…

 

Working in an international environment has many advantages, but one of the best ones for me is that you get to learn so many interesting things about different languages. Here are some of the things that I have collected from the past week or so -

In German, your fringe of your hair is called a “pony”. In British English at least, a “pony” would be thought to be a “ponytail” hairstyle.

In French, a “stamp” is a “tampon”. Snigger, snigger.

I was with an Italian colleague and his Japanese wife, who was trying to speak English. She said that her “branch hurts”. The husband scolded her – branch is Italian for arm, she should say “arm”. I told her that it’s ok, branches are the arms of trees so it’s ok.

Even in katakana, “ヒップ” (hip) means your bum as opposed to your hips in Japanese.

In German, you can call someone a “blind fish” to mean someone who can’t see stuff that’s right in front of them.

Do you have any language discoveries this week?

Products I’m Not So Sure About…

 

So here are some products that I’ve bought but I just don’t know whether I like them or not. The jury is still out on them. Maybe if you guys out there are using the same products, you can share your opinions, and help me decide if I like them or not!

The first is this Jergens Original Beauty Lotion, in cherry-almond scent. I bought this when I was back home, because one of the beauty bloggers was raving about it. The smell is nice (though very sweet – not for everyone, that’s for sure), but I don’t see any difference to my skin when I put it on. My skin isn’t softer, and the scent goes away after 10 mins or so. I don’t see the point, really. But maybe I’m missing something here?

 

This duo of That Gal Brightening Face Primer and Hello Flawless Oxygen Glow. I’m not a fan of Benefit products… I find them so thick and gunky. Like piling plastic onto my face. But I was in a rush and I needed something new (and someone to spruce up my makeup before an after-work coffee) so I bought these two that the woman had used on me.

I like them because they do give a pretty flawless coverage. They also last most of the day. I don’t like them because it’s just so heavy and fake. I’ve only used it a handful of times, so I guess I just need to get used to that kind of look.

 

This Redkin Protective Straightening Lotion isn’t something I bought, but I got it in a JollieBox a few months ago. You’re meant to put it in your hair and then blowdry as normal for gorgeous straight hair.

I don’t straighten my hair, ever. I like to have some volume so I like to keep it a little fluffy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want nice smooth hair. It made my hair a little heavier, but it’s not that sleek. Perhaps I’m doing it wrong…

Have you every tried any of these products? Let me know if you have!

My Foot Ordeal – German Healthcare

Ever since Halloween, my right foot has been really hurting. In a small space at the base of the toe next to my little toe there has been an agonising pain that sometimes comes avec a bruise, sometimes with swelling. Thinking I’d just pulled a muscle in my foot, and since it’s not sore every day, I didn’t think I needed to go to get it seen to.

After about two weeks, I woke up and found it really hard to walk on my foot so I thought the time had come – I must go see the doctor. I have a really nice GP that’s pretty much opposite my apartment, and they speak English too (the female doctor’s son is in Cambridge so we often talk about that, and she tells me every time I go about how terrible the NHS is and how her son always comes home to Frankfurt every time he is sick.)

So, here’s the first lesson about German healthcare – you have your private healthcare plan which you pay into every month, but every quarter, if you go to see the GP, you have to remember to take 10 euros in cash to pay. I don’t know what this is, or why it is. But it is. I have forgotten my 10 euros a few times. Once, they sent a letter to my house reminding me to pay it, and I had to do a bank transfer online. Other times, they just get me to pay it the next time I’m there. But it needs to be paid.

So my GP tells me I need to go see the orthopedic doctors the other side of town. I confirmed with her that in these cases, one must go to the GP first and not just straight to the specialist and she said that that was correct. It would be nice to cut out the middle man, but I guess it’s better this way. In Japan, you’d just go to the specialist. I don’t think they even have GPs there.. maybe general doctors, but no one who refers you as they do in Germany (or in the UK).

It is a massive white whine, but I was quite put out that I spent more than 3 hours waiting around in the doctors. I waited, then I was taken to a room where I spoke with a nurse, then waited in the room for the doctor, then waited in the waiting room again, then had my x-ray, then waited, then spoke with the nurse and then spoke with the doctor.

It’s a massive white whine because in the UK, this process would have taken 3 weeks, not 3 hours. I should have been happy, but I was grumpy. Sat looking at an x-ray of my own foot for 20 minutes, when the doctor came in I said about how my foot didn’t look broken as I’d feared. “Are you an expert?” he asked me. “Uhm… no…” “What is your job?” “Uhm… Japanese translator…”

He stared at the screen, enlarged the picture, and announced that my foot was not broken.

He made some vague gestures and talked about how his English wasn’t so good and that he didn’t know the technical term, but I had “flat feet”.

.. Flat feet.

All this pain, is because my feet are flat.

I looked down at my prized 10 euro Primark shoes – prized because it’s been a year since I bought them and they are still going strong. I knew in my heart how I had wrecked my feet. He turned to me again with a massive needle in his hand. While the nurse pinned me down and stroked my head, he stuck that needle in my foot and put what felt to be a burning acid in my foot.

My remedie is shoe insoles, which are (for 30 euros) being made specially for my feet.

On the whole, I like the German medical system. It works. There is no faffing around like in the UK, and I trust them not to rip me off with things I don’t need like in Japan. It’s one of the many things that makes me think that Germany is by far the best place to live right now.

All German, All the Time, week 1

 

On Monday, I started doing “All German, All the Time” – where I only watch tv in German, only read books in German, and listen to as much German as possible. I have one more week of this.

Here are the resources I’ve been using -

1. Tv.

I’ve not got a tv here, so what I’ve been using is Filmon, which allows you watch streamed tv from a lot of European countries (also includes most British Freeview channels). Sadly, the German channels available are very limited, and aside from a channel that shows only infomercials and QVC, my only choice is RTL which shows horrendous dramas in the mornings. I was hoping for something like the BBC so I could watch the news.

2. Listening.

I use Germanpod101.com as well as my Michel Thomas course in the mornings on the way to work. Everyone knows how much I love Michel Thomas, but the Germanpop101 course isn’t that bad either. They base each lesson around a conversation, so it’s good because at the start I listen and think “oh crap, I don’t understand” but then by the end I get the ureka moment when I get what they’re saying. The only thing I would say against them is that the German girl and the American guy running these are about as interesting as a wet rag. The other courses in the “—pod101″ family that I’ve listened to have made sure that the people are quite charismatic. But these guys aren’t.

3. Reading.

I mentioned to a friend about my challenge to myself, and he said that he has some German comics – would I like to borrow them? I said yes, of course, and so he brought them into work for me. I joked and asked if the books are rude and have boobies in them, then looked down at the two books. One was the German translation of Paying For It, a pro-prostitution comic about a man who does the rounds with a long list of ladies of the night. The other was Black Hole, about teenagers who get mutilations from sexually transmitted diseases. So far, I’ve read a few pages of Paying For It, and it’s quite entertaining. But I can’t really take it out anywhere (the German title is “I Pay For Sex” in German) so I’m limited to reading it in the comfort of my own room… where I usually choose to sit and blog as opposed to sit and read.

How is it all going?

I think if I was a student and had much more time to dedicate to this, it would work a lot better. However, I don’t see the benefit of watching the tv since I don’t feel I’m getting much from it. The podcasts and books are much more useful – even from a few pages of the comic, I have a long list of things I want to ask my German teacher next week. I think this would be much easier with a language that has a vast range of media – like Japanese anime, or Japanese dramas – that you can get stuck into. It’s quite hard to get stuck into German when my resources and time (and motivation to a certain extent) is pretty limited.

One more week to go!

Oct/Nov Empties!

It’s that time again, kiddies! Empties!! I have a lot more than normal this month – or at least, my box filled up a lot quicker. Before it overflows, I’d better do a post!!

First up is this Fekkai Protein Rx shampoo and conditioner. I bought these from Douglas almost a year ago, when I had really horrible hair and I wanted something to tame it. These cost something like 20 euros each, which is ridiculous money. They are good products, but I just don’t think they are worth the price tag, and I don’t think they made a difference to my hair at all. The smell is pretty nice, though… a kind of sweet marshmallow smell.

Next up is Clearasil Ultra. I bought this a looooong time ago as well. Mainly because I needed a face wash and it had English on it so I knew what to do with it. I used it as a mask (you can also use it as a wash) about twice a week, and my face was always really soft afterwards. Did it help combat spots? I don’t think so. My spots are usually hormone or stress related so nothing like this can help me. I’d buy it again, though.

Lancome Teint Miracle foundation was the first super expensive makeup I ever bought. At around 30 euros, I thought I’d spend out just once to see how these expensive things work. This does work really well, and covered up any marks on my face. It did last longer than most foundations, but not until the end of the day. It made my skin look good, but nothing miraculous, I think. I’d like to try a load of other, cheaper foundations, but I may come back to this one… maybe around bonus time…

I was given a tint weeny tube of Clarins Fluide Hydrantant Matifiant when I bought another Clarins product. Despite being tiny, it lasted at least a week. I think it’s one of those moisturisers that make you break out before they start working, because this made my skin pretty bad. I think I’ll stick to my rose moisturisers.

Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara is something I’ve blogged about before. I liked it. I think it’s not perfect by itself, but it’s pretty good. I used it on my Japanese flatmate and it made her Asian eyes so pretty. I’d buy it again, once I’m all out of the ones I have right now.

Garnier Mineral UltraDry deodorant. I am a lady who… perspires… more than most. I go through lots of brands of deodorant to find the strongest ones – and this would be one of them. It was pretty good. Even on days when I went to the gym, I wasn’t that smelly. The only complaint I’d have is that it didn’t seem to contain much, and it ran out within a few weeks. I’d buy it again, though.

Have you tried any of these products? If so, let me know!