Culture Presentation Days

As we all know, last week on Wednesday and Thursday our „Culture Presentation Days“, which were organized by the English course SUK2, took place. I really liked the whole concept of these culture days. As everybody was allowed to choose any topic they are interested in, the presentations were really diverse and I found each one I saw very interesting. Also I think all the presenters did a great job.

Here’s a list of the presentations I saw:

US:

1. “Things you might not know about San Francisco and the Bay area” by Marina Margeta

2. "Two More For Mount Rushmore” by  Katharina Pelich

3. “Danger of Society Threat Groups in American Prisons” by Livia Perschy

4. “Southern Hospitality – the Southern Way of Life” by Julia Rauch

5. “Monty Roberts: an extraordinary communicator“ by Melanie Wimmer

6.     “America as a Nation of Narcissism“ by Maria Dorner

7.     “Ellen DeGeneres - a modern woman and her influence on America” by Johanna Schreilechner

8.     “Sacagawea: Her claim to fame” by Bianca Stadler

9.     “The Navajo Code Talkers: Using Language as a Weapon“ by Laura Rossberg

The three Irish presentations I saw were: 

1. “The impact of global warming on Ireland's agriculture” by Christian Waldmann

2. “Appreciating Life - Donal Walsh's Fight Against Suicide in Ireland“ Bianca Brandtner

3. “Transition Year - working towards maturity” Carmen Loderer

Concerning the Irish presentations, although I am interested in global warming, I liked the second and third presentation a little better. They really caught my attention because I have heard of neither of these topics before and both were really interesting. Bianca’s presentation about a young boy who suffered from cancer three times in his life before he died was really touching, particularly because he encouraged others to appreciate life and not to commit suicide despite his own illness. Carmen’s presentation about transition year was very interesting and actually made me think that we could need a concept like this in Austria as well.

Since I am a so-called “Quereinsteiger” and have only started studying TKK in this semester, I will take the KGP after the next semester, namely WS 2013. If I had to choose five presentations I’d like to be tested on in the KGP, I would choose

1. “Danger of Society Threat Groups in American Prisons” by Livia Perschy

I think this topic is not very much talked about and rather seems as if it was taken from the plot of a thriller or action movie than happening in everyday life. It is very interesting and therefore I’d like to deal with it when preparing for the KGP.

2. “Southern Hospitality – the Southern Way of Life” by Julia Rauch

What I really enjoyed about Julia’s presentation was the mixture of interesting facts and her personal experiences. She really raised my interest for the Southern way of life and since I also saw “another side” of the South when dealing with the topic of racism for my own culture paper, I think the hospitality, way of life and special characteristics Julia described are really interesting as well.

3. “Ellen DeGeneres - a modern woman and her influence on America” by Johanna Schreilechner

This presentation had some new information in store for me. I have watched some clips of Ellen’s show before, but I have never really dealt with her biography or private life. I think Joey did a good job in summarizing the most important points of Ellen’s biography and she made me realize what a big issue Ellen's coming out actually was. Joey even raised my curiosity for Ellen’s book. I hope I’ll have time to read it in summer.

4. “Sacagawea: Her claim to fame” by Bianca Stadler

Ever since I’ve watched the Disney movie “Pocahontas” when I was a child, I’ve been interested in Native Americans. When I heard that Bianca’s presentation is about Sacagawea, the name somehow rang a bell, but I didn’t really remember the story connected to it. That’s why I’d be really interested in dealing with it in more detail.

5. “The Navajo Code Talkers: Using Language as a Weapon“ by Laura Rossberg

I found Laura’s presentation on how the Navajo language was used as a secret code by America in WWII very interesting. I don’t think I’ll be able to pronounce Navajo words the way Laura did, though.

Race and Cereal

Having talked about racism in the US in my culture presentation, I have obviously been dealing with this topic a lot for the last few weeks. And just a few days ago I came across a very heated discussion that is going on right now in the US -- a discussion about the new advertisement of the cereal “Cheerios”, in which an interracial family plays the main part.

Here you can see the advertisement:

The following link leads you to the ad and a short video about three people discussing the negative and racist reactions the commercial sparked on the Internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcFJcUyKWfE

So all in all it seems that there are much more people supporting the “Cheerios” ad and interracial couples than criticizing them. What I found awesome was that amount of positive and supportive responses “Cheerios“ received. I’d like you to watch the following clip, which can be seen as a parody on the first one and is definitely a slap in the face for intolerant people.

 

Close your eyes and fly away...

When you are sitting in front of a pile of books and sheets and try to figure out what to study next, it’s sometimes really helpful to take a short break, take a breath, eat a piece of chocolate and remind yourself that it’s only four more weeks to go until the summer break starts :)
When I do that, my mind sometimes wanders to foreign countries, to places I want to visit or that I have already been to. A little escapism doesn’t hurt, does it? One of the places I like to think of is Toronto. I went to Toronto for a few weeks last summer and I absolutely enjoyed myself. It’s a big, multicultural, active city and there’s just soooo much to see.

Some of my favorite places in Toronto are:

the CN Tower

The City’s Landmark

On the top you can experience a spectacular view. You can go up to 447 meters and on a clear day you might see as far as 160 kilometers! What I found really fascinating was that I looked across lake Ontario and still wasn’t able to spot where it ends. It was a bit misty, but anyways, this gave me an idea of how big the lake is.
Besides, it’s also possible to do the “EdgeWalk”. You can literally walk on a 1.5 m wide ledge encircling the top of the Tower’s main pod, 356m above the ground, if you are brave enough. (I wasn’t!)

 

Another nice spot is the harbor. As you can imagine, it’s more like spending time at the sea than on a lake. The impression of being somewhere in the South was also supported by the weather. When I was there in July and August, it was really warm and humid, what made the temperature feel even warmer. 

Niagara Falls

Another famous place I’d definitely recommend to everybody are the Niagara Falls. They are located a little outside of town, but I’d suggest taking a bus tour there. It only takes you about one hour to go there by bus and the scenery is just
i-m-p-r-e-s-s-i-v-e!

Neighborhoods

Moreover, Toronto consists of a lot of different ethnic neighborhoods. It is actually called "the city of neighborhoods" because of the strength and vitality of its many communities. It’s just so much fun to explore the different parts of the city, such as Little Italy, Koreatown, Little India, Kensington Market, the Distillery District or Chinatown, and let yourself be absorbed by your surroundings. You can find more information on the various neighborhoods here: http://www.blogto.com/neighbourhoods/

Sadly, the time comes when I have to stop daydreaming and return to studying… Have a nice, fruitful weekend! :)  

Flooded Ennstal

Very recent events made me think about the power of nature. Because of massive rainfalls in the last few days and hours, large parts of my home valley, the Ennstal in Northern Styria, were flooded. I just saw some pictures on Facebook showing this:

Even a huge reservoir, the Salzastausee,  is overflowing right now:

Luckily, my family and I live on a small hill, so we are not really affected by the floods. However, one of my friends told me that her basement was flooded already. 

Furthermore, a tributary valley was even cut off from the rest of the valley because of a mudflow. As a result, people were evacuated with helicopters. Meadows and streets are flooded and I think most people will stay at home today.

Thinking of the current situation in the Ennstal and recent natural disasters like the tornado which left parts of Oklahoma devastated makes me realize how powerless mankind can be.

What I'm trying to point out is that we think we can do everything we want to do and that there are no limits. We subject animals, plants and even other people and think we can take what we want. We build huge cities and streets, straighten rivers, clear woodland and do as we please. We think we are in control of everything, and then it takes us entirely by surprise when we realize we are not.

I think we should be aware of the forces of nature. 

Of course I hope that nobody is hurt and I'm very sorry for those who lose their belongings or whose homes are damaged or destroyed. In my opinion it's important to work together and help each other in difficult situations like that.
What really amazes me and makes me very happy is the amount of people who spontaneously offer to help fight the floods and provide shelter for people who had to leave their homes, via the quickly established Facebook group "Infoseite Hochwasser 2013 Österreich".
https://www.facebook.com/InfoseiteHochwasser2013Osterreich?hc_location=stream   

comma, comma, comma, comma, comma, chameleon ?!

It’s only little more than a month to go and the end of this semester is coming closer every day ;) Unfortunately, the amount of stuff we have to accomplish is equally increasing.

That’s why I couldn’t really think of a topic to write about that is not related to studying, so I decided to tell you about something that troubles me - COMMAS!
In English the well-known rule for these nasty little signs is “When in doubt, leave it out.” In German, however, it’s pretty much the opposite. Consequently, when it comes to commas, I’m often at a loss. Sometimes even thoughts like “Why do we need them anyways?!” sneak into my mind. However, I realized that sometimes commas can be pretty useful, as following examples illustrate:

Likewise, a wrongly placed comma might turn the eating habits of a peaceful animal into a violent short story: “the panda eats shoots and leaves” vs. “the panda eats, shoots and leaves”

To bring some light into the darkness of punctuation, I refreshed my memory on the UEfAP website. http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm

I’m quickly going to summarize the most important rules below:

Commas function in five main ways

1. Before or after adverbial clauses and groups.

Recently, the number of service enterprises in wealthier free-market economies has grown rapidly.

After dinner, he walked around the town.

Some businesses only seek to earn enough to cover their operating costs, however.

2. Before various connectives to join two independent clauses.

(and, but, or, so nor, for yet)

What we require is a National Emergency Government, but no two men I meet can agree how this can be formed.

There was no Canadian Consulate in Paris at that time, so we had to go to the American Consulate for ours.

3. To separate some non-defining phrases from the rest of the sentence.

Malaria, once a widespread disease, is under control.

The Conservatives, who had gained more votes than Labour in the 1929 general election, were only the second largest party.

4. To separate words, groups and clauses in a series.

Life-support machines are no different in principle from medicines, surgery, or other treatment.

A policeman has to be able to work at night, at weekends and on holidays.

5. To separate adjectives that separately modify the same noun.

Critics praise the novel's unaffected, unadorned style.

He walked with long, slow, steady, deliberate strides.

Common mistakes

A comma cannot separate subject from predicate.

WRONG: *A man of his great abilities, would always be successful.
RIGHT: A man of his great abilities would always be successful.

A comma cannot be used to join grammatically separate sentences. The following sentences are not possible:

WRONG: *London is a very cosmopolitan city, there are people from many culture living there.
RIGHT: London is a very cosompolitan city. There are many people from many different cultures living there.