Personal Development:
The influential English writer Samuel Johnson once said "Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent". I believe I have spent the last four and a half months with this philosophy in mind and this week proved to be no different.
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| Ondrej Lastovka |
My week began bright and early on monday morning. This would be a very important day as I would be undertaking my German oral and listening exam. I have always had a keen interest in languages. At school I studied French for seven years and still try to practise this when possible. I suppose in some ways I regret not taking on more languages at school. I think being at least bilingual is very important. Most children have the capacity and facility to learn more than one language. In fact, researchers say that there are many advantages to being bilingual. Some of these include being able to learn new words easily, using information in new ways, coming up with new solutions to problems and having good listening skills.
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| Hakan and I celebrating our exam success! |
So, after studying German for the past few months today I would be put to the test. Ondrej Lastovka, my German tutor would ask me a series of questions revolving around the topics that we have spent the past few months learning about. I would be lying if I said I was not slightly nervous. Those feelings brought me back to my school days and reminded me of just how nervous I would get before a French oral exam!! I am very pleased to say that my exam went very well. Ondrej was very pleased with my progress and awarded me a level 1, which is the highest possible mark! I really have enjoyed and embraced learning the German language which is considered a difficult language to learn. With its long and winding words, four noun case endings and three grammatical genders it feels like speaking German gives every muscle in my mouth a good workout! On the other hand, as both English and German are related, I noticed a number of similarities that made it somewhat easier to learn. Mark Twain may have once said that "It is easier for a cannibal to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the eye of a rich man's needle that it is for any other foreigner to read the terrible German script". I'm sure many people would agree with the famous words of Mr Twain but in this case I am not one of them. I have thoroughly loved learning the German tongue and being surrounded by so many native speakers.
On Saturday of this week, along with some friends I attended the annual Wake of Steel wakeboarding contest located in the Linz trading harbour. This really was such a cool event and I have never witnessed anything like it. The event ran on Friday and Saturday with nearly 12000 spectators coming down to cheer on the world's best wakeboarders. The crowd, summer temperatures and top riders turned Red Bull Wake of Steel into a super cool summer festival. It was amazing to see the Austrian Dominik Hernier picking up first prize in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
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| Domini Hernier performing some trademark tricks to the home crowd, amazing! |
My week was rounded off in true erasmus style with a delicious international buffet in our kitchen. Friends from Turkey, Albania, Austria and of course Ireland combined our expert cooking skills and unique cultures to produce a very tasty meal. It's the simple things that you do with friends that make this experience so special. It hard to believe that in just a few weeks I will be at home (probably in the rain). However, nothing quite compares to my Father's sunday roast!!
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| Klaudio, Hakan and I enjoying the food and atmosphere... |
Viel Gluck,
James
References:
- Clark, J, D, C. (1994) Samuel Johnson: Literature, Religion and English Cultural Politics from the Restoration to Romanticism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
- Twain, M. (1880) Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad, Century Publishing, London
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