Culture Day 2013

For our SuK 2 I visited 11 presentations, eight Irish and three American, if I remember correctly. My Irish presentations were "Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly - Irish bands from America", "Ireland's contribution to the world of video games", "Gaelic and its use in Northern Ireland", "Bloody Sunday for the GAA", "Abortion Law in Ireland - A Pro-Choice View", "The Irish Film Industry", "Titanic - The fate of the Irish aboard" and "Irish Gaelic - A dying language?". My American Presentations were "Mickey Mouse", "Oprah Winfrey" and "Comics in America".

I really liked most of them, especially the "Mickey Mouse"-, the "Comics"-, the "Irish Gaelic"- and "Titanic"-presentations as they were not only well presented but also very informative. I especially enjoyed Nora introducing herself in Irish Gaelic at the beginning of the presentation.

For my KGP I've decided to choose the following five presentations:

• Irish Gaelic - A dying language?
• Titanic - The fate of the Irish aboard
• Abortion Law in Ireland - A Pro-Choice View
• Bloody Sunday for the GAA
• The Irish Film Industry

The reason why I've chosen those five presentations is because the presenters managed to interest me in their topic and made me long to know more about their topic. I am really looking forward to getting to know the matters more - for myself and, of course, in order to pass my KGP. :)

From Mortimer to Mickey Mouse

On our Culture Day we had to watch seven Irish and three American presentations. One of my favorite presentations was the American presentation about the Mickey Mouse. I really liked this presentation as it was not only well presented but also very well organized and it gave a great overview of everything Mickey Mouse related.

It really covered everything important, beginning with the basics about Mickey Mouse, his name, job and so on and so forth; about his friends, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and the others; about Mickey's look and its development; as well as Disney World.

I learned a lot of interesting things such as Mickey used to be called Mortimer but as Walt Disney's wife didn't like the name, he changed it. Or that Mickey used to be more of the evil kind as he thought it was funny if others get hurt. However, when Mickey Mouse got more and more popular, mothers started to complain their kids would take Mickey's behavior as a role model and started hurting other kids just like Mickey. Another really interesting fact is that Disney World, with all its four theme parks, is even larger than Graz. Also I didn't know before that Disney produced propaganda and war movies.

All in all I have to say, I really liked the presentation and am glad I watched it as it was not only fun but also very informative. Well done. :)

Austrian Snow for a Kiwi

I have mentioned in one of my earlier post, one of my best friends lives in New Zealand. She spent half a year as an exchange student at my old school and she loved it here. Especially snow had taken a toll on her (it was winter time during her exchange). What to us seemed normal growing up in Austria was strange and fascinating to her.

While Christmas is linked with snow for us, for her it meant sitting together with friends at the beach. While we, when we were younger, spent our Christmas breaks building snowmen or sleigh riding, she went hiking, swimming or sunbathing. This is why, during her stay in Austria, we, meaning my friends and I, used ever spare time and snow to relive our childhood memories with snow for her, our Kiwi friend to whom this all was new and so wonderful. I will never forget how proud she was of her first snowman and how she laughed while trying to catch snowflakes with her tongue.

She went back to New Zealand and she's been missing snow and winter in Austria ever since. Therefor, last winter, I decided to send her snow. Okay, I have to confess not real snow but instant snow. I got it from the internet and hoped she would like it aaaaaaand she did. She tried it out as soon as she had it and built a tiny snowman. Although it isn't quite like the snow we have, it's something. The really good thing about the instant snow is that it's not too cold, you can let it snow even during the hottest summer and it's reusable. So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - whenever you want. ;)

Hobbit

One of the last books I read was "The Hobbit" by J.R.R.Tolkien. Mr. Tolkien originally wrote made up the story for his children and because they liked it so much, he decided to publish it. It was released in 1937 and tells the story of the hobbit Bilbo Beggins and an unexpected journey.

Bilbo is a typical hobbit meaning he is set in his own ways. He hates unexpected things or leaving his nice hobbit hole - his home. However, one day the wizard Gandalf the Grey shows up at his place and is very soon been followed by 13 dwarfs. Their plan is to go on an adventure, a journey with the old dwarf kingdom as their final stop. A long time ago, their ancestors had to leave their kingdom as a dragon took it over and robbed them not only from their home but also from their treasures. The plan of the group of dwarves with the help of Bilbo is to win back the kingdom as well as all their ancestors' gold. At first Bilbo is not very fond of the idea of having to leave his comfortable home and of going on an adventure. However, after a night of eating and drinking with Gandalf and the dwarves he decides, against all his hobbit nature and instincts, to join them - and so, his biggest journey begins.

I loved the book. From the first page on you start falling in love not only with Bilbo but with the whole fantasy world made up by Tolkien. It's written in a very charming way and you can clearly see it has been originally made up for kids. The language is simple and very pictorial as you can easily see the characters and the lands in your mind's eye.

Although the book has been adapted to a movie but to me the book is way better. I generally prefer the book to the film and in this case it was no different. So should you be into fantasy novels and into "Lord of the Rings" ("The Hobbit" is actually the prequel to "LotR") I can only highly recommend "The Hobbit". :)

Oobleck

Have you ever heard of "Oobleck" or "Ooze"? No? I didn't know about it for a long time either. However, a couple  of summers ago I worked in a science camp for kids in Canada and there I first heard of it. It is one of the non-newtonian fluids, meaning it can be both solid and liquid. You can most easily make it at home as all needed is water and starch. When you mix it in the right ration (1 cup of water with 1.5 to 2 cups of starch) you get a gooey fluid also called "Oobleck" or "Ooze".

At first it looks liquid but as soon as you punch it or ably force or strength to it it becomes solid. This is due to the fact that, with the impulse, the starch molecules close around the water and it becomes solid. However, as soon as the impulse vanishes again the fluid turns back into liquid.

It is a very simple experiment but it is a lot of fun as you can do some nice tricks with it. One of these tricks is putting it on a subwoofer and making it dance this way. You can even run over it as long as you just kick the fluid hard enough. Below you will find some videos that demonstrating this effect.

I hope you enjoyed the videos and try it out yourselves. If you do, let me know how it worked out. :)

Greek Salad

Many might know the problem: It is hot like hell, you are hungry but don't know what to eat as is has to be refreshing and light to fit the weather. Today was one of these days and I've decided to make my favourite summer food. A Greek Salad.

It really is as simple as it is delicious. All you need is feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, a cucumber, peppers, olive oil, vinegar and oregano. Those are the main ingredients but feel free to add or use whatever you long for. In general, I'd say the more colorful the better. :)
Chop all of them in small pieces and put them in a large salad bowl. Season it with a mixture of olive oil, vinegar (my favourite is balsamic vinegar) and oregano. Serve it with fresh bread and viola your fast, summer food or snack is done. Enjoy your meal or how they say in Greece, "καλή όρεξη!"