Off topic - raffle at Erdbeerkirsch!

Satsuki with her website Erdbeerkirsch has a huge raffle for it's second anniversary =D



Link to the raffle (it's in german): Raffle (it's going till friday so hurry up ;-D )

The normal website is here: Erdbeerkisch and the blog with awesome entries here: Blog

Love
Thym

Preston

As the last entry was somewhat dark I decided to show you some pictures just how beautifull Preston can also be XD
Best example just this evening:

  

Isn't is beautifull? =D 

Here are some more pictures and impressions of Preston. 

As I'm still not used to the new system here on blogspot the descriptions of the pictures will have to wait =D 

I hope you like them without them too =D

Love

Thym

St. Joseph's Orphanage

This is a building I found while walking around aimlessly in Preston. I just turned down a side alley and bam! there it is. St. Joseph's Orphanage build 1872.

It looks like an abandoned house in the middle of the city. Pretty much horror-movie material =D

On my first day there I could only stay for a few minutes before some creepy guy came and I optioned to leave as he was pre

tty scary looking...

The next time I went there was with my friends =D Mashaa who also had

her camera with her took some really nice picutures! =D We were the photographing duo XD

When I got back home I wanted to find out more about this Orphanage... but the internet is pretty much void of much information about it.

I found this blog http://blogpreston.co.uk/2009/10/st-josephs-orphanage/ with some information about the Orphanage and this website http://www.contaminationzone.com/Gallery58.php on which great pictures from the inside are to be found. The problem I have... I want to take pictures in the building too but at the same time I don't want to break into the building... and I can't find a contact adress... I'll have to look up more about it later on =D

The last two pictures were actually taken on the buildings next to the orphanage. Just saying so nobody is confused =D

maybe you can understand my urge to take pictures inside after seeing these pictures.

Mashaas blog: http://on-the-island.blogspot.com/

check it out =D It's great ^.^

Love

Thym

Ramen =3

I love Ramen! It's simple as that XD This weekend was great because I tried my first Ramen from scratch =D Together with my friends here in England we went on a great adventure to explore the mechaniches of Ramen-making XD

But lets begin at the beginning =D

At first there were Hanna and me ^.^ Hungry for something to eat. It was perfect timing that we were both hungry and I was just dreaming about Ramen again ( I do that quiet often XD) when we came onto the topic of Naruto (the anime XD).

Talking, talking and some more talking followed =D And it ended with me exclaiming that I wish to make ramen myself =D Hanna agreed and our plan was formed

=D

Go to Mashaa, do laundry (yes as students we have to do that sometimes XD) , get everything from the shop and cook :3 At that point I was already starving as I had thought about ramen to long XD

While we were doing the laundry Mashaa stayed back so we could run to the shop before it closes and get the ingedients for our ramen =D We got nearly everything, but naruto-maki q.q I love naruto-maki in my ramen and was really disappointed that the asia shop doesn't have it. But alas... nobody can get everything. On our way from our shop we met Ashley and invited her too. When we got back to Mashaa we remembered that we never asked her to come with us which we promptly did =D

And then the adventures of cooking began =D

It began with me trying to get the soup stock right. I have never used dashi like this before but I think it worked out quite nicely XD Even though it really smells like fish ;-D

The added miso made everything ok =D But... maybe I overdid it a little with the miso ^^ as the broth became quiet .... thick XD

But everything worked out =D

Then came the toppings ^^ Best part were the surimi Mashaa had bought XD They were packed individually XD It was really funny to watch her unpack every single surimi itself ^^ These surimi should feel quite honoured XD

Our single surimi =D

After all the surimi were unpacked washed and cut and the other toppings were prepared it looked like this :

Bamboo shoots, soya bean sprouts, pork, surimi, carrots and spring onion =D

And our finished product with the tamagoyaki topping Ashley made and some nori =D

In the end it was quiet a lot to eat XD and the broth was a little to thick so it was more of a cream/soup hybrid than a soup XD But I still think it was ok ^.^ And the next time it will be real soup XD

After the ramen we needed some dessert =D (Of course XD)

Our lovely green tea mochi =D I just love it =D

And as one mochi per person is not enough we got out our Ben&Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice cream :3 Soooo good *__*
It was a perfect evening ^^ Being together with friends, having fun, cooking, eating and having sweets =D

Hope you enjoyed it somewhat too XD

Love

Thym

Hermione Cosplay the second

This is nothing England related XD Well at least for me =D

But I just realized I forgot to upload some of the newer Hermione Granger Cosplay pictures XD

Well they're not so new anymore but I'll just upload them anyway XD

All pictures were taken by Uwe Wunstorf. He is really nice =D

Hope you like it =D

Love

Thym

So many names... but which one to choose?

To be honest I expected uni in England to be somewhat like in Germany. And in some way it is but in some aspects it's totally different.

The aspects that are same... are mostly the way the students behave XD I think students around are all the same ^^ at least computing students. =D

The classes are... different. Less people in a module, more talking with the lecturer and all in all more active contribution of the students. In Germany many modules are with 100 or more students and during the lecture only the lecturer would talk and the students take notes. It's different in smaller modules but they are few.

Here you are always in a discussion with your lecturer and take an active part =D I really like that =D

Practicals and tutorials are pretty much the same as in Germany =D besides the fact that everyone has their very own computer login and with it his "home computer" on every computer in the uni. Which is quiet convenient.

The biggest difference I would say is that lecturers are called by their given name. This is a concept I still need to get used to. I am still so used to say Ms. and Mrs. XD But most of the staff doesn't even know the surnames of the people I'm looking for.

I had it once that I went to the information to find a person and said I'm looking for Mrs. (insert name). Nobody knew who it was and one asked me if I'm sure they worked at the uni. I said yes and that I already talked to them. After a moment of thinking I told them the persons given name. And.. surprise they knew the person quite well und could tell me their whole schedule by heart. -.- I felt kinda tricked there.

But well I hope I'll get used to it soon =D People look kinda freaked out if I call them Mr. or Mrs. while talking to them.

Oh and I asked my flatmate about it ^.^ She explained to me that students in High School always adress their teachers with Mr. and Mrs. but from College on the just say the given name of the person. So it is normal here and I'm the freaky german talking all weirdly XD

Oh and of course some terms =D

Course = Computing, Forensic Computing etc. So the Course your studying for your bachelor.

Module = The Modules you have every week (6 in my case)

Classes = I heard people refer to both of the above as classes... it is quiet confusing.

If you have any other questions just ask me =D

I hope I haven't confused anyone too badly XD

Love

Thym

Sports and Societies Fair

The Sports and Societies Fair. It was last Friday =D and waaaay better than the Freshers Fair.

It wasn't half as crowded and the stands were all really interesting. I kinda wanted to join nearly every club and society there as all the people were sooo nice :3

I kinda joined the Japanese and Anime and Manga Societies which I am super happy about =D The first meeting of the Anime and Manga Soc was just yesterday and it was really fun =D I met lots of nice people there ^.^

Another club I am really interested in is the Snowsports club. I just love skiing and snowboarding *__* Sadly I missed their first meeting so I have to see how to get in touch with them =D (probably facebook XD) They had the most awesome snowboard simulation ever

=D

( I fell down way to often XD but Ashley still managed to get this shot =D )

At first I didn't want to join the drama society as I am already interested in sooo many other things and I have to keep up with uni too. So I went to their first meeting and just offered my help with the costumes =D I'll probably go to some other meetings to and jsut talk to them about how much help they need. If you think about joining... DO IT! XD Really the people there are all sooo nice and open minded! It is great to talk to them and just meet them.

There were sooo many more things to see that I can't mention them all but there is something for everyone! =D

Oh and something I was reeeeally interested =D The fencing ^.^ The people there were soo nice and gave me a time for a try-it-out on tuesday. Of course I went there =D It was awesome =D It was exhausting but sooo worth it *__* I actually felt like a muske

teer ^.^ Especially after we put on some gear and got to hold a foil =D If I were a little bit better with my foot - rest of the body coordination I would have probably felt even more like a musketeer and not like a clumsy ... well... Thym XD

After the societies fair on friday we actually went to a pub again =D (we go to the pubs often I jsut realized XD)

It was really nice and I took some pictures of the food and drinks we had there =D

This Hot Chocolate looks great but actually.... sadly it didn't taste like it looked v.v

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake with Ice Cream *__* The Best!

Belgian Waffles in England XD They are supposely good too ^^

Burger and Chips *__* (I just love it XD)

A kind of Curry my friend was eating ^^ She said it was okay but for me it was super spicy XD I think I breathed fire for a moment ^^

Sourz! It's awesome ^^ I especially like the apple Sourz ^.^It tastes really good =D

That was all about the societies fair and some about the food =D

Some more pictures from the city will follow tomorrow if I get the time to get online =D

Love

Thym

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

After so long my entry about Blackpool Pleasure Beach is here =D

We started off on this sunday morning and I was really glad that it wasn't raining XD Sadly we had to wait some time at the car park before going to where the busses were which was quite annoying as I felt that it was totally unneeded.. why not just wait right at the busses?

But and I say it's a big buuuuut everything turned aout great when I actually got to sit in the front of the upper deck on the doppel decker bus =D

Two germans on the doppel decker bus =D We rock =D

The drive itself was more exhilarating then I anticipated as I expected to fall asleep in the first few minutes XD But as I was so excited my friends had to put up with me for the whole one hour ride. Sorry guys if I was too excited but I just loved the double decker bus =D

The picture above wasa actually taken right before we arrived at the amusement park ^^ So it is already in Blackpool.

Blackpool itself seems like quiet a nice city with lots of amusement parks/ fairs and some waterparks too =D Quite a lot of things for such a city. And of course the Irish Sea which comes up right to the Blackpool Pleasure Beach. So Beach is really the perfect name for

it.

As we got of the bus I was even more excited as I love amusement parks and the sea and I felt that I was going to get both this day =D

The first thing I noticed while standing in front of the bus was the huge blast of wind that nearly blew me away XD That was the last proof I needed to know that I'm near the sea XD Wind like that only exists there, I think.

But more about the sea later on =D because just as we got off the bus we went into the park with the reminder to be back at 5:30 pm.

One of the first pictures I saw was this:

And all I could think was: amusement park! Roller coaster! Amusement park! Roller coaster! Burger King? Ô.o

Yep. Something I don't remember from our amusement parks but which seems quite normal here XD Fast food restaurants in the park ^^ It actually saved us but more about that later =D

Before eating we actually had to get into the park =D

Us three being happy and excited to go into the park.

With our tickets =D The green one was mine. Lucky me ^^

After entering we got onto our first ride... at last =D This one was a mixtu

re

between really cute and creepy XD It was an Alice in wonderland ride which I really like but

... the lighting was kinda creepy XD What was awesome was that if you got into the feeling you could really think that you went down the rabbit hole on the back of a cat XD

After this lovely ride we strolled around for a bit and then found... Nickelodeon Land =D There were so many things to see and to do *_*

As my friends like Spongebob or have a friend that loves Spongebob we had to take lots of pictures in the Spongebob part of the Nickelodeon Land XD Which was really interesting as the have a Krusty Krab, a jelly fish hunting thing and a Bikini Bottom bus tour =D It was all done very nice and it was a lot of fun taking picutures there =D

But after the Spongebob part came the part that I was looking forward to: an Avatar the Last Airbender ride *__* I have to confess I am a huge fan of the series and I really like Aang. So I just had to get onto the ride =D Regardless if it was bad or not. Luckily it was really good =D

These are the seats.

And this is how you sit on them =D And then you fly XD just like an airbender =DD

We went on this ride quiet a few times that day as Hanna seemed to

have fallen in love with it XD and I loved it too =D

During the day we went on some other rides too of course which I will not all explain as much but I will show you pictures =D

It deserves its name O.o absolutly. It is really high, quiet fast and goes down in a 90 degree angle... while turning aroudn itself @.@ it was really good but I kinda missed the german safety XD There were only ... I don't know what they're called... but like a rod in your lap to keep you from falling out... I'm used to the full thing with over the neck bindings for things this crazy XD But it really was an interesting experience

This one was a ride that actually scared me the most XD you sit on these horses and they go around with you on there back without much of a belt keeping you on them O.o This is truly British I think XD And I loved how there would often be two guys on one horse trying to get there horse to go faster XD Sooo funny XD

Just a cute sign in a house of mirrors we went in XD Sadly these sign in there made most of it pointless as you could see where they were reflected XD

One of my favourite rides =D Infusion. You just sit in a hanging systems of sorts and go through the whole thing =D I love it =D

In between these rides it began to rain really hard so we went into the Burger King for cover =D That's why I said it saved us =D without it we would probably be drenched XD We ate in there at it was really nice =D and I found a sign which I really like XD

After all this excitement in the park we went to the sea to go to the beach. When we first got there the tide was still high so we couldn't got down to the beach. But when we came back later the tide was low and we could go to the beach and risk being blown away XD here are some pictures of our blowing adventure XD

We all had fun that day and I think everyone enjoyed the short stay at the beach =D In the evening after some counting problems we left Blackpool half an hour later than planned and were off again to Preston =D

To study diligently and always only work hard for uni.... naaah XD That would've been way to boring XD more about my first week of uni and some other things will follow shortly =D (really I'm talking about tomorrow or so XD )

Love

Thym

P.S. My friend Ashley from California is also writing a blog about her life here in Preston =D Please visit her blog =D

http://arinkale.blogspot.com/