Australia

17 February 2014

That Is Not My Name

When I went to Australia, I did something that I have wanted to do all my life, but always failed to take the chances I had: I changed my first name. Not legally or anything – I merely gave everyone I met in Australia my second name instead of my first name, thus they addressed me by my second name. Why would anyone do that, you ask? It’s simple: I have hated my first name ever since I became consciously aware of what an old-fashioned, stupid name it is. In German, it rhymes with a lot of bad things. Therefore, […]

27 January 2014

A Place In This World

I’ve been back in Germany from Australia for two weeks, or something along that line. Truth is, I have completely lost my feeling for time (hello, jetlag) and I usually can’t even tell which weekday it is. I was a bit shocked today when I realised that January is almost over. My first week here was very surreal. I had been away from this place for half a year. In this half a year, I have experienced how perfect and pleasant life can be. Suddenly, everything about this place is a shock, everything is making me feel incredibly unwelcome. People […]

31 December 2013

The Awesome Year of Twenty Thirteen

The year is over and it’s time for my annual tradition of “what I did this year” in form of a blog post. While I have already shared my TV show consumption of 2013, it’s now time for life, the universe and everything. January usually begins with a week of being far less productive than planned – I should have studied for exams, instead I probably watched some TV shows. But eventually the semester (my third) commenced after its Christmas break, and I started studying for those exams. Which I think was just one exam, and all of it was […]

12 December 2013

How to be Australian

Today I am sadly leaving Australia. During my time here, I assumed the role of observer and tried to gain as much knowledge about Australians and their culture as possible. I would like to share my observations here, even though I might risk angering my Australian friends by reinforcing some stereotypes! Oh dear… but wait, angry Australians? I don’t think such a thing exists… Please note: some observations might be exclusive to Queenslanders. Be nice and friendly! It’s true, Australians are nice and friendly (and they just can’t help it). They will always greet you with a smile and chat […]

11 June 2013

16.145 kilometers: Australia

Three weeks from now, I will be on a plane. That plane will take me to the other end of the world, 16.145 kilometers away from where I’m sitting now: Brisbane, Australia. There, I will attend The University of Queensland for one semester as a Study Abroad guest student. I have chosen this university because it’s one of the five best universities in Australia. Naturally, I have also chosen it because of its location: I wanted to go to Australia because a stay of several months is the best possible opportunity to get to know this country. Since it takes […]