Saturday, January 31, 2004

Crash-course on 'How to Lose my Trust'!!!

I had my first Internal Assessment for Niveau 3 at AF on the 29th, after my return from Bhopal...needless to say my french is terribly rusty after such a long gap, and I was very unhappy with the way I spoke...was basolutely sure my marks would be not the least bit satisfactory. Yesterday we requested eeral, our prof, to tell us how we've fared...we can impove our oral exam marks during the remaining three months of class - if she sees an improvemnt then at the end of the course she will raise our marks..anyways she said I was hanging between satisfactory and unsatisfactory...so there's still hope for me...LOL!! I've been brushing up all my French grammar and vocab for the past 2 days, having abandoned MA studies for the time being.

Unluckily for me, my cousin who had borrowed my carefully made French grammar notes has merrily lost my book, so I'm sitting and making all the notes again. Luckily, on the other hand, my careful nature didn't permit me to throw away even the rough notes, so I fished them out and now I'm spending precious time making another book...ah well I'm finicky I know, but this is just so aggravating..I mean how can you misplace something that isn't yours..and that too, a book? Specially MINE...I mean if there's one sure-shot way of losing my trust, it's to go and misplace/lose/mishandle my book...my most treasured possessions are my books!!! Now I'm all worried coz she has also borrowed ALL my MA I novels which, well, are not only worth thousands, but precious in the other sense too...ick!

Been good and studying alot for the past 2 days, even if its French...gonna be following a regimentary schedule from now on, so that I don't embarass myself at either exam!! Today since Bhaiyya, bhabhi and papa have left for the north for Elecrama/maika visits, I cleaned up the entire house, transforming it from a 'warehouse' that it has been since the Elecrama work began, into a nice house that it has always been....Nothing beats a clean, well-kept, home, what say? Also been listening to my favourite 'study' songs to get me in the mood...all my 80's and early 90's favourites....there are too many to list right now...but it's Wilson Philips at the moment....getting all nostaligc about the days Mansi and I would discuss music, have arguments over Bon Jovi/GNR etc etc...damn but I miss the babe!!!!

Hmmm...c'est tout maintenant...bonne weekend et a demain!!!

Friday, January 30, 2004

Amelie

The only french movie I've seen is
  • Amelie
  • (2001)
    I thought it was a brilliant movie...I was never a movie-buff and never impressed to hear that so-an-so 'star' sat here etc etc...but it was thrilling for me to be having coffee in the cafe where the movie was filmed, or go to the gardens where she left the album for the guy she liked...anyways I strongly recommend the movie for those who haven't seen it yet. Starring Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the movie is a rich and imaginative work that delights from the opening credits, a sweet confection that should be savored more than once.

    Excerpts from a review by Bob Aulert

    "The film starts with Amélie (rhymes with "Family") as a young child, born to a neurotic mother and emotionally distant father. She longs for her father's affection, so much so that her heart races every time he uses his stethoscope to examine her (he's a physician). He diagnoses a heart condition and she's kept away from other human contact. Her mother dies (in a blackly hilarious scene) and she's raised in the countryside until she's old enough to leave home and take a waitress job at the Two Windmills café in Paris. She discovers a tin box hidden at her flat that contains artifacts of a young boy's long-ago childhood. Amélie decides to find its owner and reunite him with the toys of his youth. Thus begins her new part-time job and full-time philosophy: making people happy.

    But Amélie's own joy remains elusive. There's no special person in her life. Then she meets Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a clerk in a porno shop. His hobby is collecting discarded picture fragments from automated photo booths and reassembling them in a scrapbook. Amélie is smitten - but just as her father didn’t judge her heart strong enough to withstand the rigors of a "normal" life, neither does she trust that it can bear the demands of love. So her strategies for meeting Nino are as convoluted and intriguing as the means she uses to enhance other peoples' lives and the practical jokes she plays on a local grocer who cruelly demeans his assistant.

    "Amélie" presents an idealized Paris, far too sanitized and homogenized to ever pass for the real thing. It's more of a theme park look - a world that you suspect could never exist, but secretly hope could. But don’t let words like magical and charming lead you to dismiss Amélie as a fluffy trifle. It deals with some fundamental human themes: love, loneliness, self-confidence and insecurity. In many ways it's as light and sweet as cotton candy. But unlike the circus confection, its essence will stay with you long after you've enjoyed it."

    Time Flies...

    I got up this morning and looked at my Monet calendar, admiring the print and it struck me like thunderbolt that it's been a month since i was in France. on 30th Dec, 2003, I was boarding the train back to Germany, from Gare de Paris l'Est! Can't believe how fast time has flown by....was giving myself a memory test and seeing how much I still remember of my stay in France - the City of Bordeaux, with its labyrinth of streets and old hourses, wine warehouses in the Chartrons area, the banks of the river, the newly inaugurated tram lines, Christmas eve at Jacqueline's place, lunch at Rose's place...the wonderful French cuisine that still makes me mouth water : Onglet Grille, Ratatouille Provencal, Poulet et Carottes a la Vichy, Boudain Blanc , all the Cheese, the Wines and the Desserts, and last but not the least (rather the best) Foie Gras!!! My trip to Lacanau beach on the shores of Atlantic Ocean, which is just across NY on the globe, the trip to St.Emilion, the charming vineyard village....

    Paris brings back a rush of memories from the Eiffel Tower, going all the way up, to roaming around Montmartre, Cafe de Deux Moulins (that's where Amelie of the film "Amelie" worked), Moulin Rouge, Sacree Couer, Le Pantheon with the crypt that has the tombs of Rosseau, Voltaire, Balzac, Marie Curie amongst many others, St Germain des Pres, an exclusive shopping area, the Louvre, Sanmaritaine, Galleries Lafayettes....soooooooo much more and more! I wish I could upload all the pics quickly, but I must wait till my brother resumes work and can get them scanned for me from his office....sigh!!!

    I finished my last roll and this had pics of my trip to the Hartz mountains with Hardo and his prents on our last weekend in Magdeburg...they took us to a skiing resort so we could play in the snow!! That was cool....actually freezing cold!! LOL!! that day was great...we had gone back to Hardo's house picking up Annika en route and had left for our place at like 2.30 am!! Hehehe....nostalgia rules right now!!!

    I was also thinking of how I managed to restrain myself from picking up my favourite perfume Contradiction by CK - I did have time constraints and budget worries towards the end....but the more i think of it, teh more I am surprised at my restraint! Now I'm almost itching for papa to go abroad so he can get it for me...this despite the fact that I have the other 2 CK perfumes I adore!! LOL!! I'm really quite spoilt I think...I'm already itching to shop...pick up some more junk jewellery and stuff...books too..but keeping myself in check coz i knw i'll end up picking stuff up when I take Hana shopping...LOL!!

    Onto more serious stuff....the WSF drew to a close this week..and I'm almost glad...as it is i thought it was hyped way too much, and with that "rape" incident it was all one saw in the newspapers...but I just read an artcile at how badly it was organised and I really wonder whether it achieved anything...can't pass a judgement coz I didn't take the effort to go there, even though one of our faculty members was a part of it and even spoke there at some seminars...or so I understand!!!

    Au revoir et a demain!!!!

    Bhopal Photos

  • Bhopal Photos
  • Thursday, January 29, 2004

    Bhopal Trip...

    Lots to blog about...lots lots lots...I'm gonna start with my trip to Bhopal...there's more that I've jotted down notes for, and shall follow in a day or two...itching to blog all about everything on my mind!!!

    I left for Bhopal on the 24th evening. We should have left earlier in the afternoon, but my dear workoholic father had to work till 4 pm...so we dropped Amma at the airport (she flew coz the drive would be uncomfortable for her) and then continued on our way towards Bhopal. We drove upto Nasik, where we halted for the night...on the way when we passed the ghats we saw a forest fire. Not one that was a hazard, rather one created by the forest department to clear the dry bush in order to prevent hazardous fires!! It was the first time I've seen a fire so I was quite awed by the sight...sadly I didn't fish out my brother's digicam on time and we couldn't get a shot of it!

    We went by car coz we couldn't leave Schnapps behind and well...travelling with my Schnapps is entertaining, but very very tiring!! He simply won't sit still..curious about everything...barking at trucks, bikes, cows, goats, fields...clambering all over us to see from this window and that...whoa!!! And the hunt for a hotel which allowed dogs when we stopped for the night at nasik!!! Quite interesting, as I said...we finally got one hotel that said..."Dog will do as long as he keeps his pee out of our carpet"...I didn't know how to react at that statement!!! He attended most ceremonies and stole away all the attention from the "dhula"....hehe....he is a handsome dog after all!!! Even my new 'bhabhi' - Juhi - was enamoured with him!!!

    We reached Bhopal the next eveg after having driven the whole day from Nasik onwards except for two short halts for meals - first after Dhule for "brunch" then at Indore for "high tea"....Indore was interesting to pass through, with the education zone road..which my brother compared to the "khau galis"...he said this was "padhai gali"...and then the flock of people from nearby villages who had come for some "mela"...they were all dressed in typical MP clothes, so all these women in sarees with their "pallu"s draped low over their foreheads, and big anklets, nose rings et al...and the HUGE "pagdis" of the men in vibrant colours...the way they commute piled up on tractors, or in matador vans...quite a sight....the drive itself is good...except for the bad roads in Madhya Pradesh and the number of animals I saw on the highways and ghats that had been run over, or the numerous over turned trucks, or the two sickening accident scenes I passed...I won't go into details coz it isn't worth upsetting your stomachs over!!! Its sad that ppl don't drive safely on highways and the narrow steep ghats! The amt of rash driving I've seen ppl do left me rather upset...

    The city of Bhopal is awesome...I've been a few time sin my chilhood and last time was when I'd just given my 10th std exams...so like 7 yrs back....it used to be one dry mound of red earth...over the yrs the city has been transformed into a city of beautiful gardens...lots of greenery everywhere, charming bungalows, wide roads...quite a nice place to visit...it also has several lakes which are very very clean and a pleasure to walk ard in the evegs!!! Possibilities of there...you get wonderful Kosa silk, shoes and sandals much cheaper than BOmbay, the "Bhopali batuwas" famous with foreigners that are a work of art....ah well I dint have time unluckily...but did manage to pick up 2 pairs of sandals...LOL!! I could have done more if I had squeezed out more time in between catching up with relatives and attending ceremonies! Next time perhaps? Hehehe...

    The stay in Bhopal itself was cool. Literally and metaphorically!! I got to meet all my chachas, chachis, buas and phuphajis...the marriage ceremonies themselves were ok...it was a small and simple marriage...keeping to traditions but not very loud and vulgar...except for the sangeet with the awful punjabi songs and the Baraat bit which I shall never be able digest!!

    I sooooo abhorr the bit where you play this loud music on the road, have some poor kids carry lamps on their heads while you dance like idiots on the roads...extremely disgusting and declasse!!! I think the baraat arriving in a fleet of cars in a dignified manner is sooooo much more classy....I'll be damned if my "dhula" arrives in a vulgar display of music and gaudy dance!!! I have such a long list of "Will not happen at my wedding" I wonder if I'll find a guy whose family will bow down to my expectations of a classy, simple wedding!!! *Cross my fingers*

    I got back last night...most uncomfortable flight...way too much turbuluence and a very wierd pilot!!! He swayed and kept dipping from one side to the other...I think he must have played alot with toy planes as a child and yesterday he was reminiscing!!! LOL!! Anyways I reached home safely without throwing up as I felt like several times during the flight...very wierd...not once did I feel odd when I was flying with Alitalia...guess thats the only point in their favour!! Hahaha!!!

    Guess that's it about Bhopal....now it's back to Mumbai and studies...I have an internal assessment at Af today so I should get up now and revise my vocab and grammar...it's terribly rusty...sigh!!!

    Until later, with lots more to add.....have a great day!!!

    Thursday, January 22, 2004

    Exclusion, Indignation and more...

    Have been missing for so many days eh? The last time I sat and blogged, something went wrong with the internet and I lost the whole big chunk..was so disgusted I just abandoned the computer..and I haven't been able to sit in peace and blog ever since then..that was Saturday!!!

    Gosh I feel so odd...these days I don't even realise how time flies by...there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish everything on my "To do Today" list! Hell but I'm not complaining..I'd rather be busy than twiddling my thumbs and wondering how to pass time...not for me the existance of a bored individual...I'd be suicidal if I had to live like that for long! Last week flew by, in getting adjusted to the old routine again...now I'm truly settled back in...and its fun to be doing that stuff again. I do miss Tasu on the bus journeys back home from AF, and get a bit bored, but then that time alone gives me time to think and generally 'be with myself' and sort things out in my head that I can't be bothered with during the day!

    This week there were 2 articles on France in the papers...the first was about their new law concerning wearing anything that displays your religious affinities - I was very surprised to see it in the paper, because I had discussed this with Patricia when I was in Bordeaux. I personally think that the law shold be scrapped coz every person has a right to follow his religion and you can't impose rules on how he follows it...but then you wonder where one can draw a line? Yet banning the wearing of turbans/scarves etc to school is outrageous...next they will say that one shouldn't wear a 'salwar kurta' because that shows the community you are affiliated to and sets you apart as 'different' - is it so wrong to be different? And how can one live in such an exclusive culture today when boundaries are getting vague and people are spilling over borders into different cultures?

  • French Muslim Minister in Support of bBn


  • Muslim Women Protest Ban in France


  • British Sikhs Condemn The Ban


  • The other article did nothing to my blood pressure, luckily!!! It was just a travelogue concerning 2 cities in France one must visit - Paris and Bordeaux. Again it caught my attention because of my recent link wth both cities...what pleased me was that I'd seen all the places they mentioned in the article...and more!!! Unluckily I can't find that on the internet, so only those who see my Bordeaux album will see the article, for it is pasted on the last page of my album!!!

    Speaking of french, I think I'll probably talk of this kind of movement to 'exclude' other cultures for my expose in Niv 3. Serious enought topic and I feel quite strongly about it....

    Have some others things I wanna voice my opinion on, but that shall have to wait for later...SIMPLY MUST get up now and be 'productive!!!'

    Saturday, January 17, 2004

    Changes....

    Changes a plenty...I hadn't realised how much I'd changed in these short months...Can't converse on the phone at all..don't think of calling up anyone unless I have work and definitely can't talk to people at odd hours like 11 pm!!! Kinda makes life tough for me coz friends are wondering why I am acting snooty and don't call...sigh!

    Plus I seem to have become even less tolerant...just can't say "It's alright anymore" as I used to...end up telling my friends how annoying or whatever they are being and getting this blank look from them...they aren't used to me being this blunt. No crap from others either...I just cut them off and walk off...jeez but I'm gonna lose my angel's wings very fast at this rate!!! LOL!!! I'm not yet complaining but well....

    Ouch my mom thinks I must go shower coz it's lunch time..sigh...off I go...more laters....

    My Encounter With An American Bimbo!!!

    This happened when I was in a restroom of a Parisien Cafe...it was on my first day, just after I'd walked from the arc de la triomphe, down the Champs Elysees upto the Place de la Concorde (where the guillotine was during the French Revolution)...picture a buxom blond with pink lipstick and blue eye shadow...

    Bimbo (B) : I wanna see the Danish palace....
    Geetanjali (G) : *smile*
    B : Do you know where it is?
    G : I am not from Paris..what does your guide book say?
    B : Is it in Paris or in Denmark?
    G : I wouldn't know..I'm not from France or Denmark!!!
    B : Well I wanna see it...
    G : Why don't you look up a guide book and see what it says? Or ask one of the guys in the cafe?
    B : What city in the US did you say you are from by the way?
    G : I didn't say I am from the US...
    B: But you speak good english...
    G : There are other countries in the world apart from the US where people speak excellent english...
    B : So where in UK are you from?
    G : Guess again...
    B : Then it must be Australia...thats the only other country...
    G : Nopes wrong again...I'm from India...
    B : But isn't that a small village in Asia?
    G : (Mentally) I wonder what the sentence for murder is???? *fake smile* No it isnt..It's a big country with a lot of very intelligent people who speak better english than most Americans...excuse me I need to use the loo....

    ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

    Friday, January 16, 2004

    Busy Bee Me

    Phew...yesterday was a hectic day...I kept going in and out of the house the whole day..or rather right upto midnight. But I've managed to get alot accomplished, even if my legs felt like stone by the end of the day with all that walking around. Posted all my 'thank you' letters and photographs today...feeling good about that! Also managed to finally get some texts photocopied and read up a bit...AF was good as well. The prof was still recovering from the illness that kept her away from class on Wed, so she didn't tear into me as she is normally known to do!!! *Jaan bach gayi, lekin mera carefully prepared speech went down the drain!!* LOL!!

    Returned home in a hurry changing buses to save time of waiting for my tardy 222 - gobbled down puranpuris and headed out again. Mocha with Kunu - it was nice. We had the Kahlua Mousse Cake...divine...there was a hi-society party happening as well with Star News and NDTV cameras hanging around...that bit was funny! Caught sight of some minor celebs as well...oh yeah I'm back in tinseltown for sure!!! :)

    Gonna be another full day today since I'm going out for dinner...was looking forward to relaxing and being 'askati' on the weekend but doesn't look like I'll have that luck either...with a visit to town on the cards (for tomm) and a pooja happening on Sunday that I must attend...ah well there's always next weekend...or wait I'm leaving for Bhopal that weekend...the weekend after? LOL!!!

    Thursday, January 15, 2004

    Dragging myself back into action...

    Been going to the University...and well it's so terribly boring..I mean while I'm there it's like alright - specially since its Veveina's class so it's actually quite interesting ( we are doing Eugene Ionesco's "Amedee")...but the bit with getting ready to go there and actually getting there can be such a drag...and then by the end of the day I'm like, Ok the day is over and what have I achieved..NADA!!! I hope classes wind up soon so I can get down to some serious studying...guess I should have things in order by next week, coz by then I'll also be done with this initial "I need to go out everyday" phase!! With Kunu in town I've been out daily and well, just been loafing.

    Yesterday I FINALLY went for AF...and guess what? My prof didn't show up..so I left within half-an-hour! It was such a joke...bah! ?Ofcourse I've discovered who the prof is - and she ain't the nicest of ladies..quite a bitch actually..Niveau 3 ain't gonna be fun at all..brilliant! Welcome back to the real world Geetanjali!!

    Spoke to Hardo on the phone yesterday...really looking forward to having him and Annika here in Feb..really miss Annika alot...ah well just a few more weeks! :)

    Tuesday, January 13, 2004

    Back Again...

    I've been away for so long that I'm drawing an absolute blank on what to blog about now....I have way too much to update, so I dunno what to do...skip that stuff and resume from the present or update? Gah that can get tedious....guess I'll drop references as and when they strike me...
    Been back 'home' for a week now....got back into the rhythm of things here. Yesterday I resumed with classes at the University and had planned to resume AF as well, but terribly lazy. Somehow I'm dreading it this time..but I think I'll start from tomorrow...the longer I put it off the harder it will be...sigh!!

    Today I'm at home all alone with Schnapps...was supposed to have gone to the beach with Kunu baba who has come down for the week..but he ditched me! Hmpf...so I'm home feeling awfully guilty of having bunked AF again...shall defi start going from tomm...and before that I must organise my notes for MAII as well and write out all my thank you letters so I can post them soon....time to get back into order Geets!!

    Friday, January 02, 2004

    Soon to come...

    1. Historical tid bits, Trivia
    2. Restaurants, Cuisine
    3. Places visited
    4. People I met
    5. Train journey and fellow travellers!!!

    The blog below was just something to whet your appetite and this I hope shall make you hunger for more!! Hehehe!!

    Mon sejour en France...

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

    I didn't do much for New Year's eve -just stayed at home here with some friends with some good food and wine...and saw some incredible fireworks at the Uni-Platz at midnight and then settled in to watch a movie - 'O Brother Where Art Thou' featuring George Clooney - and talk till the wee hours of the morning...but it was nice and cozy..a bit odd not celebrating New Year with my closest friends as I usually do, but nice all the same to celebrate it with new friends!!!

    Hmmm...my fabulous trip to France...it was pretty phenomenal I have to say!!! For one, the journeys to and fro were so wonderfully smooth..ofcourse as Patricia said after my adventure to Sweden I am an expert at travelling by train within Europe so anything would seem smooth...but I must say the pleasure of having trains arrive at the destination on time, and getting to the next platform by walking not running is great!!! Hehehe!!!

    Bordeaux - that's where Patricia stays and I spent 4 days with her, spending Christmas with her family. That was cool...her fiance Bernard is a nice guy - very typical French I would say , could almost fall in a stereotype!!! I also got to meet her mother, brother, his 'paxi', daughter, Bernard's mother, friend and father...and with these people I had to talk in French...incredibly slow and rusty French but I spoke all the same - and understood most of what they said!! Felt pretty good after nearly 3 months of not understanding anything of the conversation that flowed around me in German!!! Met some of her friends too - she's got a cool circle of friends and I really liked how they are with each other - I guess that comes with so many years of knwoing each other...pretty darn nice !!!!

    The stay was fabulous as I said- Patricia and Bernad showed me around Bordeaux, walking around the city centre which has amazingly beautiful buildings and this labyrinth of streets filled with cottages, shops and cafes!! The cafes and restaurants were the best feature of the trip - we ate out once a day, and were at a cafe/pub/wine bar twice...'THE' French way of doing things as I was told..and do I love it. As I told Kunu on the phone...do the French know how to live in style!!

    On Christmas eve we were at Bernard's mother's house for dinner...a traditional dinner, but then I ate very traditional and typical French food through-out my stay in France - and loved the cuisine!! I am a big fan of 'Foie Gras' now - it is simply mouth wateringly delicious!!! *Smack my lips* LOL!!!
    The next day for lunch Pat and I were at her mother's place, while Bernard spent the day with his father. After lunch we drove down to Lacaunau, which is a beach on the Atlantic ocean shore...as Pat told me, if I knew how to swim and had the stamina and will oer (and insanity to try) I could swim across to New York from there!! Luckily though it was cold the day was clear so we had a nice long walk on the beach...and I realised then that I do miss even the beache back home...that's on my list of things to do when I return - walk to Versova beach and watch the sunset from the rocks there.... On the 26th we drove to St Emilion which is a village where some of the world's best wines are produced...though the vineyards were dry, the day was charming. The village is a heritage site so you can imagine...maze of streets winding up a hillside, church and houses dating back to the 12th century, restaurants set in wine cellars...utterly captivating!!! And a most memorable day and great way to wind up my stay in Bordeaux!!

    Pat and I spent 3 days in Paris from the 27th to 30th. Her friend who works at the National Assembly had let his stay at his flat while he was holidaying in Switerzerland, so we had an increbible flat (filled with books - he seems to be a voracious reader and I was duly impressed - more by the books than the locality, or his salary which was also mind boggling!!!)...I had a great guide in Pat. Bernard was living in Paris till a few months back so Pat knows her way around and knew just the right places to visit. Ofcourse I did the Eiffel Tower bit, going upto the top, despite my fear of heights!! Beyond that we walked around alot - Opera house, Invalides, Pont Alexander (the most beautiful bridge in Paris), Montmartre (seeing houses of writers, cafes where famous artists, writers etc had rendezvous, Moulin Rouge, the cafe in 'Amelie' etc etc), Sacree Coeur, Notre Dame, Village de Saint Paul ( an area where only antiques are sold), Hotel Ville, Galleries Lafayette, Samaritaine (in which we had coffee in a restaraunt giving us a fabulius view of the Seine and the city at sunset and twilight!!!) .....more so much more that I can't put in an email!!! My mind is bursting with memories of the trip...if I liked the way the French lived from my stay in Bordeaux I was floored by Paris...as I said...I want to go back and stay longer...and be richer this time!! HEHEHE!!!

    Hmm...now I'm back in Magedburg...short stay here...just packing up, winding up....am I dying to return home. 6th...the day is approaching fast and I couldn't be happier!!!

    Guess this is it for now, the details of my trip shall be filled in soon...perhaps on my return to Bombay...but they shall come for they are worth sharing!!! So be patient, and the fruit shall be sweet...LOL..it sounds funny translating the Hindi saying into English!! Ciao for now...

    Saturday, December 20, 2003

    Last update till 2004!!!

    Hmmm....yesterday after I went home, I found Martin there. He had dropped in to give us the directions to his place since he forgot to do that on Thursday. Annika came a while later, so we left Saima and Martin alone (if looks could have killed at that time Saima's look would have murdred Annika and me!!LOL!!) and cooked dinner. Annika improved the left-over spagghetti from the party and we made some soup...voila - nice dinner for movie. We saw this really eerie movie - Picnic at the Hanging Rock - I've seen the movie before. It's based on a true story of the msterious disappearance of 2 young girls and their teacher when they went on a picnic to this hanging rock. The mystery remains unsolved - the whole movie has this wierd lazy, slow, and brooding feel to it, made intense with the music, use of colors and cinematography - its definitely an interesting movie to watch!!! After that movie they started another movie but I was too tired having been on my feet all day long and not even gotten a few hours of rest the prev night, so I went off to sleep.

    Today we are meeting Dr.Ebeling in the anoon for icecream and coffee and early night. Tomm its an early night too, in preparation for my journey to Bordeaux, which I hope and pray shall be smooth!!!!

    I promised to blog about Sweden - its much overdue and feels funny doing that now but it must be done (sounds like a punishment na?) - so here goes:

    My first sight of snow in Sweden thrilled me to bits, even though I was already so tired. It was on the train to Stockholm - infact there were several people on the train who were going for skiing trips. It was so cool to see white landscape outside throught-out the journey. When I reached Stokcholm, Dini had told me that it had started snowing in Vasteras that day at 10 am and on their drive to Stockholm it was snwoing so heavily that they were scared my train would stop in middle...I'm really glad that didn't happen!! LOL!!

    It was incredible - walking on snow for the first time, and Pauline even took a photograph of me with my first snow-ball - kiddish eh? I can't say how exciting it was to FINALLY see snow!!! I was expecting snow here in Magedburg as well coz on my retun journey I'd seen snow upto Uelzen but there's been no snow here so far, so I'm really glad that I managed to see snow somewhere!!! LOL!!!

    During my short little stay in Sweden Dini, Bengt-olof and Pauline told me so much about their traditions and culture - thier folk-lore that is full of stories of gnoes, elves and fairies, about St. Lucia (who was blinded and late beheaded), and the speical food and drink for the festival. One drink I had there is found in stores only during Christmas and Easter time, and its sales are so much that they make Coca-Cola suffer losses during that period. It's a traditional drink, the recipe of which has been handed down one family through the years and is today avaliable in bottles!! Pretty darn cool eh? It tastes real nice too!! They also have a version of gluh-wine which comes in a non-alcoholic form as well, called Glugg. The meals I've already mentioned - with lots of pickled herring, meat-balls, ham, smoked salmon served with mustard sauce, 'Satan's temptation' ( it's amde with potatoes and anchovies), grilled ox-meat(for new year's eve) etc etc....the traditional dessert for Christmas is Milchries, which is quite like our kheer, only thicker. In it they put one almond and acc to legend, the person who gets it, is the next to get married - I wondered what it means if a married person gets it!! LOL!!!

    Gosh I'm really lad I went there, even though I dragged my feet about it and was filled with so much apprehension before the trip and had such a tough time getting there - it was definitely worth it!!!

    Shall stop now....but since I shall not blog now for a very long while - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2004!!! Party hard, but be safe!! LOL!!!

    Friday, December 19, 2003

    Yakkity Yak

    Hmmm...I'm here after a break of 2 days...on wednesday I'd blogged about our night partying - first the pub, then the impromptu party at our place. That was so incredibly cool ...I'm still like...'oh hog that night was so much fun' and today is friday!!!Hehehehe!!! Anyways on Wednesday we also got our letter from the Dept of Eng here stating our attendance and our participation in class - its not too fancy but I quite like it. It definitely states that we've done our bit here...after the last class of Janespotting (we didn't take a photo of this class coz we felt like stangers in this class) we saw 'Mansfield Park' - its an extremely thought-provoking movie and I'm very eager to go back home and read first the book, then Edward Said's article on it!!! I think it's the most 'intelligent' of JA novels!!!

    I was sitting and thinking about what all I wanted to still blog about my Swden trip and I'm thinking I must do it tomm after making some notes about it, so I don't miss anything...gosh I can be such an organisation freak na? LOL!!! Anyways since I'm putting that off till tomm, which incidentally shall be my last blog till 2004 - coz I'm leaving for France on monday and when I return the comp room shall be shut for Christmas break and will re-open only on the 2nd!!! So well....before I digress too much and forget what else I still have to babber about....

    We had our last presentation yesterday for Lange's class - had to compare what we learnt about city cultures in Britain with the case of Mumabi (but obviously!!)...it went damn well. Lange was impressed that we took the trouble to make a hand-out and get some statistcs and stuff from the internet and well the class responded damn well. After class we went and gave him the gift we had brought for him...he was very pleased. Infact all 4 profs that we gave gifts to as a little 'thank you' were pleased with the gifts...infact today when we gave it to Dr.Ebeling she insisted on taking us out tomm either for a concert if she gets tickets or for coffee at the least!!! Anyways so yest, we had a party for Jigi's friends..had also invited our own friends Annika, Hardo and at the last moment Martin...but the party was so frustrating. Jigi was trying her best to treat us like her poor country cousins who have no brains, and no knowledge of anything, by talking in German. Things have been boiling for several days but last night was the limit...I was anyways close to a foul mood and her behav put me off completely...so much that I walked out for 45 mins in bet and took a long walk to clear my head out, and prevent a violent outburst which is not desirable. So incredibly glad I'm going away for 8 days coz I think otherwise she'd have a volcano eruting one of these days and wouldn't know what to do!!! Hmmm....Saima has to cope..God BLess Her coz she's more put-off than me and aint very good at concealing her emotions and playing the diplomat!!!

    Anyways yest party was pas-mal, Annika stayed till 6 am..I didn't sleep at all...just went straight for class today...this way I function as normal..shall sleep early tonight and sleep till late tomm morng and get back to normal...kinda like coping with jet-lag. I've done this before....so I know what I'm doing....anyways today we spent the entire day with Annika. It was cool...we ate at the Mensa, met Poonam while walking back so had tea with her (surprisingly she'be behaved well since she got the hint!!!) and then went to the video library...Annika took Wiemann's permission to take out videos and the VCR for the holidays...so these guys will see movies to entertain themselves...I want to see some of them -the novel based ones - so I've asked them to keep those for after I return...

    Hmm....think I shall stop now...shall blog tomm...final blog of the year 2004!!!!

    Wednesday, December 17, 2003

    Busy Bee Me...

    Whoa....me is really busy these days..hahaha!!! Yesterday after I left here I headed home, grabbed a sandwich and headed out again. Its our last week of class here, so we took a photgraph each in Wiemann's and Breunig's class - I'm gonna meet them today to big them adieu!! LOL!! Anyways class was cool as usual and it was so great that we got a photgraph of the class - now I do not have to rely merely on my memory...Anyways after class the group going to Mumbai for the excursion was meeting up for a discussion and then going to a pub. Wiemann invited us to join the group...so we went for the discussion and gave our 'vishesh tipni' on the project hypotheses and later we went to the pub with those who didn't head home. Jigi dint come..and boy did she miss the fun. We were at the pub till midnight..it was so cool...I can't imagine sitting that informally with ANY of my professors from back home...sat there and talked to quite a few people, exchanged stories about our travels in Europe/India, joked with the professors, has a tiny discussion with Wiemann about possibilites of doing Ph.D in Germany..etc etc...I finally had a glass of dark German beer and quite liked it, but I think I enjoyed my Irish coffee much more...and I am still a wine person!! LOL!! At around 11.30 some of us realised we've not eaten and are hungry...so well we all headed to our flat..and at midnight we walked in - Annika, Susanne, Hana, Dietmar Fricke(that's the prof of the Politics group!!!), and this other babe whose name I can't spell!! And then we cooked something and generally had an impromptu party....that was like soooooooooo cool. Jigi was upset coz we partied without her and then we had our friends over, but hell, we can't not to do stuff coz she doesn't wanna!! Last night was awesome!!!

    Now this morning we got up early and discussed how to make the hand out for our last presentation and I've been here for nearly 2 hours working on that....just gonna blog now and leave. Gotta meet Breunig and Wiemann and then we have our last JA class. And ofcourse today is the last JA movie - Mansfield Park. Tomm night we are having that party...so I'm looking forward to that now...shall blog more tomm...still got loads to update on...but bloody tired of this comp room for now...until tomm...don't do anything I wouldn't!!!

    Tuesday, December 16, 2003

    My Grand Adventure in Sweden!!!

    Whoa...I have ALOT to report!!! Lets begin with the party on Thursday night...that was cool. The buffet was truly amazing and we met quite a few of our classmates there...they also had great music playing and an extremely crowded dance-floor. So crowded that I decided not to step in!! Hehehe!!! But it was cool to just hang out with our classmates...even though we were the first to leave since we had to travel the next day.

    Now my grand trip...it was an adventure!!! LOL!! I left Magdeburg at 2 pm...I was to change my first train at Wittengerge at 3.30..only my train was 30 mins late!! So obviously I missed the connection...I had to wait at Wittenberge station for an hour and a half...and the station is the worst I've seen in Europe..cold, unheated, no rest-rooms, no coffee vending machines, or cafes-nothing!! Anyways I caught the next train to Hamburg, after going 'sprechen zie english' and getting a translator who helped me change my reservations!!! At Hamburg I was forced to spend the night, coz the next train was in the morning...so I did the 'sprechen zie english' again..and found out that Hamburg being a big city has enogh ppl speaking english...and anyways went to a tourist info centre and then to a hotel and checked myself in for the night.

    After settling in I roamed around a while...saw the Christmas market in Hamburg and just strolled through the streets...returned to my room for dinner and slept early. The next day I got a wake-up call at 6 am...my train was at 7.20...so I got ready and left...I figured now things shall go smoothly...little did I know what was awaiting me!!!

    The train from Hamburg to Kopenhagen was a eurocity express....it goes upto Puttgarten on the German border and then onto a ferry which take the train across to Denmark -Rodby. That was soooooooo cool..the whole train on the ferry...and then you can go upto the deck and sit there while you cross the sea..its awesome. I went right up and even stood out for a while but I had to come in coz it was raining...

    Anyways the train got later after that....so I reached Kopenhagen 30 mins late...I had 5 mins to spare so I ran to the platform for my train to Stockholm...only to find out I'm on the wrong platform...ran to the right platform...but there was no train...I thought I'd missed the train, but there were still 2 mins to departure time, so I caught a guard and asked him. He checked up and told me that the train was cencelled, but I could catch a train to Malmo Central from the next platform in 1 min....huff puff...just managed to get on the train...

    At Malmo I got a reservation for the next train to Stockholm..so now I was going to reach Stockholm at 7.40 pm instead of 6.20 pm...over 12 hours late!! I was so misreable and depressed and tired and homesick...I was sitting there trying hard not to cry and getting all worked up in the process when a tissue appeared under my nose...the man sitting next to me asked what's wrong..and well, I just spilt out my dukh bhari kahani to him...he was very nice. He sat with me till his daughter arrived and offered to stay till my train came..but there were only 15 mins left so I told them not to wait...very nice people. But was I misreable at Malmo - I just wanted to go home...home, as in Bombay...made several plans to fly home from Stockholm...hahaha!!! But also decided to drop the trip to Amsterdam coz that will be too tiring - which was good, coz I later found out that the trip to Paris was very badly organised and Saima and Jigi were having second thoughts about the next trip anyways...

    Anyways finally boarded the last train to Stockholm, which was on time!!! LOL!! It was snowing all the way to Stockholm....so yeah, I saw my first snow and once in Stockholm even felt it!!!! Yipppeeee!!! I reached Stockholm and met the Rabergs on the station....

    They drove me straight to their home in Vasteras, a 2 hour drive from Stockholm...they are really very nice people...they made my trauncated stay in Sweden very very special. When I reached their home, they made me relax while dinner was prepared. I saw a video of the St. Lucia's celebration that morning with Pauline. Dinner was marvellous...Dini had prepared a traditional Christmas meal for me and they had palced 4 snow-men around my plate to cheer me up!! We chatted over dinner and it was 1.30 am before I slept. I styed with Pauline in her flat coz Dini and Bengt-Olof are re-decorating their house. Anyways Pauline's house is very charming and cozy...the best part of the house is her collection of 50 dolls from 40 countries. Bengt-Olof travelled alot, so he got back a doll from every country he visited for his daughter...and today she has an amazing collection!!!!

    The next day they showed me around Upsaala, where Pauline is studying Commercial Law. The Upsaala university is the oldest university in Northern Europe and very prestiguous...the whole town is a university town...very charming and nice. My grandfather has also studied in Upsaala for 6 months, so as Dini said , this was the third generation of the family visiting Upsaala!!! That felt cool...even tho I have never met my grandfather, I felt like hey...now there's a link...sounds odd, eh?

    Anyways from Upsaala we drove down to this Christmas market...that was cool. I tasted some Reindeer meat there and well...I've got some dried reindeer meat back to take home. They told me how to serve it in traditional Swedish style...cool eh? They had interesting stuff at the market...lots of gnomes, elves etc dressed for Christmas...I was told that Sweden has a lot of folk-lore revolving around gnomes and such creatures...so Christmas market is full of them...there were also ginger-bread houses made by school children..beautiful ones that reminded me of the story of 'Hansel and Gretel'....

    From there we drove around Vasteras..they showed me a viking grave etc...and then back to their house. We had traditional Advent's tea and for dinner, Dini once again cooked a traditional Swedish meal - this time one that is served for New Year's Eve!!! As I said, they made my trip very special...I feel that I've returned with new friends - no longer just Papa's friends, now MY friends!!

    We went to bed early but I was so nervous about my journey back that I hardy slept...got up at 3.30 to get ready and left for the station at 4am. We had to leave early coz of the snow...that makes driving tricky..and well...I didn't talk about all the snow...that shall follow in my next blog...coz that deserves a seperate blog by itself!!!!

    I left them loaded with gifts and even food for the journey!!! Surprisingly, as hectic was my journey upto Sweden, the journey back to Magebdurg was just as smooth....trains were on time and I changed trains very smoothly...returned home and Annika dropped in to find out about our trips...so we talked and it was midnight before I slept....

    So that was the story of my first grand adventure....very eventful and great fun, despite the tension in between....I shall blog more tomm, but for now I must stop...more details shall follow on my blog...about the snow, Swedish customs, etc etc...

    Thursday, December 11, 2003

    Shopping...

    Hmmm....I went shopping again today. Got assorted little gifts and a jacket for bhaiyya. Unfortunately Saima was tired and hungry by then so we had to return home...I could have done a bit of window shopping after that as well, or even finished of my shopping today itself. Now I shall have to go one more day before I'm done with my money-spendig spree!! LOL!!! On our way home, Saima expressed concern over packing. So when we came home she started sorting out her stuff...she has just been dumping her shopping...so she had no idea how much she has shopped. Anyways I figured I'd also see how much place I have so I don't have to worry about how to pack when I get back from France. Saima will have enough time during Xmas week to do all this, but I won't. Put away the stuff I bought and the few clothes I know I won't wear any more. Think I can manage but not absolutely sure...if I need to, I guess I shall borrow a bag from Hardo or worst comes to worst buy a small duffel bag, tho I hope I don't have to do that. *Amen!*

    Gonna go to the Xmas party tonight at the campus...thought we better attend atleast one party on campus, plus the buffet in this party has recd rave reviews for the past three years. But I shall leave early coz I wanna sleep early and be well-rested for my weekend travelling...can't afford to be tired. The butteflies have gone away for now, but I still hope that the journey is smooth...both ways...no missed trains or other hassles please!!! *Touchwood*

    That's it from me till Tuesday...have a good weekend and prepare yourselves for a long blog/email from me on Monday!!! Hehehe!!!

    Yosie!!

    ''So here I am, this is me, there's no where in the world I'd rather be...''

    OK the last bit ain't true. There is another place I'd rather be...or shall be in a month, less than actually...whoa Geets your record is so getting stuck...skip to the next track b4 the blog loyals turn traitor!!! LOL!!

    Hmmm....secnd last week of lectures. So, today we spoke to Wiemann about getting some kinda certification of our attendance and the presentations we've made - so that we have some kinda proof of this brief stint here, incase we decide to do our Ph.D - this would look fab on our CVs!!!

    Had an interesting lecture. We've started 'Mansfield Park' in the Janepsotting class and this novel, as some of you might know and should know, is a very diff JA novel that can be read a from a feminist POV as well as a Postcol POV. Obviously this is the reason I was persuaded to attend the lecture initially even tho I was not fond of Ja then and I was getting just 3 of these lecs. Anyways I'm dying to get back home and read the book...unluckily its not available in the library here and this is one time when I'm restraining myself from buying a book - 2 reasons. 1. EXPENSIVE. 2. WIEGHT!!! LOL!! Sounds funny thinking of the other shopping I'm doing...muhahaha!!

    After class we came here. Gonna sit today and plan out what we shall talk about in our last presentation next thursday. Not gonna have time next week to do anything except prepare the hand-outs. SO shall do this well in time and in an organised fashion. Also managed to find an amazing study of Mumbai as a City online, which I shall give Wiemann to copy for those who are going for the excursion. It will be a big help to them for their projects. Angelic am I not? Muhahahaha!!!

    What else? Oh yeah....

    THE CASE OF THE MISSING KNIFE!!

    Our knife broke some time last month so we bought a new one. Now day before yest we cut the pizza with that knife. That was the last we saw of it. The next morning when we wanted to cut the apples we looked all over the house and even searnchd our trash, but its disappeared into thin air!! Totally bizarre!! -Infact yest when we came home we found the cake sliced and arranged on a plate and got totally spooked out. Later when Jigi had returned from Raghu's place, she told us she had cut it before we had to rush out. Were we relieved to hear that!! LOL!!! The mystery of the knife however remains unsolved....

    Incidentally this is the last time I shall blog about this, but those two are REALLY amazing. Jigi was forced to stay at Raghu's place till we rescued her with a SMS, and they were making plans to gate-crash on us today again. She had to be blunt and say that we are busy. Man oh man...am I amazed!!! And that shall be the last....bitching about them leaves a sad, bad taste in my mouth....don't even feel wicked. Just pathetic....grumpf. I've lost my devil's horns...LOL!! JK!!! Just dont wanna dwell on this any longer...not healthy...

    That's it for today....gonna go home and be nerdy tonight. YEEEHAW!!! :)

    Wednesday, December 10, 2003

    GROWL!!!

    I do not believe this. We called up Raghu to tell him that we want to return his VCR tomm, but b4 we could broach the subject he demanded it back...juvenile behaviour if I ever saw one!!! Anyways Poonam also arrived uninvited and forced us out ofthe house. We are in the library on the pretext of studying at 8 pm for chrissake...HELP!!!!!! WAT A DAY!!!!!!

    More tomm...until then...Lord save me from such namunnas!!!