Hausaufgabe + Kaffee & Kuchen = sehr gut!

Coffee and cake at 4pm while doing my German homework makes me quite happy.

xoxo

Holly

insp-i-love weekly

Oh geez, guys.  I'm late on this post.  I've had a busy week or so.  I started a new intensive German class and it's taking all of my energy.  Plus trying to get my own school work done and all other daily chores and activities.

Well what matters is that I'm here now and ready to share!

via The Office Stylist

1. I've never seen a coat like this on a cat before. I find it so beautiful and unique, don't you?

via Dino Sanchez

2. Last week I suddenly realized I had a pain in my right hand.  It felt like a bruise on the fleshy part of my thumb.  I couldn't remember hitting my hand anywhere.  I thought about it all evening.  Shortly before bed, as I decided to give my German homework one last attempt, I picked up my pencil to write and I discovered where the pain had come from.  It was from using a pencil!  Since I started my German course I've been handwriting in class, which I realize is not an activity I really do anymore for extended periods of time; I type.  I couldn't believe it.  Then I saw these pencils by Dino Sanchez and thought them totally appropriate. 


 

via Freshome

3. This apartment in Sweden makes me feel good.  See more of it at Freshome.

photo credit: Fernado Guerra

4. This is a nursing home in Alcácer do Sal, Portugal, by Portuguese studio Aires Mateus Arquitectos.  I think it would be a nice place to retire, all modern and fresh.  Deezen featured it and that's how I found it.  I think the interior design will need to come alive a bit and the landscaping could be more interesting.  But otherwise very different, very cool.

via sub-studio design blog

5. I just don't like watches.  I never wear them.  But maybe if I could get a watch like this, I would!  They are a collaboration between ToyWatch and Missioni.  Limited edition.

Anything you'd like to share this week?

xoxo

Holly

upper intermediate? really?

I recently watched this talk on TED about why we have too few women leaders and why only a small percentage of women reach the top of their professions (Thanks Steph!).  I thought it was a good, inspiring talk and I agreed with most of it.  This week, I realized that part of that talk surprisingly stuck with me and helped me make a decision.

I met Camilla last Friday, a non-German woman, recently married to a German man and living in Frankfurt.  She is taking German lessons and was raving about the school she is attending.  Since it has been time for me to take a German course for a while now, I decided to check it out.  Turns out, she wasn't raving for nothing.  It's a very charming school, in a nice neighbourhood in the city, with highly qualified teachers and super friendly staff.  A little more expensive than the alternative I was considering, but the obvious quality difference and the fact that they told me I could start as soon as tomorrow led me to choose them.  If you are reading this and are living in Frankfurt needing to learn German, please do check this school out.  It's called A-viva.

So yesterday I attended my first class.  On my first visit on Monday we assessed my level by taking a short test.  I thought my level was B1, which is lower intermediate.  Turns out, they thought I should be in the B1.2 - the upper intermediate class.  I was a bit hesitant about this, since I really didn't want to be overwhelmed and I am a bit obsessed about doing things in the right order and not skipping steps, even if it slows me down sometimes.  But I agreed to try the class today and if I found it too challenging, I could switch.

I found the class a bit difficult and I felt that compared to the other students, my German was not as good. They had a better vocabulary and a better understanding of some grammar issues.  At break I was thinking about switching ... but then a part of that talk popped into my head - the part that says women don't get ahead because the are always underestimating their abilities.  I thought about this and wondered if this is what I was doing?  I'm definitely not one to shy away from hard work, but I'm always careful not to overestimate my abilities.  I don't know why I do this.  Maybe it has something to do with fairness or believing that you shouldn't lie to get ahead and that being modest is better than being vain...  But is taking a more challenging class lying just because I don't believe in myself?  I asked the teacher if she thought this was an appropriate level for me based on my performance and she agreed that it was without hesitation.   I thought about all the people I've met who say, "...but your German is quite good...".  I always push those comments aside because I assume people are just being nice.  So with these ideas in mind, I made the decision to stay in this class.  I decided to believe that even though I think I'm not good enough - I might actually be.   I hope that this class, and this decision will give me not just the boost I was searching for, but a power boost as far as my language skills are concerned, and allow me to get ahead faster and with more power.  Instead of being careful, I decided to get a little reckless.  I know, I'm such a crazy person, eh?  B1.1 vs B1.2... I'm just out of control!

xoxo
Holly

A walk around Kelsterbach

Kelsterbach, I have to admit, is not the prettiest of towns.  But on my walk the other day, I think my iphone and  I captured some nice moments.

Send me some pictures of your favourite parts of your town =)

xoxo
Holly

insp-i-love weekly

Hello there,

Here are some things I'm enjoying this week:

 

images via Chiara's website

 1.  A wonderful installation called Light Butterflies by Chiara Lampugnani Design at Milan's LED Light Festival.  The name Chiara means clear in English and the word lamp is in her last name.  It is no wonder she makes such beautiful light installations =)

* * *

2.  Reinterpretation of album covers by Thirty Three and a Third - art show.

* * *

via Alexa's website

 3.  Alexa Meade is an amazing trompe l'oeil artist.  But instead of making the 2D look 3D, she makes the 3D look 2D ... ok wait...  What I'm trying to say is that she paints right on her living 3D subjects and when she's done ... voila!  A painting.  A living painting.  So that picture you see above is of the artist painting directly onto her subject.  You have to check out her site to understand it fully.  Go!  Go now and click around her portfolio.  You'll be amazed.

* * * 

4.  
Stop the water while using me! from BLDG//WLF on Vimeo.

* * *

 5.  This Chinese garden I found in the middle of the city.  I was walking along one of my favourite streets in Frankfurt, the Berger Strasse.  I could imagine myself living there, or on any other connecting street.  It's really nice and right at the end, this garden!  I'm beginning to like Frankfurt more and more...


Have a great weekend's end,

xoxo
Holly

Vero Beach, Florida

I thought I would feel comfortable in the US.  It is after all America, a culture I am familiar with.  But how I felt when I got there was much different than I expected.  I don't know how to explain it other than I felt uncomfortable and out of place.  I was shocked by the huge stores, the amount of space and how vast everything felt; the oversized roads, the oversized cars with oversized people driving them.  Even the English sounded unfamiliar.  For the first two days I even kept reading all the English signs in German and of course they make no sense that way.  It's surprising how quickly I got used to living in a country with a different language, even one that is not my own and that I'm not even that good at yet.

I guess I expected it to be more familiar.  It probably didn't help that we weren't exactly  in a big dense city.  After all that is what I am used to - whether in Canada or Europe, and big cities have a different feel.  There are people all about and a sense that you belong to something (although some people have said that big cities have just the opposite effect on them).  One night driving, I asked Pauli why they would put a restaurant here in the middle of nowhere.  He replied that this was not nowhere, it was downtown Vero Beach.  We laughed. It felt so empty.

But the weather was great and beach time was amazing!  The ocean is such a wonderful place to be.  Sitting there, listening to the crashing waves, watching birds soaring overhead and some pelicans hunting for their lunch, I thought - gosh, I never want to leave.  Plus having Pauli by my side was the cherry on top of this whole trip.  I missed him so much.  I was just so happy to be with him.  He really has become an extension of me.  I felt somehow complete with him there.  I guess he really is my partner in life.  It felt really good to feel that.

I mentioned the weather was great.  Unfortunately not great for flying though, pretty windy and low clouds.  Pauli only flew once while I was there (sad for him, but good for me since I had him practically all to myself) and luckily I got to go along for that flight.  It was a fantastic flight.  We flew past sunset so I got to witness day and night flying, I saw some lighting in a cloud not so far away and Pauli got a complement on his "nice steady approach" from a fellow pilot who was flying next to us.  I was so proud and grinning ear to ear the whole time.  Pauli practiced some engine stalls and steep turns, landings and takeoffs from neighbouring airports.  It was really the highlight of my trip.  Here are a few pictures:

The first stripe.

I see a big claw ... you?

I'm certain I heard angels sing...

I'm always looking for hearts...

That shadow is us!

so HOT

That stuff coming out of that cloud is rain. Pretty cool.

The sky is a wonderful place.

Proud pilot's wife.

Into the night.

Well.  That was fun.  Now I'm back and I have to really apply myself to finish those assignments.


See you later,
Holly

"Dancers among us" by Jordan Matter Photography (insp-i-love weekly special edition)

I've been so inspired and so into what I'm about to share, that it deserves to be the only feature for this week.   

*(all photos by Jordan Matter Photography)*



 The topic of dance has been constantly reappearing in my day-to-day.  People seem to be talking to me about it, I see it on TV and read about it on the internet, more than usual.  I even went to a sneak preview this week and the movie they played was "Black Swan" - that new, dark, dance movie (superb, btw).  And just today I watched a dance movie on the plane.  These events have led me to already be in contact with two dance schools to check if they have any classes I would like.  So, yes ... Dance has been on my mind, and the little flame in my heart that permanently exists, has been growing stronger and brighter.

This week, I found Jordan Matter.  His website has been constantly open in my browser and I can't get enough of his photographs.  Yes, Jordan Matter is a great photographer, but the reason I'm so obsessed is because of his "Dancers among us" project.  It's an ongoing collaboration since spring 2009.  He photographs dancers in an everyday, city setting.  Just amazing, especially for a dance enthusiast.  Here are a few of my favourites, though it was hard to choose because they are all my favourites.

Now these are super favourites because they were taken in Montreal ...

You have to check out the rest of his gallery.

I just love these photos, I love this project.  Jordan Matter, if you're out there, somewhere, reading this - Thank You!

Happy Sunday,
xoxo
Holly