LIFE with a cherry on top!

Do you know that feeling? That feeling to have to control everything and to know what happens next and if it´s something good or bad that happens next. Do you know that it drives ME insane! I really do know that it´s crazy to plan everything. But what should I do? Take life as it is? NO.

You´ve got the following words: years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds.
What is the sum of all this words? No, it´s not just a really big amount of time: It´s your LIFE!

Everytime I look at my watch I think: "Oh no! Another 30 minutes you just wasted for something unimportant." For something you really don´t want to spend your life with. That made me think of what i actually want to spend my life with.

Imagine there was a witch. Not the one from Ariel, that takes away your voice. Not the one from Rapunzel, that locks you up in a tower and not the one from Snowwhite that tries to kill you with a poisend apple. The one I talk about is a good one - an optiminic thinking one - and she prepares a magic elixir of life. But instead of putting in eyeballs and spiders and fingernails she would put in 

-  a lot of luck
- pretty much happiness
- (a) never ending love
- true friends
- a loving family
 and of course ...
- a fortune of ice-cream (i prefer the one with extra cream on top to feel extra guilty - and don´t forget the cherry please)

I reckon everybody wants to have all these things. More or less. With or without the cherry on top.

But I also think, that everybody has a more concret list of stuff and things to do in their lifes.
I really hope you do; if not I might look like a jerk from now on:

My elixir of life  

or  

THE-THINGS-TO-DO-TO-MAKE-THE-BEST-OF-YOUR-LIFE-LIST

1. Prepare a meal for a homeless (exludes buying a breakfast burito at MC DONALD`S)

2. Learning to fold an Origami-Dragon (that looked pretty cool on TV)

3. Call everybody in the phone book who got the same name (you don´t know what to talk about? LIFE!)

4. Go christmas shopping in New York

5. Cause a car crash (just with bumper cars ;-) ) 

6. Kiss Mickey Mouse at Disneyland 

7. Go for a run on the Chinese Wall 

8. Buy all the cool balloons at Carnival and fly away

9. Go by nighttrain to Paris - just for breakfast

10. Have a nice chat with your echo

11. Bake your own gingerbread house

12. See the world through childrens eyes

13. Touch a snake to realize that it is NOT slimy

14. Send a message in a bottle 

15. Crash a wedding (free food and drinks -haha)

16. Swimming with dolphins

17. Write some bestsellers ;-)

18. Give away a star that you bought and named for a special person

19. Rename a street or steal a sign 

20. Overwinter a hedgehog in your bed or in your basement (whatever you prefer)

21. read somebody´s future

22. Adopt a homeless child  (and love it like it was your own)

23. Travel the world

24. Be unselfish

25. Be selfish

26. End being selfish again

27. Eat a five course dinner in the dark

28. Care for your goldfish 

29. Just get on a bus and see where you land

30. Go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef

31. Ride an elephant

32. Climb a pyramide 

33. Care for other people

34. Subtitle the movie of you life

35. Find your true love (or something)

These are just a few examples. I could go on and on and on the whole day / night long.

I really hope my "Elixir of life" made you think about planning your time from now on. Life is short and there are so many things to do. Better not waste time. You never know when you get the next chance to send a message in a bottle, or steal a sign or just care for your goldfish.

Love, Anni & the goldfish     

P. S. Do you something you love everyday!

P. S. 2: Don´t forget to kiss Mickey Mouse!

Life happens ♥

I just thought about if there is a balance between the HI´s and GOODBYE´s you say in your whole entire life. But before I enter into this thought my brain just created I want to tell you that I found this lovely heart on one of my latest strolls around the Greystones´ beach. 

lovely heart // by mr. or mrs. stranger

It seems like somebody has left his/her heart behind at this beautiful place. Finding little things like this makes me happy. If it´s a heart like this or a symbol carved into a tree or a little note on a paper on the street from a stranger to another stranger – even if you can´t really find out a meaning (and no it´s not just rubbish laying around on the roads).

Back to my considerations about HI and GOODBYE.

I suppose you would say HI to your friends, your family, your neighbors, your colleague’s at work, yes - even to your dentist. But you don´t necessarily have to say Goodbye to everybody because you know you will see them again. (Well – hopefully the dentist not too soon). So you would probably leave with the words “See you” or “See you soon” or you would use the word “Bye” assuming the same meaning. 

After some pints of Guinness some irish people like to change their friendly “See you soon” into a friendly “Fuck off” or “Piss off”. (But that is something you have to experience by yourself)

Now that I realized that there is a serious difference between the words “Goodbye” and “See you” I blame myself for actually thinking about it. 

There were some questions I asked myself before I left to Ireland and they are still unanswered. 

Will you remember me? Will you keep me here? Will I take you with me? Will I change? Will something at home change? Will I just think something has changed? Will I miss you very much AND Will I go crazy because I miss you so much?

What actually happened was that I arrived in Ireland and I completely threw these questions over board. I didn´t think about them at all I just let life happening and it was very easy to do that because everything was new from the mattress I´m sleeping on to the luck promising irish shamrock shampoo I once used (I would NOT recommend it – for using it your hair already needs luck), from the new town you live to the new food you´re eating and just NOT having the people around you are normally used to have around.

And life happened. 

Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Donegal, Cork, Howth, Malahide, Kinsale, Cobh, Blarney, Dingle, Ventry, Glendalough, … that are just a few places I got to see during the last incredible 10 months of my life.

I went sightseeing, dancing, angling, climbing, hill walking, swimming (brrrrr….cold), horse riding, singing and so much more that I can´t even remember it all. 

I met amazing, lovely and just great people. With some I spent more time than with others but I enjoyed every single minute with all of them. There are people I will really miss and I would like to follow one of my hostchildren´s carefully planned mission´s to just pack them into my suitcase and take them with me. (so mind yourself during the next week)

And life will happen.

I will be home in just 10 days and my life will keep going on - probably in the same turbo mode speed as my time in Ireland just flew by. I´m really looking forward to start my internship at the local newspaper to give the ´career future part of life´ a push … and then there is something else exciting happening this summer. For these who think now that they are pretty smart knowing that I will go to Copenhagen for the summer: that will NOT going to happen as the family quit the idea of having an au pair.

One little clue: It has something to do with my passion for traveling and living abroad.

Second tiny clue: It´s gonna be hot(ter)! :-P

But enough for now… I will announce it soon.

So what I actually just realized is that I´m standing in front of the same bunch of questions AGAIN:

Will you remember me? Will you keep me here? Will I take you with me? (apart from this very tricky suitcase plans) Will I change? Will something at ´home´ change? Will I just think something has changed? Will I miss you very much AND Will I go crazy because I miss you so much?

I realized that I also left a piece of my heart here in Ireland. Not in the sand but just somewhere here in this beautiful country - the piece of my heart giving for people I met and for experiences I made. 

But as I made a promise to myself not to say Goodbye anymore and I know that I will be back someday I will just say:

SEE YOU SOON IRELAND! 

SEE YOU SOON LOVELY PEOPLE! 

SEE YOU SOON PIECE OF MY HEART!

Love, Anni

P. S. Do something you love every day!

P.S. 2: Be excited for a BLOG from my Scotland trip during the next week!

A guy called Sankt Patrick

There is a day in Ireland that seems to be much more special and sparkling than christmas, more important than the appointment of the president, even greener than my cats eyes (i miss you). 

Everybody is looking forward to THIS day for 364 days of the year and when it has finally arrived EVERYBODY goes crazy. I didn´t know what to expect really, heard something positive and something negative but Germany or probably just the lazy village I normally live is NOT celebrating this epic day. 

Sleepy Hollow on Platform 2 or The Irish Kindness

Coming to Ireland was one of the greatest things I´ve EVER done! My first really long stay away from home (all in all 10 months), the first thing I did without knowing what to expect, my first pint of Guinness.

I didn´t really know a lot about Ireland before I arrived. Like the “everything-planning-controlfreak-girl” I definitely am I bought lots of books about this very green island (that is obviously the truth). There were three words I permanently read: 1. rain 2. drunk 3. Guinness. As I´m definitely more the summer type and normally drunk after one glass of … anything (I better not mention that I need sometimes a whole night to drink it – oops I just did) it didn´t really seem to be “the perfect destination” for my first REAL escape from Germany. 

But – more spontaneous as I´m trying to be – I told myself: `Why not? If you´re getting drunk from a pint of Guinness you just go outside and clear your mind in the cold rain.` (If I would have known that irish rain or mist - how they call it here - comes from everywhere but NOT from above I´m not completely sure if I still would have made this decision – just tell you: jump into a pool and you would get out dryer)

I got a hostfamily quite quick, booked my flight and arrived in Dublin July 1^st. That was so exciting and I´m still happy that I got the greatest hostfamily ever. I was lucky that they gave me the opportunity to travel a lot during my first weeks and everytime I wanted to.  

(I will post my map so you can see all the places I traveled to during the last months. Also I will post some very special pictures I took on my trips that really inspired me – more of them you will/can find on facebook) 

Anyway… the irish people are awesome! I never met such uncomplicated, easy going and just happy people. They always start a chat with a question or a report about the weather or a simple: hiya (that´s just short for “how are you?” – sounds cool, does it?). They talk to everybody. 

What happend on platform 2? Read the story!

One story or better situation is still on my mind (I start it literary because I love that so much): 

Once upon a time … I was sitting in the train station, waiting for the train to arrive, thinking about something senseless or something with too much sense (don´t remember at all) an old woman walked slowly towards me.

It was dark – I just tell you that before you laugh at me – oh … and I have to tell you that this woman REALLY looked scary in the dark and that I definitely read too much of this wicked witch- fairytales when I was a child – actually I do STILL sometimes. Embarrassing I know- actually NOT because I work with children! Ahh… enough with this internal monologue.

Anyway…she walked towards me and was staring at me. Because we were the only persons on platform 2 it was very silent and I heard her steps echoing. While I was trying to be very cool and relaxed I was pretending to read the sign in front of me. Actually I read “Mind the gap” 50 times. 

“Mind the gap, mind the gap, mind the gap, mind the gap, mind the gap, mind the gap, ... x 50)

Then she was almost in range. The wind was making a terribly load noise and I was scared to death. 

“Don´t kill me! Don´t kill me! Don´t kill me!” 

The scary witch did another step towards me and was still staring at me. I realized that she was staring at my neck. 

She opened her mouth for a few seconds and was saying with a really beautiful voice (compared to her look absolutely unsuitable – like if you see Bryan Adams, expect something awesome but he starts singing with Justin Bieber´s voice): “Your necklace is unbelievably gorgeous? Where did you get it?”

What I wanted to answer: “Thank you so much. I got it in Pennys. Just 10 €.”                                       

I did understand her but what I actually said: “Ehm…ehm…ehm… i´m german!”  

Her face was like: “?!%&/()=? ##+*” and I was totally embarrassed 

but at least …  I still live happily ever after (and changed the irish opinion about the “perfection” of german people´s english skills). 

Enough for now …  I still have to return this necklace. Off I go to Pennys.

Love, Anni  

                                                                            

P.S.  Do something you LOVE every day! 

P.S. 2: Don´t wear necklaces in train stations. 

What is going on? Why are you starting to BLOG? And why are you doing this in English?

Hi to all the lovely people out there,

I definitely have a passion (well, probably thousands but this is one of them): 

WRITING! 

My life is sometimes CRAZY and EXCITING (this year even a day more because of leap year: hurra!!). 

I really want to let you know about it, specially keep my friends up to date now that I´m away AND fill in all the amazing people I met in Ireland after I´ll be back. 

I do this in English because of .... YOU! I meet people from all over the world and I think it would be a bit unfair to just write in my native language. I´m absolutely convinced that I will do a LOT of grammar mistakes (sorry to all my perfect english speaking friends and to my previous english teachers - I´ll do my best) but I really like to challenge myself so I´ll give it a go.

So be excited!

My first BLOG will be up on this website sometime soon! 

All the best! ♥

Anni