Languages, languages and…languages

By on May 19, 2012
This entry is filed under General, Personal, Style.

Have you ever tried to learn a second language? Have you ever tried it as an adult? The experience of learning a new language can be described as absolutely insane. It is very much like stepping into an alternate reality where you are no longer capable of coherent thoughts or conversations. It might even seem like you spend an eternity of months covering no more than “I like cheese” and “Where may I find the library?”

Learning a language is HARD.

One of the hardest parts of learning a language isn´t the language itself, it´s finding the absolute perfect language teacher. I´ve been there, and finding a good teacher is basically just as hard as everything else. You need to find someone you can get along with, someone you understand and, most important, someone who will show absolute patience when you consistently forget the word for “hello” but always remember the word for “orange”.

So what can you do to find the perfect teacher? First of all it´s important to admit to yourself, and to others, that there is no such thing as the “perfect teacher”. People are not perfect, and teachers are people (basically) so there is no such thing as the perfect teacher. The second thing is to actually do some decent research and call several language centers.

Many of you will just figure “Yeah, I can just ask my German friend to teach me German. It´ll be fun, right? Plus I´ll learn all the swear words!”

That would be a mistake.

You need a professional. You really do. The main reason is that it is really hard to get someone to learn a different language. It´s not as easy as “repeat after me”, the process of learning and of teaching, is much more complex than repetition. You need to really train your brain to think in a different language, and while your buddy might be great at getting you to think you know the swear words, they really will not trick your brain.

So where do you go to find a suitable language teacher? There are many places, but a good place to start might be companies such as “First tutors UK”. Like many other language centers, it offers several different languages and to contact the potential student with a potential tutor. What is really awesome in this page is that you can choose between teachers who will come to your home, or teacher´s whose home you go to. This is great, because it really does give you more choices and more freedom to organize your lessons. And this is the third most important factor: organization.

Take it from me and from my extremely personal experience, if you do not organize yourself properly your results really will be pathetic…or to put it better, poor. This happened to me, I simply would not organize myself and give myself the proper times to go home and study the material and show up to my lessons on time. The result?

Well I still don´t speak German, do I?

So, to sum up, never shy away from the many different languages out there. Learning a new way to communicate is a challenge, a rollercoaster ride and a gamble. But even if it sounds like this much gallivanting, remember: you need a system. And that might just be the key to all the languages in the world.

Touristy Dentistry

By on May 16, 2012
This entry is filed under Personal.

For a lot of us, one of the most awful experiences is going to the dentist, it´s as if it´s a carrier made for torture. It´s really only when I try my very best that I can cease to imagine the possible lessons in dentistry school:

-Inflicting pain: How much is too much?
-Diagnosis with a pick: how to press exactly where it hurts.
…and so on

The Horror

I´m not trying to be exceedingly aggressive toward dentists, it´s just that I´ve had such bad experiences. I am especially acidic because I´ve recently had teeth issues (mainly some of the ones at the back seem to be bent on killing me with unexpected bursts of massive pain). The truth is I´m not sure if going to the dentist is the solution, there is a little childish part of me that figures that maybe if I ignore it, the pain will eventually go away (or the teeth will just quietly fall off and I´ll be all better). So far, this has not worked.

So I began my quest, not too long ago, to find a dentist. Now there are two things to look for in a good dentist: good dentistry and a reasonable price. Let´s be honest, we all know our health is important, but the rates that dentists sometimes charge are way and beyond what most of us can afford, especially for procedures that a lot of us will or have had: dental bridges, orthodontic equipment (i.e., braces or mouth guards) and the classic tooth decay. All of these procedures are fairly commonplace, but they can still cost you an arm and a leg (almost literally).

Well, back to my search. So I´ve started surfing the web and I´ve found all sorts of dentist offices, clinics and associations. Obviously they all offer the best in dentistry, but I still have a hard time covering the costs. I had basically given up my search when I was recommended an interesting type of concept: have your dentistry done in another country, more specifically, preferably travel to central Europe and then have the treatment done. Is it safe? Apparently so, it seems like a good idea to me. Is it less torture than your regular dentist: I´m not sure, but at least you can take a few days off work and travel around incredible cities, like Budapest and Prague.

So I´ve started to consider this idea of flying into another country and having some dental

Worth the dentist

work done on me. Especially since, a very little while ago, a friend of mine, who is a dentist´s assistant, said that I might actually need a, very dreaded, dental bridge. I´m not worried too much about the pain and torture, I´m more worried about the cost of said bridge. I´ve just about made the decision to risk the trip, at least I´ll get a nice small vacation out of it. I´m still worried about the dentistry itself, however, that´s a concern every time, right? So I´m thinking that maybe, just maybe, I will go ahead and get my bridge done, at the same time as I cross the nine bridges of Budapest.

 

Seeing and seeing

By on May 10, 2012
This entry is filed under Personal.

It´s always important for everyone to be able to see clearly. I´m not talking about a simple case of “I can´t see the tiny letter properly”, I´m talking about being able to see lights without a glow, to distinguish the leaves on a tree and to be able to see a fly on a wall. If you have good eyesight this might not seem like important stuff, but if you have poor eyesight you´ll know what I´m talking about.

Fortunately, modern technology has given us with faulty vision a near perfect solution: contact lenses. It´s quite a sweet deal, so long as you can stand to stick your finger into your eye every once in a while (and accept the fact that maybe a friend of yours will have to do so as well, in case you loose the lense in your eye. Don´t laugh, it actually happens). There is, unfortunately, a huge downside: the price and the hassle of finding your contact lenses. Some lucky blokes never have problems finding their brand and prescription, others, have a horrid time doing so.

It´s become quite the rage to buy all sorts of stuff online, so why not buy contact lenses online? Well, for those of you who still have not heard, yes you can buy contact lenses online. The advantage you have with contact lenses is that once you find a comfortable brand, you just buy the box and can be sure that they´ll fit, every time. This is why it´s such a good idea to buy them online: the company providing the lenses will deal with the hassle of finding the stock and all you do is sit back and wait for your contacts to arrive.

The best suggestion I can give you, and this is from personal experience, is to find a webpage serviced by a local or national company. It might not seem like much, but shipping your contacts internationally can be a hassle, basically because you might run into unexpected delays, such as taxes and sanitary checks. Shipping from the same country you live in will save you plenty of problems, plus the delivery time will probably be faster and more accurate.

But enough technical ramblings, I´m sure that qualified websites will provide more than enough information about shipping rates, taxes, etc. For now just take my little piece of advise (even for colored contact lenses, you know they also count as contacts): buy online. Remember: better stock, less stress, and more time to show off your improved vision (or look).

Fashion Sense

By on May 7, 2012
This entry is filed under Personal, Style.

Shirts are awesome. For that matter so are pants. And shorts. And sweaters. And Jackets. And all that other stuff we wear over our naked bodies. Why? Simply because they make us look cool, different, unique. I´m not talking about school uniforms, in which everyone looks the same and definitely not cool, I´m talking about our individual clothes, preferably the ones we shop for ourselves.

Despite the “coolness” of clothes, some people just seem to have a knack for ruining any look available to them. Now, I´m not one to go around blaming the individual, at least not all the time, much of the time the clothes themselves can have some part to play. There is just so much variety of clothes today, that oftentimes we will run into the jeans that don´t quite fit, the shirt that´s just a little off in the cut and the shoes that you cannot actually walk in because the pain is just too much to stand.

The solution is not exactly to sit down and mope about it. The solution can be extremely simple: get out there and find some clothes that actually fit! To be clear I´m not actually suggesting you go out and find the most expensive clothes out there, that is not necessary. Remember: more expensive is not always better.

Back to the point: finding clothes that fit properly. I know this can seem like the mightiest of challenges sometimes, but there are many options out there. One of them is “Pretty Green”, which can even be bought online at Purple Oval. This clothing label is easy on the wallet and very nice to wear, and it´s all limited edition designs so you know that you get fairly unique pieces. To top it all off, this clothing line is the brainchild of Liam Gallagher, so you know you get a unique style because a rock star is behind the clothes. (I´m not suggesting every rock star should be a designer, but there´s just something irresistible about the concept, isn´t there?)

I am not ashamed to admit that I myself own a few Pretty Green items of clothing. None of them are green, but the blue and grey tones they have are fantastic. Not your typical shade of color to be truthful, but not overly flashy and tacky. In short: I like my Pretty Green shirts, and I like that I can buy them online (once you figure out what size fits you and all, it´s really very nice), but I especially like owning clothes that fit me properly. I look good in them and I feel good in them. It´s true that any old bag of cloth will cover up my naked self, but I, and I think most people, prefer to do the covering with a little bit of style.

Above everything else, with a beer.

By on May 5, 2012
This entry is filed under Music, Personal, Style.

Have you ever just chilled out and had a beer in a place where the only view you get is the skyline? If you haven´t, then you really have not chilled with a beer properly. If you have, then you´ll know that roof top bars are very awesome places to just hang out with friends, especially after a long day of working or touring (let´s not forget, those of us who have been tourists for extended periods of time get tired of walking around all day too). The whole –bar-on-a-roof idea is very popular in Australia, and it seems very logical, since Australia is the land of the interesting and the extraordinary. Now, I do not know every square inch of Australia but I do know my way around Melbourne, a beautiful city, and with plenty of roof top bars to go around.

So many rooftops, so little time

I know it seems a little obsessive of me to prattle on and on about bars and pubs in Melbourne, but let´s just settle a little bit into my frame of mind: I recently came back from Melbourne, where I had an extremely good time, especially in said bars and pubs. Imagine my surprise when I come home and a friend of a friend decides he´s taking a little vacation trip down to Australia. So I gave him my 45-minute lecture about the greatness that is the land down under and he, being all impressed and stuff, decided to let me meddle a little in his schedule and trip planning. It´s been interesting, helping someone else to plan a vacation, but what has driven me a little up the wall is the fact that this bloke has got to be the most neurotic planner I´ve ever met.

I´m not exaggerating. He has his tour schedules and he actually plans for his hypothetical trips to the loo as well!

So did he just take my word to go explore the night life and pub scene in Melbourne? He did not. He wants me to give him proper Melbourne bar reviews. At first I was reluctant (to put it mildly); however, now that I´ve started researching the pubs and bars, I´m reliving my memories and trying really hard to find proper reviews online. This can be brutal.

How brutal?

How about 5 hours to find a site where you get useful information and not just the drunken ramblings of the people who left the pub not 5 hours ago. I might be exaggerating, a little; also, I´m not too good with the research bit. I just get so distracted so very easily.

Anyways, so my research for this neurotic friend of mine has led me in one direction: a little site called PubStars. It´s got all the information you need, especially as a tourist (basic descriptions, few pictures, an honest description of the clientele) and it´s allowed me to go back into my own memories. Now I might be overstressing the fact here but roof top bars are awesome. It´s basically an open space, where you sit and can have a nice conversation with some friends. I know it might not seem like much, but the real trick is the roof top bit. The fact that you are over most people is amazing. You have an actual view! And I thin Melbourne is the perfect place for these types of bars, after all, you get the fabulous landscape, the cool nighttime weather, and the most chill out people on the planet. I just hope my neurotic friend appreciates them.

 

The Legendary Route 66

By on May 2, 2012
This entry is filed under Travel and tagged , , , .

The United States of America is a land of…variety. On one hand we have the “ignorant American” stereotype; on the other we have the envy of the world cities like New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. And like any rather large (or small) country in the World, it´s a mix of different people and definitely worth seeing. I´ve always been a great supported of the USA. I´ve met several people from over there and they turned out to be very nice, extremely friendly and not at all as ignorant as the TV would like us to believe.

Now, since I´m being all positive about this country, I might as well go ahead and confess to my one great guilty pleasure: I really want to be able to drive the entire famous Route 66 one day. It might not seem like much to some people, but this is the road that built an entire country. Do you have any idea how many people traveled back and forth on Route 66? It used to be the road to take when travelling East to West and a good bit North to South. It saw people drive by in poverty and in wealth and even today, it remains a great US icon.

From my point of view the easiest way to see something is to just go and see it. So I would like to take my chances on Route 66 (it´s so big and historical it´s not like I´ll get lost in the middle of the desert, right?); but for those of you out there who want something a little more organized, there are plenty of vacation package deals that are even planned according to how many days and nights you want to spend where!  Now many of you have their little organization senses tingling, but just remember to be very sure you want to go on this adventure. From what we can see in a map, Illinois and California are not really that close to each other. This is quite a way to go, just make sure that when you book your flydrive Route 66 vacation package you´re all exciting about spending a lot of time in a car. I think I´ll stick to either having weeks to complete the drive, or just do it a little segment at a time. It just seems better for my sanity.

It´s a long way to go!

But don´t let my brief stint of negativity discourage you! While I´ve never personally met anyone who completed this massive and legendary drive across and entire country (it practically is), I don´t discourage it. Whoever manages it can drop me a line and a picture and sir (or ma’am) , my hat off to you if you should survive the trip in good spirits.

You better love to drive ´cause as beautiful as this looks, I bet it gets frustrating after 10 hours.

A Serious Man, With Some Serious Clothes

By on April 24, 2012
This entry is filed under Style and tagged , , .

Allow me to be serious for a few hundred words. Clothes are important. I don´t mean to sound like a grandmother; but clothes are important. Today we have so much variety to choose from that I think clothes have become even more important than they were. In Olden times it was enough to have a couple of changes of clothes if you could afford them (and an unknown, struggling, but talented, piccolo player would probably not have of had much to afford clothes with) and the rest was just knowing when to wear what. Today one could go crazy with clothes, since they come in every color, shape, size and price. Everyone has a closet full of clothes (and anyone saying otherwise has them lying all over their bedroom floor, but still has them).

As you can see, this is a bit of a passionate subject for me, it´s not that I constantly tell people off for not color-coding their outfits properly, but I do enjoy clothes (especially clothes that can be worn well).  And seeing as how I enjoy clothes, imagine my surprise when I found the following:

 

And they come in many colors as well.

Take a second to look at the image again. It´s worth it.

Now I do realize that I wear shoes just like any other person, and I do walk around in them quite a bit, just like most people in Vienna. What I´m saying is that I´m well aware that the way they look in the picture is not necessarily the way they´ll look two days after you take them out of the box (especially if you proceed to live up the night life immediately after). Now I can tell you from experience (because that´s what my Cruyff trainers looked like until recently) that yes, the nightlife can be disturbing for these shoes. Then again, the nightlife disturbs any kind of footwear.

My point is this: these shoes are awesome. They are comfy to wear, look good in a variety of styles and can be worn out after the sun goes down and in the park for brunch when the sun comes up the next day. In short: I like them and I wanted to share them with everybody.

Moving on from the trainers, I´d like to make a little room for what will sound just like a advertisement but I feel I must do so in this case: please wear clothes than can be worn well. It doesn´t matter what your style is (or how often you pop into the shower), clothes really do matter. They matter because they reflect who you are, and we always want to project the best part of ourselves, don´t we? In that case we should all worry about our clothes and try to wear the ones we can wear well.

Where may you find some well fitting clothes? Almost anywhere, really. All you need to do is look carefully and you´ll be sure to find a nice set of pants, or a couple of Lacoste shirts, a pair of trainers or even some bags and boots. Now if you need some more guidance than that you really do have to consult a fashion expert, but my last bit of advice would be to use the Internet.  The web has many incredible pages that are easy to navigate thru and will guarantee a good find.

And with that I am off. My Cruyff trainers might be a little worse for wear, but they still have miles in them and it is my duty to see that they get out.

Pictured: shoes with no more miles in them.

Short End of the Stick?

By on April 19, 2012
This entry is filed under Style and tagged , , , .

As a man concerned with his appearance I have to admit that on occasion I have also been concerned with my height. It´s not difficult, being only a lowly dude living in Vienna. German people, in general, can be tall and I have found myself feeling like the short end of the stick a couple of times when even women have been able to look down at me. I´ll admit, the height difference has never been anything approaching massive, but it´s always a shock to turn to say hello to a friend of a friend and be the one to have to look up to meet the girl´s eyes.

Now I know what some of you might think: the importance of height is only cultural, it´s not like it´s biological or instinctive or anything, right? So why make a fuss? Well, all I´ll say is this: even if the importance is social, it still sucks to be seen as Tom Cruise short. I have nothing against the guy, but his height is not exactly impressive and, like it or not, it matters to people.

Kinda like this. Only the tall one is a girl and it´s real life.

I recently dropped caution to the wind and mentioned it to a friend of mine, who is on the rather short end of the deal. We´d never actually discussed his height before and it was rather awkward. I guess those are conversations he usually keeps to a minimum with his girlfriend, who surpasses him by a massive three inches. After the initial shock of the tactless question (“D´you ever feel bothered cause you´re so short, man?”) my friend admitted to me that at one time he even bought “some of those altitude shoes. The shoes that make you taller.” Right then I knew I just had to do some research on the subject.

And I did. And it was…interesting.

First of all, I am not making fun of height increasing shoes. Really. Honest. Cross my heart and all that.

Second of all, congratulations to whomever designed these shoes. They are, as far as my untrained little brain can see, impressive. They look like perfectly normal shoes on the outside but inside you have a special sole that increases your height.

Very nice and very practical.  Even the name sounds nice: “Altitude Shoes”. It sounds like something you wear to climb Kilimanjaro, which I suppose is the idea.

Anyway, moving on!

I was surprised to find such a variety of shoes available to make the short man appear taller. I was also surprised by the simple and functional solution to what would seem to be a problem with no solution. I know that in reality the shoe adds height only as long as you wear it, so as soon as it comes off you´re back to your shorter self, but it´s still pretty nifty. Short of breaking your legs and then grafting bone into the gaps, there is no way to increase an individual´s physical height. It´s sad for many, but true for all. I think it´s especially sad for men.

Let me explain: women have high heels. Even better, women can wear high heels in public and no one thinks they´re being queer. The reality for men is a little different. At some point it is true that many European men wore high heels, but that fashion has come and gone. So I will stand by what I said: my recent discovery of altitude shoes seems awesome. Definitely a good idea, in a world that seems to have of been poorly designed for the short man.

Who could guess that inside that shoe is someone 3 inches shorter?

The Miracle of Plastic

By on April 17, 2012
This entry is filed under Personal and tagged , , , .

Recently I had such a horrid experience I must share it. I was going about my day, minding my own business, when I ran into an acquaintance I´d just met a few days before in a local bar, he´s a very nice bloke. We chatted it up for about ten minutes and then somehow ended up agreeing to lunch in his flat a few blocks down the road.

We walked back to his place: a fine old building with a bit of a broken elevator. Fortunately he lives on the second floor, so I wasn´t forced to do much climbing. He opened the door and there, to my horror, stood the nastiest looking flat I had ever seen. I was aghast! I was

Like this, but worse.

flabbergasted! I was shocked into using strange words from the dictionary! It´s not that his flat was dirty, it was perfectly clean and tidy; the design of the place was just a horror. I had my quick lunch and then got out of there, but I couldn´t help myself and I suggested that maybe he should re decorate the place. He said he should, but that he´s really a klutz for those kinds of things and that´s why he lived in such a horrid space. Well, the first step is admitting it I suppose…

A few weeks passed and I decided to call him up and offer some help. I know that decorating and having your living space look immaculate, while still reflecting your own style and making everyone else jealous that you live there, is hard and expensive, but I just didn´t think this extremely nice and funny man should have to go on in what he himself termed “a horrid mess”. It was time to put my thinking cap on and do some…well…thinking.

After a few days of discussing it, my newfound friend and I decided his place needed a fresh and modern look. He is, after all, a fresh and modern man and should live accordingly.  The problem is terms such as “fresh” and “modern” are really hard to materialize into furniture and stuff you hang on your wall. We decided to get a little inspired by walking around and even surfing the web (it´s been too hot to walk too far lately, so excuse the laziness). As if by divine intervention it took us about ten minutes to find something we both agreed on: acrylic art prints. Acrylic, as you well now, is a kind of plastic, and nothing says fresh and modern like the cool way you can manipulate plastic into almost anything.

 

Don´t you wish you were one of those Leggoes?

From this moment on, and for the next couple of weeks, all we talked about was the big new look we were going to give the flat. I even had dreams about the company “Acrylize” (we got much help from them, thanks a bunch!) turning me into a little tiny Leggo and sticking me up in the wall (check out their projects page, you´ll know what I´m talking about). Finally, we were ready to show the world our genius: we´d invested in acrylic art prints, had hung them up and had shifted the furniture round (and had gotten rid of some of it, it really looked like my grandmother´s garage sale loveseat was in there).

What was the result? Well, my friend´s sister was certainly pleased. She said that at least now she won´t be embarrassed to come into the flat anymore. It was awesome. It was epic. And all thanks to plastic.

Köszönjük, Budapest

By on April 14, 2012
This entry is filed under Going Out, Travel and tagged , , , .

Do you know what the hardest part about being in Hungary is? Hint: not the language (although kudos to anyone who does learn it). The hardest part about being in Hungary, especially in Budapest, is where to go out at night. One might not necessarily believe me, but it´s true: Hungary knows how to party.

Behind this quiet picture lies the party of your life.

I used to be one of those people who believed Hungary was all serious and “behind the Iron Curtain”. I know this was a while back, but still, it´s just the image I grew up with of Hungary: a little more warm than Russia but probably at the same social happiness. I don´t know what this country was like before 1990, but I can tell you that in 2012 it is an excellent time.

I had, in fact, already heard from several acquaintances about Budapest nightlife. I´d just never actually experienced it for myself. I´m glad to report that Budapest is a huge success, and I´m not talking about the culture (also very awesome, but I like a little party with my museum), the nightlife scene is just amazing. Hungarians: they know how to party.

Now before I get into a lengthy description, I´d like to point out another little fact about Budapest: it´s a tiny city. This comment might seem incredibly random (as my personality suggests) but it´s very important because: no club, no bar, nothing is too far away. The public transportation system also rocks in its own way and so you can just focus on your party game, and not on how to leave a place or where to catch a cab. I just wanted to pop this little info into the article somewhere, because it does radically change how you move around in a city. If it´s big and it´s complicated to get around, you´ll likely visit two places and call it a night. In Budapest, you can make plans to go out every night and focus on what´s really important: the going out.

Anyway, back to the original point…

Of all the places we (as in me and my girlfriend) visited I´d like to make special mention of a place called “4Bro”. Now this isn´t a club that´s been open for a decade, it´s not one of

Who wouldn´t be happy here?

countless word famous and ancient (as far as ancient goes in clubbing) places you find in Budapest. I think it´s fair to say this place is a newcomer in Budapest nightlife, but in my mind it´s a really good place with an awesome vibe. The place just screams liberal and fun, all the time, even during the day, when the place is a chill restaurant you can hang out comfortably in. I especially enjoyed the fact that you can “Come as you are!” (slogan) and they really mean it. You see all sorts of people, from the dressed up hipster scene to the more relaxed local crowd, to the completely lost tourist in a t shirt and shorts (and that would be me).

The truth is I had an excellent time in Budapest. I spent a very enjoyable week there. I visited museums and castles and the country side, I even did a little wine tasting; but the part that stuck in my mind the most was the nightlife. Great city. Great people. Incredibly safe environment and the party keeps going, literally, until the sun comes up.

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