The Compass and the Anchor: CH1. Life Goes On 22: Diwali and Hugo

Hello, Tim!
對於這封信能夠寫到多長我真的沒有概念，畢竟再兩個禮拜我們就要考我們第一次的定期考了，再不認真讀書我就要面臨被當掉的可能性了。
這禮拜整體上天氣都很冷，體感溫度甚至有到零下二度的時候。這種天氣最讓人開心的就是，多穿幾件衣服就能出去吹風了。

Dishes of the Week

I know that this is my third week talking about food, and I am looking for ways to reduce the length of this certain column, for I know no matter how much I like to talk about my very eclectic and healthy diet I have over here in Germany, I still don't want half of my time dedicated to writing about food, hence prolonging my blog-writing time to an extent that it is getting in the way of my studies.

Therefore, starting from this week, I will be only picking out three of my favorite dishes and give them just adequate introductions. I hope this works out.

A sad and broken-looking breakfast.

Croquettes I made from the leftover mashed potatoes from the previous day.

This first dish really gave me both good times and times of hardship. On Monday, which was still a virtual holiday for me given that I had no official classes to attend to, I decided to make some Champignon Risotto but with an additional chestnut-cashew paste and broccoli as sides. I honestly didn't get why I was trying to give myself so many work to do within two hours. At the same time, I was talking to Amy on the phone, who was feeling quite uncomfortable with her upcoming Greek mythology report and wanted to go through the whole presentation with her. Kids, please do mark my words: Never lose your focus to anything other than cooking when you already have so many tasks to juggle with, especially when you are basically as inexperienced as I am.

The broccoli was mistakenly cooked until it crumbled at one single touch. With no other solution, I had to corporate the broccoli into my paste, which made it even worse. I was internally breaking down at the moment, but since Johannes and the other guys were still in the kitchen I knew I had to hold it together. I collected the mushroom soup you get from frying them and added milk and cream after several minutes. I then put in the rice and my work was finally done. The risotto turned out spectacular with a very distinct flavor of champignons, so I was more happy than not to ignore the havoc I produced with the broccoli paste. Next time I would think it through when I want to carry out a dish that was still considerably too difficult to me, giving it more attention, and let's see then how it turns out.

I made some surplus so there I was two days later, having a quick lunch of risotto with a sunny egg.

The next remarkable dish is the baked red bell pepper stuffed with mashed potatoes (seasoned with soy sauce) and cheese. The whole dish was literal, but the outcome was so much better when you add cheese to the equation. Given that this was made vegetarian,I shared some with my other friends, who also liked it quite a lot. Its presentation was more than decent as the bell pepper was turned into the container, but at the same time it was also fairly easy to make. I still have a spare pepper. I'll make a minced pork alternative with it today.

It's not original, but it is not copied from a recipe either.

How it looks from the inside.

Here are some more throughout the week.

Spaghetti with three types of tomato

Very successfully-marinated drumsticks.

Attempting to go for some luxurious-looking breakfast.

The last dish I would like to talk about would be the pumpkin risotto. It took me more than two hours in total (I think). Although I think the result was okay, I think that this was not quite worth it to have spent two hours on it. Let's see what more I can do about it in the next try.

I made dinner too early so it was quite a lonely meal eaten.

Celebrating Diwali

Seitdem ich hier in Deutschland angekommen bin, habe ich so viel über indianische Kultur gelernt, weil es in SRH so viele Indianischer gibt. Zufällig war diese Woche das Fest von Diwali, das ein ganz wichtiges Fest bei den Indianischen ist. Diwali ist ein Fest des Lichts. Leute zünden Kerze an und zeichnen schöne Muster auf den Straßen, um alles, die dunkel ist, zu verjagen. Die Hochschule hat denn am Dienstag eine Diwali Party veranstaltet. Fast alle Leute von 6. Stockwerke haben teilgenommen. Der Anfang der Party war Pooja, ein Ritual, um Gebet zu geben. Die Leute haben ein Lied gesungen und haben gleichzeitig ihre Hände geklatscht. Das erinnerte mich an die Rituale, die du in taiwanische Tempel sehen kannst, wo Leute auch klatschen und besondere Musikinstrument spielen.

Die Leute nennen das Pooja.

Nach dem Pooja spielten wir Feuerwerk und Wunderkerzen und danach gingen wir in den Turm für die nächste Aktivität.

Wunderkerzen mit Freunden.

In Taiwan spielen wir das auch.

Manche haben getanzt und manche haben gesungen. Die Musik kenne ich nicht, aber jemand konnte sehen, dass die Atmosphäre so fröhlich war. Svitlana hat mir auch gesagt, dass sie indianische Tanz lernen möchten.

Mit Martìn!

Nach den Performance begann der allgemeine Tanz. Mit meinen Freunden haben wir einen Kreis gemacht und ich habe mich bewegt. Ich nenne das nicht tanzen, weil ich gar nicht tanzen kann. Trotzdem machte es Spaß.

Dann fühlte Hannah sich nicht so gut und wir sind zusammen zurückgegangen.

A Small Preview of Next Week's French Column

La semaine dernière j'ai raconté l'histoire des plombiers, mais en train de le faire j'ai trouvé un problème avec le français: Je ne connais pas assez mots pour écrire sans de l'aide de Google Translation. Ça me trouvais très énervant parce que ça prendra tant de temps et dans le futur je n'aurais pas assez temps pour ça.

à cause de ça, je pense que je dois faire quelque chose à lutter contre ce problème. Tu sais que j'aime beaucoup la pop musique de France, et dans les paroles il y a toujours des nouvelles mots que je ne voyais jamais. Je sais comment on les prononcer mais je sais pas toujours ce que les veulent dire. Je peux peut-être commencer par traduire un morceau des chansons chaque semaine et apprendre des nouveaux mots. Ça serait bien mieux, j'espère.

à la semaine prochaine!

Going to a Bar for the Second Time, but Feeling more Secure This Time

I mean, everything deserves a second chance, right?

On Saturday evening, Johannes and an Indian guy named Abhinav organized a small tour to the city center to grab a bier and have a splendid Saturday evening. At first it reminded me of the time that I got semi-drunk on some alcoholic drinks whose name I still have yet to learn, but then the guys reassured me that it would be totally fine if I was joining them without having anything alcoholic, and therefore I came along. It was supposedly an Irish bar with so many people that only the bar seats are left vacant - a typical Saturday evening here in Germany. I have to be honest here: Despite the reassurance from Johannes, I still felt a bit alien to be in an environment that was designed to enjoy beer and other drinks with fancy names while drinking a simple (but costly) Cola. The guys must have sensed my unsettlement and reassured me once again and let me taste-test their beer and Guinness. The alcohol taste lingered on the tip of my tongue for minutes as I felt it also in my throat, but I felt way better than the moment I stepped into the bar. Up ahead you could see several flat screens playing some live broadcast of different sports ("Look," said Johannes, pointing at the screen on the left, where I saw smoke billowing up from the center of the soccer field. "Someone threw a smoke bomb onto the field. Now the players have to rest for a bit." "It's chaotic." I drolly observed.)

Then one of the round tables got cleared, and we all crammed into a small corner. I remembered something catching my eye from the list of beers that they offer. I asked Johannes about this drink called Hugo. His eyes lit up a bit and started telling me about this alcoholic drink that was made with sparkling white wine and "Holunder blüten" syrup; It turned out to be elderflower syrup.

You must have forgotten about my thing with elderflower-flavored drinks. It started with a single sip of the sparking water with elderflower flavoring I found in England and it suddenly became my favorite drink of all time. Now that I found a comparably light wine with elderflower with the SAME NAME as I do, what else do I need to convince myself to at least gave it a try?

Hugo drinks a Hugo.

Normally, that sentence down't even make sense.

It was really tasty, this elderflower wonder.

Next time I'm heading for a bar I am going to order Hugo from now on.

End

Okay, let's wrap this up a bit. I know that this letter sounds a bit rushed, but it was because this is the truth. As time progresses, the tasks we are given are going to be more and more time consuming, and even though there is just as many things to talk about like the three weeks I spend in England, this is no longer just a summer program. As fake as this sounds, I have to try to be more responsible with my studies.