Things to do while waiting for boarding...

So all out there,
I´m leaving to the States to see my sweetheart after two months of Skype, Facebook and What´s App. I can´t tell how excited I am. Sometimes I thought this day would never come.

I followed the friendly advice to be at the airport three hours before departure, because security controls for flights to the US may take longer than for other international flights etc.

It took me 20 min. Including dropping my suitcase.

And that leads to this post: How to waste time at the airport?

1. Be happy you´re a loyal T-Mobile customer, because that guarantees that you can access any Telekom hotspot for free internet and you are not tied to looking into your smartphone. I mean, I love my IPhone (all my friends can tell), but you can´t stare at it for 2-3 hours, right?

2. Take a seat and be sure you make friends with your neighbor. Cause you will need someone to keep your seat when you want to grab a coffee or go to toilet. It´s only about 100 seats for 600 passengers in this boarding hall.

3. Write tons of messages, cause once you arrive at your next airport (mine is Atlanta) you will have another 6 hrs until your next flight departs. You will be happy to find some answers waiting for you :)

4. Take a deep breath and relax. Yes, you will really be with your darling in a few (or more) hours.

5. Keep fingers crossed for friends who are in examination right at the time you lucky girl are already done with it and going on vacation.

6. Write a blog post and find out it´s another 1,5hrs to go.

Just because... I finished my exams. And ended up unemployed.

 First things first: I passed my second state examination yesterday.

I wasn´t really happy about this yesterday, because the oral examination was a 5-hours-lasting mess. I mean, a examiner can ask you questions. Nice answerable questions, where you have to say something about. And they can ask the other type of questions. About the last paragraph you would´ve never learned, just because this paragraph is so unbelievably unimportant. So unimportant you have never heard about it during seven years of studying and legal clerkship. And you will probably never hear about it the following 30 years of working as a lawyer.

So, my grade wasn´t was I dreamt about and this just sucked. But well, 25% of my former colleagues didn´t pass the exam at all, so from today´s perspective I´m happy that I PASSED MY BLOODY EXAM, YEA!!!!!!

Which leads to that fact that due to insurance reasons today is my first day of being officially unemployed. This is kind of strange. I always had a plan. When taking the A-levels back in June 06 I knew I would start studying in October that year. After studying I knew I would do my legal clerkship. But today.. I don´t know what I will do in four months. I have no plan beyond June 8th (and the plan is going on vacation and spend time with my sweetheart). I´m not really worried about my future, I´m sure I´ll find a job. But for a to-do-list and plan-making obsessed person like me it is really strange to have no plan.

Ah well... I have one: Packing my suitcase. Write a guide for my brother how and when to water my plants during my vacation. Watch a movie without feeling guilty because I should better learn. Yes, sounds good, I´ll do this now...


I´m linkin up with Lisette from Northern Belle Diaries today, visit her blog!

 

 

One last weekend in law jungle. Learning craziness takes over.

 This weekend is the last one I will spend in law jungle. It´s a secret place only law students have ever entered. And since then we are fighting throughout this raw and incomprehensible thicket. 

This weekend I have to fight with hanging lianas of penal law, climbers of administrative law and the giant tree of civil law. And there are the promising flowers of tax law orchids, but careful -  if you look at them too close you will get lost.

So, of course every law student starts the fight through the sheets, unscared and brave, prepared with the mighty weapons of statute texts, bright-shiny markers, textbooks, commentaries and the hope to get what was promised as "student life". 

And then, we get into the big Facebook-ambush. Straight forward. It´s a big island in the middle of the jungle, promising an escape of white and blue. And as you´re already bloody exhausted by the hard five minute work you´ve already done (preferably flipping a book open and reading the index) you choose to stay juuuuuussssttt for a little, a tiny little while. 

And the crucial problem is: Now you´re trapped in just another jungle. But one which makes so much more fun (and sense). I mean, isn´t it vital to know what happend last Friday night (while you were trying to learn)? And who can live without knowing what pictures your neighbors at your daily photo challenge took? Facebook as well knows how to show you what your blogging friends are doing, so you just have to take a sneek peak at the latest posts.

Luckily, many other law students also find their way to Facebook island during their time in jungle and soon a little chitchat is going on. Mainly about what you should (and don´t want to) learn and you soon work out a strategy - you´ve done enough for today, the others haven´t done more than you. It´s okay to stop learning.

And yes, facebook cares for you. Really, it does. It collects all your browsing behaviour just to give you that subtle reminder on the right sidebar that you have to prepare for life after law jungle. Because once I´m out I will go on vacation. And I haven´t booked a hotel for next Saturday night. You see, it was like a act of self-defence to follow Facebook´s friendly advice to click through booking.com and expedia.com and hotel.com and trivago.com..... That´s how I landed in travel jungle, which is placed amidst of facebook island.

So trapped in distraction suddenly a hole opened under my feet and I landed here, because shirking away from learning isn´t enough. I had to tell you *LOL*

And now I´m going back to my tax law books, which were patiently waiting for my return. Stupid things, they just never run away when they have the chance to...

Five Minute Friday - Comfort

 Today I´m linkin up with Lisa-Jo for the first time. It´s called 5 minute Friday and the rules are quite simple: Stop. Drop. Write for five minutes. Easy.
All on one word: Comfort

Comfort is snuggling in on the sofa, wrapped into a big blanket with a book in my hands and a good cup of tea next to me. Of course it is essential that my black fur-monster is curled up on my feet, peacefully dozing (and snoring).Comfort is coming home in the evening when all my family is gathered for dinner and we just talk about things that happened in each other´s life that day. Comfort is knowing that there are people who will back me up, no matter what happens. And with that knowledge you can have the courage to leave your comfort zone. Go abroad and see what life holds for you. Sometimes it takes some strength to step out into the unknown, when life in comfort zone would be just so easily soothing you into staying on your couch. Why expose oneself to the risk of taking damage in any way? Or just find oneself in a situation you don´t want to be in? Why leaving family, friends and habits for a certain time, when you don´t know what it is you trade it in? Why overcome the fear that you will lose what you already have?

Because even if it goes totally wrong and you have the worst time of your life, you get something back: You grow. And when you return and snuggle in on your sofa it is even more comfy than it´s ever been before.

Friday´s letters

Dear Dad, I know Father´s Day was already yesterday in Germany. And you will probably never read this. But anyway, thanks for being worried about my decisions and yet supporting me by doing what I think is right. I know you wanted me to fall in love the easy way with a good guy who would love me just as much as I love him and protect me as you ever did and still do (regardless, that I´m turned 25 on my last bday). You weren´t surprised to hear that I fell for exactly that one who offered the most challenging relationship. You know me much better than I know, don´t you? And yet, you never tried to talk me out of flying to Arizona or said that this relationship would never work out. You just said that you´ll be there if I ever find out it won´t.

via

Dear exam, I can´t wait for Monday to get rid off you. I´m so done with reading and learning and repeating all the same stuff for years now.

via

Dear Aaron, I can´t wait to see you again (and yes, I write this in the full awareness that I might repeat myself). I can´t wait to know you will be there, lying right next to me, when I open my eyes in the morning. To know that I don´t need to check my phone every five minutes for a message from you, because you will be right at my side for the whole day. To know I can hug you and kiss you whenever I want. And to know that goodnight just means goodnight for the two of us, not goodnight to you and good morning to me due to a 9hr time-lag.

via

Dear readers and followers, be prepared for lots of travel pictures, I´m heading to the States for three weeks next Thursday! In the meantime check out the lovely blogs of Emily and Ashley, I´m linking up with them today!

May Photo A Day 2013 Challenge

Though I might not always be in time with posting my daily pic the same day I really had fun with my April Photo A Day Challenge. So I´m in for the next round with Chantelle from FatMumSlim, let´s see what May holds in store for us!

This is the challenge:

These are my pics:

An antique collection of Shakespeare novels in miniature size,
found at Strand´s Book Store in New York in 2007

Me, my hair and lots of bobby pins...

Tartufo with fresh strawberries - do I need to say more??

Looks a bit strange on that pic - but Chai Tea is always delicious!

Value Added Tax - hope it brings me good luck in the exam next Monday :)

Broken windows at an old local brickyard

First sight you may think that F stands for feet. Feet in ugly shoes.
Truth is, F stands for friendship. You will only take evidence of the ugliest
pair of shoes you can find in a shop when you´re shopping with your best friends :)

Well now... shape was quite a task. I was searching for the whole day, took some pics, but I was never
satisfied with the result. Then I started playing with my dog and when I was distracted by my dad for a
moment my dog jumped up on me and left a scratch, which turned out to have the shape of a feather
when the blue came out an hour later :)

Self-made strawberry tiramisu. Estimated life time when my brother´s at home - 3 minutes....

view from my balcony

Need to pack my things for the States...