Settling in, England

So I came up with some pretty cliché opening sentences for this blog post:

Option #1: Englaaaaand, I'm finally here!

Option #2: Yes, the adventure has finally started (ugh especially hate this one)

Option #3: Guess where I am!

Yeah, let's not bother with any of those. It has been such a busy week, but it has been great as well. For those unaware, I recently moved to Exeter for my semester of studying abroad, and I'll probably write about it regularly on here.

So yeah, Exeter. I won't say it's a coastal town, but it has an impressive amount of seagulls. I was rather expecting the city to be ugly - going of on things I'd heard from other people - but it's actually not that bad. There are some really nice spots in the city centre, and they have a really cute park.

The university is just really impressive, it's huge for one, and the library has some seriously high-tech equipment. I'm not kidding, they have an entire room filled with mega tablets placed in tables which you can use to mess around with, or study - whichever one you fancy. 

Fresher's week has been good, certainly not as intense as the Dutch one, but it was nice that you could pick the events you wanted to go to yourself - although this was also a bit overwhelming at times. We explored the campus, cried about our still not confirmed courses with several members of staff, and signed up for some societies. I signed up for archery, which I'm pretty excited about. I don't think I'll get another chance to try it, so I couldn't miss that opportunity.

All in all, England turns out to be quite a strange country. When it comes to shopping, some things are really cheap whilst others cost a surprising amount of money. The bread is definitely inferior to the bread at home, and don't even get me started on the tap water (I should probably get over this but I'm not over it yet). Oh how you realise how nice the Netherlands truly is when you spend time abroad. On the other hand they have some really nice shops here that I am desperate to go to but too broke to actual spent money at right now. 

Tomorrow is quite an important day, as I might be able to finally secure a place on an English course, but for now it's just hoping for the best. 

Oh on a final note, English people turn out to be especially awkward dancers.

The Loveliest Spot in Berlin

Hiya! I interrupt my fangirl rambling about films and series to talk about something a bit different, which I couldn't help not share with you.

So, last week I went on a little city trip to Berlin with some of my friends. I'd been there before, and really love that city. It might not be as romantic as Paris or energetic as London, but it certainly has character. It might be heavily scarred in the past, but it holds it's history well. Now even to my surprise, it was here, in this growing, modern city, that I stumbled upon the most quaint, charming little hang out spot.

After dinner one night one of my friends and I decided to roam the city. Near our hotel on the Oranienburger Strasse, we decided to take a different route and explore. It turned out to be a great idea, as taking all these little streets took us away from the bustle of the city and led us to a more relaxed, quiet environment. We found ourselves living the true Berlin experience, coming across little local hang-out spots and cafés that were far away from the busy streets crowded with tourists, and filled with true Berlin crowds.

We almost got a little lost in these streets, trying to weave our way back to the main road again. Our little adventure brought us past some hidden gems, like a church Martin Luther King once preached in, a Holocaust memorial and a shop that sold all Irish goods - it was really random.

When we found our way back to the main road we decided to walk back to the hotel via the park on the Oranienburger Strasse, which we had already designated as our daily breakfasting spot. As we crossed the park for the first time, we discovered the most precious of hidden places - or at least hidden to us. Round the back of the park - the Monbijoupark - it is bordered by the Spree, and on the other side of the water lays the impressive Bode-Museum. Next to the water there is a little spot with palm trees and cute little lights where you can sit and enjoy a drink - or a few - which you can get at a bar area, that is actually next to an open-air theatre! There is also a dancefloor where people were dancing in pairs to the lovely twenties music that was being played. You could even grab a pizza there! The whole thing was just absolutely lovely. When we arrived it was just getting dark, and as the sun went down it was just a bit magical. The twenties music, the people dancing, the lit-up museum on the other side and the boats going past - it kinda felt like A Midnight in Paris.

My friend and I were really impressed and sat there for a long time, drinking wine and chatting away - we did not want to leave. I imagine most of the people there were locals, and the whole place just did not have a touristy feel at all, which just made it that much better.

So my dearest readers, if you ever find yourself in Berlin, and are looking for a nice spot to unwind, go find this little corner in the Monbijou Park. It's just a little bit of heaven - if you're into that sort of thing.

Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen (GISHWHES)

Let's clear something up and simultaneously talk about something really awesome I've done last week: GISHWHES. For those who have been following me on twitter or facebook it might have been somewhat of a mystery what this GISHWHES was that I kept referring to. Well, Gishwhes - or that long name in the title that I don't care to repeat even though I've already written more words now than I would have if I'd rewritten the name - is a scavenger hunt set up by the amazing Misha Collins, who one might know from the tv show Supernatural (or perhaps the cinematic masterpiece that is Stonehenge Apocalypse). However, I think more people know him from the former, and a lot of the participants of GISHWHES are also in the Supernatural fandom.

So what exactly do I mean when I say scavenger hunt? Well, this is how it works. You sign up for GISHWHES, and either chose a group to be part of or you are assigned a group by GISHbot. At the beginning of the hunt - which lasts a week - a list of items is uploaded to the GISHWHES website, and for each item your team can receive points. Pretty straightforward right? Well, don't be fooled, the real challenge is in actually doing the items, as they are many a times ridiculous, crazy, amazeballs, or sometimes just downright impossible. Some examples from this year's list, which my team executed:

A family of at least four enjoying a formal dinner. All of the place settings, serving utensils, dishes - basically every non-food item above the tablecloth - must be made from Legos.

Get all of the checkout employees at a supermarket to wear "Mishacolypse" masks as they ring up customers. They all must be working their individual registers when you take the picture. There must be a minimum of four checkout workers. The more cashiers, the more points.

Sing a harmonized duet rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" with someone standing 30 yards away from you. The camera should be centered between the two singers and we should be able to see both in the frame. -Stefanie Bumbaru

These were totally ridiculous but so much fun to do. Then there were also ones that were just really really cute:

“When I grow up, I want to be...” Have a child dress up as what they want to be when they grow up (lawyer, doctor, ballerina, dragon-slayer, etc.). Then stage the photo in the environment they would be working in.

There were also a bit more serious items, like becoming a bone marrow donor, or getting a CPR certification. There was one my team members were able to do which we were all very proud of, which was: There is a retirement home in Baltimore, MD called Rolland Park Place. My grandmother lives there. Bring flowers, chocolate or funny homemade or store-bought cards for some of the residents. Since this is a bit nepotistic, if Rolland Park Place is out-of-the-way for you, do the same at another retirement home. You must interact with the residents. My awesome teammates called up a retirement home and went to serve cake to them and hand out flowers. The video that resulted from it was just lovely, seeing those people smile and be so happy that these random things were happening to them. It makes me kinda emotional just thinking about it.

But that's also what GISHWHES is about. We were really lucky to be paired up with some amazing people from Utah who were as enthousiastic and dedicated to the hunt as we were, and we ended up doing some great things. I think we were all very proud of each other when it ended, and a bit sad of course.

So guys, if you feel like going crazy for a week, having loads of fun, doing some great things for humanity and also regaining some faith in your fellow humans, sign up for GISHWHES. It's such a rewarding experience and you'll meet some great people from all over the world. And there's just this kind of family feeling that you are all in this crazy thing together.

Want to know more about GISHWHES? Here is the official website and what the man himself has to say about his little project: Misha's Musings. And hey, there's even a Wikipedia page: TAKE A STROLL THROUGH SOME MORE INFO. There are costs involved for signing up, but if you really don't have the money to sign up but to have a burning desire to do so, you can apply to get a free admission.

Oh and perhaps this is also important, there is a reward for those who win! This year it's a trip to Croatia with Misha for the winning team. My team wasn't in it to win, but just for the fun. So just kow that you do not have to work your ass of or do things you might not be comfortable with if you do not want to.

If anything, I know I'll be signing up again next year! May the hunt grow bigger every year! (And I mean, we're on our way, as NASA and a few celebs got into it this year already)

I leave you with a picture of our awesome team.

An image of each of the members of your team in Brady-Bunch style grid format. Photos should be mug-shot style with each team member holding a black and white sign stating their city and country of residence.

With Just a Hint of Nostalgia: Peter Jackson's The Frighteners (1996)

I might have mentioned it before, but my older brother has always had a huge influence on me when it comes to films and series and it's somewhat of a miracle if I happen to watch something before he has seen it- or an even greater miracle if I have seen a film he has never heard of (I celebrated my first win this weekend-go figure). We used to spend many sunday afternoons watching the Lord of the Rings extras, back in I don't even kow when, and it just continued from there.

However, the Lord of the Rings was not the only Peter Jackson creation my brother introduced me to. I remember watching Heavenly Creatures one day on TV because my brother wanted to see it- it being a Peter Jackson creation and all. It mostly confused me, and I only found out a few days ago he was nominated for an Aacademy Award for it, which prompted the thought of a rewatch. Then there was King Kong, which I was not that impressed by, and the Lovely Bones, which I have not seen till this day.

The Frighteners is a different story. Every time this film came on TV my brother forced our family to watch it, and it took me a long time to actually embrace the movie. It's probably one of Jackson's less known works and the reviews I've read weren't that optimistic, but I think I've seen it almost as often as I've seen The Return of the King. Mostly by force however, because this film used to terrify me when I was little. It stars Michael J. Fox as some kind of ghostbuster who goes after this creepy-ass phantom that is on a killing spree, marking its victims by carving numbers into their foreheads. The killer-ghost seems to travel inside of walls and ugh, I still find it very creepy.

I've really grown to love the film though, when I rewatched it a few years ago. Old enough to actually focus on the film and get what it's about, I was still a tiny bit scared, but mostly entertained. I mean, this film has some really great elements. Firstly, it has Michael J. Fox, who is awesome. I used to dislike him because I disliked Back to the Future - because I always found Doc sooo fucking annoying and still do secretly - but again rewatching those films changed my perspective. Secondly, the film mixes creepiness with comedy, which always works to be honest. I am not a fan of full-blown horror films and this is a nice alternative. It's originality as a film is mostly the result of this mix of humour and horror which Jackson plays with, sending the film in all kinds of different directions. It does make the film a bit messy and the two emotions might not mix that well, but it's different, and I kinda like it.

I have my brother's special edition director's cut of the film laying around here, which includes a documentary on how the film was made. I'm curious to see some behind-the-scenes stuff that is not from the Lord of the Rings but from a more down to earth, easy-going film that doesn't take itself too seriously, which is exactly what viewers shouldn't do either.

Needless to say, I will be watching the film again, not only to keep the cycle going but mostly because I like it. And this was my attempt to try to make others give it a go too, IF THEY DARE. Uhum, so yeah, watch the film.

Oh, and look for Peter's camio. It's beautiful, as always.

What I've Been Watching: June and July

Series: Orange is the New Black

June was a good month for me getting into a new series. The reason: exam week. I am one of -I believe- many who suffer from the hey-it's-time-to-study-let's-start-a-new-series-syndrom. It's not so much a means of procrastination, but a little present I give myself at the end of the day for wrecking my brain writing essays or revising. My series of choice for last exam week: Orange is the New Black.

Now I already raved about Orange is the New Black (henceforth OITNB) in my last post, but I enjoyed it too much to not give it a bit more attention. Let's start with how I got into contact with it. For some strange reason I saw the ad on TV for this Netflix series, and I must say they did a good job trying to sell it to viewers because I instantly thought it looked promising. I normally avoid Dutch television, but it's safe to say something good came out of it this time. I proceeded by downloading the first season and it was an instant hit: I finished the first season within about a week. Now I know this is probably not as hardcore as many others who watch like 5 seasons of a show in 2 days but for me, this was pretty quick.

So small summary: OITNB follows Piper Chapman as she is sent to prison for smuggling drugs a decade ago under pressure of her then-girlfriend. Leaving behind Larry- the douchy fiance - she re-encounters her drug baron girlfriend in jail and a ton of other badass ladies whose stories unfold troughout the first two seasons.

There's a text post going round on tumblr that embodies OITNB perfectly in my view, and it's something along the lines of: "I was taking a train this week and thought wow it feels so good being out of prison. But then I realised I wasn't in prison but just binge watching OITNB." SO ACCURATE. The binge watching part is definitely true, but also the fact that it eats you whole. Now I know this might partly be a side-effect of the binge watching, but OITNB truly does a good job representing a situation that might feel alien to many of us while still making it relatable. As a viewer you start to empathise with the characters more every time you learn a bit more about them, as every episode goes into the backstories of these ladies, presenting little snippets of their histories that give away just enough to piece together how they ended up in jail.

Nominated for twelve Emmy Awards OITNB is getting the attention it deserves. The only faults I've been able to find? 1. You have to wait 5-ever for a new season. 2. Piper's husband Larry is the 21st century equavalent of James Hurley and the most boring character ever. Ugh.

However, this should not stop you from watching a badass series about badass ladies. Hey, you can always press mute when Larry appears on screen.

Films: Philomena

It must be a miracle but I am finally reviewing Philomena. I'm pretty sure I've watched this film waaaaay back before June, but it just needs a tiny bit of attention.

In essence, the film is truly heartbreaking. Based on true events, the film centers around Philomena's search for her son, who was given up for adoption by the convent she was put in by her father in the 1950s after getting pregnant without being married. With the aid of a journalist who is eager to publish Philomena's story, they discover her son's fate.

Philomena was nominated for four Oscars, including the award for Best Picture, and this was one of the reasons I really wanted to see the film. I'd like to say that I don't care about Academy Award nominations, but I do. If a film has won an Oscar, I always feel the need to find out if, in my view, it deserved to win. In Philomena's case, I'd say no.

As I said before, the story is really heartbreaking, but I think the way it was conveyed on film was slightly lacking. The set-up of Philomena (Judy Dench) with the journalist (Steve Coogan) in the beginning felt really random and a bit rushed. The brilliant acting of Dench and Coogan did make up for this a bit as the interplay between their characters was a joy to watch. However, overall the film proved less engaging than I thought it would be. Maybe I am harbouring unrealistic Hollywood standards, but I expected more of the search for Philomena's son. It was certainly portrayed as very realistic, but realism can still be heartfelt, and I just missed that intruiging element, or the sense of hope that I had expected.

As the film unravels it's impossible to not be affected by it. It's a story that does not need theatricality or dramatic music to make an impact, and if that's why the director, Stephen Frears, made the decisions he made I completely understand it. However, to me it could have been a bit more polished, or structured a bit differently to just make it that much better.

That being said, I do understand why Philomena was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture to begin with. It's not a secret that awful things where going on within these convents and the Catholic Church as a whole in the 1950s- and not just then for that matter. These are the stories that matter, that should be told and not be forgotten. And Philomena's story was just one of many.

Bye Bye Responsibilities

Looooong overdue post this one here. As I am watching Glastonbury on TV, I thought it might be an idea to finally create a post about Pinkpop. However, I quickly remembered I already decided that I was not going to write an elaborate post on it, as my wonderful friend Aïsa already wrote this and this about it. She really walks you through our two days so if you feel like reliving our (rather wonderful) experience do read it :) Also, the friends she alludes to in the second one who went home early because they could not handle the absolute fucking hot weather, yeah, one of them was me. It was extremely warm those two days - and hasn't been since so yeah I feel like there's a conspiracy going on- and I really dislike heat so I just bailed. And failed. I still feel kinda bad about it so yeah there's another reason that I'm not really feeling blogging about it. It was a strange year this one. But still cool, if anyone's wondering. I saw the Arctic Monkeys which was really pleasing. OH and I really do want to mention one act in particular.

Stromae. That dude really did every single thing right. For those who do not know him, he's a Belgian artist. His music is mainly in French and one of the things I like about it is trying to actually understand the lyrics- which are kinda deep in most cases. But yeah I absolutely love French and I've always wanted to learn to speak it properly. ANWAY. Stromae. As I was saying, it was pretty much perfect (minus the fucking heat). He had good stage presence, his vocals were spot on and his on-stage antics, consisting of awesome dancing and a little bit of acting, were a joy to watch. Did I mention this guy's style? Because jesus was he rocking those kneesocks. His bandmembers were all wearing the same outfit as him, and for a split second I thought I was watching a Wes Anderson film, which let's be honest is always a good thing. This man is truly phenomenal and he got me dancing my ass of in the blistering heat- which is telling to say the least.

So that was Pinkpop. After that I had to study and had yet another exam week. I had a small break and now I've started working on my resit- or resits as I am up to two now. Yeah, good going. During my little mini break from anything uni related I moved back home, and then just watched a whole season of Orange is the New Black in a week? This series. Is so fucking good. I am really obsessed with it and have started watching the second season already. To those lost souls who have not seen OITNB or have missed the Netflix commercial on Dutch tv which got me to actually give it a try, DO TRY IT BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING. I cannot stress its brilliance enough. It has interesting and most of all realistic characters and dear God these ladies are just amazing. And it's all about them, which just makes it even better. I'm emotionally invested in this now can you tell?

Because of my recent OITNB obsession I have not been able to make any progress on watching films on my watchlist, which is actually a good thing because I have now seen so many films I want to write about that its getting a bit hard to choose. As I am now back to doing uni stuff my little project is still on hold, but I will genuinly try to do another review as soon as possible.

I can't wait for this vacation to actually start. I've been wanting to reread all the Harry Potter books before I move to the UK. Now how's that for a challenge?

Changing Paths

I am sitting here in my room in Nijmegen, surrounded by clothes, books, and a random bag filled with clothes hangers. So yeah guess what, I am moving soon!

Normally I would start out this blog by apologising for not updating, or giving the reasons for being absent, but let's just skip all that stuff right now because it is boring and I do not want to even think about it.

But yeah, moving. I am so so keen to actually move because I have this weird obsession with putting stuff in boxes and just generally packing- it's weird. Moreover, the day when I actually move is right after my last exam (or well not last because I got one ticket straight to the resits but let's just yeah, just no.) so I am really looking forward to that. I am so glad when this school year is over. It has stressed me out majorly and I just want to be done with it at this point. I'm doing that thing again were I write negative stuff right? Enough of that.

Well, there are these pretty awesome things I have to look forward to. Firstly: Pinkpop! I AM SO EXCITED. I was really bummed out earlier when I could not get tickets for the whole weekend, but I am over that now (lies). I am really looking forward to seeing Ed Sheeran live again, because let's face it he is just perfection live. And then there's The Arctic Monkeys who've become one of my favourite bands over the past year. Two weeks left!

Secondly, there's Exeter. Applying has been a real hassle, but everything worked out in the end and my application has finally been sent. I'm going to be following two courses: One on Shakespeare and one on Film Adaptations. Expectations: high.

I feel like I am cramming a lot of stuff in this one post really badly. But I guess this concludes my little life-update thingy.

On to what I've been watching lately. I know I was supposed to upload a few reviews but I just have not had any time for it, and have put my little project on hold till the summer vacation starts.

I can't say which films I will be reviewing yet, except for Philomena (which I already announced). I have seen a lot of films lately, some better than others. I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier which was very enjoyable, AND I saw Godzilla. Yeah, it was bad. I also watched Spirited Away which I most likely will be reviewing, and on my watchlist are The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (by Wes Anderson) and Lars and the Real Girl (starring Ryan Gosling).

As far as series go, I finally finished watching Twin Peaks. And I really really love this series and one day I will explain why, but that last episode really was a slap in the face. It was brilliant, but it also made me a tiny bit mad. However, I have not watched Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me yet, so my blog on Twin Peaks will probably arrive after I watch that film. I also started watching Kings (starring Sebastian Stan) and I am actually really enjoying it. Or well, it causes me emotional pain, but in a good way. Also it has Seb Stan and I like his acting (and his face).

Oh I should probably mention a few films I had to watch for an adaptation course I have been following. We had to watch an adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles that was set in modern day India, and I rather enjoyed watching that one. It's called Trishna and its critical reviews might not be that good, but I like how they took an old story and show how many of the problems faced by women in the Victorian time are still in a way faced by many today. I ended up enjoying it more than the novel, even though that was not such a stretch because I rather disliked the novel. We also had to watch Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (1992), and I fucking hated it. Dear god I could go on and on about that film, but the two word conclusion would just be that it's utter shit. I loved reading Dracula and I think it's a great novel, and the film just took that story and fucked it up massively. I know this might seem a bit harsh, but it just made me mad how overly sexualised and  overtly sexist the film was. I mean I don't care if you want to 'spice up' that Victorian sexual repression but this was just ridiculous. "Hey Mina let's read this sexually suggestive book and giggle really hard". The women were portrayed like stereotypical schoolgirls in my eyes, while one of them got relegated to being part of a love triangle, because of course, why would you not. The visuals were okay I guess, I just did not like the overly melodramatic style. It was like watching a cult film gone horribly wrong, and most cult films already raise a lot of questions but this one just got me asking the wrong ones. For example: why is Jonathan Harker's nipple bleeding like a fountain? Or, why does Jonathan not get suspicious when he sees Dracula floating to him when they first meet while wearing your grandma's wedding dress and Elizabeth I's wig? So many questions.

Okay I think that concludes my rambling nicely. Oh and pay special attention to my vaguely pretentious title. Even I don't know why.