Roommates

1. Holzutensilien gehören nicht in die Spülmaschine - insb. keine Holzbretter!

2. Dann wasch sie mal ab, damit sie nicht wochenlang rumliegen. Danke.

3. Sorry, hätte ich sicher gemacht, wenn es einmalig vorgekommen wäre. Aber so wäre es sicher keine gute Lehrmethode. Wer sie dreckig gemacht hat, hat sie auch wieder sauber zu machen. Wir sind doch nun wirklich hier nicht bei Mami u. Papi zu Hause :) Danke!

4. Nein, Linh, wir sind hier echt nicht bei Mami und Papi zu Hause. Das merkt man daran, dass nicht Mami und Papi deinen Müll runterbringen, sondern ich. Mami und Papi waschen auch nicht dein Geschirr ab und machen deine Sauereien auf dem Herd und Küchentisch weg. Das bin auch ich. Es sind auch nicht Mami und Papi, die den Geschirrspüler einräumen, anstellen, ausstellen und wieder ausräumen. Das bin wieder ich, und bei mir landen dann deine wertvollen Holzbretter drin. Ich denke nicht, dass Mami und Papi mich meiden würden, um mir in meiner Abwesenheit regelmäßig Zettelchen hinzulegen, auf denen sie mich in saumäßigem Befehlston und ohne soviel wie ein ‚Bitte’ oder ‚Danke’ (sarkastische Smileys zählen nicht, ich weiß genau, wie die gemeint sind) vorschreiben, den Herd sauber zu halten, den Küchentisch abzuwischen, das Bad zu putzen und neues Klopapier zu kaufen. Ich denke, wenn wir hier bei Mami und Papi wären, hätten sie dir für deine aggressive und destruktive Einstellung schon längst mal den Hintern versohlt. Da wir hier nicht bei Mami und Papi wohnen, musst du wohl in Kauf nehmen, dass wir unsere Wäsche gern bei 1200 Umdrehungen schleudern, den Kühlschrank auf Stufe 5 stellen, und nicht mit religiöser Besessenheit darauf warten, dass wir endlich mit Putzen an der Reihe sind. Wir haben natürlich gemerkt, dass dich unsere Schlampigkeit ein wenig stört, sind aber überein gekommen, dass nichts an unserem Verhalten vollkommen inakzeptabel ist, und dass stattdessen du mal darüber nachdenken solltest, ob das WG-Leben wirklich dein Ding ist.
Hochachtungsvoll, Sabrina und Ana

Consultation

“Is everything okay?“
“In connection with life I don’t think that’s possible.“
“That bad?”
“I’ll live. … Or not.”
“Hey, if you wanna talk …”
“Thank you.”
“Did something happen?”
“No. This just isn’t the place where I wanna be right now.”
“My office?”
“School.”
“All of life is a school.”
“All of life doesn’t suck the life out of me.”
“Ah.”
“Sorry, let’s just discuss my paper.”
“No, we can discuss this first.”
“I’m feeling like this is more than just touching the field of impropriety…”
“I’ don’t think so. If you need to talk about your problems with school what better place is there to do it than school? … Come on, I’ll be your counsellor. What can I do to help you manage your studies?”
“… Wanna switch lives?”
“Really? That bad?”
“It’s not really that bad, I’m just prone to self-pity, that’s all. So, even though my circumstances are ordinary I feel like I’m the only one who’s being treated unfairly by life. Not your problem really. You shouldn’t have to deal with my selfishness.”
“Selfishness or not, it’s obviously interfering with your studies. So, yes, I do think it should be of my concern, considering I’m your professor and all. Tell me what exactly is bothering you.”
“Really, it’s nothing more than what’s bothering others. No big deal. I’ll cope.”
“You getting’ bad grades?”
“No.”
“Being treated inappropriately by a teacher?”
“You mean, other than you?”
“I’m sorry, you’re right. We don’t have to be talking about this if you don’t want to. I just want you to know that if you need anyone to talk to you can come to me anytime, okay?”
“Okay. … So, everybody seems to think I’m capable of big things. Or bigger than the average student. And they think I should make good grades. And I do. I do make good grades. And that just seems to prove them right.”
“Your grades have nothing to do with anyone but you.”
“Thanks, that’s nice, but not true. My grades seem to give everyone permission to expect everything from me.”
“But isn’t that in general a good thing? Your teachers see what you’re capable of and they’re trying to support you so you can live up to your highest potential.”
“But I can’t do it. … What everybody seems to convinced of – that I’m smart and that I can make good grades – isn’t so certain to me. All that’s in my head – all that’s been in my head ever since – is ‘I can’t do this.’ … I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I’m simply not good enough. I can’t do it. I can’t live up to your standards and it’s killing me.”
“So you feel a lot of pressure?”
“… You know what? We should just talk about my paper now. You’re not my shrink after all. You don’t have to treat my inferiority complex.”
“No, I really think we should be talking about this first. I don’t see that you can properly and productively focus on your paper as long as this isn’t out of your system.”
“The only way this will ever be out of my system is if I die.”
“Well, I don’t want that. … So, you wanna go get a cup of coffee and discuss it in a less formal environment.”
“You really don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. I have a genuine interest in my students’ happiness. I don’t just care about attendance and active work. I want university to be rewarding experience for you. I don’t want it to break you. No one wants that.”
“Don’t you think that if I can’t stand the pressure I should just get out of here?”
“No! I’m not surprised that you’re overwhelmed by the pressure.”
“I look that labile?”
“I don’t mean you specifically. It’s obvious that there is no room in this institution for your fears and your anxieties. There is no room for your emotions and I think that’s a bad thing. You’re not just a registration number. You’re also a person. You are first and foremost a person. So, I think there desperately needs to be room for your anxieties and worries. And if you want, this is the room for your fears.”
“Your office.”
“Only if you want. You don’t have to talk to me but I encourage you that you talk to someone.”

Love is a Battlefield

Don't try to explain your mind
I know what's happening here.
One minute, it's love
And, suddenly, it's like a battlefield.

One word turns into a
Why is it the smallest things that tear us down?
My world's nothing when you're gone
I'm out here without a shield - can't go back, now.

Both hands tied behind my back for nothing,
These times when we climb so fast to fall, again
Why we gotta fall for it, now...

I never meant to start a war
You know, I never wanna hurt you
Don't even know we're fighting for
Why does love always feel like a battlefield?

Can't swallow our pride
Neither of us wanna raise that flag,
If we can't surrender
Then, we're both gonna lose we have,

Both hands tied behind my back for nothing,
These times when we climb so fast to fall, again
I don't wanna fall for it, now...

I never meant to start a war
You know, I never wanna hurt you
Don't even know we're fighting for
Why does love always feel like a battlefield?

We could pretend that we are friends, tonight
And, in the morning, we wake up, and we'd be alright
'Cause, baby, we don't have to fight
And I don't want this love to feel like a battlefield?

I never meant to start a war
You know, I never wanna hurt you
Don't even know we're fighting for
Why does love always feel like a battlefield?

I never meant to start a war
Don't even know what we're fighting for.

- Jordin Sparks

Success

Our society's highest value is effort. Work hard, as hard as you can; set a goal, do everything to achieve it, because if you don't you are lazy. Nothing is worse than not wanting to shine.
Okay, I get it. Of course you should work up to your potential. You are who you are for a reason and if you are capable of being a big-shot lawyer or a multimillionaire something, there is no excuse not to. Too bad, though, that while climbing up the ladder of success you usually have to step on many people's hands. You can only reach the top if they're pushed down; the ladder ends somewhere and the space on the highest step is limited. So, while people (who really know it) argue that you are nothing if you achieve nothing, I would beg to differ by quoting a main inspiration of my life, Albus Dumbledore: "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
I want: an internationally accepted degree, to speak 27 languages, to live on 3 countries at the same time, a ridiculously well-paid job, and a pretty prince to marry.
Really? But what for?
My Bachelor of Arts in German and English will equip me with the same skills as 200 other students, and that's only in my city, in my university, in my semester. I will most probably end up at a job at some newspaper, being artistically restricted to adjust my writings to match the average IQ and attention span of the reader.
My Latin, English, French, Italian, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese will give me great insight into cultures unknown and general understanding and wisdom blah, blah, blah. But what if it doesn't? Am I a less valuable human being?
Granted, I love living in foreign countries, which also promotes the language skills, but if I feel at home somewhere why should I leave just so I can write in my CV that I have not only lived in Australia, Canada, and Brazil but also in Sweden and South Africa.
The well-paid job I take, but I hope I have made clear that all the money in the world can't buy you happiness (and you think: blah, blah, blah). That will be acomplished by my last point. (Remember, the prince?)
I don't want to get carried away but I have noticed that we put so much pressure on ourselves to become the people that others want us to be. And the worst about it is that it usually happens at the cost of others. It's almost as if there isn't enough success out there to supply all of us.
Instead of putting each other down, instead of thinking that others want to take something away from me, I think we should start to love each other. I am positively sick of other people not giving a sh... about who I am. I want to see you and I want to be seen by you. I don't want any of your riches. I just want to love you so you can be successful and actually feel happy about it.

one glorious day

One glorious day we’re going to have to decide what we want to achieve with what we achieve. Basically, there are two possibilities.
We can get famous. Lots and lots of people will know our names. Those same people will know a lot of what other people said about us and about our work. They will know the names of the complicated concepts we’re associated with or, if we’re really good, the concepts we invented. Those people will have held and bought our books. They will have read the first couple of pages and then they will have skimmed to the back, read the ending, and polluted society with their shallow ideas about who we are and what we believe. No one will really know that they don’t really know what they are talking about, because all the people that listen to them will have only done the same thing and they all desperately hope that no one ever knows more than them.
We can, however, travel the road less taken and become seriously important. Then only a few people will have heard our names and even less will have come in contact with our ideas. The fewer people know us, the less talk can there be about us. It is generally true that people, no matter how stupid, won’t admit to their stupidity. Especially not towards themselves. So, whenever someone actually does remember our name, let alone philosophy, the majority of his listeners will turn away with their noses turned up and declare our fan an arrogant idiot.
Our fan will have read our ideas, and when I say read I mean read. He will have caught a glimpse of what’s really inside of us, of what’s moving us, and what we consider important. He will have seen, for only a second, who we really are.
Only a few people are ever going to get there. Those few people might or might not be able to pay for our rent or to feed our families. The decision we have to make is whether or not that is important to you. Do you want to get rich? Then you won't have to be really good and what you already know is probably more than most people. Don't go do too deep inside yourself. Keep it simple and don’t try to be edgy. You want people to get you and to pay you. They won’t do that if they think you’re better than them.
Or do you really want to make a difference in this world?

European Impertinence

The most outrageous thing that can happen to you is when you are one hundred percent sure of something and it turns out that you're wrong. One thing I was one hundred percent sure of is that people in the glorious United States of America are better humans than us Europeans. I'm usually careful with such claims but up until one fateful day I had never been disappointed. I was in Brooklyn with a friend and we wanted to check out this vintage clothing store. It was 1 o'clock, pouring, and the store didn't open until 1:30. We decided to go to a nearby café, have a coffee, and wait there for half an hour. We sat down at Pates Traditions Restaurant (located at 6 N Street corner Havemeyer Street) a tiny coffe place run by real French people. I should have known then that it wouldn't be a good day. We ordered tea and hot chocolate and when the charming french girl brought our drinks my friend ordered a crepe and I said: "Nothing for me. Thank you." and gave her my most lovely smile. Her smile vanished that very second and she informed me that usually they don't let people hover at the tables if they don't order anything. She'll make an exception this time because the place isn't packed. 'Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to drink my tea outside your front door?' If she was gonna make a precious exception for me why did she even bother spoiling my mood? My friend got her crepe and I felt very uncomfortable occupying my seat that could very well have been taken by someone else who could have ordered a crepe along with my friend. Seriously? It's not like we were sitting at the table, ordering tap water, refusing to leave. My friend had ordered food. The table was taken anyway; by her. There is no way the French people could have used the seat I rudly sat on without eating in any other way unless they would have assigned a new friend to my friend. We left as soon as possible and I hope the french girl felt really bad about herself when I left her a huge tip.

Wings

There is nothing more frustrating than wanting someone to understand me but not getting through to them. It’s ignorance, egotism, desire to be loved, or sheer incapability to comprehend trains of thought of other people. Although – thinking about it – that kind of sheer incapability doesn’t exist. In the end it does come down to egotism. Satisfying own desires instead of putting a loved one’s desires before the own. Who does that anyway? But some things are more important than others. When it comes to romantic love it is almost impossible for human beings to want to see the other one happy at any cost. We want to see ourselves happy. Not pretty, but true. When, however, it comes to – let’s say – family accepting each other’s lives I think it isn’t asking too much to want a little understanding and support. Romantic love is about holding on. Family love can – without fear of losing – be about letting go. Why, oh, why don’t people let go?