and alas, i am still alive

I randomly typed blog into my internet browser and all the suggestions I hit were related to this. An instant pang of guilt hit me. almost two years! Flipping through the pages, this is some of the story of what I, or better, of what we do. So I need to force myself to keep it up, because even if I am the only one to go through the pages with a smile, then its already worth it.

So whats the news?
2013 seems like an age away. A lot has happened. Dancing with my ex partner and all that drama, splitting the morning of southern nationals. Endocrinology in Chelwest hospital, exams. Glastonbury, Open'er. My DKFZ internship, the bike tours, my job at the wine festival, hiking across the alps with my mum. Byebye Margra, hello Camelot and Immunology.

Oh dear. My Immunology BSc. As much as I love the subject, love the labwork and take pride that I managed, I found it really difficult and draining.
Maybe thats because a small voice at the back of my head keeps telling me to go, to run, to move, to travel. That makes sitting and trying to decipher papers and jam it all in my head a bit troublesome.
But I went to japan. For half a year I woke up thinking "OMG im going to be in Japan" and "its ok, im going to be in Japan"which I think got me through.
And it was worth it. My BSc project at TMDU was incredible. Amazing supervisors, lovely, lovely people. many new experiences and finally a chance to give into that small voice in my head.
I almost forgot my Christmas trek seeing family in Germany and schlepping Chinami, my exchange friend along. I hope she got a good glimpse of Germany.

And boom, thats this year gone. Japan feels like yesterday, but Im already back since May. What happened? I honestly couldnt tell you. Time moves more quickly as you age, right? such an annoyance. well, yes of course I know what i did.
Meeting up in Paris and in Calais :)
Open'er for a third time, followed by 3 weeks of israel epicness. 2 weeks of couchsurfing and thinking, with some of the most inspiring and openhearted people ever and one week of seeing all the other beautiful bits with Jürgen.
then back to hospitals. yeay, finally. Derm, GP, Paeds. Having a couchsurfer over and hitching to Stonehenge. 2 weeks in Dundee and a glorious day visiting my Margra and Camelot teammate Maria in Glasgow and one up in the highlands with her. 6 weeks of psych, 2 weeks of germany. Its been a while since I last was there, almost 2 years since I last met Yuan and Charlotte. so crazy.
reading the above almost makes me feel out of breath, like I was running. Should I slow down? Life is too short? lets start with scribbling this blog a bit more regularly.

Maybe the most important thing, dear Prags, is being able to continue the conversation we started so long ago, and add a chapter to the story every time we meet.

im still living

Oh my dear me, half a year and no sentence written in here. Still i remember this place every so often thinking that I should blog about politics, food, fashion, music or simply places in london/the world. Then again the world of bloggers who now turn professional seems a bit of a farce. you can make a living out of commenting on which shade of lipstick looks better, where how much too dark eyeshadow on which star and which red carpet event was worn...and that matters really?? If you now nod and think yeah of course... REALLY???
Im in a ranty mood today so this post will be slightly more cynical and pissy than my usual self. Woke up reading such a weird email I had to phone a friend to read it out to her to believe I was reading it. a mixture of confusion and outrage i guess, but the storys to long and not good enough for that length to go into more.
anyways, after a mainly bedbound feverish weekend I took today off to get super well, stock up on food, do some work, find inner peace and incidentally surf the web, read bridgets jones diary (again, yes its hilarious) finally after felt 4 year update my system on new music/literature. It makes living in london feel a bit less like living behind the moon. The top tip is definately jasmine by jai paul. I excuse for any nasty lyrics have only listened to melody and beat so far but definately approve. If not, bon iver is still a definate ear orgy, which easily can replace beethoven to accompany the classy/romantic evening dinner.
So what have I been up to? Hospital, more hospital, dancing, fights and bitching with/about my dance partner. home for christmas - Aachen, seeing Yuan, (will post his recipie here so I wont loose it!) seeing my godchildren, seeing Jürgen graduate, eating my way through Alsace, new years in Colmar and a few days of skiing with my mum in davos. so sad to be back, such a transformation from daughter and girlfriend to baby doctor and having to sort out the dance team.
And now im in the middle of my 10 week geriatrics placement. wonderful doctors, mainly very cute patients and a looong commute.

too much to say too little space/time/sense to write it all down

my summer was....a list of impressions

Albania, aldo, corona, white pebble beaches, blue sea, blue sky

Cuba, pina colada, music, cars, beaches, people, spanish

Heidelberg, Jürgen, Essay, coffee, home

Stuttgart

Its too crude but at least there is a record :)

loving the cheap flights

Im back from a crazy euro trip. Barcelona, Poland, Bonn, Menorca, Barcelona, Stuttgart, Bavarian part of Danube, Stuttgart, Heidelberg. there is so much to tell, digest and sort through: Barcelona is now on my list of favorite cities. I had an absolutely amazing time in Poland - going to a music festival with possibly my two favorite people from imperial, chilled in a beautiful villa in Menorca, schlepped my luggage around Barcelona for yet another day, cycled along the Danube, and now I am here, Heidelberg, home 3. I wonder what the rest of summer will bring?
find Midnight city by M83, skinny love by Bon Iver for the accompanying soundtrack :)

Tingling of summer

I am restless
I have an urge to be on the road
passing landscape, dreaming in a moving vehicle - traveling is end and means in one.
new friends, new faces, new things to see
the world is so big and i have so little time
it seems as though its running through my fingers - like the sand i pick up from the beach.
I want to see so much, I want to do so much, I want to know so much
but when? when?
I am in london, yes and even in this town there is so much i haven't seen and done yet.
It gets lost in the everyday, in the routine and laziness. the conscience about what I should be doing, and the fatigue after long day of lectures.
I need to find something to do - i have another month, not enough for anything formal - sewing, languages or just kicking myself out the door more often?
all the time
i am dreaming of foreign places

road trip: switzerland, italy, france and back

And I almost forgot - I have a road trip to write about! last weekend I arranged for my mums car (I have 5 days off), arranged for 3 days with Jürgen and we drove down through switzerland to lago maggiore where we stayed the night, then down to the mediterranean sea coast, over to france - monaco and nice, stayed over near antibes and then through the haute provence along the route napoleon via grenoble, geneva etc back to stuttgart. A long trip in a short time, crazy but very much worth it. as I need to study now, Ill let pictures speak: (to be uploaded later)

Newly discovered cooking almanac : Food blogs!

Yes, I should be studying at this moment (as I have an exam in 3 weeks, and haven't really looked at any lectures for it yet) so this will be short:
I take quite a bit of free time nowadays - my dance partner is not around which means little dancing and philosophy is over as well. that leaves time to procrastinate, watch movies on bbc iplayer and do some proper cooking - more than just the usual steamed vegetables and bread with topping.

I have discovered the vast landscape of foodblogs. I am only scratching at the surface of what promises to be endless masses of favorite, flavorsome, original (and classic), easy and super difficult recipes from all over the place. It all started when i wanted to describe a type of semolina cake to my flatmates and googled it. Whatever I was after did not come up, but a similar version made with ricotta cheese (italian, similar to cream cheese but less fat and mainly used in cooking and baking). That led me on to a chicken and vegetable oven baked dish which i tried yesterday and was amazing.
The blog i landed on was based around austrian cuisine but with some deviations around it as well.  I do agree with the fellow blogger that despite the italian, french, asian, moroccan and fusion trends going on, traditional "regional" cooking is also worth looking into. Usually adjusted sugar and fat to the lowered calorific usage nowadays does the trick to turn recipes my grandparent's grandparents have cooked into modern delicacies.

On the website of my favorite magazine (which, coincidentally, is about food as well) i have found the link to loads more of such blogs: great for the inner foodie, terrible for the upcoming exams. That brings me back to lectures i need to start...

Want to come for dinner? - needless to say ill cook (pure) veg for you :)