DAY 2 - 8 DAY CHALLENGE

Make a List of: things that make you angry

…my team losing to Real Madrid!!! The second half was horrible!

…doing dishes!

…friends who make you believe that they’ll be here for you but leave your side as soon as they can.

…Wednesday mornings because it is the start of my busiest day!

…friends, lovers who are million miles away from you! Either it is you in the wrong place or them, but one is definitely not there where he/she should be. And this leads to…

…time difference! What the heck God? I mean, ok, I get the space difference. The world is big and people are spread all over it and yada yada yada… But as if this isn’t enough, you decide that there should be a time difference as well? I know, you have scientifically recognized proof but you are the one doing miracles, aren’t ya? So, do something!

...people who make others sad on purpose! People, why? Is it revenge, or your god damn ego that needs such actions? What is it that you gain when you make other people sad/angry/mad? Is it worth it? Can’t you please try to be nice? I may sound like Lennon but you how beautiful this world might be if everyone could be a bit nicer?

…betrayal, lies, hangovers, stomach aches!

DAY 1 - 8 Day Challenge

Make a List of: things you know to be true

Make a List of: things that make you angry

Make a List of: the most unusual things you do every day

Make a List of: things you no longer believe

Make a List of: things you should have learned by now

Write Poetry: with “I remember sentences

Write Poetry: about your heart—not what it does or who it loves, but the odd and weird stuff it is made of

Write: a love poem … for a non traditional item or person

I found this list on one of Sarah Kay’s blog – this wonderful poet I’ve already written a post about! It looks like a fun list and I think that it’ll give me an opportunity to write about other topics than the EU and languages and money (even though it’s not about the money, money, money!! J) and EU and languages… Let’s bring it on!

Make a list of “things you know to be true!”

I could start off with the desk, the chair, the printer, that cigarette pack on the floor… but I think that would be pretty boring. So, let me just dive deeper in my thoughts…

I know that family value is true. I hadn’t known what family values were until I was apart from my family for six months. I went through horrible days and all I wanted to do at the end was being in the arms of my dad and mom. I thought of funny stuff and all I wanted to tell it to was my brother. I met wonderful people and I wanted my family to meet them too. My family is my everything. It took me 22 years to find that out but today, I’m happy to be around them.

I know that being all positive and smiley can make other people (even if it’s for a couple of seconds) happy! If you go across the campus on a cold winter day, I bet you won’t find more than 2 or 3 people smiling. Why being all grimly if you can warm up with a smile? That sounds cheesy, right? Whatever, I’m also known for being cheesy!

I know that deadlines are not a reason to be dead! Education is important and graduating with a good mark is always a plus for the start of your career. But should one be all stressed out and on the verge of a burn-out and not having fun with what one studies? I love languages and I love writing and I love talking, I love everything about languages and cultures and I love it so much that I will not let any deadline and any homework destroy this! So, keep your heads up and take it slow. I know it is hard but I started and it works pretty well so far.

There’s one true thing everyone will agree, I guess. Everything has an end: childhood, school, university, friendship, love, good times, bad times, songs, movies… It is the sad truth of life but there is one thing you should start learning if you are still falling into pieces after every end. Accepting and concentrating on things still going on in your life. This might be a distraction somehow but keep yourself distracted until you know the pain isn’t here anymore and you’ll be left with memories that make you smile…

I could go on writing but I think these are my bullet points about things I know to be true!

Have a great week! 

Spoken Word Poetry

“…is poetry that is written on a page but performed for an audience. Because it is performed, this poetry tends to demonstrate a heavy use of rhythm, improvisation, free association, rhymes, rich poetic phrases, word play and slang. It is more aggressive and “in your face” than more traditional forms of poetry”, is the definition of Nelson-Atkins museum of Arts.

While I was browsing through some TED lectures couple of weeks ago, I bumped into a video from Sarah Kay. A very talented young poet! After 4 minutes I had pause the video and breathe. Her poem “B” was breathtakingly beautiful. I watched every video I could find of her poems. Each and everyone had a different story to tell, starting from the destiny of a woman through to a love story between a toothbrush and a bicycle tire.

You know, everyone has an idol. Everyone has someone in their lives at whom they point to and say, “I want to be just as she/he is, when I grow up!” And well, Sarah Kay is that one person for me. I want to express myself just as beautifully as she does. If you scroll down a bit, you can find two of my favorite poems from that very special poet.

 

...and there are so many more! Hope you like it!

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.

We are all going through one hell of a time dealing with the University, work and personal issues. I have realized that it’s not only me suffering that much from all this stress. Today, I listened to myself and dashed off my thoughts. ‘I sat down at a typewriter and bled’, in Ernest Hemingway’s words. Hope you like it! Oh, and please, go easy on yourself! 

Istanbul '13

I am tired. I feel my soul shut every time when I close my heavy eyes. I feel like drawing in a deep sea. There was light first. I knew I could swim out but it gets darker and darker now. My heavy breathing makes it harder to feel anything but pain. The responsibilities on my shoulder make me sink to the bottom of that sea, a sea with a vivacious surface and a dead bottom. I have to open my eyes, pant for breath, try to feel and start to swim. Now, is the time to show my strength. I have to leave all this behind and swim for great achievement of the future. I have to believe in myself, have to see the light. I have to make myself believe in that and promise not to relapse with every bit of pressure. I just have to be true to the best that is in me. 

Lots of Love, 

Güliz

“People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise.”

I am not going to praise this summary. Maybe I will praise it a little or even a lot. Let’s get the critique started:

In my opinion, all the important details of Ambrose Evans-P.’s article are mentioned in this summary. It is very coherent but even thought I found it a little confusing because I am not familiar with words such as “monetary stimulus”. I know, we had discussed it in class but as an ‘economic dummy’ it is really difficult for me to deal with such terms but by using these the composer of this summary shows that he/she knows what he/she is talking about.

The use of a higher register and the coherency make the summary look very professional but, as mentioned before, I had difficulties in understanding some parts and had to re-read some sentences.

All in all, I would say that the composer of this summary has accomplished this task. 

Turkey’s ambition to be a part of the Occident

Accession of Turkey to European Union

“I was born in Turkey and I’m fluent in Turkish.” That’s all I could say about the Turkish part of myself six months ago. Accept my family, I had nothing Turkish in my life. On February I decided to spend my year abroad in Istanbul. Many people have asked me why I didn’t choose Great Britain, US or even Australia. I could have. With all these international programs offered and the financial support of my generous parents it was possible. But can one call other places great or pretty, when one does not even know how it is at “home”?

Within those six months I couldn’t have become more Turkish. It seemed like all these missing parts of my puzzle life were found. When I hopped into the plane on my way back to Austria, I had this clear picture of Turkey with its culture, language, religion, social classes etc.

When Hendrik told us, that we had to write an academic paper for SUK3 this idea popped up in my head. I did some research about Turkey’s history in Istanbul. I went to Gallipoli (Gelibolu), where the Turks fought against the Brits in WWI. I was in Ankara at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of Turkish War of Independence and founder of the Republic of Turkey. During all my visits and after I let all these information sink in, I realized that Turkey always  had an ambition to be a part of the western World, even before the establishment of the Republic. A clear example of it is the accession of Turkey to European Union. Since 1995 it’s a “fight” (I’m not calling it a negotiation or even a discussion anymore) between Turkey and the European Union for its membership in the EU. 

EU Individual Paragraph

The European Union plays a massive role for every EU citizen. With its organizations it provides a better place to live in. The Council of Europe, for example, promotes human rights and democracy which make up the back bone of the Union. In case of a contravention of your civil rights you can litigate in European Court of Human Rights for an objective resolution. Apart from protection of your rights, the European Union is also a major financial source for all its member states. Especially for member countries that declare insolvency, the EU is a principle financial supporter. Greece, Spain and Italy are currently countries who suffer from financial difficulties and they, to a large degree, depend on austerity packages from the European Union. Another easement that EU offers us comes with the Schengen Agreement. With that agreement one can travel freely across the countries that have signed it without undergoing a visa procedure or being controlled at the borders. All in all, the European Union simplifies our life and helps us in case of financial and democratic crises.

Process:

Before I started writing the paragraph I decided to draw a Mindmap about the why the EU was good for us EU-citizens. While I was drawing the stars I did some brainstorming. (I found out last year that I have to draw something when I did some brainstorming.)

The first point was Human Rights and Democracy. As I’ve been working at a Human Rights and Democracy Center in Graz for now 2 years, I know how important civil rights and democracy are.  

My second thought was “EU as a financial supporter”. Especially in the last couple of years we have heard a lot about insolvency of countries and ‘austerity packages’ from the EU.

The last bubble on my Mindmap was the Schengen Agreement. For us Europeans travelling across Europe without a visa is totally normal. In Turkey I realized how annoying it is to apply for visa for every country you’re visiting. Since then I appreciate this agreement a lot!

After finishing up my first draft I corrected my topic sentence and the conclusion so they would fit the rest of the paragraph.

The first draft was written with a rather informal register. For the second and last draft I looked up on Thesaurus for more formal words.

Comments:

(Un)fortunately, I didn’t need to change anything on my paragraph. According to my revision partner, my paragraph was legible and gets the point across. I’ve been told that coherence and cohesion were pretty good. He could only nitpick on register but all in all, it is a well-made paragraph.