Hello my lovelies,

How are you? Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, a blog hop by the lovely Diana over at Part Time Monster. Every weekend we get together for virtual coffees and a little casual chat. How has this past week been for you?

I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to last week’s Weekend Coffee Share, and I’ll explain why in a second. But I’m here now and the sun is shining and we could have coffee and even a slice of the coconut-buttermilk cake my mum made while catching rays out on the patio.

What would you like to drink? I can offer you coffee, tea (in various flavours), still or sparkling water and a lemongrass lemonade.  Make your way outside, the grass is all tall and wild and full of wild flowers as I don’t like meticulously maintained lawns. I’ve cleaned the garden furniture  as best I could, but it’s that time of the year and there’s green and yellow pollen absolutely everywhere.

For the last two weeks, I have been extremely busy with university work. Finishing up my last assignments despite no help from my professor – resources are missing and incomplete, and I’ve asked for the proper ones because we need to reference them in our assignments. So far, no reply. I’ve even reached out to another professor in the hopes she might have a digital copy of the resource, as she used to teach the course.

I now have pretty much all my books for my thesis. I’m still waiting on my last order from Amazon Marketplace and I’ll be printing some of the eBooks I found as I prefer bound books to reading on the computer. Meanwhile, my desk is covered with textbooks, novels and printouts, post-its and highlighters. I haven’t slept properly in a week to get everything done so that I can concentrate on my thesis from Monday onwards!

My desk before the deadline frenzy broke out. ©Literati Girl

But if we were having coffee today, I’d also tell you about last week, as I missed our catch-up. On May 10, a high school classmate and I went to Cologne to realise a teenage dream: meeting actor, author and singer David Duchovny. Alas, we did not get to talk to him, but we did see him live in concert in a pretty intimate venue. He’s a really good singer, but I’ve gotta say that he’s live much better than on the recordings I’ve heard. This was his first ever concert in Germany (and one of only two on his Hell Or Highwater Tour) and he rocked the house. Next to is original material he also played covers of David Bowie and Tom Petty, and at least trie dto speak some German (bless him).

David Duchovny during his Hell Or Highwater Tour in Cologne, Germany. 10 may 2016 ©Literati Girl

David Duchovny during his Hell Or Highwater Tour in Cologne, Germany. 10 may 2016 ©Literati Girl

David Duchovny during his Hell Or Highwater Tour in Cologne, Germany. 10 may 2016 ©Literati Girl

David Duchovny during his Hell Or Highwater Tour in Cologne, Germany. 10 may 2016 ©Literati Girl

I uploaded one of the pictures to Twitter that night, and within minutes it attracted a “Like” – from David Duchovny’s own, verified account. It’s become my most popular tweet so far with 39 Likes and 7 Retweets.

Another thing that happened on Twitter this week I’d like to tell you about is the Emergency Lessons campaign by UNICEF. I confess, I learned about  it through a video of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Tom Hiddleston introducing it. Many children in crisis areas have no access to education, but school and the education you receive there is so important. So in the video, you’re asked to celebrate the importance of school by sharing the video (link above) and a school photo of yourself. So that’s what I did, on Twitter and Instagram.

Here’s what I shared:

Me, in my 7th Form Uniform from Waitakere College in Auckland, New Zealand #EmergencyLessons ©Literati Girl

Sharing a school photo to celebrate the importance of #school and #education for children living in crises worldwide. This is me, in my 7th Form uniform when I was an exchange student at Waitakere College in Auckland, New Zealand in 2003/2004. I was incredibly lucky and incredibly honoured to go to school abroad and it furthered my education and personal growth beyond measure. And – coming from Germany where students don’t wear uniforms – I wore my uniform (and Manawanui House colours) with pride. Many children, and especially girls, around the world still don’t have access to basic education, let alone opportunities like high school graduation or exchange years abroad. We take our education for granted, when many children don’t have a school to go to, or their parents have no means of even affording primary education. Especially in a crisis, it is important to ensure that children have access to teachers and resources, so that they have a chance in life and the right skills once they overcome the crisis and make their own way. #righttoeducation #Emergencylessons #unicef #waitakerecollege #manawanui ©theliteratigirl

Sharing a school photo to celebrate the importance of ‪#‎school‬ and‪#‎education‬ for children living in crises worldwide.

This is me, in my 7th Form uniform when I was an exchange student at Waitakere College in Auckland, New Zealand in 2003/2004. I was incredibly lucky and incredibly honoured to go to school abroad and it furthered my education and personal growth beyond measure. And – coming from Germany where students don’t wear uniforms – I wore my uniform (and Manawanui House colours) with pride. Many children, and especially girls, around the world still don’t have access to basic education, let alone opportunities like high school graduation or exchange years abroad.

We take our education for granted, when many children don’t have a school to go to, or their parents have no means of even affording primary education. Especially in a crisis, it is important to ensure that children have access to teachers and resources, so that they have a chance in life and the right skills once they overcome the crisis and make their own way.‪#‎righttoeducation‬‪#‎Emergencylessons‬‪#‎unicef‬‪#‎waitakerecollege‬‪#‎manawanui‬

And oh yeah, my School House, Manawanui? That means perseverance in te reo Māori. Anyway, I shared the picture of me in uniform (without the school jumper) and commented on Tom Hiddleston’s big bookshelf in the background of the video and that education makes reading possible and reading can be a source of calm and comfort, even in a crisis. So that attracted a bit of interaction from UNICEF UK.

Well, if we were having coffee today, I’d say that this is pretty much all I’ve been up to in my time away. Normal blogging will resume shortly and I’ll be catching up on missed posts, so don’t be surprised if post dates don’t seem to match. But I made a whole schedule and I’m keeping to it, whether I have to backdate or not.

As for now, I’m glad that I can celebrate handing in my final assignments. I’ll do so on Monday with a large, preferably alcoholic, summery drink. My local bistro just added a watermelon drink to their menu and that sounds just right. Then again, a Long Island Ice Tea wouldn’t go amiss either. Now it’s just my research proposal and my thesis to worry about. And I actually like my topic – and as of right now, I’ve probably already read way too much literature on culture in Australian writing to fill only one thesis. This might yet turn into a research field for me!

©TheAwkwardYeti

Right, I think you’re all caught up now. Thank you for having coffee with me today and letting me ramble on more than usual. I’ll be returning to Study.Read.Write. soon as well, I know I’ve neglected that blog for the past month while I got this one off the ground.

Check out the other Weekend Coffee Sharers as well on your way out. I’m sure they’d love to see you too!

Same time, next week?