#WeekendCoffeeShare: If We Were Having Coffee… On November 27

November 27, 2016November 28, 20163 Comments

Hello my lovely booklovers,

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?

If we were having coffee today, I’d tell you that I’ve had a week of ups and downs. It started with getting my diploma on Monday, making it my official Graduation Day!! I did a happy dance all morning, even got a few gifts from friends. My parents’ reaction to me graduating? A handshake from my mum – with a sideboard between us – and my dad just nodded and didn’t even ask to see the diploma.

Now, I didn’t expect much. I know better than that. But given that a card and a bunch of flowers are the bare minimum of congratulatory gifts in my family, I expected at least that, and maybe a hug instead of a handshake. I don’t know about your families, but in mine, we used to celebrate achievements with family dinner out. We didn’t celebrate Monday. Not even a glass of wine or bubbly together. I spent my graduation day sitting by myself on my couch and getting drunk on 3/4 of a bottle of red wine and an empty stomach because errands had me running rugged all day.

It’s been almost a week and not once have I been given the feeling that they’re proud, although my mum has since awkwardly offered to get me a new watch as a grad gift. And it hurts. After 29 years I should know better and I should be used to never being good enough because no matter what I did I never was good enough for them, but on my graduation day, it hurt a lot. Still does, to be honest. And I’m so tired of always doing my best and never being good enough for my own family.

I graduated summa cum laude and on the Dean’s List, with a GPA of 3.97 (curse that 1 B+ I got on my very first assignment). I’ve never been a straight-A student until now, but because of that my parents think that my degree can’t have been a proper one or hard to complete, despite me working my arse off for my grades. In Germany, the highest grade you can have is 1,0 and my GPA works out at 1,0. I literally couldn’t have done any better than that. Somehow they think that studying by distance learning is not as worthy as going to a brick-and-mortar university, although it requires a lot more discipline and the ability to teach yourself. Next to my studies, I worked every day, I looked after family members and, if you’ve been following this blog you’ll know, I also struggle with mental health issues and by now my SAD has kicked in properly as well. There were times I doubted I’d ever finish the course. It’s taken all I had to get the grades I got and not lose my mind in the process and I am damn proud of that – I currently hold the highest academic degree anyone in this family ever got – at least until my sister gets her Master’s degree. So far, my parents haven’t told anyone I graduated; in fact, they’ve been talking about how my sister is writing her own Master’s thesis now.

And I am sorry for this coffee rant, but my parents’ reaction has really sent me into a negative spiral with echoes of the ever popular “you’re not good enough”, “when are you getting a real job”, “What can you do with that degree (note: Cross-Cultural Communication!) anyway,” and throwing in the evergreen “you should really lose weight” with the implied “nobody will ever love you like that” for good measure. And they wonder why I value books and the escape into fictional worlds so much…

There were several times this week when I got so upset I had to leave because I could feel myself tearing up. Not that they noticed. At one point I was shaking I was so angry. Mental health problems are not real problems to them, so they don’t understand how anyone could think them insensitive. These are people who fire employees with mental health diagnoses, because they’re “not easily fixed” and because, unlike a broken leg, “you can’t really see if they’re pretending or not” and so could milk them for the salary on sick leave without doing any work. And I sit there, thinking “your own daughter has these issues, and you’d know that if you’d listen. Is this how you’d treat me”?

So yeah. Absolute high followed by one of the biggest blows I’ve ever received this week. I’d love to talk to you about the Gilmore Girls revival and my arts and crafts I did to celebrate it, but I’m afraid I’m not in the mood. We’d drink our coffee out of my self-decorated Stars Hollow mugs, though.

My Stars Hollow DIY mugs. They both have both designs on the, just the other way round. ©theliteratigirl

And if we were having coffee, I’d talk a bit about Firefly and the fact that 2016 has claimed yet another favourite of mine: actor Ron Glass, who played Shepherd Book on the show. I hope you found serenity, Shepherd! Don’t go far!

Anyway, I’m sure you’ve had enough of this rant and I don’t blame you. Thank you for listening, though. The other Weekend Coffee Sharers are probably a bit more cheerful this week, so check them out!

Thank you for having coffee with me today on the First Advent. Same time, next week?

Graduation Day Edition

November 21, 2016November 28, 20161 Comment

The day is finally here, guys! Today is my Graduation Day!!!

This morning my diploma and transcript finally arrived and it feels so surreal to hold it in my hands. I’ve been doing a happy dance all morning, though opening a DHL letter at work is a bit less glamorous than attending an actual cap and gown graduation ceremony.

I knew last week that I’d graduate summa cum laude, but I found out today I also made the Dean’s List with a final GPA of 3.97.

Now, Germany doesn’t use the GPA system, so that number does not mean anything here, but converting it to the German system (where 1.0 is the very best grade and 6.0 is the worst, with 4.0 a fail) it works out at 1.09!

That’s right. It’s a very narrow margin, but I made it with a 1.0!!! I didn’t even have grades like these in primary school!

Since I handed in my thesis in September, a few friends, neighbours, relatives and colleagues have given me small graduation gifts with instructions to only open them when I had my diploma. So today I did.

Next to 2 bottles of my favourite red wine (Gallo Summer Red), I got copies of Dr Seuss’ Oh, the places you’ll go, Tim Winton’s Eyrie, and Dirt Music, a collection of Australian Short Stories and a guide to Australian Language and Culture, a personal library kit, a Raydori in London Red, a kangaroo necklace pendant, a copy of the DVD The Graduate, a sticky calendar and write-on planner/mouse pad, Literary Listography, Australian map puzzle as fridge magnets, tea tree oil, Australian tea and the obligatory Graduate rubber duck.

I love them! And this also finally explain a couple of weird questions I have been asked. I also love the “Quintessentially Australian” items one of my friends got me including the tea and tea tree oil.

I still can’t believe that this regular Monday at work is actually my Graduation Day. Because my mother can’t be trusted with a camera to take a decent picture to mark the occasion, I’m reduced to a Graduation Selfie. Ah well.

Now that that’s done, I’ll be cracking open one of those bottles of wine. Tonight I fully intend to celebrate my result. I worked my butt off for those grades. Tomorrow I’ll once again be looking for a new job and possible PhD programmes. But for now, I’m enjoying being a graduate.

Cin cin!

#WeekendCoffeeShare: If We Were Having Coffee… On November 19

November 19, 2016November 20, 20164 Comments

Hello my lovely booklovers,

Well, technically, for me it’s been two weeks. I’m really sorry I missed last week’s Coffee Share, so I’ll start there, shall I?

First of all, if we were having coffee today, I’d offer you a glass of wine or bubbly instead of coffee to celebrate with me. My diploma will get here on Monday (eeek!!), but I have confirmation from Horizons University that I have graduated summa cum laude from my Master of Arts Cross-Cultural Communication degree! I guess it still doesn’tfeel real without the actual diploma in my hand, but I am so relieved all the hard work of the past two years has paid off!

If we were having coffee today, I’d confess that I couldn’t find the right words last week to describe my feelings about the US election, and I don’t even live there. As a German, I am keenly aware of how my country’s past gets thrown in our faces at the slightest mention of anything political. Which is why I find it so incomprehensible that the US elected someone who not only spewed the same sort of right-wing rhetoric, but has spent his entire campaign promoting racism, sexual assault, misogyny, xenophobia, religious persecution, violation of rights and pretty much everything else that is wrong with society under the sun. Basically, when all of Germany says “Listen, we elected someone with those ideas and ideals in the 1930s and we all know what happened after that, so don’t repeat our mistake” … you should probably listen. And I am glad that most of my friends not only voted for someone else, but are actively involved in peaceful protests and resistance because they, like me, believe in decency, freedom and equal rights, and that the global society simply cannot allow for 70 years of social and civil progress to be undone. I’m not saying that every Trump supporter is a racist, because that’s the sort of generalising these people would use to justify their ideas that every muslim is a terrorist, every Mexican immigrant is a criminal or (my personal favourite that makes the rounds every now and then) every German is a Nazi. That’s definitely not the case and it is highly offensive to judge an entire culture by the actions of a few deluded individuals. But those who do not actively distance themsleves from all the issues I mentioned above, for example by speaking up for others, defending them or standing with them in solidarity when it really matters, are fair game in my eyes.

I also appreciated the flood of Joe Biden memes and all the Firefly references that flooded my Facebook wall after the election:

Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly. ©Fox

And I want you to know I’m right there with you. I’ve studied cross-cultural communication for a few years now, but only in 2016 with Brexit, the continuing refugee crisis, Standing Rock, and now this election, has it become clear to me just how much calm, non-violent, mutually respectful cross-cultural communication is needed in this world, and I hope that I can do my part to contribute to it. After all, Browncoats have to stick together.

If we were having coffee today, I’d tell you that my Bookstagram is coming along, although I fell a few days behind. It is harder than I expected to take photos of books based on a certain theme and including relevant props.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I did my back in again last Sunday. Not sure how, I came home from the cinema and could barely move. By now it’s not as bad anymore, but this week was agony. I tried all week to clean and tidy my flat, because technically I was expecting company today and tomorrow in the form of my cousin Fabian, but he is sick, so he couldn’t join us for coffee. It’s taken me longer than I thought to get the flat in order, partly because I could barely move or bend, but also partly because once I started to tidy my bookshelves I couldn’t stop and rearranged my entire living room. As you do. Add to that, that I received 18 books this week (12 classic Penguin books and 6 vintage James Bons books) that I somehow had to fit in as well.

If we were having coffee today, I’d tell oyu that I am excited about The Broke & Bookish’s Secret Santa. Have you joined up? They run a global Secret Santa, and you can choose your level of participation (from 1 book and a candy bar, 1-2 books and goodies to 2+ books and goodies) and I chose the last one. I got my Secret Santa this week and I am so excited. We all had to fill a pretty detailed questionnaire about books on our wishlists, favourite authors, hobbies and other interests etc. My Secret Santa will get 3 books (2 of which are slightly used but they specified that is not a problem for them), a homemade Field Notes sized calendar (which I use myself but won’t be selling this year), a homemade A5 indexed Book Inventory booklet and a reading tracker/review, as well as a tub of homemade Christmas cookies (“Berliner Brot”). I hope they like those goodies – would you be okay with homemade things if you expect goodies? I used to sell them through my Etsy shop, but I do not have time for that this year as I do everything from page design to binding myself and that’s more work than it looks like. My printer is also malfunctioning, so I can’t print them out properly – I’ll be printing these gifts off somewhere else but I couldn’t do that for bulk orders. Here’s what the calendar looks like:

Insides of my homemade FN calendars: Yearly Overview (+ 2018 in the back), Circle Month per page (trying a new layout for visual planning) and a week on 2 pages layout with colour-coded month and a space for notes. ©theliteratigirl / Cornelia Kaufmann

If we were having coffee today, I’d tell you that all things considered, this week was a pretty geeky one for me. Not only did I receive so many books, I also placed orders for a few small items relating to my fandoms. If my cousin hadn’t been sick today, we’d have spent the day buying more books and watching our favourite shows – possibly Doctor Who or Firefly. As it is, I am having a Firefly marathon by myself and you’re more than welcome to join me.

Anyway, that’s enough from me for this week I think. Check out the other Weekend Coffee Sharers as well, I’m sure they’d love to see you!

Thank you for having coffee with me. Same time, next week?

#WeekendCoffeeShare: If We Were Having Coffee… On September 24

September 24, 2016September 25, 20165 Comments

Hello my lovely booklovers,

If we were having coffee today, we’d sit in the garden underneath the tree and enjoy the autumn sun while it lasts.

After handing in my master thesis last weekend, I’ve had the first relaxing week in two years! It’s taking a bit of time to adjust again, to actually have evenings off from studying and the pressure of finishing before a deadline. There’s so much I’ve neglected during my studies (this blog included). It’s nice to catch up on sleep for starters.

If we were having coffee today, I’d tell you that next to finding a job that’s in my actual field and looking for PhD options, I’ll now concentrate on some self-care in the form of regular yoga and gym, cleaner eating, creative journaling and reviving my social life a little bit.

But you know what? It was worth it. All the sleepless nights, the all-night study sessions, the deadline pressure, frustrations and low-energy. Because my awesome professor already graded my thesis! … And I got 100% on it!! She even wants to show it to her own students as an example of how it’s done right, and she has sent it to a friend who teaches English Literature at the University of New York (not sure whether it’s CUNY or SUNY and which campus) who really liked my thesis too. I am so happy and relieved right now that all the hard work paid off, you have no idea! So thank you for keeping your fingers crossed for me, it worked!!! I’m still waiting to hear back from my university regarding my final grade and when I’ll get my transcript and diploma, but, yes, I am done and I did a lot better than even I thought I would when I first started. Now I can’t wait to finally graduate!

If we were having coffee today, I’d tell you that I have plans for this blog, so I hope to update regularly from now on. I’m also looking forward to reading for fun again. Analysing 12 novels over and over was not as much fun as expected, though I have learned a lot about Australian Literature in the process.

If we were having coffee today, I’d show you these lovely flyers I designed:

Flyers I designed for the seminar on refugee politics by Prof. Dr. Saggau at NFH Solingen-Theegarten.
©Literati Girl

As the assistant secretary of our local Solingen-Theegarten chapter of the Naturfreunde (Friends of Nature), PR work, flyer design and the likes falls within my range of responsibilities. We’ve invited Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Saggau for a seminar on the crisis of European refugee politics and what causes people to flee. I’m quite proud of how these flyers turned out! What doy ou think?

Anyway, just a short Coffee Share today, on account that I have been taking it easy outside of work this week because I could. I’m sure the other Weekend Coffee Sharers would love to see you too!

Thank you for having coffee with me. Same time, next week?

#WeekendCoffeeShare: If We Were Having Coffee… On September 18

September 18, 2016September 19, 20165 Comments

Hello my lovely booklovers,

I apologise for being so late with this Coffee Share, but I’m sure you’ll understand… Because I just submitted my Master Thesis!!

Master Thesis and a glass of red wine. As it says on the clip: Erledigt! (Done!) ©Literati Girl

So instead of sharing a cuppa, you’re welcome to have a glass of fruity red wine with me to celebrate!

It’s been a long time coming, as I am sure you’re aware. Actually, today two years ago I was accepted by Horizons University onto the M.A. Cross-Cultural Communication degree. It took a few weeks to sort everything out, so I didn’t actually start classes until mid-October, but I’m filled with a sense of accomplishment that I have handed in my thesis two years to the day after being accepted.

So, suffice to say that over the past week I didn’t get anything else done. And I mean: nothing. My flat looks like a bombsite, I’m running low on dishes, and I just forgot my laundry is still in the washing machine… it’s been there all day. Whoops. I’ve pulled several all-nighters, two of which were back-to-back. No matter what the outcome of this thesis – I’m glad this is over, at least for now. I love studying, but distance learning was not for me. I’ll be writing a more detailed post later.

For now I’m looking forward to creative journaling, reading for fun, catching up on this blog – I owe you about 100 reviews – catching up on sleep and sending out applications.

Thank you for sticking with me through all this. I probably owe you more than a cup of coffee. Your encouragement has helped a lot! I don’t really have much more to say other than Tank you, so why don’t you head over to the other Weekend CoffeeSharers?

So thank you for having coffee (or wine) with me today! Same time, next week?

#WeekendCoffeeShare: If We Were Having Coffee… On September 3

September 3, 2016September 3, 201613 Comments

Hello my lovely booklovers,

If we were having coffee today, we’d sit outside in the sunshine. Make the most of it while it lasts. I’m afraid it would have to be an incredibly short Weekend Coffee Share today, I’m in the final phase of writing my thesis and hope to hand it in by next weekend, so I need all the time I can get. I pulled all-nighters this week, which naturally screwed up my rhythm, but then again I had a full night’s sleep because I was so exhausted I crashed. I can’t wait for this to be over, at least for a while!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my professor likes my writing style. She comes from an English Literature background, and said that she could tell this wasn’t my first time writing about books. Now if I could just find the right words. I never thought that a thesis this short (15k words) but with 12 analyses of books, could be so difficult to write. I just hope I do the analysed books of Australian Literature justice with it. And I’d love to take a trip when it’s all over and handed in, but I think that any free-time should probably devoted to cleaning the flat – what can I say? Students are messy.

Anyway, feel free to stay and have a cup of joe or tea with me. Or you could make the most of the sunshine and check out the Pow Wow You, our local Youth Culture Festival which is in full swing in town. You can hear their live music from my garden. Good vibes, good tunes and summer sun. What more could you want? If that’s not your cup of tea (oh, the puns!) then check out the other Weekend Coffee Sharers. I’m sure they’d love to see you too!

Thank you for having coffee with me. Same time, next week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Favourite Books I Read In School

August 30, 2016August 2, 20166 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is the brainchild of The Broke & the Bookish. Every Tuesday, we compile a list of our literary Top 10, and then add it to the blog hop.

This week is all about our Top 10 Favourite Books We Read In School.

Required High School Reading – Book List from a German Grammar School

August 3, 2016August 2, 20164 Comments

Lately I have been wondering about required reading in high school. Mainly because I re-organised my book shelves and grouped all the books I had to read in school together and realised that my list is pretty long.

There seem to be a few books and/or authors that are universal (Shakespeare, Orwell etc.), but many are down to a country’s preference.

In your native language, you’ll usually read and analyse books that originated in your country or were written in your language first (i.e. not a translated work). In foreign languages, you tend to start off easy and then get more complex reading lists as your language skills improve.

This makes me quite glad that I received my secondary education in Germany, as I feel I got a quite comprehensive reading list out of the deal. My Grammar School was bilingual and we were treated like native English speakers as well as native German speakers, so my reading list might be a bit out of the ordinary. Grammar School in Germany used to go from Year 5 to Year 13. It has since my graduation in 2006 been reduced to Years 5-12.

Which books were you required to read in school? Which ones did you keep? Which ones stayed with you?

Here’s my list!

Continue reading →

#WeekendCoffeeShare: If We Were Having Coffee… On June 4

June 4, 2016June 21, 20162 Comments

Hello book lovers,

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 am sorry I missed last week’s update. There was a delay with my assignments due to my professor not responding and telling me that his students in the US were basically more important than me… Long story short, I handed in late as I was waiting on a resource and clarification and he still has not responded.

But: I have officially finished all university assignments. All that’s now between me and graduation is my research proposal and Master thesis!! Mind you, I will have loads to read in the upcoming days:

This is my entire pile of physical books for my thesis and includes textbooks, Australian novels, and a few study guides. ©Literati Girl

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: If We Were Having Coffee… On May 21

May 21, 20165 Comments

Hello my lovelies,

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.

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