Friday 26 October 2012

Away for a week

Tomorrow I am going to Zwiesel so won't be blogging for a week. The performance I went to see last night, "Puzzle" by Sidi Larbi was pretty good! Clever ideas and beautiful formations, however not the best dance piece I've ever seen (Akram Khan's "Desh" is still my favourite!) Afterwards me and two girls from my dance school went back to my building to go to the bar. I twisted my ankle walking down the stairs which has swelled up; unfortunately today I could only do the ballet barre and then had to sit down the rest of the day with an ice pack :/ Not a good way to end the last day of the half term! But at least now I can rest it for a week and hopefully it will be okay by the time I go back to dancing. I also bought an Iwanson hoody :) Always fun getting new clothes!

 Autumn in Munich is so beautiful, I think the main difference is in England because it rains so much all the leaves get mushed together, whereas here it doesn't rain as much so you can appreciate all the colours of the leaves! Here's some pictures :)


Also I just had to take a picture of my made up recipe because it looked so good! Pasta, red kidney beans, asparagus and cheese yum yum yum

Other than that it's weird to think that I have a week off dancing! Time goes so quickly. Looking forward to having a break (and for my foot to heal) but I'll miss dancing! Have a good holiday if anyone else has a week off!
Bis bald,
Larissa

Tuesday 23 October 2012

I'm an old lady

Yesterday we had to do the plank for four minutes (and our usual sit ups everyday etc) so today I'm walking around like an old lady, every muscle hurts! After the half term I have to do a "training programme" full of sit ups, press ups etc etc to strengthen everything as my teacher says I don't have enough strength in my muscles (I don't think I'll be able to walk by the end of this)
On Thursday I am going to the theatre again! Munich has a dance festival starting this Thursday for a week; I wont be here next week as I'll be seeing relatives so I'm happy I get to see at least one show! This dance piece is called "Puzzles" and its the premiere so it should be good :) It's getting colder here and its so hard getting up at 6am :|
Tchuss!
Larissa

Sunday 21 October 2012

Clubbing, sleeping, eating.. ONE WEEK LEFT TILL HOLIDAY

This weekend I have been pretty lazy (okay really lazy) as I went out Friday night first time clubbing in Munich! I went with dancer friends and also a girl who lives in my building :) Shots were 50 cent and it was a hilarious night! Was nice to go out clubbing again as that was my first time since a month?! I spent Saturday half watching TV and half falling asleep; however I did venture out to go to Tengalmann to look for tofu. Tengalmann is a bit upper class than LIDL or Penny so it's generally more expensive and so I never shop there. I sadly didn't find Tofu but did half give up as I was so tired and wanted to go back home. In the evening just went to the lounge to see some German friends and then went back to sleep ^_^

I am spending my Sunday cleaning and generally being lazy because my Mum's coming on Thursday! One more week left then it's already half term :O It's gone so quickly I don't even feel like I'm ready for a week off from dancing! We're going to Zwiesel for the week to see relatives etc so should be good. Tomorrow I must venture to Deutsche Post to pick up my parcel which is English tea :) German tea just isn't the same!
This weekend it's been around 20 degrees and sooo warm in the sun!
Pretty much my weekend :)
Larissa

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Long day at school

Today we had a 3 hour ballet lesson as our Jazz teacher wasn't here so we had ballet instead. Not looking forward to tomorrow when everything hurts! We also have a different teacher for two weeks in modern who does a lot more floorwork which is really exciting :) Although bruises are increasing on my legs and hips...
At the end of stretching class today we had to lie on our backs and relax, then 10 minutes later we had to roll onto our side and relax.. Our teacher then said thanks and bye very quietly and left. 5 minutes later no one had moved so I got up and started getting ready to leave. Turns out no one had heard her say bye and they all thought she was still in the room ahahah they were awaiting her instructions. Here's a pic of them all sleeping/relaxing on the floor.. sorry the picture refused to rotate?!
Now I need to get some sleep :) Its sunny here but getting colder!
Larissa

Sunday 14 October 2012

My room and cake

Short note on dancing: On Friday in improvisation we did "Gaga technique" (no this is not anything to do with Lady Gaga...) in which you have to constantly improvise without any breaks, eg drinking water, leaving the room.. We did it for 35 minutes but usually you do it for an hour. It was really good!  Looking forward to when we next get to do it, I'm liking improvisation class more and more :)

Today my Auntie came round as it was her birthday and she brought with her homemade plum cake (the plums are also grown from my Granddad's garden) which was cute :)



 The plums look a bit burnt... but it was still yummy!





She also brought tons of food and so yet again I am fully stocked up on food! I think it will last me the whole three years ahaha :) After we went out for dinner in our usual restaurant.




I have also cleaned my room AND done my clothes washing, amazingly I haven't had a nap today! Anyway my little room is starting to look nicer so here are some pictures of my bed. Note how the postcards are spreading on my wall so thanks for sending them and keep them coming! :D






The massive cushion is so squishy and comfy, its the main reason why I fall asleep when I get home from dance school as it's so good to have naps on!





Tomorrow I am back to dancing and then have the "welcome evening" in my building where I meet all the new people :) Should be fun! 
Larissa

Saturday 13 October 2012

A Food Post

Just a little update, I made Knoedel the other day (Bavarian recipe that are like dumplings) which were really good! Sadly my gravy tasted horrible and I ate too much :( But here's a pic anyway!

I got a package today which is a massive book from umm I don't even know who, the German Government?? Its because I registered that I now live here. Anyway it's just a big book with lots of info on Munich and welcoming me to Munich, so maps of where I can go, of the U bahn, buses etc etc. Very nice!! Thanks Munich :)
On Monday I have to go to a "welcome evening" in my building where I live for all the newbies like myself haha, should be interesting!
Last night I watched The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.. It's a good film but a bit predictable? I thought the end might be a bit more interesting... But you could tell what will happen right from the start :S


Today I went shopping in Olympia Einkaufzentrum and only bought some socks and stuff for my place (German fashion just isn't the same as English!) I now have scented candles (sorry the picture is so crap, my phone didn't like the bright light of the candle) and then tried to make veggie burgers from scratch. As I don't have a blender and had only half the ingredients, I basically made a recipe up and it kind've turned into a breadroll with a lot of filling... It was still amazingly yummy though!! Aubergine, red pepper, red onion and tomatoes yum yum :) 


Tomorrow my Auntie is coming to visit me and its her birthday woo! We will probably just go out for dinner somewhere :) 
Ein schönes Wochenende!
Larissa

Thursday 11 October 2012

Sleeeeeep

All I do everyday when I get home is sleep, then I wake up, make food, and sleep till the next day. Weirdly enough I'm loving Jazz which I didn't think I would as I've never loved it that much before, but its so fun to do after you've spent the rest of the lessons working to get your turn out, posture, arms etc right and at least in Jazz you get to dance and move a bit more :) One teacher said "good Larissa" to me today and I almost died from happiness! Doesn't get better than that ahaha.
Not much else to say! Just eaten so next on the list is sleep, looking foward to the weekend as this week I've literally had no energy!
Larissa

Monday 8 October 2012

The girl on the way to school

This is just a random post about this girl I see every morning on my way to the bus stop. She's about 12 and has a little brother who is literally tiny but must be about 8?? Anyway I see them every morning and she generally does look like an evil child, she walks ahead of her little brother completely ignoring him and he wears this massive backpack that's literally bigger than him! I feel so sorry for him. Then one day when I was walking home I saw her leaning out the window from where they live holding a ice lolly or something and the little boy was outside on the grass shouting at her (I believe she had his lolly) then she threw it on the grass and he ran after it :(
Poor little guy.

No more drunk people!

Oktoberfest has ended!! I got the U Bahn home today as I had to go to LIDL for food and it wasn't busy! No more drunk people in Lederhosen stumbling everywhere (last week there was a guy who was quite literally crawling up the steps of the underground with his lederhosen falling down). I've realised that for the past 3 weeks/almost a month I haven't eaten any real protein such as Tofu or Quorn (I'm vegetarian for anyone who doesn't know!) so I need to find a health shop and get some protein :) sadly I couldn't find meat substitutes in LIDL.
When I was on the U bahn speaking to my friend in English this guy who was American was happy that we spoke English and asked whereabouts I came from in England. I said Windsor and he replied with OH MY GOD WINDSOR?! THATS NEXT TO SLOUGH!!!! I hysterically laughed at his reply and then got off at the next stop ahaha. For anyone who doesn't know Slough its not the nicest place to be and barely anyone knows it, especially someone who is American and also currently in Munich?! Very random!!

Today Ballet technique class was really interesting as we learnt how to properly pull up and tondue to the back; I've never actually known how to properly do it without misplacing my hips etc so discovered some new muscles that I have and apparently need to use! Was really tired today and Jazz on Mondays is where we turn a lot so tiredness and turning is never really a good mix.. I still need to wash some clothes but yet again I can't be bothered! Typical student :)
And now to watch German TV and sleep for tomorrow!
Larissa x

Sunday 7 October 2012

The past few days..

Sorry haven't posted for a while, my foot is better now and on Friday and Saturday it was really sunny :) 24 degrees on Saturday!! Here are some photos I took whilst walking home, it was so sunny I couldn't actually see the camera but it looks pretty nice! There were also two little girls selling some stuff outside their house, they were selling marbles and an elephant that I think was from a Kinder Surprise egg; so cute!





On Friday I met some people in my building and had some drinks (the beer is never ending) and then on Saturday I went shopping with my friend Nina to buy socks and other stuff :) It was so nice to go clothes shopping again! I've missed it. We also stopped off at a cute little restaurant to have some pizza.


In the evening I met up with a few people from my building, it's really nice to listen to everyone speaking German/Bavarian! At school we usually talk in English so I'm happy I now know some Germans :) Sunday morning a friend came round for coffee and didn't know what my tea cosy was, hilarious! Obviously not familiar with all the tea drinking that goes on in England haha. I feel like I'm forgetting lots of things because I haven't updated my blog in so long but I can't remember?! If I do I'll write it on here before I forget again.. have a nice Sunday! I plan to watch TV all day :)
Larissa

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Feiertag and confusing dance lessons

So today I'm not at school as its a feiertag (bank holiday) to celebrate the reunion of the East and West :) Went to a friends last night to make pizza and then went round another friends for some drinks! I've spent today watching How I Met Your Mother in German, cleaning my place (it's still really messy as I've currently given up) and also resting my foot which is still hurting! Hopefully by not going out today it will have recovered a bit for tomorrow :) Yesterday was the first day that our class was pretty tired and didn't have much energy, hopefully by tomorrow everyone (including me) will feel a bit more alive at dance school!

It's confusing when it comes to remembering things because in every class you have to remember very small differences; for example in Ballet with pirouettes you open one arm just before you turn and close it during turning, however in Jazz we have to open the arm when you turn and close it at the end of the pirouette. There's also things like what the teachers prefer, so  when you have your arms lifted straight above your head one teacher prefers your palms facing front and another prefers palms facing each other. In Contemporary you can adjust your second and first position by moving both feet however in Ballet you are only allowed to move one foot. It doesn't seem like much but when you're in class and doing exercises you always have to think about the small details to get it right for that particular style. Beginning to write everything down to remember it all and I'm still loving dance school :) Tomorrow we have to stay a little later as a woman is coming to talk to us about Munich's Dance Festival which starts towards the end of October; I will probably see at least one performance!

That's about it! Sorry no pictures for today I'll try and take some more at some point :)
Larissa

Monday 1 October 2012

Hurt foot and Family Guy in german!

Today was quite long and every week I seem to get more tired; however my muscles aren't feeling as stiff which is good :) Today in ballet our group got a "thats better!" from the teacher, we were so happy!! (At first she said we looked like robots hahaha) The top of my ankles hurting on my left foot :( I hope it gets better before tomorrow! After school I met up with my friend that I work with at the theatre back in Windsor, England (crazy right?!) He also has moved to Germany for six months as part of his uni course. Was lovely to see a familiar face in Munich! I tried to microwave some food from yesterday that was in foil.. My microwave nearly blew up, it went crazy even though it was only on for a few seconds and it smelt of burning :( Luckily it has survived.. I think. One more day of dancing and then a break on Wednesday as its a bank holiday! The bar in my building is open tonight so hopefully I won't be woken up by noise. I have also found Family Guy AND Futurama in German on my TV! Wooooo :)
Larissa