My last duty as English student before the KGP, the presentation on American paintings, is done. I really enjoyed all the presentations today, although it was hot as hell in this rooms. Anyway, I listened to many excellent presentations today, I think I perhaps filled in two or three negative things on the feedback sheets but these were only details, so not a single presentation was in any way horrible. I think we did a really good job today, as well as the entire year. Although I really enjoyed this year at university and although I have finally found a study I'm am content with, I'm also really looking forward to this moment when my last duty is over.
I'm working as a waitress in Switzerland this summer for about two months. The place I'm going to work is called Gottstatterhaus and is a fish restaurant directly at the Biel lake.
The Gottstatterhaus, view from the lake
It looks amazing, don't you think? I'm pretty excited about it and I can't wait to work there. This summer means for me new experiences, new people, new language (!), and new adventures. In order to keep blogging and perhaps in order for you guys to keep up with the events during the summer, I put up another blog. So, if you want to know more about my summer or Switzerland, just follow me in this blog:
The final nail to my coffin: I officially announce that I am part of the tumblr community now. I can't wait to wallow in my fangirldom. This actually should be illegal.
Anyways, the actual topic of today's post is what the difference between a geek and a nerd is. As a member of various blogging platforms and social networks, I stumble upon these expressions from time to time. For some people geek and nerd are synonyms. Both are dedicated to their interests but still they connotate differently. I have to emphasize here that this are my personal opinions and interpretations. I would call a person a geek if he/she is very enthusiastic of a topic, book, movie, hobby etc and is determined to collect all possible information about it. On the other hand, a nerd is more an intellectual of a certain field.
So for me, a geek would look like this...
...and a nerd perhaps like this:
There are some more of those funny new expressions, such as "hipster", "nerd glaze", "duh" or "to chillax" (the latter has actually been added to the dictionary recently). However, I won't get into detail about those now but if you want to find more about it in the links below.
So here we stand now, surrounded by all this modern stuff, without really knowing what to do with it.
(Internet-) society somehow pigeonholes us, no matter what we do or like. If you have another opinion than other people, you are pigeonholed as a so called "hater". If you actually like to listen to Coldplay, you are pigeonholed as a hipster. And if you enjoy a particular book and can't put it down, especially if it is a book series, you are labelled a geek. I do not say that stereotyped thinking is entirely bad because in order to form an opinion you have to make lists in your mind. No one has ever said that you are not allowed to rearrange your list. However, I feel that (internet-)society is over-using certain expressions and classifications and I sometimes feel exhausted reading the same ideas over and over again. So this is a call for action addressed to all you on the internet reading this: BE MORE CREATIVE! Be more original in what you think, in what you write and in what you post. I will also give my best. Best wishes, the English adventurer.
Last week we had a optional homework, although I had intended to write it, I somehow missed to do so. Therefore, I'm writing this blog post on the given topic. The task was to choose one of the health related topics, either mentioned in the Innovations books or one onthis website.
When I was reading over the various diseases and conditions I chose one that, first, I can best relate to, and second, that is not too gross. So, the die was cased, I decided to do the interactive tutorial on the sleep disorders topic. The reason why I chose this topic is because I used to have difficulties to fall asleep myself. Just to make it clear, I had no sleeping disorder in this sense but it did affect my health to some degree.
This is exactly the same thing what my brain would do before falling asleep. (and from time to time still does)
Here is a summary what I learnt doing the tutorial.
Apparently, sleeping is one of the most crucial things to do in order to stay healthy. Sleep affects not only our physical health but also our mental health. During the night we go through five phases of sleep, namely drowsiness, light sleep, deep sleep, slow-wave deep sleep and REM (rapid eye movement). Depending on how old we are and on our individual needs, 7-8 hours is the average amount of sleep.
Sleep deprivation affects our immune system, our concentration and memory, our growth, our mood etc. The most common sleeping disorders, which all can be cured once they are diagnosed, are:
insomnia (mild insomnia can easily be cured only be changing one's sleeping habits)
sleep apnea (interruption of breathing during sleep, therefore very often awaking during the night)
RLS (restless leg syndrome, affected people have a prickling sensation in their legs and have the urge to move them in order to relief the sensation)
narcolepsy (the brain is not able to regulate sleep-wake cycles properly, so the affected people fall asleep randomly and suddenly in the middle of being awake)
The next thing I want discuss here is how you can get a healthy amount of sleep but at the same time become a morning person. You would say: "What? A morning person??? No way!" But trust me, there is a way.
change from this...
...to this!
First, I want to mention that I am the last person you would call a morning person. However, I noticed that getting up early after having sufficient sleep is a really pleasant thing. It has a lot of advantages, for example, you can get work done earlier or you can go to fetch your breakfast in the morning sun.
In order to be able to wake early you have to get enough sleep first! But how do you do that if you can't fall asleep!!?? Here are some tips that I applied in order to change my sleeping habits.
The reason why I was not able to fall asleep was because I was thinking about what I have to do the next day. So I got me a small organizer (I have two, one for everyday matters and the other one for before-going-to-bed-notes). In this organizer I wrote down everything I have to finish or do the next day, included all the personal things e.g. what I should do better the next time I'm confronted with a difficult situation. This way, I can clear my mind from those distractions.
It is advisable to stop using all electronics, such as phones or laptops, 30 minutes before bedtime.
After setting the alarm clock, I usually make a cup of tea (no black or green tea!!!) and I hop into bed with a book and the mug in my hands. It is more advisable to put the mug down first, though.
Taking a warm shower or letting some air in the bedroom before going to bed is also very helpful.
After doing all this "preparation" waking up early does not came magically either.
First it is essential not to hit the snooze button! Because hitting the snooze button means that you will fall asleep again and reach the light sleep phase before the alarm wakes you up again. This way you will have interrupted your circle and will be more tired then before you hit the snooze button.
Start slowly changing your waking habits. If you usually set the alarm at 10 o'clock, change it to 9h45 and move it down every day for 15 minutes.
