Last exit before ...

Hi folks!

As this is going to be my last big summer holiday before I become a member of the working class, I decided to spent a week at the beautiful Lake Chiemsee.



It is also called the "Bavarian Sea" though it's not the biggest Lake in Southern Germany - this would be Lake Constance. But if you look at the pictures you will understand where the nickname comes from ;)



We'll rent an appartment for a week, take our bikes, beach wear and enough supplies and switch off our cellphones. I hope this will strengthen my nerves for my upcoming task, which will start on September 16th.

Otherwise I feel well prepared for the job:

- lost 20 pounds and 2 dress sizes (yeah!)

- met a lot of new people and friends during the exams, who also start their teaching career in September - it's good to know your not alone!
- was allocated to a school district near my hometown, so I hopefully won't have to move

The only thing I still lack is one of those practical leatherbags, with lots of space for pens, books and folders. I like this one very much:



Unfortunately it costs 169,- Euros, I think I'll make it part of my Christmas wishlist.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to our little trip. I'll definitely take pictures and will give you a report how we spent the week. so come back if you're interested ;)

Love Julia

Let's get it started ...

Hiho holks!

Ok, first things first ... things have changed a lot around here.

When I stopped blogging, lots of bloggers faced the "Google-dropped-my-pagerank-because-I-write-sponsored-posts-but-if-my-page-rank-is-low-I-won't-get-offers-to-write-sponsored-posts-anymore"-crisis. I wasn't into earning money via blogging, so the whole affair didn't affect me, but I was curious to see if Google would have that much power or if the blogging community would fight back.

Now we know ... Google's shameless attempt to control the market miserably failed. Luckily advertisers realized that not the Google-controlled page rank is of interest, but the traffic that a site has. Companies like www.entrecard.com and Bloggerwave reacted and offer possibilities to earn some money with your hobby.

Beside the revolutionary victory of the blogging
David against the global corporation Goliath,
the biggest benefit is the possibility to combine
good blogging and making money. You can blog
freely without worrying about your pagerank and
from time to time squeeze in a sponsored post.

At least this is what I'm going to do from now on ;)
I could use a little extra money, cause I want to
spend some of my holidays next year in the U.S.,
visiting Jason (see picture) together with my lovely Bald Guy.

Intersted, too? Then visit




Love Julia

I did it! I did it!

Yes it's true, I passed my exams!

After 6 months of learning and taking written and oral exams I finally made it. And from september on I will be working as a teacher. And you know what? I'm really looking forward to it!
I will teach kids between 5th (10/11 years old) and 9th (15/16 years old) grade in different subjects. Of course I will tell you about my new experiences as a full-time teacher. So make sure to stop by from time to time.

That's why I haven't been around for a (loooong) while, but now I'm back in buisness and I hope some of my old friends and lots of new people will join me on my rollercoaster ride through my life.

Greets Julia

P.S.: Of course I will join the fabulous "Thirsday Thirteen" again :)

I can do it, I can do it!

Should auld aquaintance be forgot ...

I wish everybody a very happy, succesful, healthy and peaceful new year!

Thanks for reading my blog, thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. I wish you and your family and loved ones all the best!

Love Julia

Thursday Thirteen #8

13 things about Juliadamus

First of all - a belated Merry Christmas to everybody. I hope you enjoyed your holidays and survived them without greater injuries ;)

As some of you might have noticed I wasn't around very much during December. If you want to know why just read the last post. That's why I'll use today's TT to summarize my last monthfor you:

1.) Most heard Christmas song: Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt



2.) Most eaten Christmas goodie: Gingerbread (the German stuff! I'm from Nuremberg and we are famous for our Gingerbread!)



3.) Question most often asked by Americans while working in the "Atlanta" booth: Are you from America?
Answer: No, I'm German but I've got American colleagues. We're all working here to improve the international relations between our sister cities ...
Reaction: After saying "No.." and while I was still explaining they just turned away and left me standing there.

What's wrong with those people? Of course there were lots of people who didn't do that. But still it didn't just happen once or twice during the market, it happened quite often, even some of my American colleagues recognized it and sometimes got quite upset about it.

4.) Things I've learned for my exams: morphology, syntax, grammar and regional studies

5.) Things I laughed hard about while reading "Lost in Translation":

"In case of emergency, the lifeguards are under the seat in the center of the vessel."
Ferry in San Juan, Puerto Rico

"Keep this candle out of children!"
On a Chinese Candle

"With deepest respect, we hope to wish our insistence you washes your hands when using our facility."
Restaurant in China

You want to read more? Look at one of my former posts here.

6.) Gorgeous new people I met:

Yang (a lovely, funny and totally crazy Aussi), David (a stay-at-home Dad from Illinois, living here with his wife and his 8 month old daughter Paula) and Stephanie (a lovely woman from Virginia, living here since three month and the unbeaten master of "thank you"s, "execuse me"s, "sorry"s and "pardon"s :) )

Thanks for having such a great time with me at the booth!

7.) Christmas presents I got:

My mommy pays for university, that's why I have an agreement with her that I don't want any presents for Christmas. She still bought me some scented candles, but I will generously overlook that ;)

A lovely woolen hat from my roommate, it looks like that one



Some books, two bottles of wine and money from my relatives

8.) Gifts I made:

For my mom I bought some high-quality tea and an ambience scent set.



For my roommate I bought some "Homer" slippers



For my other relatives I bought different stuff, and my uncle got some of the red wine I brought from my Italy trip in September.

9.) My boyfriend hates Christmas, and he does not make gifts nor wants any. But this year he bought a Nintendo Wii as a "Not-Christmas Not-Present" at the beginning of December ;)
It's fun and I love it!

10.) Films I watched over the Christmas Holidays:

Hogfather - based on the Terry Pratchett book, hilariously funny!
Die Hard - it had something to do with Christmas ... ah forget it, it's Bruce Willis, who cares what the movie is about ;)
The Nightmare Before Christmas - simply a classic!

11.) New years resolutions:

Stop smoking! - Yeah I know, but this time I'll make it ... I swear ... really!
Pass my exams!
Finally getting married!

12.) Tonight a good friend comes back from South Korea and will stay here for 3 weeks. I'm really looking forward to seeing him and go out!

13.) Finally I want to wish everybody a happy new year!!!

I'll be back !!!

Hi folks, it's me again - finally!

I hope you haven't completely forgot about me and I deeply apologize for not being around for such a long time. But let me explain ...

Until Christmas I have two jobs in the evenings (including weekends) and university during day. Every tiny bit of free time I use for learning, cause I still try to take my exams in February. I actually don't even check my e-mail on a daily basis or watch TV. It's basically sleep (not much), work and (somehow) eat at the moment.
Nevertheless, I had three free days last week and I planned to do things like term papers, spending a day on my couch watching TV and - of course - blogging and moreover reading blogs. but guess what I did?
Yes! I caught a touch of the flu! Enough to make me stay in bed and feel like dying for three days, and after that - just in time - was able to get back to work!

And yes, I do sound like a weepy little girl and I want you to feel sympathy for me! Otherwise I will be pouting until Christmas!

Luckily it's just another 10 days til Christmas and then I will have time for blogging again, thank God!