Roanne showed me this video of a man who turns fruits and vegetables into musical instruments. He has cucumber trumpets, radish and cabbage flute slides, mushroom, ostrich egg, carrot, broccoli, watermelon, pumpkin, burdock, and apple ocarinas, butterbur oboes, and other fruit and vegetable instruments. I was totally astounded when I saw this video; I had never imagined you could turn carrots into a pan flute and play songs with them!
Tags: internet finds, youtube
This week, I will be taking my end of semester final exams. School has been so hectic in the closing weeks of this semester; I have had endless tests and assignments and other odds and ends to finish before the semester wraps up. However, with the exception of one paper1, I have nothing to do except to study for all of my final exams. I have an exam for each of my classes, two of which are back to back on the first exam day! If I make it through that first day it will be a miracle, especially as one of my exams that day is math and I hate math.
Obviously, I’ve been spending this weekend organizing my notes, going through old tests/quizzes, making study guides, and all that good stuff that is associated with studying and revising. However, I keep getting sidetracked and end up procrastinating from studying far more than I would like to, or in some cases, can afford to! The only thing that has really worked for me in beating procrastination is being pressed for time. I am good with managing my time when it comes to writing papers, but when it comes to studying, I find it far more difficult to sit down and totally focus as I revise. With a paper, you always know when you are finished, but with studying, it’s so hard to tell when you have studied “enough” to do well on the exam!
I don’t really have any tried and true methods for beating procrastination when studying. Sometimes I’ll draft a schedule of all the things I have to do and stick to it, with mixed results. More often than not though, I end up half-studying, half-procrastinating, and hope for the best when exam time rolls around. That is definitely not something I can keep doing; the risks are far too high!
Question of the Week: What methods do you use to beat procrastination? What have you found is the most successful way for you to study?
Tags: exams
“They came from Paris, Rome, London and Berlin to… l’Auberge Espagnole …where a year can change a lifetime.”
L'Auberge Espagnole
L’Auberge Espagnole, or “The Spanish Inn,” is a French movie that tells the story of Xavier (Romain Duris), a young Parisian student, who participates in a European exchange program to study economics in Spain for a year in order to gain working knowledge of the Spanish language. He leaves behind his girlfriend, Martine (Audrey Tautou), and after he arrives in Barcelona, he moves into an apartment with students from all over Western Europe. There’s Isabelle (Cecile de France) from Belgium, Wendy (Kelly Reilly) from England, Soledad (Cristina Brondo) from Spain, Alessandro (Federico D’Anna) from Italy, Lars (Christian Pagh) from Denmark, and Tobias (Barnaby Metschurat) from Germany. These colorful and vibrant students have their own unique stories, and Xavier is welcomed into their group as they all experience a series of adventures that teach them the rules of love and friendship. Additionally, there is Anne-Sophie, the wife of one of Xavier’s friends, who is beautifully delicate and seemingly just out of Xavier’s reach.
I had never heard of this film before watching it, which I think is a shame, because it is a truly brilliant film. It’s funny, it’s clever, and it’s very “real.” My French professor showed it to my French class and described it as a meaningful movie with some light comedy, and I’m so grateful that she picked this movie to show us because it’s so fantastic! I love the fact that this tells the story of students from all different countries, languages, and cultures that all live together and experience the same things but take different things away from each adventure. People with different backgrounds and beliefs are bound to clash and learn from their differences, and this was very evident in L’Auberge Espagnole. Also, being a language nerd, I love how the movie interspersed different languages throughout the movie; French was not the only language used.
I was not a fan of the storyline with Anne-Sophie, but that wasn’t because it wasn’t a good storyline. I felt that Anne-Sophie’s character as the friend’s wife paled in comparison to the memorable characters of the international students Xavier lived with! Compared to all the stories that the students went through, many of which were simply mentioned or acknowledged and not explained in full detail, I found myself wanting to know more about the students and less about Anne-Sophie. The movie explained why Xavier participated in the exchange program, but why did the others? What brought them to Barcelona? And after they leave Barcelona, what is the next step in life they are going to take?
I guess those questions will all be answered when I watch the sequel, Les Poupées Russes!
Overall Rating: 10/10
Tags: movies
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Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. Want to learn more?
English muffins with peanut butter.
Finishing my paper.
Coworker bonding.
Getting my cover letter critiqued.
Sushi.
Cadbury creme eggs.
